“Drop Everything”

 Did you ever think about what it takes for someone to “drop everything” to follow Jesus?  Mark says when Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee and called out to those first four disciples, those fishermen – Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John – they all just “immediately they left their nets and followed him.”  Now I expect that most of us who have heard the story before hear it through our Bible ear muffs – you know, “blah blah blah... Bible people do Bible things.”  But if you stop to think about what you, or what any real person you know would do – it starts to sound a bit crazy.

Think about it:  Here they were, in the middle of a typical work day – Peter and Andrew were standing out in the water casting their nets for fish, and James and John were sitting in a boat with their dad mending nets.  They have important work to do to – you know – make a living, feed their families.  And in those days, we can imagine they really did live on subsistence wages, from hand to mouth.  And then this Jesus character – who they might or might not have met before – comes along.  Maybe all they know is that he’s a follower of John the Baptist – not really the greatest recommendation, considering John had just gotten himself arrested for treason.  Mark says that “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’”?  Good news?  Seriously?  Repent, for the end is near?  How exactly is that “Good News”?  It makes you sympathize with poor Zebedee! What father wants his sons to up and quit the family business in the middle of a work day, just to run off with a known radical and get themselves killed?

Yes, the Day of the Lord that the Hebrew prophets proclaimed was “Good News” – but much more in theory than in reality.  If God would come, as Isaiah promised, to release the captives from their chains, to set free the oppressed – that would be great.  But who in their right mind wants the Apocalypse to come today, or tomorrow, or in a few weeks?  Remember that preacher who predicted the end of the world last May? His followers apparently were happy to drop everything, quit their jobs, and give all their money to get the word out to the world to repent before the last day – but who here thinks of them as normal Christians?  And I wonder how happy they are now?  

We are the kinds of Christians who know, when they say in those disaster movies, “We’ll be all be blown to Kingdom come,” that Armageddon is not a good thing!  We do pray “Thy Kingdom come” every Sunday, but I think we mean something more positive, more life-giving, when we pray that prayer.  We are not likely to want to “drop everything” and follow Jesus if he is asking us is to pick up bullhorns and lead people to God with the urgent need to repent – with threats of hellfire and damnation.  But what are we willing to do for Jesus?  What are we willing to drop, or to sacrifice?  What do we think we can do to hasten the coming of God’s Kingdom here on earth? What does our call to discipleship look like? 

Our vision statement – Make Jesus Your Mentor: Pray, Share, Welcome – I think approaches what our “brand” of disciples are trying to do for our community and the world.  We are not trying to scare and entrap people into nets of Christian lives, so that we can save them from God’s wrath.  But we are inviting people to drop everything that binds them – those ever-present “nets” of this world’s stuff, which can trap them in lives of aimless busy-ness – and join us on a joyful journey with Jesus.  And I think we do that because we can honestly say our lives, and those of our family members, are being transformed for the better by what we have experienced through Christ’s church here in Brookfield – through our wonderful, “open and affirming” prayer, sharing, and welcome.  At church, we know our lives count – they make a difference to God, and to the world – at church, we get to participate with Jesus in inviting the Kingdom of God to break into our world.  We invite transformation as we bring fullness of life to all of God’s children.

In our first reading today, in First Corinthians, Paul encourages that community to view their lives through the lens of transformation as well – he calls them to transform their attitudes in a world where the church was increasingly persecuted by Rome, where Christians might be very tempted to give up and go back to their old lives.  Paul makes his case by sharing this “good news” – that “the present form of this world is passing away.”  Yes, that is “good news” to all people oppressed by this world’s madness, then as now.  But more surprising, I think, is what Paul suggests we do to transform our thinking.  Because, as he says, “the appointed time has grown short,” he preaches an almost-Buddhist “detachment” from this world – both the good and the bad.  “I mean,” he says, “brothers and sisters ... from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, ³⁰and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it.”

I think that, like Jesus, Paul is trying to get them to “drop everything,” because he wants them to refocus their lives on God – that is, on sharing the Good News of the transforming power of God’s love – in this life and the next.  In other words, both Jesus and Paul knew that not only little pagan statues of silver and gold could be “false idols” that draw the focus of our lives away from the love of God – but all kinds of OTHER worthy things can do that too.  Things like fishing – what Paul calls our “dealings with the world” – that is, whatever work it takes to feed and care for our family. Really great blessings like romantic love, buying beautiful things, or rejoicing with friends – Paul says even giving love and gifts to our family and friends can be bad, if it pulls us from the big agape love God wants us to share with the world.  Even mourning a lost loved one can be bad, if it leads our hearts away from what God is calling us to do.  Jen and I can attest that we can get so busy with God’s work that we forget to love others along the way.

I confessed to our Thursday morning prayer group how that happened to me last Sunday afternoon, when I got caught up in all the church work I felt I had get done.  I stayed longer than usual after worship for a youth leader meeting, then rushed home for a quick lunch with my family, and then rushed back to Danbury Hospital to try to visit with Joyce Insull before coming back here to lead our 5 pm video study group.  Not only did I drive a little faster than I should have, after I parked at the hospital garage, I rushed to the wrong entrance, on the wrong floor.  I cursed the locked door (and probably got caught on a security camera saying something a pastor shouldn’t say!) and ran down one level. Going in through the cancer center, I nearly knocked down a mom with a stroller. 

When I finally got to the security desk, I tried to wave my badge at them and breeze right in as usual, but this new woman there said, “Wait, don’t priests have to sign in like everyone else?”  “No,” I said, “that’s why we have photo ID badges.” I was trying to patiently explain, but I think I sounded more sarcastic than helpful.  “You’ll have to wait while I scan your badge and fix you a nametag.”  I just glared at her as she meticulously did all this unnecessary extra paperwork, thinking, “What is wrong with you?  Why can’t you get out of my way so I can go do God’s work?”  It’s easy to be so driven by the stress of life that we miss out on opportunities God places right in front of us to spread the peace of Christ, and share the grace of the Holy Spirit with the world.

What do you need to drop to be able to receive and share more grace and peace from God?  What do you need to drop to be able to share more time and money with the ministries of Christ’s church? What do you need to drop to be able to help offer the kind of warm and loving welcome our congregation can provide?  What I would ask of you in the coming weeks – as we explore what it means to live as a spiritual community that offers real transformation for our members and for the world – is to think more about what it would take for you to deepen your commitment to your faith life this year.

If you’re a recent newcomer or first-time visitor, I am so grateful that you were able to drop whatever else you might be doing this Sunday morning to be with us here today.  I pray that this taste of our worship – and maybe also our delicious fellowship food, if you come downstairs for coffee hour! – will whet your appetite for more of God’s delicious love for you.  If you’re a regular around here, we hope you’ll take the time to come to our Opportunity Fair down in Fellowship Hall today and share with us something about what feeds or inspires you, and how you feel called to serve Christ’s church.   Whatever you need to drop to make more room for Jesus – to be able to answer “Here I am, Lord” to God’s call – I know you will be more than glad that you did.

Thanks be to God for this call to worship, work, and serve the world in Christ's name.  Amen.

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1 Corinthians 7:29-31

²⁹I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, ³⁰and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Mark 1:14-20

¹⁴Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” ¹⁶As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁷And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” ¹⁸And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.