Follow Me! (Matthew 4:18-22 - Jesus Chooses Disciples)

Jesus Calls the First Disciples 

Matthew 4:18-22 (NRSV)

18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

In this passage, we see the beginnings of  of Jesus' ministry with his disciples. When I read it, I am always struck by the ease with which it seems they followed. Jesus said, "follow me," and they simply did it - without hesitation, without question. Of course, now, we know who Jesus was and what he was going to accomplish in his ministry. However, they did not. Still, they followed. 

I think this scripture can be a great example to use when trying to help children understand the concept of faith. I have used a couple different approaches when teaching this scripture in a children's sermon. 

One time, I actually printed face airplane tickets. They looked something like this: 

I started by giving each child a fake ticket and the first things they asked was, "Are these real?" 😂I explained that they were not real, but we were going to pretend they were. I asked them where they would like to go and got a wide variety of answers including Disney World, Mexico, and Alaska! Then, I asked the kids this - "If I gave you a real plane ticket to go on a trip with me, but you couldn't bring anything with you - not your favorite toy, not your best friend, not your parents - AND I didn't tell you where we were going, would you still go with me?" Some of the kids were clearly perplexed by this question. After all, they know me and trust me, but going on a big, unknown trip with me is a pretty big leap! (I also think they were a little afraid saying no high hurt my feelings.) I continued by affirming that it would be a really hard decision to make and that, if you went on the trip, it would probe be pretty scary. Then, of course, I explained that that was pretty much the choice the disciples had make when Jesus said "Follow me." They were leaving their families and going on a trip that was full of unknowns. They said yes because they had faith in Jesus and, sometimes, having faith means doing hard, scary things. I ended a lighter note by telling them that if any of them were going to Disney World soon, I would happily go on that trip with them! 

Another time, I focused on the "follow me" aspect with a game of Follow the Leader. Almost all kids will be familiar with this game. If your setting allows, you can actually get up and move around - even invite the adults to join in! If not, you could simply play in place by placing hands on your head, clapping hands, stomping feet, touching nose, etc. Tell the kids what a good job they are doing following you and ask, "What if I did something really crazy? Would you keep following me?" (Give some "crazy" examples like, "what if I turned cartwheels down the aisle? or "what if I just got up and ran out the door into the street?") Chances are some kids will say yes, some will say no, and some will seem perplexed. That will lead into the discussion of the story of Jesus' disciples and how the way they followed Jesus was actually kind of crazy! Explain that faith is believing in something or someone even when it seems scary or crazy. 

Overall, this is a great scripture to use with kids. I think it is something they can relate to in a concrete ways to understand the abstract concept of faith.