January 26, 2003

Third Sunday of Epiphany

Mark 1:14-20

 Give It Up

     I know for a lot of you this is one of the holiest Sundays of the year - the third Sunday of Epiphany!  OK, maybe not…but it is Super Bowl Sunday!

     This being such an important day and all, I thought I’d start with a little story about one of the players on the Raiders team - Jerry Rice.  He rose to stardom as one of the greatest receivers of all time while playing for the 49ers a few years ago.  But unlike most other professional football players, he didn’t enter the NFL by coming through one of the big football colleges.  He went to Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena Mississippi, of all places. 

     I went to Penn State, so I know all about football colleges and how they are launching pads for professional football careers.  But I gave up the NFL to enter the ministry (ha ha). 

     Why would a high school football star courted by the likes of UCLA choose to go to such an unknown school?  Jerry says, “Out of all the big-time schools trying to recruit me, Mississippi Valley was the only one to come to my house and give me a personal visit.” 

     Look at what the big schools missed because they didn’t bother to make that connection.  Never underestimate the power of personal contact.

     When Jesus set about recruiting his team, he didn’t hang posters at the local Stop and Shop advertising for disciples, he didn’t stand on a soapbox crying out for volunteers.  He went to them personally, right where they were.  He went to Peter, Andrew, James and John and spoke of fishing for people.  He spoke to their unique situation.  He saw in them the potential for great faithfulness even though they lacked the skills and experience needed for discipleship.  Jesus opened a door for them, and said, “Follow me…together we can do great things for God!”  And they did.  They gave up their former lives and entered a new life with the Savior.  They gave it up for Christ, because of his compelling words, his powerful Spirit, but I think especially because he met them right where they were.

     What strikes me about this story was how willing they were to go with him, to give it all up to follow him.  We shouldn’t assume these were people without much to lose.  In their community, they were considered successful people.  They owned boats and nets and equipment and hired employees.  They undoubtedly had a network of business connections that included at a minimum, material suppliers, bankers, boat builders and fish buyers.  They gave it all up and followed Jesus.

     Why would someone want to be a disciple if it can be this costly?  Who would want to pay such a price?” 

     I’ve heard plenty of sermons about the high cost of discipleship and I’m afraid I’ve delivered a few of them myself, but I’m no longer sure that the cost of it all is really the point.  As I read Mark’s Gospel now, it occurs to me these guys weren’t even counting the cost.  They were so affected by Christ’s personal invitation that they couldn’t imagine living without him.  They were impulsive people.  Maybe that’s what discipleship requires.

     Did you ever buy a gift for someone without giving a thought to the cost?  Maybe some of your impulsive Christmas buying is just coming home about now with the January credit card bills.  But when that moment is upon us and all we can think of is the person we love and how we want them to know our love is without limit, counting the cost just might not be all that important.

     Our mission statement says “…we reach out as a family of faith to all people with our gifts and service, to bring others into a personal relationship with Christ.”  That statement implies that we who are reaching out already have a personal relationship with Christ because that’s what we are sharing.  It implies we’ve already given up whatever it was that stood in the way of faithfully following him and that we don’t count the cost because we can‘t imagine living without him. 

     So maybe our mission statement is a bit of an ideal, something we are aspiring to, looking to, still working on.  Maybe we all need to continue to be open to the Lord’s visitation, to allow his personal touch upon our lives, to meet us where we are. 

     He will, you know.  He’ll call us right where we are in our lives right now.  He will call us in our comfort, in our Easy Boys in front of the tube tonight.  He will call us in our struggles, too, our darkest hours, the depth of our sins.  He accepts us even there.  Calls us even there.

     There’s no rocket science involved here.  Jesus just calls us to follow, to seek to do what he would do.  And if we falter, if we hold back, if selfishness takes over, he calls us to repentance and offers forgiveness and equips us anew with his Spirit, strength and guidance. 

     Jesus will meet you where you are because that’s the way he calls disciples and he will call you to use what you know right now just as he called fishermen to fish for people.  And he will call you to do exactly what he called them to do - reach out and bring others in.  It’s like the writer Fredrick Beuchner says, “You will know your calling when your greatest joys and the world’s greatest needs meet.”  Christ calls you to witness, to act, to serve, to bring others into a personal relationship with him using what you have, what you know, what you already enjoy doing.

     Jesus didn’t call a small circle of disciples and then call it quits, he commanded them to “go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”  The great commission found in Matthew 28 is right at the heart of our mission statement.  It’s all about being disciples and making disciples, all about following Christ and sharing the joy and peace this brings with other people.

     What do we need to do to expand our outreach to all people as our mission statement encourages us to do?  What will our ministry look like if we really make this our primary goal?  What does it mean for us to be Christ’s disciples today?