Decision Time.
Jonah 3: 1 – 5, 10; Mark 1: 14 – 20
Decisions make us what we are or are not.
It’s decision time. That is the theme of our readings today. Each one is about decision-making, and each one is about what God is doing. When God acts we must decide. Jonah first decided to disobey the call of God and through adversity decided to obey God. He proclaimed God’s message to the Ninevians and they decided to repent, and God decided to show mercy to the repentant Ninevians. The Psalmist (62) speaks of the longing for God to act and God’s promise to restore and rescue. Paul writes to the Corinthians and tells them that the time for God to restore Creation is near and that they must decide to live rightly before God. When God acts we must decide. We must decide whether to be part of God’s action or not.
Mark begins his well-crafted account of the Gospel telling us who Jesus is in verses 1 – 13. Verse 14 begins the narration of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus comes on the scene and presents us with a metaphorical fork in the religious road. Which way will you go?
In verses 14-16 Mark provides us with a summary of the Gospel, which in common language reads, ‘it is time to turn around and face the right way’. The Gospel is this; Jesus shows us the way to God and what God is doing about getting us on track. Mark tells us that the first thing Jesus did was to gather disciples. In our passage he calls Simon, Andrew, James and John. Two sets of brothers. All fisherman – all called to fish for Jesus. Incidentally from now through to the Crucifixion Jesus never appears publicly without some or all of his disciples present. The disciples are crucial to the proclamation of the Gospel, just as we are. Remember the future of God’s community, from an earthly perspective, lies with the current followers of Jesus, not the future ones. We are the future – praise God.
It’s decision time. Jesus’ presence creates that fork in the road as to whether we will follow or stay where we are. Jesus’ presence is such that we must respond. The disciples decide to follow. The crowds hear his preaching and in the listening many turn to follow him as Jesus gives them hope, faith and healing. The religious authorities come to hear this new preacher. The religious authorities are full of confidence about their correctness. They respond by deciding to destroy Jesus as he threatens their authority and the status quo [Mk 2: 6f, 16, 24; 3:6].
Jesus in presenting the truth of God is like a light shining in the darkness and the darkness wants to snuff out the light, but the darkness cannot overcome the light of Christ [John 1:5; 3: 19]. The light of Christ confronts the world’s darkness demanding a decision.
The decisions make us what we are. Our decisions shape our future, whether the decision is a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’. I am haunted by a decision I made in my first few weeks of University. It was the 6th lecture in Intro-Greek in my 1st year at university reading for my undergraduate degree in divinity. The lecturer presented the results for our first little test. I did very well. He offered me the opportunity to go to Greek 1. I was in the divinity students group doing Introductory Greek. I wanted to go, but all my fears emerged. I had never done well at languages at school. I stayed. I always feel that if I had gone I would have achieved that standard of Greek that would have served me well in my post-graduate years. Instead my relatively poor Greek skills held me back. On the other hand my decision to say ‘yes’ to Jesus as a 17 year-old has completely shaped my life and who I am. And I have no regrets even though there have been times when I have baulked at the call of God. I am deeply grateful for the call.
Indecision helps no one. It is unhelpful to stand at the fork in the road and keep wondering which way to go and not decide. To stand indecisively at the fork in the road leaves us meandering through life. Indecision leads nowhere.
It is important to be decisive in a time of uncertainty, which is not the same as uncertain in a time of deciding. When we are faced with a decision we need to be decisive. Now when we read Mark’s account of the Gospel of Jesus we might be a little amazed at the response of the disciples. It appears that Jesus walks past a few fisherman on the shore and selects a few! And then they simply turn around and leave everything and follow him. It’s all a little amazing. Mark is not writing about the disciples, he is writing about Jesus. Mark is not interested in why the disciples decided for Jesus; he is interested in telling us that Jesus required disciples. So is there any indication why the disciples chose to follow Jesus? Yes, if we listen carefully to the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Let us recall that many people at this time were looking to God to send the Messiah. Let us also recall that Jesus didn’t drop out of the sky. He was the cousin of John the Baptist. So when Jesus begun his ministry he knew John the Baptist. The Gospel according to John tells us that two of John the Baptist’s disciples saw Jesus walk by and John the Baptist said to them, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” [Jn 1: 35-42] One of these disciples was Andrew, Peter’s brother. We also know, according to Luke, that James and John were partners with Peter [Lk 5: 10]. Mark says Jesus came and called Peter and Andrew, and then walked a little further and called James and John [Mk 1:18], which suggests they knew each other in some way. Clearly the two sets of brothers knew each other. One of them was a disciple of John the Baptist, who has seen Jesus. It is highly probable they had seen and discussed this Jesus of Nazareth. Most likely Jesus had observed them. So when Jesus comes along and says follow me, they respond because they know of him. It is probable that they are already thinking of learning more about this Jesus. Jesus calls them and the rest is history. Simon becomes Peter, whose faith is the living example of the foundation of the Church. Andrew, though never in the in-group of Peter, James and John, becomes the principal saint of Russia, Greece and Scotland.
There is uncertainty at decision time. There is the uncertainty as we weigh the evidence and consider which road to take. Jesus commended those who counted the cost as opposed to those who rushed in and almost as quickly changed their minds and rushed out of the decision. Then there is the uncertainty because we want to be 100% sure. We can hide behind this reason. It is an excuse when we declare we want to be absolutely certain. It is an excuse because no decision made can ever be made on the basis of absolute certainty. When we have absolute certainty there is no decision to make. All decisions require an element of risk, uncertainty and trust.
Now once those disciples chose to follow Jesus the decision making did not cease, it increased. Like them we are faced with decisions about our faith. They are, what I call the ‘big set’ of little decisions. A lot of the time we make them as a matter of course in our daily living. These little decisions that support the life of discipleship are so important.
In our Lenten studies commencing on January 31st we will see that Jesus is always encouraging and stretching his disciples. He takes them aside to teach them. He helps them debrief about their ministry and challenges facing them. He gives them tasks to do. He calls them aside to rest.
So the big set of little questions run something like this, I suggest:
1) How much time is spent in prayer? Talking to God prayerfully is important. I have a habit of waking up and saying, ‘good morning, Lord’, or ‘thank you, Lord’. If we greet those important to us and in our daily lives the first time we see them, then why not God? And we give our closest companions time, why not God? Is once a week really enough for nurturing our relationship with God?
2) How much leisure time do you have? Listen to what Mark records what Jesus said to the disciples after a busy time, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” [Mk 6:31] Being alone with God and relaxing is also important. We need to restore our energy and regroup our thoughts.
3) How much time is spent in service? What are we doing to serve God and bring honour to his name? If we stop to reflect on that we might be surprised at how much we do. I believe being conscious of such a service to God will be rewarding to you and your fellow Christians.
4) How much time is spent learning Jesus’ teaching and about life in general? We are to love God with all our heart, mind and soul. For our relationship with God to be a blessing it needs to be comprehensive. The busy Christian running around just ‘doing’ is no help to themselves or others. The Christian too busy to stop and recover and be with God to pray and learn likewise is of little use to themselves, others and God.
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Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 21/01/2018
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org
New Years benediction
May the God who gives us this year
and the Saviour who walks at our side each day
and the Spirit who fills us with life abundant,
gift the coming year with peace and hope and joy,
Amen.
