Beyond the Horizon

Mark 1:14-20 CEB

14 After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news, 15 saying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!”16 As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” 18 Right away, they left their nets and followed him. 19 After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. 20 At that very moment he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers.

INTRO

This morning, we continue our Bread, Bath, and Beyond sermon series. We started this series looking at Bread (Holy Communion) and Bath (our baptism). In our baptism, we are incorporated into God’s kingdom, and in communion, we are strengthened by God to live out our lives in ways that reflect the heart of God. Last week, we began to explore the “Beyond.” We named our call to move beyond our beliefs and biases to God’s ways whereby we truly see the other as beloved. In this, we are invited to “come and see” as we follow after Christ and enter into a life of discipleship. This week, we will be continuing our journey to explore beyond.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus begins his public ministry with a simple proclamation. “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!” The CEB fittingly translates this passage, showing us that Jesus is just getting started. God’s kingdom, a new state of affairs, a new government, a new way of being in the world is coming on the scene. Trust this good news. Prepare for this good news; be ready to change. Because, ready or not, God is coming, God is here, God is doing something new.

While some texts translate part of verse 15 as “repent and believe in the good news,” the CEB translates this as “Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news.” At the inauguration of his ministry, Jesus is preparing us for the change that is required of us. You can’t live in the kingdom of God if you aren’t prepared to change. You can’t truly be changed if you don’t change both your heart and your life. Repentance is about turning away from that which is not the goodness of God and changing one’s life. It involves a change of view, a change of feeling, and a change of purpose. It’s about opening yourself up to the work of the Spirit that Christ might transform us. It is about recognizing that our identity, our being, and our humanity are wrapped up in God’s created, redemptive, and restorative grace.

In the midst of this declaration to change one’s heart and life, Jesus begins his journey. As he travels, he comes to the Sea of Galilee, where he encounters two pairs of brothers. First, he finds Simon and Andrew; he tells them to “Come, follow me.” Jesus proclaims that he’ll show the brothers how to fish for people. Right away, the text tells us these brothers leave their nets and follow. Jesus travels a little further, finding James and John. Jesus calls them, and they follow; they leave their father and the hired workers behind in the boat. In each of these moments, we see Jesus calling disciples, and instantly, they follow.

Notice, in Mark’s account, the disciples don’t even say yes. They simply follow. They do this before Jesus has performed any miracles that could validate who he claims to be. Notice how Jesus doesn’t even say who he claims to be. As Karl Barth notes, these brothers are brought into discipleship simply because Jesus calls them and claims them. These fishermen aren’t fancy. They aren’t seminary trained. They aren’t the elite in society. They are the rough and gruff blue-collar workers of their day. They aren’t called because they have a special skill set. They aren’t called because their talents are vital to the mission. Yet Jesus calls them to join him in the mission.

The truth is, in following Jesus, these disciples are preparing to move beyond the horizons of their lives. More likely than not, these fishermen would have stayed in their communities, worked the boats, and built lives. Their scope of travel would have been limited. They certainly wouldn’t have risen to prominence in the faith community. They would have been simple, ordinary, everyday people. Yet, in responding to this call, their lives were changed forever. They prepared to move beyond the horizon and take their place, helping Jesus usher in the kingdom of God.

Despite their early willingness, we know that they won’t always be perfect. In fact, their decisions to follow Jesus will be reaffirmed and even corrected as they move forward. As one theologian notes, “At Caesarea Philippi, Simon affirms his faith in Jesus, but not his faith in Jesus as the suffering Messiah—that will take a lifetime (8:27–33). On the mount of Transfiguration, Peter knows how good it is to be with Jesus but forgets that the real task is to follow Jesus—for a lifetime (9:2–8). In the courtyard, warming himself before the fire, Peter threatens to give up a lifetime of fidelity for a moment of fear (14:66–72). At the very end, when Jesus is on the cross, Peter, Andrew, James, and John are nowhere to be found. Even then, God does not count that moment as the final word: now Jesus will go before them—for a lifetime (15:40–41; 16:7–8).” These early faithful disciples, the ones who drop everything and follow Jesus, will need to grow in their faith along the way. Yet, knowing this will be the case, Jesus calls them anyway.

Jesus stands now, ready to call us beyond our own horizons, beyond our own expectations for our lives, into a life of discipleship. As we hear the call from our savior, the question becomes, how will we respond? Will we respond immediately? Will we go where we are called? How do we continue to respond to the call of discipleship through the years?

So often, the church becomes too focused on that “decision moment.” We want to know the moment someone gave their life to Jesus. We want to relive that decision over and over again. So many churches focus only on if someone is saved. Once we know that they have achieved that moment, then nothing else matters. When churches focus in this way, they fail to recognize the life-long nature of discipleship. As one theologian notes, “Decision is to be lived out in fidelity, service, even sacrifice….Christianity is always both for now and for the long haul; both a moment and a lifetime.”

Like the disciples, when we accept the calling of discipleship when we accept the lifetime of service, we are offered a new thing. Jesus calls across the ages, “I’ll show you how to fish for people.” Perhaps a better translation of verse seventeen might be, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers for people.” As one theologian notes, “There is a world of difference between “I will make you fish” and “I will make you become fishers.” “I will make you fish” gives us one more activity to work into our datebooks. (“Right, Jesus, fish for people. How about every fourth Monday? Can anyone else do fourth Mondays?”) But “I will make you to become fishers”? That promises a whole new life.”

We are called to move beyond our horizons of thinking when it comes to discipleship. So often, we think of discipleship as tasks. We must go out and call people. We must go out and serve at community meals. We must go and show up at bible study. Rather, discipleship must be seen as an identity. How does discipleship change for us when we shift from viewing it as activities or goals to being an identity? What does it mean to identify as a disciple of Jesus Christ? It goes back to the way the CEB translates Jesus’ announcement. Remember? We are called to change our hearts and our lives.

A life of discipleship is a life that completely changes our horizons. It shifts our frame of reference from the ways of the world to the ways of Jesus. We shift our lifestyle and everything about us to the ways of Jesus. It’s not a secret that Jesus comes to proclaim good news. The word we translate as gospel is the same word used to proclaim “good news” when the emperor would send messages of victories to communities. Being called to a life of discipleship reorients all of our loyalties from earthly powers and principalities, from earthly governments and people to God’s beloved community. Being called to be fishers of people means that we are called to change our hearts and lives so that we live every moment of every day differently than before we encountered Christ.

In other words, the ways we engage in our world must be the ways of Jesus. So often, we define ourselves with the ways of the world. We identify with the political party with which we affiliate; we identify with the state we live in. And yet, more often than not, we more easily stand up and proclaim how proud we are to be Americans. While we certainly can be proud of being American, we must acknowledge that, first and foremost, we belong to God. In acknowledging our true origin and our true allegiance, we must examine the ways in which we engage with the world.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must recognize the ways in which our practice embodies our call to discipleship. Our budgets, the structure of our society, our use of military force, and the way economic and social power is distributed all should reflect the reign of God has come near. Yet, we recognize at the same time that in our governments, these priorities do not reflect God’s reign. People still go hungry. People are still homeless. People are still fighting for equal treatment and recognition.

Now, this does not mean that we must go out and overthrow the government, but if we move beyond our current horizons, our call is to advocate for those changes in the world. This week, many will gather in Richmond for United Methodist Day at the General Assembly. Those of us gathered there will be advocating for legislative priorities that work to reflect God’s kingdom here on earth more, that work to provide for the common good. One such legislation is childcare subsidies in partnership with the Virginia Promise Partnership. Others include expanding free school meals for hungry children, expanding summer meals for children, and so on. This work reflects lives and hearts that are changed. This work reflects what it truly means to be fishers of people. To desire, care for, and long for the common good of the other…to want God’s best for them.

So this week, as we go about our regular ordinary lives, as we reflect on the horizons we see in our world, may we be open to the call of Jesus. May we be reminded of the lifetime commitment to follow after Jesus. May we open ourselves up to truly be fishers of people that our hearts and our lives, that everything we have may be reoriented toward Jesus. May we trust God, leave everything behind, and follow Jesus.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.