Mark 1:14-20
This morning we find ourselves back in
the gospel of Mark where everything is short and sweet and to the point. John the Baptist has been arrested and we
don’t even get his story. All Mark
offers us is “now after John was arrested” and it appears that Jesus sees this
as a sign to begin his ministry. It is a
foreboding sign for sure, and that is no accident. The writer of Mark’s gospel wants us to see
that Jesus’ road will not be an easy one.
To begin his ministry Jesus heads into Galilee, which is
a bit of a backwater town. Galilee was
not too big or too small, just a regular everyday place, much like our own home
of Warrensburg. The message that Jesus
proclaims to get the ball rolling is “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God has come near!” He then calls folks
to “Repent, and believe in the good news.”
That sure seems like a serious way to begin your ministry. I don’t think yelling “hey everybody, repent!”
is really a great way to start a church.
We often think of the word repent in negative terms but
when Jesus says repent he is using the word in a different context. He is not talking about regret; instead he is
talking about a major change. Jesus is
telling people that they need to turn, to change direction, to get a new
orientation in life. This use of repent
is not about what we have done in the past, rather it is about what Jesus is
doing in the future. This is the
beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and his first word to the world is “look out, get
ready, something new is on the way.”
Jesus immediately begins the work of changing people’s
lives. He walks by the Sea of Galilee
and sees two brothers, Simon and Andrew casting nets into the water. Jesus calls out to them, “Follow me, and I
will make you fish for people.” Just
like in last week’s reading from the gospel of John, Jesus is compelling. After he speaks Andrew and Simon immediately
leave their nets and walk after him. As
they go a little further they happen upon the brothers James and John on the
shore mending nets with their father Zebedee.
When Jesus calls James and John, the brothers leave their nets and their
father, and follow him.
I’ve been thinking about evangelism
this week, following along the lines of our “come and see” sermon. Last week we considered inviting folks to
“come and see” our church and this week Jesus is claiming to make us fish for
people. I’m not much of an evangelist myself
so I’ve often side-stepped sermons on this topic. To preach two sermons back to back on
evangelism is a rarity for me, if not unheard of.
This week I was trying really hard to re-embrace this
idea of fishing for people. And you know
what I realized? I realized that a lot of fishing is just
hanging out, and I’m pretty good at that!
Granted there are lots of different fishing operations out there, and
some folks are netting followers by the thousands, but I don’t think that’s
been my call in life. I’m not a big
corporate fishing operation with a fleet of boats in the Pacific. I am more of a Saturday afternoon on the lake
with a sandwich and a beer kind of fisherman, and that suits me just fine. Sometimes I catch a fish and sometimes I take
a nap, but I am always happy to hang out in the name of Jesus. And you know what? I have found that over time being a laid back
fisherman enables me to catch some pretty cool fish!
How about you? What kind of fisherman do you consider
yourself to be? God has called all of us
to share the good news of Jesus Christ with our friends and neighbors. I know that some folk here are really
enthusiastic fishermen; you are gifted with the courage to speak about your
faith and invite others to join you. I
also know that some folks here are pretty shy with this evangelism stuff, so
maybe hanging out fishing sounds about right to you. Either way, I think it helps to play it cool
and see if you can get that person on the line for God. We all know if that if you are too
enthusiastic, if you tug too hard on the line, the line will break and that
fish will be lost forever.
What is interesting about this reading
is that Jesus is not just giving us one more task on our “to-do” list, rather
he is asking for a change of identity. This
isn’t about spending a Saturday on the lake; rather this is about a lifetime’s
worth of fishing. The NRSV translation
does us a disservice here as it quotes Jesus saying “Follow me and I will make
you fish for people.” That sounds a lot
like “follow me and I will give you more work to do” and that is definitely not
something many of us are interested in these days. We are overworked as it is. A better translation is the old one that you
are more familiar with “follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” See the difference, “make you fish” vs. “make
you fishers”? It’s all about a change in
identity.
This goes back to the first thing Jesus
says in this gospel “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come
near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
The world is changing, and if we are to be followers of Jesus, then our
lives will be changing as well. When we
follow Jesus we will not be offered one more job to do, “fish”. Rather, we will be offered new identities
“fishermen”. Following Jesus changes our
whole life, and those lives should draw others to the faith.
For some of us the change will be dramatic. Simon and his brother Andrew walked away from
their jobs to follow Jesus. James and
John walked away from the family business, leaving their father alone with the
nets. Those are some pretty dramatic
changes. I imagine I walked away from a
career as a professional harpist, and in seminary I had a friend that had left
behind a successful business career in the financial halls of San Francisco. For some folks, the call to fish, is
profoundly life altering. Some folks
really do drop everything and follow.
For others though, the call to follow Jesus into a
fishing career is more subtle. We keep
our jobs and families, but the way we do things changes. We are less free with the offensive jokes at
the office water cooler, we notice the kids in school that others look away
from, we see that person on the corner outside McDonalds and we buy them a cup
of coffee. We aren’t changing our
career, but the way we do things is different.
We are living lives as disciples, seeing each task through the lens of
our faith. Even though our fishing style
is a whole lot of hanging out and waiting, every now and then we make a
catch. I think the reserved life of
faith can be more attractive then we realize.
This morning’s reading marks the beginning of Jesus’
ministry in the gospel of Mark, and Jesus begins his ministry by changing
lives. He announces that he is
fulfilling the kingdom of God, and he challenges folks to pay attention and to
rearrange their lives accordingly. Jesus
walks by the docks in Galilee and begins gathering up the fishermen working
there, making them his first (and closest) disciples. These men who have built lives on casting
nets, will now attempt to fish for people.
Like us, they are far from perfect.
As the gospel moves on they will misunderstand Jesus, be accused of
having little faith, fall asleep at the most important moment, and even deny
their Lord. And yet, they are Jesus’ fishermen
and even now, thousands of years after their time, we continue to be inspired
by their story.
I hope this week that I have encouraged you to rethink
this idea of “fishing for people” or becoming “fishermen.” I know I have tended to shy away from this
phrase as it makes me think of the old “bait and switch” or of somehow tricking
and trapping people. But this week, when
I imagined the hanging out style of fishing, I could really get behind the
idea. There are plenty of folks I hang
out with, who don’t go to this church, and I am certain, if you ask them, that a
bit of my faith has rubbed off in some way on them. In the world we live in, a quiet evangelism can
be just what is needed.
As you go out into the world this week, think of all the
ways you are fishing. The call of Jesus
is a call that changes lives. My hope is
that the changes in your life will speak to the people around you. You can shout your faith from the roof tops,
or you can quietly just be there for folks in need. Either way, we are fishing for people, and
eventually God will fill our nets.
Blessings this week as you go fishing!
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment