Sermons and Reflections:

Wednesday following the
Third Sunday after Epiphany
January 29, 2003
Lutheran Theological Seminary Chapel
Marcia Bell

Mark 1:14-20

AND IMMEDIATELY THEY LEFT THEIR NETS AND FOLLOWED HIM

Oh, my! -- That sends a shudder through me! They left their nets immediately ! I don’t do anything IMMEDIATELY! I don’t get out of bed immediately after the alarm rings each morning (especially on these cold days!) and then I don’t immediately get ready for work -- I get a cup of coffee, read the paper, visit a bit with Katie Couric! -- When I get to my office each day, I take my time about jumping right into the work day -- First, I check e-mail and voice messages, look through the previous day's mail still on my desk, that I obviously failed to act on immediately yesterday -- And so the day and my life go!

But NO time has this characteristic been so apparent as when I answered the call of ministry -- I was one of those who practiced the ultimate in foot dragging! None of you did this, I’m sure -- Maybe some of your classmates, but none of you! Although the story might sound a bit familiar! I felt God calling, so I talked about it, prayed about it, thought about it, talked and prayed some more! I couldn’t bear to resign from my teaching job so I just took a leave of absence -- it seemed safer that way -- I took a few seminary classes, slowly acknowledging what this was all about -- No wonder I shudder when I hear the words of Mark: AND IMMEDIATELY THEY LEFT THEIR NETS AND FOLLOWED HIM!

This is still the first chapter of Mark! In the first 13 verses, Mark has introduced John the Baptist and his ministry, he’s taken Jesus to the Jordan for Baptism and to the wilderness for temptation, and now, in today’s reading, he introduces the MISSION and MESSAGE of Jesus: THE TIME IS FULFILLED, AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME NEAR; REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOOD NEWS. Don’t you hear a sense of urgency to that? The time is fulfilled, the kingdom is here -- there’s work to be done, followers to be recruited -- repent and believe -- The mission and the message made clear, Jesus heads down to the lake to round up some disciples.

How many sermons have I heard and have I preached, that have extolled the obedience of Simon and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee -- What heroes we’ve made of them! They left behind occupation and family business, boats and nets, even dear old dad, to immediately follow Jesus -- Don’t we always come up short when we compare ourselves to these guys? Could we do what they did? Would we act with that sense of urgency and immediate commitment? -- I, for one, feel mighty inadequate when I draw any parallels between their response to the call and my own.

But I feel that perhaps we’ve missed the boat (no pun intended) when we make this story all about the fishermen or for that matter, when we tell our call story and it ends up being all about US! This is not about Andrew and Simon, James and John or the courageous decisions they made -- just as my call story is not about me, not really. IT IS ABOUT JESUS -- He is the one doing the calling -- He is the one who miraculously causes us to follow, whether it's immediately or a bit delayed.

No way is this a hero story -- This is not about four great men who bravely and boldly made a difficult and life-changing decision -- No, all they did was to drop their nets, let go of their boat, and follow -- it was Jesus who SAW them -- That’s how Mark tells the story: As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he SAW Simon and his brother Andrew -- And as he went a little farther, he SAW James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets -- And remember last week’s Gospel from the first chapter of John? It was that scene where Nathanael is puzzled because Jesus seems to know him -- He asks Jesus: where did you get to know me? And Jesus simply answers: I SAW you under the fig tree. (of all places!)

No questions asked, no credit history required, no complicated candidacy process, not even a battery of psychological tests -- Jesus SAW them -- Jesus laid eyes on them, recognized some potential in these fishermen, called them to follow, and then worked a miracle, creating disciples, instilling commitment.

Now this is what I find very interesting -- Listen to the language of other miracle stories in Mark’s Gospel -- Still in chapter 1, Jesus is confronted by a leper who came to him begging to be healed -- Jesus said : Be made clean, and IMMEDIATELY the leprosy left him and he was made clean -- Or when Jesus encountered the paralyzed man in chapter 2 and ordered him to take up his mat and go home -- And IMMEDIATELY he took up his mat and went home! Don’t forget the blind man from the 10^th chapter: Go your way, your faith has made you well, Jesus said to him, and IMMEDIATELY he regained his sight.

To make this a story about heroes is to diminish the miraculous power of God in this business of call -- Jesus looked on those fishermen, and saw something -- some potential! Pretty amazing to think that it was a matter of Jesus seeing -- Pretty amazing to think that God looks upon us and also sees potential -- God’s eyes are never deceived by any grandiose self-images that we may have acquired along the way. God’s eyes go way beyond our own self-imposed limitations and lame excuses -- God, infinitely patient God, looks upon us , even those of us who never can seem to act or react immediately -- and God works the miracle of calling us -- calling us to go out there to serve in the kingdom -- calling us to go out there and to fish for people.