Preaching text: Jonah 3:1-10 , Mark 1:14-20
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” You have to wonder what ran through the minds of Peter and Andrew when they first heard those words. Mark implies they did not hesitate, but immediately jumped out of the boat and joined Jesus. As too did James and John, even leaving poor old dad behind to finish up the day’s work. (I’ve always found that particular image amusing, although Mark does blunt the mirth of it by reminding us he’s with the hired help, so he’s not completely alone.)
What did they think? Did they know Jesus was the Messiah? Did they understand who he was and what he was about? Or was this just a moment of whimsy? One of those “Hold my beer, watch this” sort of thing? Hard to say.
Mark, throughout his narrative of Jesus’ life, shows the disciples to be clueless about Jesus. They simply don’t get him. The Gospel of John, on the other hand, shows us that these men were disciples of John the Baptist and had encountered Jesus before through him. Regardless, I think it’s obvious these fishermen knew at least that there was something special about Jesus. Something different. Something worth checking out.
And I think they also understood that saying no wasn’t going to work. When it comes to God, it never does.
If you look back across the Scriptures, you see that many of the people who God calls to his service have all these excuses as to why God has chosen the wrong person. Abraham has no children. Doesn’t matter. Moses is a murderer who can’t talk good. Doesn’t matter. Isaiah is a “man of unclean lips.” Doesn’t matter. Jeremiah is just a boy. Doesn’t matter. Paul was the enemy of the church, a persecutor. It did not matter. Their excuses did not matter. God called them to his service anyway.
And God’s still doing it. Let me tell you a couple of stories that more contemporary. First, let me tell you about Vernon Johns.
Johns was an African-American preacher born at the end of the 19th century. He was a man before his time, brilliant (could speak several languages), hard-working, and very socially minded. He served Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL and he preached prophetically and socially, calling his congregation to change the world in which they lived. Of course, in the 1940s and 50s, that world was the Jim Crow South. That made the good folks at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church a little nervous, a little anxious. They knew what the white folk down there might do if their preacher got a little too “uppity,” even though what the world needed at the time was a few uppity folk.
Suffice to say, his relationship with the congregation was a little tumultuous, a little strained. In the mid-1950s, the congregation had decided it had enough. They found a nice young new preacher to replace Johns, thinking here at last was someone who wasn’t going to rock the boat the way Johns had. The name of that new preacher? Martin Luther King Jr.
Try as they might, the people of God at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church could not say no to God’s calling to change their world. They should have known.
And then there’s my own story. Rewind the clock to 1992. I was in college at Virginia Tech, convinced beyond all doubt that I was going to be the next Richard Garriott, the next great video game designer. I was diligent in my computer classes, creative, smart, and doing well. At least at first. Then my grades started slipping. My creative approach to programming was not helping. My inability to understand calculus and other advanced mathematics was beginning to hinder me. I began to fail my classes.
Add to that getting my heart broken by my high school sweetheart and I felt my whole world had come apart. And it was in that moment, when I was picking up the pieces of my life when I first really heard God’s call to me towards ministry. And I’ll be honest, I wanted nothing to do with it.
I was an angry, bitter, broken young man and I lived that out. Crazy parties every weekend. Drinking, debauchery, the whole nine yards. I did it all. I rebelled. I tried to run away from who God was calling me to be.
Me during that time. Magic the Gathering and 80+ proof liquor.
And then I woke up one morning and I didn’t recognize the person I saw in the mirror anymore. That was a sobering moment. And, of course, here I stand as your pastor. Saying no really worked for me.
Of course, we also have our First Lesson today. Probably the most famous story of all about someone who tried very hard to say no to God, one we learned as children. Jonah and the whale. He runs away and ends up right back where God wanted him anyway. It didn’t work for him either.
And that brings up to today and to us. I mentioned last week how being nobodies does immunize us from God’s calling either. Truth is there’s nothing that gets us off the hook, not where we’re born, what we’ve done in life, or how uncomfortable God’s call makes us feel. We are his chosen. His children. He has claimed each of us in baptism and has given us each a purpose in life. He’s called us to fish for people, to make disciples. And we do that through proclamation of his Word, through kindness to strangers and outcasts, through feeding the hungry and caring for the sick, for speaking up for the voiceless, through transforming this world in which we live. A world of despair and hopelessness, fear and anxiety for so many. But there is light in the darkness and we can show that light to those who need it.
Who do you know that needs a bit of light in the darkness of their life? There’s a starting point. The rest is up to you. Stay in the boat or get moving. But if you choose the former, I can guarantee you God will find a way to tip the boat over and get you moving anyway. That’s how it works. Amen.
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