Thoughts for the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany - Simon and Andrew

Here's some thoughts on Simon, Andrew, and the Gospel text for January 25. Most of what I say here I said in the sermon for that day. I could say even more along these lines, and probably will, as we deal with the issue of doing mission in Parrottsville, Tennessee.

Texts: Mark 1:14-20, with a passing reference to Jonah, so also see Jonah 3:1-5, 10.

If the Gospel according to Mark had been written like a modern novel, 600 pages long, written with a flourish and full of descriptive passages about the scenes and people, then the seven verses of today’s reading would fill a couple of chapters, at least. Everyone’s questions about events would be answered. Why did Jesus wait until his cousin John was arrested before he began to proclaim the good news of God? What was going on in his mid when he did that? Why was he passing by the Sea of Galilee? Just who were Simon and his brother Andrew and why did Jesus cal them, of all the people he could have called? What was going through their heads as they left their nets to follow Jesus to become fishers of people? And who the heck is Zebedee, and his sons James and John, and why did Jesus call them, when he could have called anyone?
Those are all good questions, and there are only partial answers to some of them scattered throughout Church tradition and no answers to the rest, but, alas, they are not questions that this gospel is concerned with. If we could hop into our handy dandy time machine and zip back to the time and place where the gospel of Mark was being written and ask the writer (maybe a Roman guy named Marcus as I suspect, or maybe a Jewish Palestinian guy named Marqu as others think) just why everything isn’t spelled out in the story, then he’d probably say something like, “Why would anyone want to know that stuff to begin with? That’s not important! I want people to get the important stuff. The rest can wait until later.” And then later never comes and the rest of the story is never written.

But we do get some good basic points from these few lines:

- Jesus proclaimed the good news of God and what is that? It is that the time is fulfilled - NOW, and the kingdom of God has come near NOW; it did not wait for us to repent and it did not wait for us to make any decisions about accepting it or inviting it or asking it to come into our lives. It simply came near of its own accord; that is - of God’s own will, not ours. And so in response Jesus calls people to repent NOW – that is, turn your heart around and trust in the good news;

- Jesus called disciples telling them to follow him, Simon, Andrew, James, and John;

- and that he would make them fishers for people.

We do not know the time frame for the events related in the verses. Those who do Bible studies with me learn fast that the Gospel writers were not concerned with keeping accurate track of time. Mark is no exception. It could have been a few years after John was arrested. Or it could have been only weeks. But we do know the setting: the Sea of Galilee. For some reason the local people called it by a poetic name, Yam Kinneret, the Sea of the Harps.

There beside the sea Mark presents Jesus just casually passing by when he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the sea. Simon is the one who will later be known as Peter, the Rock. His home was in the city Tiberias on the south western shore of the lake. There Jesus found him and his brother, Andrew. They would have been catching a fish known as a tilapia, even today in restaurants in the area it is called “St. Peter’s Fish.”

The story keeps things simple. “Follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fish for people.” They left their net and followed him.

I would hate to be Andrew. His name is Greek. It seems to mean more or less “The Other Guy.” Reminds me of the Bob Newhart Show about ten, twelve years ago. Remember Larry and his brothers? Remember how Larry used to introduce himself and his brothers? “Hi, I’m Larry. This is my brother Daryl. This is my other brother Daryl.” Can you picture this scene in Mark now? Jesus calls Simon. “Hey, Simon, follow me! And bring the other one, too!” How would you like to be known to Jesus as nothing but “The Other Guy?” May as well be Simon‘s brother “Hey-You.” “Hi, I’m Jesus. This is my disciple Simon. And this is the Other Guy.” Kind of reinforces for you that Jesus is calling ordinary everyday people to follow him.

These were just fishermen, blue collar workers, just two ordinary guys trying to make a living day in and day out in a little fishing boat. But Jesus saw that they still had all the necessary skills to be disciples: They were good at casting nets and catching things.

So Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." He will transform Simon and Andrew. He will turn them into fishers of people - this is the way it will be! And when he said, "Follow me," then Mark presents tham as immediately leaving their nets.

Simon and Andrew could have been like Jonah and tried to hide from the call to do mission. That is to say, they could have been like many American Christians today. They could have procrastinated. They could have said, "Sounds interesting. The concept is intriguing. Let's take it to a committee and vote on it, say next Thursday?" - and when next Thursday comes it gets tabled indefinitely. They could have debated Christ's call into oblivion. They could have been cynical. They could have had attitude. They could have been apathetic. They could have said, "Yah, right. Who do you think you're foolin'." Or, “I’ve got things to do, ask me again later,” and later never comes. These are the attitudes toward receiving the call to mission that can kill churches in a heartbeat, and then people wonder why their congregations are dying as if it were a great mystery. Been there and seen it done in New York.

I was talking with my friend Warren this past week. Warren is a Roman Catholic deacon in upstate New York. One of the things we talked about, for the umpteenth time, is the rampant apathy and cynicism spreading in congregations both Protestant and Catholic (and, to hear Rabbi Dan tell it, also spreading in the synagogues). If you could ever be a part of our conversations you would hear just how harmful this is not only to congregations but also to the faith life of the individual believers. Modern American Christians might not have bothered to leave their nets like Simon and Andrew.

Simon and Andrew left the only profession in which they could claim to be experts and followed Jesus not knowing exactly where they were going or exactly what their mission would be. Now Jesus would give them a new occupation. Now he would make them experts at fishing for people. That would be their new mission.

Today the call to follow Jesus is still there. It hasn't gone anywhere. The time for following Jesus, the time to repent and believe in the Good News is still NOW, as we go about our daily lives and business.

We mark off the days on our calendars as we try to make a living day in and day out. We are aware that we are growing older. It seems that time has a way of slipping past us. We can't throw out a net and catch it. We end up wondering how the weeks and months went by so fast. But God doesn't seem to pay much attention to calendars. Time doesn't slip past God. Unlike the writer of the Gospel of Mark, who seemed to have no sense of timelines and let the passage of time slip away as he wrote the story of Jesus, God is able to catch time and make it stand still. Imagine living in a world where you never have to worry about time. That's what the kingdom of God would be like. Jesus tells us the kingdom has come near. Jesus himself has brought it near to us, so now we live in the shadow of that special time of God, that timeless moment that never ever ends in which Jesus speaks to us with the authority of God, commands us to follow, and says that he will make us all fishers of people, even though we're not much different from those first disciples who were mending their nets by the sea.

Like Simon, James, John, and Andrew, we can answer his call. We can follow Jesus. We can let him make us into fishers of people, let him guide us so we tell others about his call and bring other people into the Kingdom, and make more fishers of people.

We can listen to him when he speaks with authority and everyday we can let him transform our lives for the better as we become more and more the children of God. We can trust Jesus to do that because for our sake he was crucified and died. A big part of the Good News of God which Jesus tells us to believe says that God gave his only Son on a cross to die so that we could have new life, a life made eternal through the blood of Jesus.

We remember that in baptism, in which we walk through his death and rising in the baptismal service. In baptism we were buried with him in a death like his, and through baptism we are raised with him to a new life. In this new life we are healed. We are forgiven. Our sins are forgotten. We become children of God because of Jesus who died and was raised for us. Because of Jesus NOW the kingdom of God has come near to us and we have the opportunity now, today, to live in that timeless eternal, special time of God.

Thanks be to God.