Take a look at your shoes.  We wear different kinds of foot-wear for different purposes or events.  There are significantly different shoe needs.

Probably, not since Ferdinand and Imelda fled the Philippines leaving its economy in tatters and a closet stuffed with over 4,000 shoes has footwear been the focus of so much attention and concern.  We've seen people smuggling explosives on airplanes in their shoes and as a result of this terrorist's threat, traveler's shoes are scrutinized at airports.

The last time we flew I was asked if I had ever had these shoes repaired?  After the supervisor checked the monitor.  "Many times," I responded.  "In fact, I'm not sure they're the same shoes I started out with."  "They're not," she smirked.  "Somebody cheated you out of one of the metal arches!"

Now every time I go through airport security, I automatically remove my shoes and send them through the scanning device on top of my carry-on, as if I were entering some holy ground. Padding through the airport in your stocking feet is an uncomfortable and unsettling experience.

Maybe it was that discomfort that led Coach Ron Hunter of IUPUI to focus on the need of the impoverished for footwear by coaching the Jaguars to victory over Oakland University last Thursday barefoot. Instead of a hoped for response of 40,000 pairs of shoes, the figure is expected to top 250,000 pairs with donations of all sizes pouring in.

It shouldn't surprise us that there is a renewed emphasis on judging people by their shoes. If you stop to think about it, shoes have always told us a lot about the person wearing them.  Cowboy boots, wing tips, Italian loafers, spike heels, flats, sensible shoes - they reveal worlds about people.

So do the brands of shoes.  And their appearance.  We even have expressions about shoes that describe that person's personality or circumstances.

            We scoff, "He'll never fill his dad's shoes!"
            We boast, "She's going to follow in my shoes."
            We breathe, "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes now!"
            We admit, "I haven't walked a mile in her shoes."
            We assert, "If the shoe fits, wear it."

Although there were considerably fewer styles to choose from, there are numerous reference to people's shoes in biblical literature.

• Moses takes off his shoes on Holy Ground (Exodus 3:5).
• God leads Hebrews 40 years in wilderness, and their shoes don't wear out (Deuteronomy 29:5).
• Boaz, as the kinsmen-redeemer, seals his business arrangements by taking off his shoes (Ruth 4:7-8).
• Amos blasts the self-centered people for selling the poor for a pair of shoes (Amos 2:6).
• Paul, when talking about the armor of God, doesn't forget our shoes; they should be filled with readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15).

We depend on our shoes for more than a fashion statement.  Shoes make it possible for us to step out boldly and briskly in the world as we go about our business.  Go barefoot anywhere but on the beach or your backyard and you'll realize how much we depend on that protective layer of leather or rubber to cushion and protect our tender tootsies from heat and cold, glass and rock, dirt and debris.  Without our shoes, we are slowed to a cautious, mincing step.  Properly shod we can stride across just about any surface in confidence.

Where are your shoes, whatever style they may be, taking you?

Today's gospel text doesn't talk specifically about the types of shoes worn by Jesus and His first disciples.  But it does reveal much about what they used their shoes for; what paths their shoes could take them safely down. In verses 12-17 Matthew makes a point of taking Jesus on a specific journey.  Jesus is not looking for a prime location with a lake-front-view.  Jesus is looking to fulfill the God-ordained prophecy that was revealed long ago to Isaiah.  Jesus' journey - to Galilee, past Nazareth, to Capernaum, "in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali" - was taken across salvation history.

Jesus' shoes were not the worn-out sandals of an aimless wanderer.  Jesus wore the shoes of the Messiah.  Fulfilling that identity leads Jesus on the first steps of His public ministry and authors the message He offers the people: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near."

When Peter, Andrew, James and John heard Jesus' proclamation, when they heard Jesus call out to them, their response was not slow or hesitant, not cautious or measured.  Instead they reacted like runners hearing the starter's pistol crack at the beginning of a race.  They ran to Jesus immediately.  Their fishermen's sandals were transformed into track shoes. They ran to Jesus, so that they could become fishers of people.

Can you see whose shoes they wore from that point on?  Jesus' shoes!  Like Jesus, they left their families and homes, reordered their lifestyle and priorities, and followed Him to learn, train, and practice their new discipleship trade.

Although Peter and Andrew, James and John could never fill Jesus' shoes, they could follow in His shoes and the path they marked.

It wasn't long before Jesus and His new disciples began leaving their shoeprints all over Galilee. In verse 23, Matthew summarizes this early ministry activity as "teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people." Jesus called His disciples to follow Him - to wear the same shoes.  To do the same work.  To live the same life.

Please notice Jesus doesn't wait until they got off work for the day, with their shoes kicked off, waiting on supper, to call them. Jesus calls them in the middle of their busy, workday world...just as He calls us...

            ...To restore people to wholeness.
            ...To liberate people from the shackles of sin.
            ...To enable people through the Holy Spirit to do their best for God.

Jesus calls us to the same work He did.  Our shoes become His shoes, and His shoes become our shoes.

But wait a minute.  Jesus wears our shoes, too.

(Pulling out a shoe rack with all styles and sizes of shoes ask)  Which of these shoes do you think would be Jesus' shoes?  (Pointing to a couple different pairs, then the sandal)  Most people will say they think those would be Jesus' shoes.

The truth is that Jesus no longer wears sandals.  Since the day Jesus removed His sandals to ascend the cross, He has no other shoes but ours.

Jesus wants a shoe collection that would turn Imelda Marcos to shame.

• When Jesus calls masons in their steel-toed boots, He calls them to build.
• When Jesus calls farmers in their big green Wellies, He calls them to plant.
• When Jesus calls nurses in their white crepe soles, He calls them to heal.
• When Jesus calls CEOs in their Gucci loafers, He calls them to lead.
• When Jesus calls moms and dads in their fuzzy slippers, He calls them to nurture.
• When Jesus calls children in their cartoon-character sneakers, He calls them to skip and jump and dance.

That's what Jesus does to you and to me.  Jesus calls us in terms we can relate to.  Jesus calls us to use our God-given talents, no longer for our own devices but to serve God.  Jesus calls us to wear the shoes He has given us to follow Him - wingtips, work boots, Nikes, whatever - so that our shoes become His shoes.

Jesus calls us to radical obedience.  Our text this morning makes crystal clear what it means to be a "Christian."  A Christian is a "disciple" or "follower"  (mathetes) of Jesus.  Our fundamental identity is not a "leader" but a "follower" or "companion" of Christ.

Anyone here NOT been to a conference on leadership?  Anyone here EVER been to a conference on "followership?"  Or how about a conference simply on how to be a better disciple?  Isn't it very interesting how we are more interested in Jesus' category of "leader" than in our category of "follower?"  If we lead at all, we lead from behind.  When is the last time we played "Follow the Leader?"

The question of discipleship has come crashing down on what has been arguably the most influential church in the world the past 30 years:  Willow Creek Community Church.  After a multi-year qualitative study of its ministry as well as 30 other churches, Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek, recently released their findings in a book Reveal.  The conclusion of this study?  The one thing these churches thought they were doing they weren't:  making stronger disciples.

                                    (brief video of the findings)  

When the most imitated church in the world and one of the most financially successful churches in the world issues a public apology and admits a big "Oops!" or "We've gone down the wrong track" . . . .  maybe it's time to look at this text more carefully and what it means to be a "disciple."

According to our text this morning, what do disciples do?  Two things. First, disciples follow a leader (Jesus).  Second, disciples make more disciples.  They reproduce.  Disciples live and love in such a way that others want to join them in the journey of reproducing Jesus in the world.

Not to be able to reproduce is the worst crisis any species can have----whether that species be a panda bear, a passenger pigeon, a particular church, or a whole denomination (many of whom have gone in my lifetime from mainline to oldline to sideline to offline to flatline).  Which makes the reproduction crisis of the church today of such enormous importance.

As Simon Peter and his brother Andrew tended their nets, expertly casting them out from the shore, hauling them back filled with fish and financial stability, their lives were suddenly, dramatically altered by the sound of a single voice.  Jesus of Nazareth called to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people" (v.19).  At the sound of that unique voice, for Simon Peter and Andrew, everything changed.  They became "disciples" who 1) followed Jesus into a new life and a new kind of fishing and 2) they worked at reproducing Jesus in their life and the lives of others.  It's the same with James and John.  And gratefully, that's what we've been about here at KOG as we have been emphasizing our being disciples.

Reproduction has always been the strength of the church. Each one who discovers the transforming power of Christ for their life has been called to pass on that transforming power to yet another generation.  We are all disciples.  And all disciples are called by Jesus to continue the work of Christ by calling others to Christ.

Jesus calls us to wear His shoes so that our shoes become His shoes, and His shoes become our shoes. It is this same Jesus who walked across the room to wash the feet of His disciples and, then does what the father of the prodigal son did:  He puts shoes on our feet.  This is a sign of our freedom - we're no longer slaves, but wear shoes, as free people did in His day. We're now free to follow Him.  The shoes He offers are His shoes: the shoes that, like God's great prophet John the Baptist, we're not really fit to tie (John 1:26). These same shoes are offered for us.  Does the shoe Jesus gives you fit? Wear it for Him!  Follow Him!  Serve Him!  Amen!