| January 23, 2000 | Getting Behind Jesus | Mark 1:14-20
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mark 1:17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Lemmings are small rodents similar to mice. The old legend said that every few years great numbers of lemmings would march to the sea and drown themselves. However, scientists no longer believe this. They do find that there are mass migrations due to crowding from great increases in lemming populations. As they leave their home, most of the lemmings die of starvation or are killed by other animals. Even though that legend seems false, we can still imagine this situation where followers are willing to go behind the leader with great devotion, even following to their death.
In today's Gospel lesson we have Jesus calling the disciples to follow Him. What does it mean to follow Him? What is the response He requests from us? We will ponder that idea of following Jesus and consider our own response to His call to "follow me."
In the Gospel lesson, Jesus returns to Galilee and proceeds with His ministry full scale. He preaches the good news of God. This happened after John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod the king. John the Baptist had pointed out to Herod that he was commiting adultery and Herod did not want to confess his sins, so he put John in prison.
From our Gospel lessons of the last two Sundays we can put together the situation where Jesus had already met Andrew, Peter, Nathanel and perhaps John. Jesus has specifically called Philip to be His disciple. Then Jesus was ready to to go to Galilee. He has probably established a relationship with all of these men.
Now to our text, where Jesus proceeds to call more disciples. First there is Andrew and Simon, the two brothers. They were fishing and Jesus called them to come behind Him and He promised to make them fishers of men, instead of fish. They left their work right away and followed Jesus.
Next, Jesus finds James and John, also two brothers. They were also at work in the occupation of fishing. Jesus calls them too, and they followed also dropping their work.
Now the disciples show great devotion. When the Lord called, they dropped what they were doing and they went. The fishermen stopped their fishing. James and John left their father and the hired men to do the work. They followed with great devotion.
Perhaps it seems at first glace that James and John were doing something sinful toward their father. Were they in violation of the fourth commandment in leaving their father to finish the fishing? This would not be the case for Jesus was there calling them. He would not call them away in an action that would condone or encourage sin. Perhaps they had spoken to their father ahead of time. Peter and Andrew were two who had already spent some time with Jesus and so may have been expecting their call to come. If John were one who had already Jesus, then John may have well expected this call to come too. John and James could have prepared and even cleared this with their father and had his approval.
We can see that these new disciples put the call of Jesus first. To put Jesus first, they needed to put other things after Jesus. In fact, the call of Jesus is literally, "Come after me" or "Come behind me." Jesus was calling these men to put themselves behind Him. This meant that they and all their desires and wishes came after Jesus. Then after James and John were called, the text says they left their father and they went behind Jesus. They let Jesus be the leader and their head and they were literally followers.
Now that we have the example of the first disciples before us, we can consider our own discipleship. How well do you do at following Christ? Do you find yourself wanting to step out in front from time to time?
We are reminded of Peter's response when our Lord predicted that He would be crucified. Peter said, "Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!" Then Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!" See the connection. Peter had tried to step out in front. Rather than being behind Jesus and following, he wanted to be in charge and determine the direction, which would have excluded Christ's crucifixion. Jesus tells him to get back behind Him.
We also, though not part of the original group of disciples, have trouble with wanting to step out in front of Jesus. What do you do if you don't like the directions that Jesus gives you for living your life? Many people just come up with their own directions. Rather than submit to our Lord, they go in front and try to be the leader. We find people make moral choices which are in conflict with the leadership of Jesus. Isaiah 53 says, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way." Instead of following the way our Lord leads, we go our own way.
We also find people who do not want to follow God's directions when it comes to the practices and teaching of the local congregation. Rather than have Jesus be in front, the congregation is treated as a possession of the people who are members. The congregation wants to step out and not let Christ be the leader. It becomes, not the Lord's congregation, but a congregation led by the people.
An old bumper sticker said "God is my co-pilot." While well intentioned, it still missed the point, for if God is the co-pilot then I am the pilot. I am doing the flying or driving and I just let God take over when I am tired. No, the sticker should read "God is the pilot and I am just a passenger." God needs to be the leader.
A perfect example of trying to be the leader and pushing God aside has to do with end-of-life issues. In euthanasia, an elderly or disabled person is pushed in the direction of death, that is, actively killed by actions of others. This is becoming more and more frequent. The other end of the spectrum is ending the life of a baby prior to or at delivery. This is abortion. In our country there is one abortion for every two live births. Nearly 4000 babies are aborted each day. Over 35 million babies have died in the US since our country declared that it would step out and stop following God in 1973.
In both of these cases, abortion and euthanasia, it cannot be reasonably argued that the procedure of killing is medically necessary except in a tiny number of cases. Even in those cases where it is declared to be medically necessary, what does that have to do with God? Does a doctor's declaration that someone is going to die mean that it always happens that way? No, doctors are not God, and so even if one should declare it medically necessary to kill someone, it still does not mean that God has declared it necessary.
The issues of abortion and euthanasia come down, quite simply, to matter of who is the leader. Do you let God lead with the gift of a child's life or that of an older person, or do you decide that you want to do something different? Do you decide that you know what is best, and veto God's direction?
God leads us in a direction that would put a high value on life itself. To allow our Lord to be first and ourselves behind Him means we would put the life of all people, born and unborn, before our needs. The Epistle today mentioned that we ought not become engrossed in the things of this world. That, however is exactly what happens when abortion or euthanasia are pursued. We go after our own personal happiness, or money, or freedom from responsibility. To put these things first, these things of the world, is to step out from following Christ. He is not the leader, but we try to assume that role.
We can certainly find many other examples where we sinful people step out and try to take the lead. If we wander away from our Lord, we find ourselves heading down the path of hell. Because of His wonderful love for us, however, our Lord did not want us to end up facing that eternal punishment. Thus He provided an answer to sin and guilt. He provided some good news. In fact, it is the ultimate good news. This is the same good news that Jesus began to preach as He returned to Galilee and called His disciples. It is the good news of God.
It is important to be clear that this good news is not what some are preaching these days. What Jesus taught was the good news of God, which is a very narrow path. It is not a good news that has to do with us doing good works in order to be saved. It does not have to do with following all the rules and then we will be saved. Those statements are not the good news of God.
Rather, the good news of God is what Jesus said: "The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" This is a quite simple message. Simple, but powerful and true. As Jesus came to Galilee, the kingdom of God had approached and Jesus Christ was that kingdom. He came to call us to turn from rejection and believe. Believe the good news. The one we should believe in was right there. Jesus is the Kingdom and the good news.
Why is Jesus the good news? Because His actions bring us the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life. He is good news because His death on the cross redeemed us from the path leading to hell and eternal punishment. Jesus brings us forgiveness and freedom from guilt through His sacrifice upon the cross.
To remain in guilt, lacking forgiveness, is to remain engrossed in the things of this world. Sin, guilt, punishment are the things of this world. Christ, instead takes us out of this world. It says in the Epistle, "For this world in its present form is passing away."
Abortion and euthanasia are sins which can leave a streak of guilt a mile wide. Most abortion providers will not mention that it is typical for women to have lasting guilt from an abortion. For this situation, however, our Lord calls us to no longer dwell on the things of this world. We are not to dwell on guilt and past sins because they are of this world which is passing away. We do not need to be engrossed in guilt for Christ took that to the cross for us. Instead of guilt and sin, our Lord delivers to us forgiveness and salvation. That comes to us today, in the personal gift of the body and blood offered up for us on the cross. Let us become engrossed in our leader, not the things of this world. Let us become engrossed in the one who frees us from all sin in this world, and takes us to the life to come, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.