"The Time Has Come: Swallow or Follow!"
1 Corinthians 7: 29-32a; Mark 1: 14-20
Christ Church UCC, January 22, 2006
(pulpit exchange)
Those were such anxious times….and Paul simply points to the obvious: Stop doing the things you’re doing the way you’re doing them. That’s what’s making you so anxious! You say your anxiety level is zooming out of control and yet you continue to do things the way you’ve always done them.
You do not have to be anxious. Put your energy into doing the things that will give you a different result. Be a different person and live as if the new world order were here. For those who believe, it is here.
In terms of anxiety, things haven’t changed very much over the millenniums. Mostly, we are still doing things the way we’ve always done them…as people and as nations. I do not know a single person who is not anxious at some level over the state of our own country and the world….or the state of our families or schools or neighborhoods. And yet, we keep doing what we’ve always done the way we’ve always done it as if we had no power to make a new choice for our lives…OR as if the personal choices we make have no power.
(Casting a new into the aisle) "As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea (doing things the way they had always done them) …And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for ‘people’. And immediately they left their nets and followed him (at some level they had to know there must be more to life than just keeping their own heads above water, and at some level they must have been willing to see something in Jesus worth following). As he went a little farther, Jesus saw James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were in their boat mending their nets. Immediately he called them; and they followed him." (Wrap self up in the net, draping it as a stole.)
John the Baptist understood baptism empowers you to turn your life around, find your right spirit and be different. Jesus understood he needed to provide a living example of how to do that. So, Jesus called people to follow, turning their lives around.
Jesus calls you to drop everything and let your baptism take hold of you. Jesus calls you to really live the life you say you long to live. He models such a life. We can’t do what he did, but we can think like he thought.
For some of us, just like the disciples, it may indeed mean leaving jobs that do not serve us or the world well, for some it may mean stepping out from the hold our families have over us that brings us down spiritually or beat us up physically. For all of us it means getting out of the boat (our comfort zone of house, car, status quo) and walking the beach (simplifying and reprioritizing our lives).
For all of us who hear Jesus’ words, it means we are to be a different person than the one the world has grown to expect us to be.
So often we say we want things to be different in our lives…it’s just that we don’t want anything to change. Most of the time we avoid change because we’re afraid of the unknown ways change can affect our lives…afraid our choice may make things worse for us rather than better. You know, less pay, less prestigious work, the judgment of family and possible rejection…these things don’t feel better. We’re right, it will probably get worse before it gets better.
When you choose to live your life with integrity and live out your principles and beliefs….things will probably get worse, at least in the short run. Your relationship may get worse initially when you start seeing a counselor because you’re going to have to deal with all the stuff you never talk about. Your life style may have to be downsized if you make a change to work a job that reflects your values rather than values only your work. Your family won’t understand when you say no to being manipulated by guilt or say no to prejudice masquerading as humor or say no to emptying out your energy running everyone around or waiting on everyone else’s needs. When you resist, it will get worse.
But then, after you’ve been fishing for a new way to be you, comes the catch of the day when you can look at your new life patterns and choices and see that you are different, free from some of the hold the old world had over you. You find yourself….less anxious.
Listen, all fishermen know, you have to have patience and you may not catch the fish you want until the end of the day. All fishermen know you have to be prepared for a long day…..then you get to eat!
Fishing for people begins with catching yourself being somebody new.
Fishing for people is about inviting others to be caught up in a new reality just like you are….sustained by the companionship of those who are also out there fishing.
Jesus, like John, is not fortifying a religious movement or out there instituting new rituals or methodologies for a church. Like John, Jesus is inviting us to take a socio-political-religious stand against the momentum of the secular world to roll over our daily lives and flatten our spirits. Jesus is calling us to leave all this behind and defy the powers that be by standing up to them for our own sakes and on behalf of those not able to stand up for themselves….those whose voices are not heard.
You see, Jesus very carefully chose the words he used to call the disciples to follow him. In using the image of fishing and nets and hooks, Jesus drew upon the images of the prophets Jeremiah and Amos and Ezekiel. These prophets use "fishing" language to warn the rich and powerful (that be us folks!) they would not escape the consequences of their taking advantage of or ignoring those less fortunate. Jeremiah warned the leaders of Israel they would be caught by fishermen and left on the cleft of the rocks if they did not change the course of their actions. Ezekiel warned the powerful, God would put hooks in their jaws (effectively stopping their talk) and those whom they took advantage would stick in their scales and bring them down in the waters drowning them. Amos tells those who oppress the poor and crush the needy, the needy/poor shall "take you away with hooks".
It seems for Jesus, going fishing was an encoded expression to stand up against the rich and powerful and all that diminishes our lives…..including daily patterns of work and family….stand up against political apathy and lack of social responsibilitly and show religious accountability! And….yes….also….as more traditionally understood, Jesus implores us to bring others with us, enfold them in the net of our belief and strength, and bring them with us….into a new reality.
But you have to rock the boat to do that! You have to get out of the boat!
Friends, look. Jesus didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk. His was a hard life….but didn’t Jesus seem blessed and at peace with God and himself, and surrounded always by those who also believed, and didn’t he seem content…joy-filled.
God blesses us all at our births…joy is up to us….and I think it has something to do with going fishing….and catching integrity, peace, depth relationships, support….losing anxiety.
Have you gone fishing lately? Whatever your personal stance on the war with Iraq, immigration reform, prisoner rehabilitation, housing for the poor and elderly, medical insurance….what have you done to make your opinion count? Jesus calls us away from political apathy to social responsibility and religious accountability!
What are you thinking
Think.
Where is the anxiety in your life?
That’s exactly the place at which Jesus calls you away.Where is your integrity threatened by what you see or what is asked of you?
Fish for a better way to live out your conscience.Where do you see oppression or abuse of others?
Be caught up in the tradition of radical Christianity….go be with them…God will show you what to do next.
There are as many choices about what to do and where to go and who to be with….as there are fisher ‘men’. Just like the disciples, we are all different. Jesus’ words hook us in different ways. Good news!
But as Christians there is no choice…..you have to choose! The time is now.
Will you be like Jonah and get swallowed?
Or will you follow like Simon and Andrew and Lydia and Mary Magdalene and Martha and Peter and millions of others who have gone before you?
Will you embrace your baptism as Jesus embraced his and turn your life around and emerge from the waters with a new spirit and a new hope?
Swallow or Follow.
Chose or lose…..
If anxiety is swallowing you up whole, that’s God personally inviting you to
"FOLLOW".
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