He Rocks the Boat

Zephyr United Methodist Church

Early First United Methodist Church

January 22, 2006

Rev. Eddie Smart

Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)

Now 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.

This story of Jesus calling the fishermen always amazes me. As I read the story this week, I noticed something I don’t remember seeing before. When it describes James and John leaving their father Zebedee, we are told that the hired hands remained. A few verses later we learn that Peter owns a home. These fishermen were not bums, not even beach bums. They were among the rich. They owned boats, fishing equipment, and homes. They were employers of fishermen.

But I had never noticed that Zebedee was not left to fend for himself. I thought I would focus on that. But I won’t. I want to talk about The Call, The Task, and The Cost.

Jesus saw something in those fishermen, that others probably had overlooked. He saw more than others saw. Jesus saw the potential that was within them. Jesus could see the future that included these four.

He called them. He walked right into their lives while they were working and simply said, “Follow me,” and they did. This call was a divine call. To drop their work and leave their families, it surely must have been a call from God.

In the Old Testament we find a similar divine call. In the 19^th chapter of 1Kings, we find Elijah, that great Hebrew prophet, walking into the life of Elisha as he plowed in the field. Elijah threw his mantle over Elisha and Elisha ran after Elijah agreeing to follow him.

But back to Galilee. We are told that Jesus came proclaiming the good news to the crowds, but it was a very personal invitation that Jesus gave to these four fishermen. William Barclay suggests that it was not what Jesus said, but who he was that lead to four new disciples.

At the Congress on Evangelism that Diana and I attend right after the first of the year, the preacher in the opening service was Tyrone Gordon. He is the pastor of the Saint Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas. Tyrone preached on this text. It could have been Matthew’s telling which is almost the same as we read today. Tyrone reminded us that night that while Jesus does the calling, it is up to us to follow. Have we heard the call of Jesus? Have we heard Jesus saying, “Follow me.” How will we respond?

Not only did Jesus call them, he also gave them a task. The task...to fish for people...to bring people into the kingdom...the skillful capture of the lives of people. No previous experience with people necessary. Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of people.” Jesus would show them how.

Jesus invites us to cast our nets just like he casted his that day. Have you ever gone fishing with a net? With a net you don’t choose what you will catch. With a net you bring to the surface every kind of fish that entered the net. Rev. Gordon reminded us that night that when you fish with a net you do not get only the “fish” that look like us. With the net you can capture a rich variety. And as a side note we were reminded that our job is to catch not to clean.

You know Jesus left us will all sorts of instructions. He told us we are to love God, and we are to love our neighbor. Jesus reminded us that when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, cloth the naked, visit the prisoner and sick...when we do these things for the least, we do them for Him. Jesus told us to teach others all that He commanded us. Jesus told us that we were to be his witnesses in our homes, our neighbors, our city, our state, our nation and our world. Jesus told us to pray, to fast, to give our money. Jesus told us to be salt and light. Jesus told us not to worry. Jesus told us to love our enemies.

Jesus left us with plenty of instructions. Jesus invites us to be more like him, to grow into his likeness. But his very first invitation according to Mark was to fish for people. He first asked us to bring others to Jesus. First, we are to fish for people NOT feed them. First. Our first invitation is to cast our nets into the sea of humanity, bringing all that we gather in to Jesus.

Jesus invites each one of us personally to go fishing. Have we heard the invitation? Have we cast our nets?

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Jesus says to you and me, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” Oh, to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus is not cheap or easy. For Andrew, Peter, James and John it meant leaving behind the work that they knew. Work that had afforded them much. It meant leaving their families. To be a disciple of Jesus, to follow Jesus comes with a cost. Discipleship always has a cost. Fred Craddock believes that Mark makes it rather clear in this passage that “discipleship means leaving property and family.”

Tyrone Gordon the opening night of the Congress on Evangelism reminded us that Jesus will interrupt our routine. As he put it, “Jesus will mess with our stuff.” To follow Jesus, to be his disciple requires radical commitment.

Once upon a time there was this rich, young man. He asked a simple question. It’s a question that many of us have asked. The question... “What must I do to live forever in paradise?” A simple question, “What must I do?”

The rich, young man was given a simple answer although it has been proven over the years to be hard to do. He was told that he should not murder anyone, he should not commit adultery, he should not steal (even copy that material), he should not tell untruths about others, and he should by all means honor his father and mother.

“Well,” he said, “I have don’t all those things since the day I was born.” “Is that all?”

“Well there is one more thing.” “You need to be radically committed.” “You need to go sell EVERYTHING you have, and give the money to the poor.” “And then, come and follow me,” the voice declared.

You’ve heard this story. You’ve probably even heard the explanation that this only applied to the rich, young man because he loved his possessions more than he loved Jesus. That story doesn’t apply to me surely.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were willing to walk away from a life they probably loved in order to follow Jesus. The rich, young man was not willing to walk away from the life he loved.

What is it that we love more than Jesus? We say, “NOTHING, There is nothing we love more than Jesus.” Well then that is good indeed. In that case we will have no problem walking away from EVERYTHING in order to follow Jesus so that we too can go fishing.

The call–follow me. The task–bringing people to Jesus. The cost–leaving all kinds of stuff behind.

References used:

Personal notes on sermon by Tyrone Gordon at the Congress on Evangelism, January 2006.

Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year B (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1993)

Grant, Fredrick C. and Luccock, Halford E., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1951)

Barclay, William, Gospel of Mark (Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1975)

The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 8.