Message for January 25, 2009
Follow Me - What Will it Take?
Tonight we hear from both the Hebrew Scripture and from the Christian Scripture as well ‘familiar call stories’. Stories about Jonah are always enjoyable, perhaps from the popularity of the story about Jonah and the whale – one of the more popular Bible stories from childhood some of us may remember. But tonight’s story about Jonah is tinged with an element of seriousness in what he is being called to do by God and the message he is being asked to convey to the people of Nineveh. In our day, we might liken it to the call of the environmentalists -- Vice President Al Gore and so many other’s efforts to have us change our destructive patterns before it is too late. Some would argue that we may have already crossed that point of no return when it comes to global warming. Such was the attitude of some in Nineveh hearing Jonah’s words.Let us pray….
I liken the biblical writers description of Nineveh that “it was a three days journey across” to perhaps that of Mumbai in India or Peking in China – cities in the world that are sprawling seemingly without end. And you can imagine in such a modern city, the impact of a single person walking through their midst in basic obscurity with a message that we can probably guess not many wanted to hear. And yet, somehow because Jonah is willing to take on this task and with God’s help, it is accomplished and the people of Nineveh are saved. In this story though I am left with the question of what was it that made Jonah take on such a daunting task? Was it because God asked or was it that God wouldn’t leave Jonah alone until he said ‘yes’ to what God was asking of him? Was it because Jonah was a man of compassion and didn’t want to see the city of Nineveh or the people in it destroyed? Is there anything in Jonah’s choice to follow God, that we recognize in ourselves?
The calling of some of Jesus’ first disciples, in our second reading this week from Mark is one which is right out of a movie script. For those who grew up or have spent time along the Atlantic seaboard or near any ocean for that matter, it is easy to be able to imagine Jesus walking along the shore in a small village and come upon fisherman mending their nets or preparing once again to go out to sea for another load of fish. These communities, much like the one I grew up in relied heavily on fishing in order to make a living. Now for those of you that remember, I grew up in western Minnesota, so you may question how on earth I can relate my hometown to this story. Believe it or not, Browns Valley, Minnesota at one time was acknowledged – at least by local fishermen – as the bullhead capital of the world. I doubt it was ever true, but I did grow up amidst the fisheries that held one large fishing operation, which happened to be located right behind the house where I lived as a boy. Commercial fishing is a dirty business and is not for the faint of heart. If you’ve had the chance to catch the t.v. show “World’s Biggest Catch” you may have had your eyes opened to the reality of this way of life – at least in modern times. The film “The Perfect Storm” with Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney also provided a glimpse into the challenges inherent in this way of life.
So with this backdrop and our experience of Oceanside fishing villages, whatever that is, enter Jesus. Now one thing more should be said about any field of work which involves manual labor – it is often not an easy life, but it is a good one for many other reasons too. You are your own boss, you are usually not far from your family and if you are, it is usually not for long periods of time, but getting back to our story.
Have you ever considered the details of this story and how queer a story it is. Here is a perfect stranger, at least as far as we know, and he walks up to you while you’re at work with your brother and invites you to drop what you are doing and come with him. Now this just isn’t a small favor, like can you get me a cup of coffee or pick me up a newspaper when you’re at the store – think about it. This stranger Jesus is asking Simon and Andrew to drop what they are doing and to leave it behind…no promise of a great salary, better working conditions, an excellent benefit package or even a decent retirement pension. From the pieces of the story we have, it is a brief encounter at best and a few words from Jesus is all it takes to have them drop their nets and follow him. Doesn’t that just strike you as a bit queer? Perhaps I can just shrug it off and attribute it to these guys being struck on the head once too often by the boom or rigging of their boats. Now, though I am fascinated by these stories, I also never want to take out the humanity that is part of them because it is in that humanity that I am able to relate to these stories, in that humanity where I can see and find myself in the midst of them.
So we have a stranger Jesus, and let’s just assume that his personality was not so mesmerizing that with a few words, they were forever under a spell. I picture that he may have talked with them for a time, staying with them for a day or two, getting to know them and they him. During these fireside exchanges and perhaps in the midst of Jesus joining them for a outing on board their fishing boat, they had a chance to get to know this man and what he was about. It was during that time, however brief, that they came to understand something of what he was trying to do with his life and Simon and Andrew were compelled to follow even before he asked.
The calling of James and John, sons of Zebedee, a little farther on in the story introduces another element to this story. For many who grew up, moreso in previous generations, than now – they were raised and taught by their fathers to do the same type of work that their fathers did. If your father was a blacksmith, you learned to be a blacksmith. If your father was a carpenter, you grew up learning carpentry skills, and if your father was a fisherman as no doubt was his father and his father before him, you no doubt learned the “ropes” of what it meant to make a living as a fisherman. The other aspect of this way of life that was usually present, is that a father in having good strong sons, tried to pass on all he knew. Everything he knew about the family trade that he had been taught from his father and learned in his own lifetime, he passed on to them. If he lived long enough to have to worry about it, he would depend on his sons and on their carrying on the family business to be his retirement – their version of a pension plan. When the father was too old to fish or whatever his trade, he would rely on his sons to care for him in his old age. So with this being the model of family and labor in the time of this story, isn’t it all the more queer that Jesus would expect James and John to abandon not just the only way of life they had ever known as fisherman, but also to walk out on their father, who had no doubt raised them thinking they would care for he and his wife in their old age?
All this is of course conjecture on our parts, but it does bring me around to thinking about and asking myself what will it take for me to follow Jesus? I am sure my concerns are not unlike those of these earlier followers. What will people think? What will this involve? – I’m not sure I can do this. Echoes of those early prophets like Jeremiah saying back to God, “I know not how to speak.” And for those of us who have taken baby steps and decided on some level to follow Jesus, we may have other questions and concerns – how can I make a living doing this? How will this provide for me when I can no longer work?
For each of us, whether we are actually in a ministry profession or follow our calling as part of another vocation or career path, I think it comes down to not so much our ability to do the job, but always our willingness to give that “yes” to whatever we are being asked to do. And like these earliest followers of Jesus, we may feel like we are being asked to sacrifice a lot. Whatever our perceived level of sacrifice, I think we can be sure that God is aware of it before we were even asked and we are minded again that God will not be outdone in generosity. On my daily journey with God, I struggle to know whether I am on the right path and if I am certain that I am following God. I make mistakes like everyone else, and often don’t feel good about every interaction that I have. I can usually see pretty clearly when I was acting on my own and not keeping myself open to the Spirit’s guidance. But probably like most of you, my crystal ball of discernment is no clearer than most of yours. I have a hard time knowing exactly how God may want to use me in this situation or the next. And I know I don’t listen near enough. Listening, I believe is key to knowing what I am called to do and be in the world – not just to the Word of God as it comes to me through Scriptures and other holy books, but through the words of men and women that are sent into my life everyday to provide guidance, wisdom and to clarify what it is I am being asked to do. It is no small challenge to open myself up to see how God may be using others around me to speak to me. And being open to the words of others, means I have to stop talking myself and just consider for a moment that I may not have the best answer in this particular instance. It is a hard and powerful lesson, that I have had to learn over and over again. The gift of God’s wisdom, referred to in ancient texts as “Sophia” comes to me and often in unexpected ways and through unanticipated sources. “Therefore keep watch”…“Be still and know that I am God.” In this context some of these other passages make more sense and provide me powerful consolation in my times of feeling alone and abandoned by God. But most often, and this has been a hard lesson for me to learn, most often when I feel alone and abandoned by God – it is my choice to take myself there and clearly not God’s. Time and again, I need to turn to God and reclaim my kinship with God. I know with everything that is in me that God will not leave us abandoned. As the popular Avalon song goes, “There are no strangers, there are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God…” These are such deeply meaningful words to me especially on the journey to understand God’s call, to learn and understand how God wants to use me, you, each of us – alone and together.
Like the earliest followers of Jesus, we have a choice to make. The road ahead is not clear and certainly is not free of obstacles and challenges, but we do not walk alone. We have each other in this blessed community of New Covenant and in our family of choice that we gather around us as signs of the living God in our midst. Whatever we are willing to risk – may we be bold and courageous in our willingness to offer everything we are in the hope of all that might yet lie ahead. We cling to that hope and celebrate it each time we gather in this place. May it always be so.
Amen.
Written by Reverend Tim Agar