January 25, 2009: CALLED AND STALLED
Mark 1:14-20, Psalm 62:5-12
Eileen Parfrey -- Springwater Presbyterian Church.

The story of Jesus calling the four fishermen to be his disciples has always struck me as magical thinking. Mark expects us to believe four people to drop everything to follow a guy out of nowhere, simply because he asks. The rest of the gospel they’re portrayed as dunderheads, but here at the beginning they’re somehow bright enough to have intuited Jesus is someone worth following. I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent my whole life torn between thinking this is a colossally irresponsible decision—drop everything and follow—or guilt that I don’t. Did they ever have second thoughts? Jesus repeatedly tells the dunderheads they’ll experience rejection and suffering for following him. Hmmm.

Mark leaves out so much of the story. No high school creative writing teacher would let pass a story whose characters have no apparent motivation. Science fiction stories in the last 50 years use the device of “lock on coordinates” to explain an irresistible drawing force, but why would these 4 presumed grown ups abandon their living to follow a stranger? You wouldn’t catch someone even buying toothpaste today without a whole lot of branding and packaging and product roll-outs and focus groups to support that decision. Or at least a really good coupon. This is like the Godfather making an offer that can’t be refused! Except, we don’t know what the offer entails. The disciples drop everything immediately to follow. No golden parachute from the boat’s stockholders, no promise of the fast track with Jesus, no prospectus for return on investment. Come to think of it, those are the kinds of promises that have gotten us into our current mess. Nothing in Mark’s story says these guys give up worldly pursuits in favor of the spiritual. They don’t know Jesus from Adam. Either they were out of their minds, or Mark is trying to make a point.

Try this on for size. Mark’s point is that the purpose of following Jesus is to learn how to imitate him. Which is why we read these stories year after year during baptism season. This is what we promise in our baptism vows—to try to be like Jesus. The invitation to follow is to find out, to learn more, to get to be like your leader. Just follow. We aren’t even asked to accomplish anything.

This has been a momentous week in our nation. I can’t remember the last time so many people hungry for hope pinned so much onto one event. Nor can I ever remember clipping out of the newspaper the text of a public prayer. It wasn’t just the Reverend Joseph Lowery’s delivery that drew us into his benediction at the inauguration. It wasn’t just his good theology and allusions to scripture and popular culture and their connections to our nation’s history and our own personal longings. Rev Lowery’s prayer followed the same pattern that we do every Sunday when we gather together for worship. He confessed that we are weary with troubles of our own making. He acknowledged God’s faithfulness to continue to be God, caring for us and all creation. It included intercession for our leaders and supplication for ourselves, frankly asking God’s help in making the right decisions and taking actions grounded in justice, mercy, and humbly walking with our God. People were blessed by the prayer, because it seemed to make room for us all in its invitation to be God’s people, to follow God’s ways.

This is all Jesus was doing when he invited those fishermen to follow him. There were no community colleges in 1st century Palestine, no online learning programs or DVDs to rent. People were as hungry to learn and grow and find out about the meaning of life then as we are now. But instead of enrolling in a program, they followed itinerate teachers, coming and going as their schedules and families and livings allowed. “The time is fulfilled” meant the coming of the hoped-for Messiah and the end of the world is at hand as well as, “It’s the dry season, time to get in a little learning before harvest.” People learned then as they do now—by doing, by acting as if, by practicing, by imitating, by sometimes failing, by admitting our failures and trying again.

The time now is fulfilled. It’s time follow, to let Jesus teach us how to live here and now so God’s power is evident to all. The kingdom come. The invitation to follow Jesus is an offer from God. It’s not our doing. We don’t have to figure out where we’re going or how we know when we get there. We don’t have to get it right. There are no grades. We just have to show up and be faithful. It’s come as you are right now. We don’t have to be like someone else in order to get our invitation.

And the invitation isn’t just for fishermen. If Jesus called you to follow, it is unlikely that he would console you by saying “you’ll fish for humans.” The invitation to follow Jesus came to me while I was working construction. The “follow” for me was all about construction and friendship.

The call you hear will be different. Is different. Because your call will be to your most authentic self. Maybe for you it’s to babysitting and hanging out with littler kids. Or to your adventurous spirit so hungry for new learnings. Or to the ordinary life around your kitchen table. Or your authentic working self. Last week at the annual meeting, our Christian Education elder modeled how she taught our kids the parable of the talents. She asked us to raise our hand if we liked gardening, or making soup, singing, eating with friends, baking cookies, shopping for groceries. It was just beginning to sound suspiciously like the ministry of our church, when she left off her list without including rocking babies, driving, giving away food, praying, and studying. The invitation is follow. In all that you do. And in all you do, follow Jesus, imitating him to find out how to live as if the kingdom really is now. You don’t have to drop everything. You don’t even need to feel guilty about it. Just know that the call is to who you are. And then follow. Amen.