The Gospel of Mark 1:14-20
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus
The one true leader of every church,
We choose to stand as one church – your church –
And to lift our focus from our differences and divides.
We will leave our own ways and follow you together.
Support each other as we seek to be your disciples.
And work together to focus on fishing once more.
This we pray in your Name. Amen
In today’s world and someone came up to you and said Follow me, would You? In this world full of scams, and fraud, I would be very reluctant to follow that person. Fortunately, the disciples were not, they immediately left their nets and family and followed Him. We’ll never know the thoughts racing around their minds that day-the day their lives changed in ways they never could have imagined. They must have recognized something very special about Jesus to agree to follow him.
Knowing what we know today if we were asked now to follow Jesus, would you? Another way is to think of a time in your life when you were invited or selected to do something that surprised you, or perhaps made you feel that you weren’t ready for the task: why were you surprised you were selected; how did you respond, and what did you learn about yourself after this experience? Put yourself in the shoes of the twelve persons Jesus called to be his companions they were ordinary men. They did not hesitate, they said yes, Jesus didn’t do background checks to determine IQ levels, financial status, professional skills, or temple education. He picked people much like you and me. Furthermore, his disciples were anything but perfect. Many times, they misunderstood him. They often hesitated to follow him. Judas betrayed him and Peter denied him. But these would be the persons who would continue Jesus’ work on earth after he left — ordinary people, like you and me. They were called. So, what was it about this man, Jesus, that enticed these hardworking fishermen to leave their livelihood, their families, and their homes to follow Jesus immediately? Was it His charisma? What it the message He was preaching? Or was it a call from deep within? Today Jesus is calling us just as He called His first apostles. What will our response be? Will we tell Him that now is not a good time for us? Will we give Him all the reasons why we can’t pick up and follow Him? Will we place our hope and trust in Jesus as these first disciples did? Will we eagerly follow Him? I pray we will!
Let us Pray: Most Holy and Loving God, You call us to go where we do not want to go, to do what we do not want to do, to be who we do not want to be. Grant us willingness to accept our calling as faith-filled fishers of people that Jesus asks us to be. We ask through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who together with You, live and reign in the promise of eternal life, One God, now and forever. Amen.
Reflections by Bob 