Jonah
3: 1–5, 10; Psalm 62: 6–14; I Corinthians 7: 29–31; Mark 1: 14–20
This is the homily by
given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, January 21, 2018 by Fr.
Gene Tucker.
“GOD’S CALL
AND THE HUMAN RESPONSE”
(Homily texts: Jonah 3: 1–5, 10 & Mark 1: 14–20)
The Collect for this Sunday, as well as
our Old Testament reading from Jonah and our Gospel text from Mark, chapter
one, are all quite well matched, each one focusing on God’s call, and on the
responses of human beings to that call.
In the case of the people of Ninevah,
and in the case of the response of four of Jesus’ first disciples, Peter and
Andrew and James and John, the response to God’s call seems to be immediate.
(Indeed, the word “immediately” is one of Mark’s favorite words to describe
Jesus’ ministry and the response to His ministry….Mark’s gospel account is
peppered with the word “immediately”.)
Our Old Testament reading and our Gospel
reading are well matched in another way:
Each call involves repentance and amendment of life. Jonah proclaims
God’s call to repentance to the people of Ninevah, while Jesus begins His
public ministry in Galilee, reinforcing the message that was proclaimed by John
the Baptist: “Repent and believe the
good news.”
Let’s unpack the scene that unfolds
along the shores of the Sea of Galilee a little.
It might be easy for us to impose our
twenty-first century expectations on these four sons as they are called into
ministry by the Lord. For us today, we expect that our young people will – once
they reach a certain age and are ready to go out into the world on their own –
leave the house and strike out on their own to follow a career, to enter into
marriage or to follow some other path.
But that’s not the reality of what’s
happening with Peter, Andrew, James and John. All four of them are engaged in a
family business, that of fishing. And apparently, if we can take careful notice
of what Mark tells us about James and John, their family business is of
sufficient size to allow them to hire others to assist in the conduct of it.
So when Jesus walks along the shore and
calls each of them into His service, their departure from the security of their
family businesses marks a departure from all that they had known to that point
in their lives. Not only are they leaving behind family obligations, they are
also embarking on a new career, one that will involve missionary work (in due
time) as they go out to “fish for people”. In this sense, today’s Gospel
passage has a definite forward-looking aspect to it.
It might be easy for us to think that
these four disciples made an easy choice to follow Jesus. Certainly there must
have been something that was very compelling about the Lord’s invitation to
come and follow Him. But a major change in life style and in the course of
their lives was also involved, though they probably didn’t realize just how
great those changes would – in time – become.
Today, as it was when Jesus called these
four men into His service, God’s call often involves a major change in the
trajectory of our lives. Once we decide to follow the Lord, whatever priorities
and plans we may have had for our lives now must factor in God’s desires for
us. Those desires may take on radical dimensions as we respond to God’s call to
serve. For example, some Christians will leave family, familiar surroundings
and established careers to become missionaries in a new (and perhaps) different
place.
Even if the scope of change isn’t as
great as that, God’s call will always involve some change in our understanding
of what God has in mind for us.
So, how do we discern God’s call to us
today, a call that is made to each and every person, a call that begins in
Baptism? How do we hear and discern God calling us into some sort of ministry
or service?
Such a call may come as a result of
Bible study, or as a result of meditation, or in conversation with another
Christian believer. The Holy Spirit can use each and all of these things (and
perhaps, other means as well) to issue God’s call to us and God’s invitation to
go into the world, carrying the good news of God made known in Christ Jesus.
AMEN.
