1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 I speak the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:14,320 Please be seated. 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:18,320 So our readings today are a continuation of a theme that we've been on for the past few 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:23,560 weeks, God's calling in our life and what we're supposed to do when we hear that calling 5 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:24,560 from God. 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,840 And that's really no surprise because we are in the season of epiphany, the season where 7 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:34,040 we focus more intently on the multitude of ways in which God is revealed in the world 8 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:36,520 and in our own hearts. 9 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:43,200 The Bible is just sort of nonstop, cover-to-cover stories of people being called into fantastic 10 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,880 and unexpected things by God. 11 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:51,480 And the stories of how those brave and daring and faithful people learn to say yes becomes 12 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:57,400 a lesson for us in our own time as we too learn how to say yes to God. 13 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:02,440 Last week's Gospel reading gave us John's version of Jesus calling his first few disciples, 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,840 and this week we get Mark's version of that story. 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:12,600 And though the names are just a little bit different, the story is very similar. 16 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:17,200 Mark's version gives us Jesus at the shore of the Sea of Galilee. 17 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,680 He is beginning his Galilean ministry. 18 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:26,920 And as he's passing along the shore, he spots Andrew and Simon Peter, two brothers and 19 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:32,320 fishermen, and they're casting their nets into the sea. 20 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:38,360 Next Jesus spots James and John, another pair of brothers who are also fishermen. 21 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,920 They are in the boat mending the nets with their father. 22 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:48,560 Jesus then calls to each of these pairs of brothers telling them to stop what they're 23 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,840 doing and follow, and they do. 24 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:51,920 They drop everything. 25 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:53,160 They leave their vocations. 26 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:54,160 They leave their homes. 27 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:59,000 They leave their very families and go after Jesus. 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:05,040 What's so striking about this encounter with Andrew and Peter and James and John is the 29 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:08,800 haste with which they go after Jesus. 30 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,520 Mark's Gospel, the entire thing, is very short. 31 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:16,720 If you pick up a Bible and compare it to the other Gospels, it's exceedingly short. 32 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,800 It's only 16 chapters, and they're short chapters. 33 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,680 Short is, for lack of a better word, sort of weaponizes brevity. 34 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:30,160 He is short, and to the point, because he has good news to tell us, and nothing is going 35 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:31,760 to get in the way. 36 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,200 There's no room for a preamble or a flowery language. 37 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:40,720 It's just the message of what Jesus has done for us. 38 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,720 So when you look at this Gospel reading for today, if you look at it in your bulletin, 39 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:46,800 you'll see how short this is. 40 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:56,080 Four people, four of the 12 apostles are called into ministry in just these few sentences. 41 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:01,320 And what we talked about in our Bible study class on Thursday, what we sort of hit on 42 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,960 was how fast these men go with Jesus. 43 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:11,680 Our Bible, our Gospel uses the word immediately, or two times, to talk about how quickly Jesus 44 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,380 called and how quickly these people go with him. 45 00:03:16,380 --> 00:03:20,960 What they might have heard, what Jesus might have told these men, is also in our Gospel 46 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:22,800 reading for today. 47 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:27,840 It's just one sentence, verses 14 and 15, at the very beginning. 48 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:35,920 This sort of thesis for all of Jesus' Galilee and ministry is laid out for us right there. 49 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,400 The time of God is fulfilled. 50 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:39,640 Time of God is fulfilled. 51 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:47,320 The kingdom of God is at hand in this very moment, repent and believe in the good news. 52 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,240 The time of God is fulfilled. 53 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,560 The kingdom is at hand. 54 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,840 Repent and believe in the good news. 55 00:03:54,840 --> 00:04:01,200 One sentence, that's all Mark gives us to sum up the entirety of Jesus' ministry in 56 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,000 Galilee. 57 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,400 The time that God has promised that we are going to be saved, that we will be redeemed, 58 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:12,240 that the world will be caught up, renewed, healed, whole again. 59 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,480 That time is now. 60 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:19,720 Turn towards God, turn away from the things the world promises you, and believe in this 61 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,800 good news. 62 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:23,300 That's what we're supposed to do. 63 00:04:23,300 --> 00:04:29,920 That's how we're supposed to receive this news now, even 2,000 years in the future. 64 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:38,600 Immediately, leaving everything behind just like those first few apostles did. 65 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:40,960 So what are we supposed to do today in our own lives now, right? 66 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,960 How are we supposed to get rid of the things that we've been doing, the things that are 67 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:48,480 empty and soul-crushing that the world promises us, the things that we've been told to want 68 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:54,080 and to go after, like money and power and prestige and all these wonderful things that 69 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,800 the world tells us are good and that we should fill our lives with? 70 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:03,440 That's what we're supposed to turn away from, to repent from and to turn back to Jesus, 71 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:08,600 to believe in that good news that seems almost too good to be true. 72 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:13,480 This is that message that the first few disciples heard, the message of God's kingdom drawing 73 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:18,960 near, and they become models for us of how we are responding, dropping our families, 74 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:26,640 our friends, our vocations, our safety, our very security, and going with God. 75 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,240 Of course, if you feel tension in that, if you feel like that might be impossible for 76 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,880 you to do, please know that you're not alone. 77 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:40,640 There is a reason that these men become paradigms of faith for us. 78 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:43,200 They drop everything and follow Jesus. 79 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:44,480 So what are we supposed to do with that? 80 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:48,400 Because very few of us are about to leave our homes and our families and our own safety 81 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,800 to go after Jesus right now. 82 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,200 There's a lot to be learned from them. 83 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:59,560 If you were here last Sunday, you heard from Mycermen then as well that God is always calling 84 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:01,880 you into something. 85 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:07,880 God is always calling you into new things, big things, and small things, and life-changing 86 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,360 things, and life-long things, and seasonal things. 87 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:16,000 God is always calling you into something. 88 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,920 That if we live the kind of life that orients ourselves around that calling, the kind of 89 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:26,600 life that cuts out the clutter and listens to God more fully, more dearly, more nearly, 90 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,600 if we can listen to that and believe in that good news, then we'll have the courage to 91 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:36,600 say yes to the things that God is calling us into, just like those first few disciples. 92 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:42,360 When we are present enough with God, when we are focused enough on God and trusting 93 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:48,240 enough on God, we can say yes to those things and walk away from the things that we've filled 94 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,280 our life with. 95 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:52,520 I won't lie to you. 96 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:54,680 Discipleship has a cost. 97 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:56,960 It has cost people through the centuries. 98 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:58,480 Look at what it cost God. 99 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:03,080 It cost God the life of God's own Son. 100 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:08,880 Discipleship has a cost, and the cost is saying no to the things that we think we want, the 101 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:14,320 things that aren't really going to give us or this world new life, and saying yes to 102 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,720 the things that God wants. 103 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,680 And I'll tell you, these apostles, one of the commentaries I read this week said that 104 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:26,880 the apostles will very rarely live up to the amount of wonderful faith that they exemplify 105 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:28,680 in today's Gospel reading. 106 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,560 Very rarely are they going to live up to this ability to say yes. 107 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:36,840 They're going to mess it up again and again and again, and we're going to hear those stories 108 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,840 over the next few weeks and months. 109 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:41,800 So that's good news for us too. 110 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:47,160 We can mess it up as many times as we want, again and again and again, and God will still 111 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:54,360 be there to work with us, still be there over a life of faith, of learning to follow God 112 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:58,280 and to say no to the things of the world and yes to God. 113 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:04,840 Just like those first faithful followers, Andrew, Peter, James, and John. 114 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:05,840 Amen. 115 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:18,580 Thank you.