Mark 1: 14-20 (January 22, 2012): Immediately

Immediately

                                                   Mark 1: 14-20 (January 22, 2012)

1)      The Text

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

2)      Perspectives/Questions

a.       Repent

After Jesus’ temptation and testing in the wilderness, he inaugurates his mission. It begins with a brief summary of Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God. This takes place after John was arrested, so the implication is that John was Jesus’ mentor and that the baptism of Jesus by John was a transformative experience in Jesus’ life. The note about John’s arrest is also a little harbinger of what is to follow for Jesus. Jesus’ proclamation is of a new age, a new time in history. The response that he invites from people is to turn their heads around. That’s what “repent” means. It means to literally turn your head in a different direction so that all things can be seen and experienced in a new way. The spirit of this proclamation is an invitation to see with new eyes.

Jesus’ words are also a verbal thread that connects with the story of John’s baptism. John came proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Because of its context, this turning around is also related to the forgiveness of sins. It is turning away from the sins of the past so that people can begin a new life. At the core of this repentance is belief and confidence in this new age and the good news. Jesus invites his listeners, that is those who are hearing Mark’s story, to believe in the good news, the power of forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation that Jesus recognizes and sets loose in the world.

b.      What if you don’t like fishing?

One of the best known descriptions of Jesus inviting persons to join him in mission is found in Mark 1:16-18:  As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.

 From these verses (and those also in Matthew 4:18-20) come the most popular image for evangelism: fishers of men. But what if we have been missing something critical in this passage?  What if Jesus never intended fishing to become our main metaphor for evangelism?  What if Jesus was only inviting Simon and Andrew to be “fishers of men” because that’s who they were — fishermen?  Think about it.  If Simon and Andrew had been carpenters, would Jesus have invited them to be “fishers of men” or might he have invited them to follow him and learn how to be “builders of the God Kingdom?”  If they had been physicians, mightn’t Jesus have invited them to follow him and learn how to be “healers of people’s souls?”  Or if they had been weavers, mightn’t Jesus have invited them to follow him and learn how to “weave people into God’s community of love?”  Or if they had been mechanics, mightn’t he have invited them to follow him and learn how to “repair broken lives?”  In short, I think Jesus invited Simon and Andrew to follow him and joined him in God’s work in a way that fit for them!

Now, if this is true, it suggests that Jesus calls us to follow him and join in God’s work in ways that fit who we are, too.   We don’t have to become something or someone that we aren’t in order to follow him.  Instead, he frees us to bring the best of who we are to him and offer it up as we join him in God’s work in the world.  Whether you are a lawyer or an artist, a nurse or a stay-at-home parent, a teacher or a supervisor, a rocket scientist or a ditch digger, Jesus calls you to use the talents and strengths and knowledge and passions that we have to make the contribution to the God’s Kingdom that you alone can make.  Imagine the freedom and purpose Jesus offers each of us by inviting us to join him by being who we are and investing this in blessing others?

So, if Jesus calls us to invest who we are in serving others, it also means we can (and should!) quit focusing on what we don’t have or who we aren’t as an excuse for not ministering to others.  I don’t have to be as rich as someone else, or as smart or as winsome or as “successful” or as educated or as able to speak in public or as able to teach as anyone else in order to minister.  In fact, focusing on what I don’t have is really just a way of avoiding my responsibility for making my contribution to what God is doing in the world. God has already equipped me to make the contribution that God wants me to make.  Sure, I grow and learn as I follow Jesus, but that doesn’t mean I’m trying to be something or someone I’m not.  It means that as I follow Jesus, as I offer up to him all that I am, I become more fully who God created me to be.

c. And Immediately

In Mark’s Gospel, we read the story of how the first four disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John, are called by Jesus to be disciples. In a remarkable 4 verses, these fishermen leave their nets, their security, and their families to follow Jesus. I know that I would want at least 48 hours to think through my decision, to weigh the consequences, to think about the family business and the implications of the career move. Of course, by the time I had done all that, Jesus would have moved on to the next town. The author tells us nothing of their inner deliberations, whether the fishing was good or bad, if they were religious people or not, if they got along with their father or had a sense of wanderlust. Mark merely says, “And immediately, they followed him.” This connecting phrase, “and immediately,” is the most common phrase in Mark’s Gospel, occurring 33 times in only 16 chapters.

This kind of immediacy was captured in an old TV show called “Early Edition.” The basic concept of the show is that an average guy with a good heart receives an early edition of the Chicago Sun Times every morning that tells not the news of yesterday, but what is actually going to happen today, unless he does something to change the future. He spends his day trying to avert various disasters and when he is successful, the news in the paper actually changes.

Essentially, the show wrestles with the dilemmas of what our role is in other peoples’ lives. How would we act differently if we knew the potential difference our lives make to others? In our cynicism, it is easy to forget that divine providence may work through us, that God brings about the good by weaving together our daily decisions. Our non-decisions may cause the fabric to unravel until God can find someone who can still hear and act in faith, hearing the call “and immediately” following it.

The immediacy of Mark’s Gospel is contained in the simple message Jesus delivers in Mark 1:14, “The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus does not spend a lot of time analyzing the big picture. His program is not very detailed. He is more intent on telling us God’s picture of the world. God is near, God’s power is at work, hear this good news and follow me. Do you sometimes wonder if all our social analysis of problems, our therapies and our self-improvement tapes are just ways of protecting ourselves from the simple, life-changing power of the call of Christ? “Love your neighbor as yourself. Feed the hungry, house the homeless and you have done it to me. Abide in my love and I will abide in you. You are the light of the world, so let your light shine before all that they may see the glory of God. The reign of God is among you, within you. If you have faith, the mountain shall be moved for you.”

How could the disciples not follow him? As Peter said, “O Master, now that we have seen you, where else can we go?” How could we not also follow?