Thoughts going in, Sunday January 25th, Epiphany +3

Mark 1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." 16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

            Every now and then the lectionary has a little fun with the preacher by choosing readings that are essentially the same story for more than one week in a row. Example: last week we had the call of Philip and Nathanael in John's Gospel, and now this week we have the call of Simon, Andrew, James and John in Mark's Gospel--two weeks worth of calling stories regarding the first disciples. This is one reason why pastors enjoy having other readings to choose from when it comes to trying to find something different and interesting to preach on week after week.

            So I suppose the first question is whether or not this week really forms a "doublet" from last week? For all of those who follow my blogging and sermonizing, you'll perhaps recall that last week I focused on FOUR THINGS about the call of Christ: Its beginning--as an act of divine grace; Its targeted audience--normal people like you and me; Its tolerance of our innate skepticism(s); and finally, its 'locale'--living our lives of discipleship where heaven meets earth. And while I still stand by those four things as being not only highly relevant, but also an appropriate exegesis of the passage from John 1, I guess it's also fair to say that those highly relevant points don't really cross over much into what Mark is saying in this week's passage. In other words, we have the SAME THING.... a call of the first disciples passage...but with different points being made. Like what?

            To begin with, let's not breeze past the first few words too quickly. After John was arrested, Jesus came... Although John's activity seemed to have been conducted primarily in Judea (as per the Gospels, at least), it was Herod Antipas of Galilee who had had John arrested. [point being, if you have an army at your disposal you can arrest someone who doesn't]. If Jesus had wanted to avoid difficulty, in other words, it seems like Herod's backyard in Galilee would've been the last place he would've wanted to be. Yet, he specifically takes over John's message in the backyard of John's captor.

            This week I've been meditating a lot on the line of the psalm: thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. There are a lot of ways to extrapolate and apply all that that statement means for us in our lives, but at least in terms of Jesus, his mission, the Gospel message, and what he's about.... we could say that this is war; this is a battle. God in the person of Jesus Christ has invaded territory held by an enemy and he boldly sets up a command post. Herod Antipas represents all that is wrong and evil in the current setting. The masses are captive and downtrodden; the elite live and rule, feeding their own self-interests. To those and myriads of other sins, God in the flesh appears and says REPENT... and he doesn't do so from the safety of an anonymous internet blog or a hidden enclave far far away, he does so in the presence of the enemy.

            Lots of other things stick out concerning this text….the part about the time being fulfilled and the Kingdom of God being at hand, for instance. I have always found it most helpful to view the Kingdom of God “incarnately.” Where is the Kingdom of God? Where is His gracious rule of mercy, love and forgiveness? It is **ANYWHERE** Jesus is. Jesus is the Kingdom of God in the flesh. Hence when he announced that it had come near… he meant it LITERALLY.

            Last thought going in…. the passage is about calling disciples and disciples answering that call. Yet, what about Zebedee and the hired servants left behind in the boat mending the nets? Was there no call for them? Here it’s important to remember that SOME of what Jesus said applied to everyone. “Repent, embrace the Kingdom of God for it has come near” applies equally to Zebedee, the servants, and James and John. The call to “follow” and become a disciple was, that day and for those men, an additional extra. What’s the point? I was raised in a church where it was considered that being in the holy ministry was the pinnacle of doing God’s work. One should be devoted to “fulltime Christian service,” whether as a pastor, missionary, or pastor-missionary. Being a regular person, a “butcher, baker or candlestick-maker” was seen almost as a FAILURE in terms of the Christian life. How odd. Who would support the pastors, missionaries, and pastor-missionaries if there were no Christian butchers, bakers & candlestick-makers?? Thank God for Zebedee and his servants.

Cheers,

TM