1.21.24        Mark 1:14-20

            These two sets of brothers, fishermen, Simon and Andrew, James and John, have the honor of being the first disciples called to follow Jesus.  It is amazing that they did.  I have always wondered– was there something about the way Jesus looked at them, or the way his voice sounded?  The gospel writer, in a pattern he continues throughout the gospel, indicates that these fishermen responded by immediately following him.  No hesitation. Did they stop to think that they could be making a dangerous decision?  In a small community like Capernaum, on the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee, they knew very well that a guy named John had already been arrested for his proclamation of the baptism of repentance, for his insistence on truth telling.  The word for arrested literally means “handed over”—John had been handed over by the King’s henchmen to the jailors because of his accusations regarding King Herod’s impropriety in marrying someone else’s wife.  He was a threat to the Roman powers that be.  John’s ministry proved dangerous—he was ultimately murdered at the order of the King. I wonder how the people who had been baptized by him felt after his arrest.  Nervous?  Looking behind them as they walked down the road?  Were they going to be next if they continued to follow John’s insistence on living in a new way?

The same word is used later to describe the arrest of Jesus—he was handed over to the authorities, endured a mock trial and was crucified.  He was a threat to the Jewish powers that be.  In today’s text, Jesus is picking up where John left off, with the same dangerous ministry.  He echoes John’s words calling people to repent, to do a U turn, to begin a new way of living. And these brothers want to put themselves in danger as well?  Jesus announces that he has the good news of God—it is time, he says. It is time for a change, a time when the reign of God has come close.  He expects a response of repentance and belief or trust in that good news. And immediately they head off in a new direction toward an unknown future, leaving behind their work, their families, their community.

Have you ever thought what it would have been like if Jesus called not two sets of brothers, but a set of brothers and a set of sisters?  The likelihood that two daughters were working with their dad on the fishing boat was not too high.  But imagine with me for a moment.  What if there were two sisters, Edith and Hannah, sitting on the dock frying bread that people could purchase to take home with their fish?  Bread and fish go well together, right?  Surely they would have heard about John and his baptizing ministry, John’s arrest, and Jesus’ proclamation that the time had come.  Like the brothers, they may not have completely understood what Jesus meant by that.  Time for what?  Time to get the good news out? Time for taking stock of their relationship with God and being willing to make a change? Time to follow this man and live out his message?  What if Jesus called the sisters to follow him as well, saying “I will make you feeders of souls” instead of fishers of people.  They already fed people physically, but in following him they would be participating in nourishing people’s relationship with God.

The gospel writer does take note that there were women followers of Jesus.  Apparently, there were women disciples around him throughout his ministry, women who provided for him—likely preparing food and washing clothes and maybe securing funds as well. At the end of the gospel, in chapter 15, Mark mentions several women by name who are looking on from afar when Jesus was crucified.  He writes: “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.  These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.”  This was a commitment!  These female disciples too left their families behind, their tasks at home undone. After traipsing around the communities along the Sea of Galilee, listening and learning from Jesus, they had traveled several days on foot with Jesus and the male disciples from Galilee to Jerusalem, clearly a place of danger for Jesus due to the rising animosity toward this man and his message. What if these two sisters on the dock were among the early female disciples, leaving behind their livelihood to follow Jesus just as Simon and Andrew, James and John had?

Have you ever thought about what Jesus says to you, inviting you to follow him? Is he asking you to be fishers of people, to gathering them in with a net of love, kindness, generosity, care, patience? Not simply gathering them into the church building, although through the centuries many have interpreted this invitation from Jesus as a mandate to recruit new members. It surely is more than filling the pews.  Fishing for people is providing a way for people to draw closer to God, giving them the grace to start fresh and live a different way with different priorities.

Or is Jesus asking you to be feeders of souls, ministering to people who are in a hard place—whether due to lack of finances, lack of good health, lack of friendship and support, or lack of family love.  Giving a bag lunch or serving a meal or filling our basket in the library with canned goods is feeding people’s bodies.  But feeding people’s souls is different.  You can feed a soul by offering physical food.  It warms the heart, it identifies the receiver as a person of value and worth, it can create a connection between the provider and the receiver.  But you can feed a soul without physical food.  Think about ways your own soul has been fed. With an outpouring of love toward you when you are going through grief or trouble. With a listening ear of a friend. With a song, with or without words. How does Jesus use you to feed the soul of someone else?

In our group discussion of the Lord’s Prayer this past week, we learned from the author of our study book that the Greek understanding of soul is different than the Hebrew understanding.  In Hebrew, the soul is the central core of who you are, your entire being. You are a soul, it is your mind, body, emotions, faith, trust, moral behavior.  In Greek, the soul is something that inhabits your body, therefore it is separated from the physical body.  You have a soul, the part of you that connects with God. Many people understand that the soul leaves the body behind at death.

This morning, I want to use the Hebrew understanding of soul.  So, I mean feeding souls as feeding all aspects of the humans around you.  Not just feeding stomachs, but feeding self-worth, dignity, hope, generosity, courage, and on and on.  As a follower of Jesus, are you a feeder of souls? Or maybe instead of being a mender of fishing nets, you are a mender of people, a Jesus follower who brings people together, offers care for those who are hurt inside or outside, brokers peace when there are barriers keeping people apart. Or, maybe instead of counting numbers for a livelihood, Jesus calls you to keep track of blessings or acts of love and kindness.  Disciples live out their commitment to follow Jesus in a myriad of ways: there are teaching disciples, caregiving disciples, musicmaking disciples, wordsmithing disciples, encouraging disciples and more. 

We have met Simon and Andrew, James and John, and maybe Edith and Hannah.  What are the names of the disciples Jesus calls to follow him today?   ____ Jesus calls you to follow him today.  You will be a feeder of souls.  _____ Jesus calls you to follow him today.  You will be a _______ of people.

Jesus calls each of you to follow. What is your commitment of time and energy and gifts to Christ?  James and John, Simon and Andrew committed their lives and left their livelihood.  When it is time to pick up and follow Jesus, something must be left behind—old attitudes or habits, harmful relationships, an unfulfilling job.  If you are going to turn and follow you must recognize what you have turned from, what gets pushed aside, put on the back burner or totally left behind?

What is it that you must leave behind in order to follow Jesus?  Is it a narrow image of God?  Is it an attitude toward someone or a stereotype? Is it your focus on ____________? (you fill in the blank) Is it your attachment to ______? (you fill in the blank)

What are you waiting for?  The invitation stands.  Come and follow me, he says. Men, women, children, grandparents. College students, retirees, day care workers, journalists, accountants, government employees, pharmacists, teachers, nurses– it’s time.  It’s time to respond to Jesus’ call to follow him.  It’s time, my friends.  It’s time to welcome the good news of life which Jesus offers, to follow him, to be an active, committed disciple, whether it is fishing, feeding, mending, loving, or simply being a friend.  Jesus calls you to follow him. Amen.