Mark 1:14-20

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him. 

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Let us pray,

May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all of our hearts, be pleasing and acceptable to you, our rock and our redeemer…

As we journey together through these few weeks leading up to Lent. We focus our attention on what it means to follow Jesus in our everyday lives. Today we have the call story of Simon and his brother Andrew. A call story is the story of how men and women came to follow Jesus in their everyday lives. Their story teaches us that following Jesus is both a gift and a demand.

Our Scripture reading for this morning begins with Jesus’ first sermon. As far as sermons go it’s a pretty straightforward one. Jesus tells the crowd gathered in Galilee to repent and believe the good news. Because the kingdom of heaven has come near. What Jesus is saying is that a new way of living is coming. One where God will restore creation to its intended glory. Everyone who is suffering now will find relief. Everyone who is abusing others will be brought low.

If you want to be part of this kingdom. Jesus says. Then you need to repent of your old ways. You can repent by worshipping God for who God is and what God has done. But you can also repent by responding to my call in your daily lives. 

Jesus then provides us with an example of what this might look like. As he walks along the Sea of Galilee, he invites Simon and Andrew to come and follow him. Simon and Andrew were fishermen. About to start their days labor. Upon hearing Jesus’ call, Simon and Andrew immediately drop their nets and follow Jesus into the unknown. Simon (Peter) and Andrew become some of Jesus’ earliest disciples. Who then dedicate their lives to inviting others into a life of Christian discipleship. 

What I’ve always appreciated about Simon and Andrew’s call story is how uncomplicated it is. Simon and Andrew don’t ask a ton of questions. They don’t demand to see Jesus’ five-year plan. They don’t check with their families. To see if now is a good time for them to take an unexpected break from their lives and familial responsibilities. They just drop their nets and follow him. 

I think for a lot of us who grew up in the church, our call stories feel similarly uncomplicated. I know for me, I come from a family where someone in my family always had a set of keys to the church. My mother is a Deacon at her church. My grandfather was the church treasurer of St. Michael’s from the mid 1960s until his death in 2016. As a kid I remember roaming the halls of my church. By myself. After school before kid’s club. For me, following Jesus, being a Christian, came as naturally to me as putting up a parking chair in the street to reserve my parking spot.

Some of you know that I serve on a committee of our Presbytery. The Committee on Preparation for Ministry. The goal of this committee is to help women and men discern whether or not they are called to ordained ministry. One of the first things we ask students to do when they enter the process is to share with us how they came to follow Jesus. Listening to their stories, I’m learning that not everyone has uncomplicated call stories. In fact, most people have quite complicated call stories.

One of the students I’m working with left a 25-year career as an IT supervisor for PNC bank to follow God’s call to seminary. When I asked her how she came to the decision to switch careers later in life, she said God just kept bugging me until I finally gave in. She is now pastoring two churches in upstate New York.

Another student I’ve worked with was a corporate lawyer for 30 years. Whose husband died unexpectedly. Her daughter set her up with an online dating profile. Where she met her current husband. She moved from Georgia to Pittsburgh after they married. Her husband encouraged her to join his church so she could meet some new people. And the next thing she knew she was in seminary considering a call to chaplaincy ministry.

My favorite student (not that we play favorites with our students, but I’m just being honest here…) took ten years to get through seminary. His last year in seminary he and his wife had twin boys. Despite the lack of sleep, he graduated with honors the following spring. And is now pastoring a church in Washington, PA.

While God’s call can be either complicated or uncomplicated. I think all calls have two things in common. God’s call is always both a gift and a demand. God’s call is a gift because we don’t deserve it and we can never earn it. I believe that God calls everyone to serve him in a way that best uses their unique gifts and talents. Oftentimes how God calls us to serve him is better than any way we could have dreamed or imagined on our own. That God would call ordinary men and women to do extraordinary things with their one wild and precious life never ceases to amaze me.

But God’s call is also a demand. The demand is a call to action. That once we figure out how God is calling us, we are to respond in faith. For some of us that is going to mean dropping our nets and following God into the unknown. For some of us that is going to mean leaving family, home, and career in pursuit of God’s vision. But for others of us it is going to mean being faithful to the mundane tasks that benefit the common good. Things like childrearing. Or caregiving. Or working at a job we don’t love that allows us to provide for our families. 

Friends my hope and my prayer for us as we enter into this new year and new phase of the coronavirus pandemic is that we would prayerfully discern what God is asking of each of us. To be open to the new things God may be asking of us. To be willing to risk big things for God. And to take one tiny step in the direction of God’s vision.

I know that this last year has asked an awful lot of us. But I think the blessing of this last year is that we all learned that we are capable of rising to the challenges laid before us. We are capable of sacrificing our personal desires for the sake of the health of our neighbors. We are capable of finding meaning and even joy when our world turns upside down. But most importantly this past year has taught us that we are a people of hope. And this season of Ordinary Time is teaching us how we can bear witness to that hope in our everyday lives.

Friends we are capable of doing these things because a little baby, born in Bethlehem, who grew up to forever alter the course of human history, walks alongside us. This gift of God made flesh is a gift worth sharing with those who haven’t received it yet. Whether our call stories are complicated or uncomplicated. I have faith that we will meet the demands of God’s call. So that we might share the gift of Jesus with a world in need of good news. 

Thanks be to God,

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.