14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”Click through to hear the "good news" in this reading!
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
This seemingly-simple story from Mark shows a complex and overwhelming transformation in the lives of four men. Once humble fishermen, they became four of Jesus' most prominent followers. Their names have been recorded in the history books. Without them we wouldn't know Jesus or his story. Their actions, their words, their theology have incubated the faith of millions. They changed the world...or rather Christ changed the world through them.
But here's the key: that transformation didn't happen in a grandiose way. No angels appeared, nor heavenly trumpets, nor earthquakes nor windstorms nor lightning in the sky. Instead a man walked by the shore of a lake and said, "Come!" He saw something in them, something extraordinary under their normal facades. They took a walk with him. The rest is history. A few words...a few steps...that was it! This ordinary moment with ordinary people became holy and world-changing through God's grace. It got that way not because they did anything differently--normal walking, normal talking, normal participants--but because they did what they did in the name of God, following his lead.
In church I told the story of one of our friends who watched Derek for a while over the weekend. He came back from his visit proud as punch, toting a few sheets of paper in his hands. They were taped together at the ends. It was a book! And what a book! As we read through it we realized that it was a story not only about Derek, but by Derek. He was on the ocean with his favorite cat Cookie when his boat hit a wall and they fell out. Mommy rescued Derek but Cookie got stuck in the head by a shark tooth when she was in the water. The shark wasn't being mean. He just didn't see Cookie because she was under the water and he accidentally poked her and left a tooth in. But Mommy came and scooped up Cookie and pulled the tooth out. She threw it in the street where it got run over by a car and then they threw it away. Meanwhile Derek blew some air into Cookie and re-inflated her and then she was fine and happy. The end!
To most folks (even his parents) this just would have been a four-year-old's nonsensical tale. But our friends took it and transformed it into something he could keep and be proud of. They cared enough about him and his storytelling to make his words into a fully-illustrated book. In the process they transformed him from a silly, dreaming little boy into an actual author! Now we read his book along with all of the usual ones. He loves it!
That's the kind of vision, faith, and care for their fellow human beings that Jesus' disciples have. They possess the wonderful ability to see folks as God sees them, to look at a normal, average exterior and see far more inside. Jesus took fishermen and made them into apostles. Our friends took a four year old boy and made him into an author. People at our church take young girls and make them into singers, teenagers and make them into band members, confirmation students and make them into preachers, nervous nominees and make them into council members, moms and grandmas and make them into chefs...and the list goes on.
This kind of vision, faith, and care help immensely in our daily life as well. Do you see your spouse as ordinary or extraordinary? How long has it been since you looked at them with God's eyes and how much better would your relationship be if you remember to do so more often? How about your kids? Their teachers? Your co-workers? Fellow church members? Do you see "just folks" or fellow disciples called by God?
People can't believe in themselves or God alone. They need other people with vision to assure and affirm them, to share the good news. This is our calling as disciples. Most of the world sees fishermen. We see beloved children of God capable of great things. We hold that belief and affirm it with our actions...encouraging each other and bringing out the best in each other. In this we follow the example of our Lord, Jesus Christ, shown to us by that lake long ago. Doing anything else, we follow something else...inevitably something less.
I am glad for each one of you and the beauty you bring into this life. Take some time to appreciate the beauty of each other and of our Lord working through each person you meet this week. See people as God does. You'll find a miracle behind every corner, a blessing in every turned page, and an angel behind every pair of smiling eyes.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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