Go Fish

For those not familiar with an Anglican Service; there are four Scripture Readings before the Sermon. The Scripture Readings for this day were: Jonah 3:1-5,10; Psalm 62:6-14; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 and Mark 1:14-20.

Today's Gospel Text ... Begins... by marking a transition ... from the ministry of John the Baptizer .... to that ... of Jesus.

As is typical ...of Mark, ...he accomplishes this ... with a minimal number.... of words.

He simply states, ... BIBLE "After John was arrested, Jesus came..." END (Mark 1:14)

This short statement ... closes the door On John's Ministry ....and opens the door ... on the ministry... Of Jesus' the Galilean.

At first glance, ... Jesus' mission ...does not appear all that different .... from John's.

He, too, ... emphasizes the word.... "Repent," ...but Jesus gives us... a very different reason ... why we should repent.

John proclaims we are to repent ....as a way ...of preparing ...for the coming of the Messiah.

Jesus calls on the people to repent .... for the Kingdom of God... is at hand... it has come near.

The waiting .... is over.

God has begun ... a new call ... in the world.

The fullness of time ... has arrived.

Jesus makes clear ... the meaning of his call to believe and share the gospel ...when he says, .... BIBLE "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men ... I will have you fish for people." END (Mark 1:17)

We are given no background information ...in Mark's Gospel...regarding how quick the response was ... of the disciples.

We are not told ...if Simon, Andrew, James and John ...had previously heard Jesus preach .... if they were primed ... to make this life changing ...decision.

We are only told that Jesus saw them... called out to them, and said...... "Follow me."

And what happened? They responded.

These men seemed to understand this call.... to be an invitation... to become disciples ...of Jesus.

They had discovered ... which always leads to a decision ... which in turn ... leads to action.

Regardless of their understanding ...or lack of it, .... they made a radical and immediate decision ... that changed their lives... forever.

They left their daily work, .... dropping their nets ... And abandoned their ... established livelihoods.

The text makes it clear ...that James and John ...walked away ...from their ... family ties.

We cannot help but be amazed and impressed ...with the immediate ...and radical commitment ...that Jesus inspired ....in these fishermen.

O' Beloved....How can we ...as the church ...duplicate ...that.... "drop-everything kind of discipleship?"

(Slow) Jesus does not call ...any of us ... to a casual ...discipleship.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer pointed out in his book, ... The Cost of Discipleship, ...Jesus does not call us ....to cheap grace.

He calls us .... to a costly ... discipleship.

In a way ... there is a paradox ...of our faith.

On the one hand, ... grace is free ...(Slow) and cost us nothing. We cannot earn it.

But on the other hand, ... (Slow) it costs us ...everything.

Our Lord expects us.... to commit ...(Slow) all that we are .... and all that ...we have.

One theologian has called it a paradox between ...."absolute gift... and absolute demand."

Maybe we are too quick ...to hear the absolute gift, ....and fail to hear .... the absolute demand. REPEAT.

We want the grace ... yet too often ... ignore ...the cost ... of discipleship.

These men ... these disciples ... immediately knew ...that Jesus ...did not invite them ...to become spectators.

He makes this clear when he says, .... "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men...... To fish for people." (Mark 1:17)

Jesus used... wonderful terminology ...to make ...this kind of discipleship ...clear to them.

He picked up... on the images ... of their own vocations.

"I will make you ......fish for people."

Fishing for a living ...in the 1st century ... was a lot different ...from the fishing ...most folks know today,

And there are lessons ...to be learned ...from this great analogy... of Jesus.

When we understand Jesus words, ...we will know ... that the Christian Church ...is the world's ...largest fishing society.

Our commission by Christ ...is to ...... Go Fish!

To bring men and women ...into the kingdom... of God.

Many churches ...sit around ...bragging about the days ...when their boat was full ...of fresh fish.

They look nostalgically ...to the days ...when the main purpose of their church ...was fishing, ....to reach others ...for Christ.

They have forgotten how to fish ... and for some they have forgotten how to show or share ... unexpected grace.

So ... what does it mean ... to go fishing .... with Jesus?

First of all, ... you are expected ... to enjoy fishing.