Maybe you’ve noticed that one of the features of Mark’s Gospel is that the birth of Jesus is completely left out. We skip Bethlehem, and the shepherds, and the wise men, and the angels. It does not say word one about Mary or Joseph or the baby. By the time Mark picks up the story, Jesus has put the manger and the swaddling clothes behind him. He has learned to speak and learned to walk. Mark cuts to the chase, and he does not waste any time before he drops Jesus right in the middle of things.
Now this is going to sound like a horrible thing to say, but I think some people have Jesus the way they want him at Christmas. He is weak and silent. The hymn tells us “no crying he makes.” The Jesus of Bethlehem really is small and passive and cute. He is the Jesus we can pick up and hold for a little while and then give back to his mother when we are ready to get back to our life. And you know what? That’s OK. It is better than no relationship with Jesus at all. Everybody needs a starting place with Jesus.
The thing is, he won’t let us keep him that way. Jesus gets out of the manger, gets dressed for work, and comes after us. And unlike the baby in Bethlehem, he’s got a voice now and he uses it. He calls people’s names. Mark’s gospel just skips the whole birth of Jesus; and after just a few words about John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism and temptation, Mark provides us a beach, and he invites us to watch four fisherman who are just minding their business. They are fishermen and they are fishing. In the middle of this, Christ shows up and invites them to follow him.
Simon and his brother Andrew are the first pair. They are throwing their nets, and Mark does not tell us why Jesus picked them or any of the conversation really. I am a guy who wonders what questions they might have had or what the internal struggle might have been. Mark does not give us any of that. Jesus says, “Follow me,” and without a word they get up and go.
James and John are next. Farther down the beach they’re sitting in a boat with their father mending their nets. It is almost as if we are watching the story in fast forward on a VCR. Jesus comes to them, he sees them, he calls them, they go.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s hard for me to find a personal connection with these particular stories because they’re so condensed. As Mark tells these stories, he doesn’t give us any sense of the very real, inner struggle that’s involved in making this kind of decision. These guys are discerning their life’s purpose. Mark pretty much leaves out the process of deciding, discerning, choosing. In my experience, this is the complicated bit and the part that is hard. It is the part I really want to know because it is the part I struggle with.
But maybe Mark leaves out the process because, in the end, the process is not the point. The point is that Jesus finds us, calls us, and the call is to go with him. This is about committing to the person of Jesus Christ. It’s not about committing to a doctrinal statement or a program or some denominational tradition. It’s about personal commitment to Christ. Jesus never said “Come, be a Christian” or “Come, embrace this philosophy” or “Come, do this ministry.” He said, “Come with me. Belong to me. Follow me.”
Now today’s readings also include another response to God’s call. Jonah from the first reading is a reluctant prophet. The reading tells us that God had to speak to Jonah a second time. This is because Jonah did not exactly embrace God’s call, and he caught a boat headed in the opposite direction.
I don’t know if you remember when everyone was writing 6 word biographies a few years ago. My wife Susan had one I liked – “I ran. God caught me anyway.” I like it and I like the story of Jonah, because sometimes I am more like Jonah than Peter. My guess is that some of you can identify as well. Notice that it all works out as God intended in the end. We are called, and sometimes we have to be called more than once.
Now there are a few of things I would like to point out.
There is one constant in the stories from Mark today and it’s this: that everyone who answers the call of Christ leaves something behind. Did you notice that? Andrew and Simon leave their nets; James and John leave their father. We can’t follow Jesus and not be willing to change what’s in our hands and what’s in our hearts. We have to be willing to leave the past behind in order to move forward with Christ.
Another thing I would like to point out is that Andrew was the first disciple called, and he was the one who brought his brother with him. He did not make the inner circle of disciples though. He was there at the Last Supper, and he was the one who brought the boy with the loaves and fishes in John 6 for the feeding of the 5000. He was not at the Transfiguration or at Gethsemane. He was a disciple, but he does not get the attention that his brother does. You have to wonder how he felt about that. It is always Peter, James and John. Andrew reminds us that we don’t have to be in the spotlight or be the lead dog to be a disciple. Some of us serve quietly and without much recognition.
Next I want to tell you a snippet of history to make a third point. Henry III of Bavaria in the 11th century was a God-fearing king but the demands of being a ruler did not leave him much time for spiritual exercises. One day he went to Prior Richard at the local monastery and asked to be admitted as a monk for the rest of his life. “Your Majesty,” said Prior Richard, “do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king.” “I understand,” said Henry. “The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.” “Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard. “Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.” King Henry returned to his throne, and he ruled successfully because he feared God and was obedient.
Sometimes we are called to grow where we are planted. God has placed us somewhere and intends for us to serve Him there. Andrew is told “Follow Me.” Jonah is told “Go to Ninevah.” Henry is told “Stay where you are.”
We tend to think that God calls us to exciting things that require travel or upheavals in our lives, but it is not necessarily so. I am reminded of the Sonnet “On His Blindness” by John Milton.
“thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Christ is calling you and me today. This call requires us to be willing to give things up. Jonah had to give up the fact that he wanted to see the people of Nineveh destroyed. James and John had to give up the family business. Henry had to give up his desire to be a monk. What might you and I need to leave behind in order to get up and go? What do we need to be willing to put behind us? To follow Jesus means we have to be willing to be changed.
When Jesus says, “Follow me,” and we say, “OK,” we never can predict where that’s going to lead us. It’s all right not to be sure of what it all means and how it’ll all work out. All that matters is that Jesus has seen you as you are, has loved you and called you to follow.
The takeaways are these.
God is calling us.
There are a variety of ways to serve, and they don’t all require speaking skills or being in the limelight.
Sometimes they involve things we might prefer NOT to do.
In every case they involve putting God’s will before our own and being ready to give something up.
I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Sermon preached by Fr. Tom
at St. Thomas, Plymouth
January 25, 2015
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Psalm 62: 6-14
1 Corinthians 7: 29-31
Mark 1:14-20