Responding to the Call
Epiphany 3 – January 22
Mark 1:14-20
† In the Name of Jesus †
Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Call of Bishop Cowther
That day, as the slaves were packed into the Portuguese slave ship, they probably did not know that they would be free within a few hours. Even as they were freed by the captain of the British frigate, I don’t think anyone knew the incredible long range results. One of the slaves freed that day, would have an incredible journey in that freedom. He would go to school in Sierra Leone, where a lady would teach him to read and to write, despite his being outside the normal age for the school. He did well, very well, and eventually began to teach in school there. He would, in that school, become a believer. He then moved on from being a teacher to assist a pastor, and later become a pastor himself. Not just any pastor – but a missionary called to bring the gospel back to His people.
This young man, enslaved at 21, illiterate at the age of 22, had a future of serving God. Despite those things that held him back in his early life, he would earn a Doctor of Divinity from Oxford University in England. Prior to that, he had preached Christ throughout West Africa and baptize thousands. Such results, that the Queen of England would play a major role in his becoming the first African Bishop in the Church of England.
At Samuel Cowther’s installation as a bishop in the ancient cathedral at Canterbury, sat the captain who freed him, and the teacher who taught him to read were able to be present, to witness the incredible thing that God does, through those He called. How they must have worshipped that day, as they were able to see God’s handiwork so present in their lives.
In our gospel today, we see 4 men, respond to a call from a radical young itinerant prophet, who people claimed was the Messiah. They were, of course, correct. The same man that Cowther, 1800 years later, would be called to serve. 150 years later, we too proclaim that same Messiah, and trust in His work, for us. The four men would journey as well; a journey that was as fascinating as Cowthers, as these men would travel the world, speaking of Christ, telling people about the love of Jesus, and His death on the cross for them – the same message that Bishop Cowther declared.
You and I probably will never preach to thousands, we may not ever see thousands standing in line to be baptized. Yet, in this reading about the call of Peter and Andrew, James and John, we see the incredible blessing that comes, as we realize the gospel of Jesus Christ, and its call on our lives. A call to each of us, to be part of His Kingdom, a call to follow Christ, to be, as scripture describes, to be made to become….
1. The Kingdom Calls
a. It approaches
Imagine being in the hold of a slave ship, with barely enough room to sit against the bulkhead wall if your lucky. If not, you sat back to back with another slave, with barely room to stretch out your legs. If the captain was in a good mood that day, loaves of bread and cups of water would be passed down the seemingly endless rows, barely enough that you could get a few bites, and maybe a sip or two. Back then, a ship where 50% of the “cargo” made it to their destination was considered a good trip. Just a few hours into the sailing trip, you hear the crew act worried, the small cannons creek across the deck above you, as you hear swords and guns are readied. Then a man appears, and orders your chains released, food and water to be broken out in abundance, and announces to you, that you are free, liberated by the King of England.
Can you imagine the feeling, the relief, the peace that you would know?
The illustration suits us well today, for though Peter and his fellow fisherman were not slaves to their fathers, they were slaves to sin. Just as we were. Two months before, in the Jordan river valley, they had heard John the Baptist proclaim that this Jesus was the Son of God, the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
Undoubtedly, the fisherman had heard that John is now imprisoned in Herod’s jail, and that the message that he had preached about the kingdom of God being near, is replaced by Jesus message, that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Or as another translation phrases it, it has approached. Like the stately British frigate coming upon the slave ship, the Kingdom of God has come to the world, to free those enslaved by sin, the sin that so easily ensnared us! WE are free, freed not by the King of England, but by the King of Kings.
Now, Jesus approaches Peter and Andrew, as they work at their careers, unaware of the great thing that is soon to happen. He will then approach James and John, and make them an offer that they could not refuse.
2. Jesus call them to come, to follow
a. to become part of the unit
b. to follow his lead
Come with me, Jesus calls to Peter and Andrew – follow my path, and I will make you become fishers of men. I will show you, using your talents, how to live in my Kingdom, and do my work. James and John’s invitation is similar, it is the invitation to journey along with Jesus, following His lead, letting Him guide us, as the Good Shepherd does.
When I was a kid, I used to go fishing with my dad and my gramps, one of the rewards we got for getting good grades. Usually, this was at a small lake, with an un-pronouncable Indian name, at the school he worked at. Carrying our fishing gear, we would hike in to the woods behind the school, and follow the lake shore very rough trail to that very special place. Gramps knew the way well, and would point out – that this place was slippery, or those rocks where loose. He would show us how to fish, and how to avoid the sticky spines on this one kind of catfish called a hornpout. Following them along the trail, there was an element of safety.
That is the kind of thing I picture, as the four fishermen leave their safety, they abandon their careers, and head off down the road, unsure of what happens next. There is a level of trust, trust in Christ’s leadership, trust in His knowing the way, trust in His protecting us, and ensuring our safe arrival, despite the dangers. They have realized, that if Christ can save them from themselves, from their sin, and the judgment it brings, they can trust Him in guiding their lives.
3. The Call – “to be made to become”
a. Fisherman
b. Throwing the net
c. Mending the Net
In Mark’s gospel, there is an interesting way that Jesus phrases the call to Peter and Andrew. “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men”. The other version of this call, found in Matthew, doesn’t have that word become, but the phrase would not indicate it is out of place. It describes a process, a change, in Greek, literally a process of generation. It is the call of Christ, and His work, that puts us in the places we are, with the gifts we have been given.
Paul tells the Ephesians, that those saved by God’s gift of faith, that they become the resulting work of Christ’s craftsmanship. The kind of work, that can take fishermen, and turn them into the men who would speak, and thousands would come to realize that Jesus died for them. The kind of work that takes an illiterate slave, and turns him into a pastor of pastors.
It does not necessarily happen overnight though, and we may not even see it occurring as it does. For God uses us, as He has prepared us, as He has equipped us, in our callings, in the gifts He has given us in life. He is the one, who guides our way, as we follow His lead. Things of our lives, that we think have no value, all of a sudden, become tools for His use.
Consider the English frigate’s captain, who did God’s work in freeing the slave who would preach God’s word. Or the teacher, who struggled to teach this young man to read, and write, enabling him to eventually translate the Word into the language he grew up speaking. It was God’s work, using them, in their normal lives, to assist in saving this young man. To save him from slavery, to save Him from His slavery to sin, and to save him to the ministry that God prepared for Him.
To me, their work is as incredible of a ministry, as incredible of a testimony to God’s work, as is the Bishop’s! What things do you have, that God will use, to minister to those around you? As the children of our congregation grow older, what gifts do you have, that will equip them, to serve our incredible King. How will you be their ship’s captain or teacher? If they are a mechanic, or work in the church, if they fly a plane, or coach soccer, or if they take God’s word to some remote tribe in Papua New Guinea or just a pastor, how will you have served them, and assisted them.
You see, going back to the fisherman, there are lessons in the very work they did there.
John and James, we saw, were working on mending the net, repairing the tears, adding strength were work had caused bits of the net to unravel. If I can, for a moment, compare the net to the church, this is part of the ministry of the apostles, and of our church today. To strengthen, using God’s words, and the promises delivered in the sacraments, the faith of God’s people. To restore to wholeness, the entire net, that we might work as a unit.
Peter and Andrew, were learning the other half of the ministry, as they cast the net into the lake of Galilee. They would toss it out, as it spread over the water, and caught those passing by. So to is the word of God spread through out our community, as you, having heard it, go into our community, and bring those who Christ approaches, through His people. Just as that captain was in the right place, that day to free the future bishop, you may come across someone in your week, who needs to be freed, a person that God has cross your path, as you follow Christ.
May you share with them, what you have been given, the faith in Christ, who was crucified and died, who descended into Hell, and rose on the 3rd day, for you.
And may God’s peace, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus!
AMEN!
