Pastor’s weekly message, 2.7.21
It’s always hard to know how we would act in certain, hypothetical, situations. So I can’t say for sure what I would do when a person asked me “what would you do if …?”. But I think that if Jesus had called me–once I got over my initial irritation at being interrupted; once I finished up the paragraph I was typing and saved the document; once I checked a couple of references to make sure the guy wasn’t a crazy person–I think I would have been willing to follow him. But the nets, the stuff, the things I have worked so hard to acquire–they would be coming with me.
However, it is not just about leaving possessions behind that is the point here. Peter and Andrew, James and John didn’t just leave behind stuff, they left behind their most comfortable identities–the work and family relationships that give them value in the eyes of society and, probably, in their own eyes as well. They go from fishermen to “fishers of people,”–followers of Jesus–whatever that is!
I tend to skip over the word “immediately” in Mark because it is used so often. Everything happens “immediately” in this Gospel. But perhaps it is worth paying attention in this case: “Immediately they left their nets.” So hard. Really almost unfair.
“Immediately they left their nets.”
Maybe “immediately” is the only way any of us can ever do it. Because it conveys a response without hesitation. It is a response that completely trust the person who called and gave the invitation.
Do we give that much trust in Jesus to “immediately” leave everything behind?
