3rd Sunday after Epiphany
Sermon
Mark 1:14-20
An Encounter with Jesus
Today four more common men have an encounter with Jesus. If you
remember last week's sermon, we looked at the call of Philip and
Nathaniel. Jesus had called Philip and then Philip told Nathanael about
his encounter with Jesus. Remember that Nathanael put Philip off with
some course words, but Philip didn't back away, but uttered three
simple words, come and see. Come and see. Nathaniel came and saw Jesus,
had an encounter with him, and believed that he was the Messiah.
In today's gospel lesson, we have another encounter with Jesus this
time in Mark's gospel. Jesus is beginning his public ministry, and he
came into Galilee and passing along by the Sea of Galilee he called
these fishermen to become fisher of men.
Notice the technique Jesus used. The text says, "he saw Simon and
Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were
fishermen. And Jesus said to them, " Follow me and I will make you
become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and
followed him."
Can you feel the urgency, the immediacy, the conviction, of these men.
When Jesus called these fishermen the story could have had a vastly
different course. They could have scratched their heads and discussed
the pros and cons with each other, their families and neighbors.
"They could have told Jesus, well let us think about it for awhile,
maybe something even better will come along.
Maybe a big school of fish will come and we will not be able to leave,
maybe our wives won't let us, maybe our friends will make fun of us for
leaving our jobs, our home and our families to follow a guy would will
travel around the country side preaching that the time is fulfilled and
the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel "
But when Jesus called these fishermen there was none of the above, they
didn't question his call, they didn't think about it, they didn't
consult their families, they didn't see if anything better would come
along, they followed him.
When Jesus through his Holy Spirit encounters us today to follow him
and let him be the Lord of our lives, he doesn't want us to think about
it, to weigh it, to study the pros and cons, to talk to our family and
friends, to wait and see if something better will come along, or the
situation in which we find ourselves will improve.
But when Jesus calls us there is a sense of urgency, there is a sense
that Jesus is erupting into our lives with such a strong force that we
have no choice but to decide now, not tomorrow or the next day, but
now, now while he encounters us; while his presence is with us, while
we have him besides to to encourage us in our decision.
There were a group of people standing outside a very large and ornate
cathedral in Europe and they were admiring the very fine craftsmanship,
the detail work, the care and the love that seemed evident in building
such a fine place to worship a loving God. One of the men turned to
another in the group and said, "Why can't we build so today? Why can't
we build with such pride, such craftsmanship today, and the other man
replied, "They had convictions; we have opinions."
Isn't that true. The convictions, the integrity the early Christian had
for their God is missing today. A lot of people have the opinion that
they believe in God only when f it is convenient, or when there is
nothing better to do, or when it is socially acceptable, or when they
sense they need a favor from God, but there is no conviction to give
ones all, ones whole self, ones whole life over to him. When Jesus
encounters us, he doesn't want our opinions about him, he want our
conviction that he is the lord of life, that we are his servants and he
is the master, he is the leader. We are the followers,we are his
children, he is the father provider.
When Jesus calls us, when he encounters us, he does so with a sense of
urgency, with a sense of immediacy, with a sense of conviction, with a
sense of commitment, with a sense that we will turn our entire lives
over to him. Then notice what he said, "Follow me and I will make you
fishers of men."
Having been fishermen, they knew what he was talking about, they would
become fishers of men, they would go out and catch others for Jesus.
They would catch other with the gospel message of repentance, and
forgiveness that Jesus was proclaiming. They would share with others
the good news that Jesus was sharing with them, Not only does Jesus
call us to a life of urgency and conviction, but he calls us to a task,
he calls us to a job, he calls us to do something with what he has
given us. He calls us to share, he calls us to give to others what he
has first given to us, his love, his caring, his forgiveness.
There is an old Korean legend that I found in a book this week that I
would like to share with you. A devote and generous man died and before
he allowed St. Peter to usher him through the Pearly Gates he requested
that he first take one wee peek at Hell. At the Gateway of Hell he as
astounded to see long tables, food laden and sumptuous. In poured the
multitudes gaunt ghastly, starved apparently into skeletons. Fastened
to the forearm of tech were yard-long forks and spoons. They
frantically fought to feed themselves, in vain. It was living Hell.
Back in Heaven he beheld tables similarly laden, but when the Heavenly
host came in, although to each arm was fastened a yard-long fork and
spoon, they sat down and began to feed each other. The new resident
knew it was Heaven all right what with all that sharing."
Yes, a Christian is one who shares with another, who knows how to share
because he or she has been sharing the gospel message while they lived
their pilgrimage on this earth.' Shari is the call word, the sign that
marks the life of a follower of Jesus. Sharing our faith, sharing our
resources, sharing a part of ourselves with others is what this life is
all about 'as we follow the master. Jesus calls us to a life of
conviction, to a life of urgency, to a live of sharing,, to a live of
proclaiming his good news to others. But you might we wonder, who do I
share this story with, who is the one that I tell about Jesus? Who???
There was a little girl who had a very large collection of dolls heaped
on her bed. A guest in her room one day asked herd "Do you love dolls"
Then with tender loving care she spread out the whole collection for
the guest to inspect and admire. the gust asked her, "Which doll do you
love the most?" She hesitated, then said, " Promise not to laugh if I
tell you." He promised. She picked a ragged doll with a broken nose
whose hair had mostly come off, and one arm and leg were missing. "This
is the one." " Why?" the visitor asked. "Because if I didn't love this
one nobody else would."
Jesus calls us to love the ones in this world that no body else will
love. Jesus calls us to reach out to the lonely, to the hungry, to the
sick, to the ones in prison, to the disabled, to the forsaken, to the
needy, to all of those people who need to hear that someone indeed does
love them and that some one is Jesus Christ.
Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God that the kingdom of
God was at hand. He asks us to go into all the world with that same
message, the message of the good news of God and that his kingdom is
now it is at hand. Jesus calls us to a live of conviction, to a life of
urgency, to a live of reaching out with his message of love and
forgiveness to all the people we encounter in life.
Amen
by Rev Tim Zingale