Sermon Tone Analysis
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14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.
20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Introduction:
What would it take for you just to pick up and leave what you have?
What would it take for you move somewhere or do something that you have never done before?
I think about the time when my Mom and step-dad made this type of decision.
They had lived in the same small town, known the same people, watched children in that town grow up.
They knew where they could get groceries, pay bills, buy a car, go for medical care and do all the daily things in life.
They had retired in the community and lived an active life in the community.
For many years they had been snow-birds like so many other, coming down for about 5 months to their place over in Port Charlotte.
Then they moved permanently to Florida purchasing a place here in Sebastian.
For them it meant up-rooting their lives and starting over.
It is not an easy transition for someone who was in their late seventies and mid-eighties.
I admired them for having the courage to it.
Gospel Message:
Our message today is somewhat similar.
It is the calling of the first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John.
It is about Jesus calling them and inviting them to make a huge transition in their life by following Him.
Accepting Jesus’ call to follow Him meant leaving the family business and the security they had.
It meant leaving the village, their family, and all the support they had in their daily lives.
What we need to see is that during Jesus' time it was rare that one would leave the family business.
It was rare that one would leave the town of his or her parents.
It was a natural progression for one to work in the family business - generation after generation would continue and carry on the trade: Carpenters, fishermen, herdsmen, bakers, butchers....
So when we read today’s Gospel we find an anomaly.
Jesus calls Peter and Andrew to follow Him and they do.
They drop everything and follow Him.
They were leaving behind family, friends, and a lucrative business.
Jesus begins his ministry:
Our message this morning first is about the establishment of Jesus’ ministry proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
Jesus like John is preaching a message of repentance and calling the people to believe in the Gospel – the Good News of God’s Kingdom.
And second it about an invitation to four fishermen to become his disciple.
It would be an invitation that would change and transform their lives forever.
It would be an invitation that would change lives throughout the known world and for centuries to follow.
It would be an invitation through these four fishermen would stand the test of time and be just as valid of an invitation to you and me as it was to them over two thousand years ago.
Jesus’ ministry
Mark tells us, as do the other Gospel writers, Matthew, Luke and John, that Jesus ministry begins upon John arrest.
It is only after John was arrested that it was time for Jesus’ ministry to begin in its fullest.
When Jesus says the time is fulfilled - it is not just a time referring to a general reference like spring or winter or some other general reference.
It is the divinely appointed time.
It the time that is appointed by God.
It the time for Jesus to act.
As long as John was announcing the kingdom, Jesus could bide his time.
But now it was God’s appointed time for His ministry to begin.
It is fulfilling prophecy foretold by the prophet Daniel
ESV And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people.
It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
God speaks to us in many ways.
Most often we hear that he speaks to us through his still, small voice in the heart.
But God also can also speak to us through a situation or event and that is what happened here.
John was arrested and removed from the scene and this indicated it was the appointed time for Jesus to begin his ministry.
Jesus known in Galilee
And so we see Jesus preaching the Good News in Galilee.
We see that Jesus was not an obscure person in the region nor was his message.
In fact his message was just as forthright and to the point as John’s message.
For like John, his message was one of repentance and the announcement of the "Good News" of God's kingdom.
It was a message that not only called for the people to turn away from their political and social ideologies and it also was one that called them to turn back to a true loyalty to God.
It was a message that called the people to reshape their intellectual and spiritual horizons.
Jesus’ message was one that called for a both change of behavior and a change of the heart.
Jesus was not an unknown.
He was known throughout the region.
Which brings us quickly to the point that these disciple just dropped everything, we might get the impression that hadn’t heard of Jesus before and just dropped everything through the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
I believe that the Holy Spirit did prompt them however I don’t think they were unaware of who Jesus was.
Last week we mentioned that Philip had gone to tell his brother Nathaniel they had found the one whom the prophets had foretold.
It would not be the first time they had heard Jesus nor would they be unaware of what He was preaching and proclaiming.
This would be however the time in which they acted… believing and following Him.
So as Mark and other writers of the Gospel tell us that as Jesus was walking along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee he saw Peter and Andrew who were fishing and called to them and said:
NOTE THE NRSv DOES NOT INCLUDE BECOME
“Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.”
And immediately they left what they were doing and followed him.
Then walking a little further he saw James and John who were in their boat mending their nets and after Jesus called to them they immediately left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed Jesus.
Jesus was giving them an invitation to become part of God kingdom.
It was an invitation that join a ministry to the people of God.
It would be an invitation that would be a life changing event for them.
They responded to the invitation wholeheartedly
His call and their willingness to immediately follow him was a radical departure from Jewish custom and expectations.
By accepting they gave up much but little did they know at the outset how their acceptance of Jesus’ call would change the world.
How little did they know their acceptance of the call would be felt over two thousand years later.
How little did they know that by accepting Jesus’ call it would be felt by all of here today at St. Elizabeth’s.
But what did answering Jesus’ really cost the disciples?
For some it might seem like it was easy choice to leave the life of fisherman and follow Jesus.
What did they have to lose?
In reality it was a lot.
Brothers were not poor.
Fishing was a major industry and livelihood for the people in this area.
The area was on the major trade route and was a major trading area.
Fish from this area were caught, prepared, and preserved and sold as far away as Egypt.
It was not a small minor industry.
And these four, Peter, Andrew, James and John were not necessarily poor.
In particular we read that James and John had a boat, they were working with their father and they had hired hands.
These are all indictors they were not just poor fishermen were trying to eek out a living.
Making nets Ready
They knew the business and they knew industry.
When Jesus approaches them we find both James and John were repairing their nets.
They knew the task that lay ahead of them and they were preparing for that task.
They knew without proper preparation they would not be able to catch any fish and therefore not make any money.
Leaving meant more than just leaving their father with the hired hands.
It meant leaving the family business which went against all customs of the time.
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