“The call to be disciples”
Mark 1:14-20 (January 21, 2024)
Now that we’re here, in the middle of January, can we say that Christmas is finally finished? The tree is gone, the decorations are put away. So what now? Who is this child? What does it mean for us that God has entered our creation?
Today the Gospel of Mark takes us to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry: His proclamation of the kingdom, his calling of disciples.
✠
There they were: Simon (who would later be called Peter) and his brother Andrew, doing what they’d always done, casting a net into the sea.
I can imagine the sun shining down upon them. A gentle breeze. The net splashing in the water. The shimmer of fish as they pulled it up. The anticipation of selling the catch. And maybe taking some of it home for dinner. Thoughts of rest at the end of a long day.
And then this stranger came along! Came to interrupt their lives, however idyllic they may have been. Or maybe their lives were a struggle. Or a long monotonous grind.
Whatever they were, Jesus came to them right there on the beach, by the Sea of Galilee. And he said to them: “Follow me.”
What we have here is a cosmic interruption. A tearing of fabric. Like a thunderclap, or a lightening strike. An epiphany, actually.
Jesus appears to us, and suddenly everything changes. He calls to us and we cannot ignore him! He meets us in our Galilee.
✠
And what I’d like you to think about this morning, to begin with, is what your Galilee looks like? In other words, what is the landscape of your life?
Where are you living? Who are your neighbours? When you get up in the morning, are there places you need to be? Appointments, responsibilities, tasks to be accomplished?
They don’t have to be big. Plugging in the kettle, preparing breakfast, reading a paper, going for a visit, waiting for someone to call.
What is your Galilee? Where is your beach? What is your boat? What’s the net you have to hoist? Who is there with you? Is it hard or easy? Is it always the same every single day?
✠
And now, think of this: how has the landscape of your life changed over time? Because I’m willing to bet things are different now than what they used to be. Our lives never stay the same. The Galilee we live in today is not the Galilee that used to be.
And so the question is, when the call of Jesus comes, how do we answer it in our present time? How do you live out your call to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus, in the landscape of today, not years ago. Because although the voice is the same, the surroundings will look quite different. And so our life of discipleship will have to change as well.
Over the years, we go through many Galilees. We switch jobs, we change careers, we may stop working altogether – at least for money. Relationships change, families grow, loved ones die, new friendships are made. Our bodies and minds, interests and abilities – none of these ever stay the same.
But Jesus still comes to us, right where we are! In the midst of our day. We hear that voice that will never leave us. The voice that keeps calling us, lovingly, persistently. “Come, follow me!”
The call to be a disciple is life-long. Jesus doesn’t stop calling us. We still listen for his voice. In the life of faith, we do not retire.
But discipleship may look quite different depending on what stage or season of life we are in. We should not expect to keep on doing what we always did before. Instead, we should be open to new opportunities, new ways of expressing faith and following our Lord.
✠
“The kingdom of God has come near,” said Jesus, “Repent, and believe in the good news.”
Repent means to change your mind and, by implication, a whole lot of other things as well. Change is the first step on the path of discipleship. Jesus tells the fishermen to leave what they’ve been doing. “Drop your nets. Step out of the boat. I’m going to teach you a new way of fishing.”
Wow, did the disciples have any idea what Jesus had in mind for them? Where he would take them? What they would experience and learn along the way?
Do we have any idea what Jesus has in store for us? In the broadest of terms, of course we do! His desire for us is good, not ill. That doesn’t mean that discipleship will be easy. Only that it will be worth it!
✠
Leave your nets and follow me. What does that look like for you? What might you have to leave behind? Because Jesus has something else in mind for you now. As our Galilees change, our calling changes too!
A friend of mine sent me a Christmas letter this year. It was great to read all the news about him and his family. But nothing is the same as it used to be.
He lost his first wife, the one I knew, several years ago to cancer and has since remarried. His children, contemporaries of my own, have grown up. (Who knew they’d do a thing like that?) Now they have children of their own. He’s retired from his work and has had some amazing travels.
At one point in the letter he paused to reflect on his role as a father, saying that it had shifted. He’s no longer the provider. He sees his role more as one who stands in the background, offering support as each of those adult children live their own independent lives. And new grandchildren begin to find their way.
That observation resonated with me, because I can see that my role is changing too. And I find myself asking those same questions: Now, who am I to be? What does it look like for me to be faithful in this present time?
✠
“Repent and believe,” says Jesus. “Leave your old ways behind. Move into the future. Trust my promise that the Kingdom is near.”
As difficult as it may be to leave and let go of things that have long been part of our lives, there remains this call, this opportunity to learn new ways – following Jesus, welcoming the new life he brings.
As we move through the landscape of our different Galilees, we discover that there is life in every stage. There is always something more for us to be and do. More for us to learn.
Or do you think you know it all? At what age do we know it all? Can we be humble enough to admit there may be things we actually have to unlearn? Habits and opinions for example: You had your mind made up, and everything (you thought) was settled. You used to think one way. And maybe that way has served you well. But now you see through different eyes.
There’s no shame in that. In fact, it’s crucial if we want to be disciples of Jesus. That very word “disciple” means a student, a learner of Jesus’ way. The more we follow, the more we learn. At each turn there is something new. A door that opens before us.
✠
As we move through the lives we have been given, discipleship may be less about doing things. And more about being. Being open to the moving of God’s Holy Spirit. Being there for others. Being more loving. Being ready to forgive. Being generous with the gifts and resources that we’ve been given. Growing in our desire for God each and every day.
“Repent and believe!” Are you open to the presence of God’s Kingdom? Jesus is calling to us. Always calling. He never stops, never goes away. Can you hear that voice?
The amazing part of our scripture reading today is how quickly those fishermen did follow Jesus. “Immediately,” Mark tells us, they left their nets. Without any hesitation.
And then, just to make sure we got the message, Mark tells us about two more of Jesus’ disciples: James and John, the sons of Zebedee: “Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.”
Can you imagine the shock of it? Old Zebedee watches his beloved sons turn around and walk toward Jesus. They’re willing to drop all they have, right then and there, for the sake of the Kingdom. So the pattern repeats!
And now it comes to us. This persistent call: “Come, follow me.”
✠
There’s a kind of magnetism to Jesus that speaks to us, compels us. A voice that draws us forward into God’s new life, wherever we may be. A force we cannot deny. A tug, a pull. A lightning strike.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about this in his book, “The Cost of Discipleship,” which was published in 1937 just as Nazi power and influence was growing. Bonhoeffer wrote, “We are not expected to contemplate the disciple, but only him who calls, and his absolute authority.” An authority that, for Bonhoeffer, compels obedience, even in the face of dark forces.[1]
✠
“Come and follow me.” Jesus calls to us in all our many Galilees. Where is yours? What might it look like for you to follow Jesus today?
There’s a striking verse at the end of Mark’s Gospel, which provides a kind of “bookend” to our scripture reading. In chapter 16, Jesus has been crucified. And the disciples must have wondered if their journey was over. But standing by the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, receive a message from a mysterious young man dressed in white.
“Tell his disciples and Peter (that same Simon Peter who first heard the call while casting a net by the sea) …tell them “He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him.” One stage of the disciples’ journey has finished. But a new one is about to begin.
The call to be disciples comes to us always fresh, always new, in the Galilees of our daily living. “Come, follow me.” Amen.
[1] Chelsea Harmon, https://cepreaching.org/commentary/2024-01-15/mark-114-20-4/, Accessed Jan 16, 2024.