Now 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 lake—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. They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, throwing him into convulsions and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.’ At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Mark 1:14-28
Fishing in America is often considered a lonely sport, just the angler and the water. In fact, through most of history, fishing was a community effort since the goal was to feed many people. It most often included women and children, who fished, helped the with nets, and the cleaning and preparing the fish. Peter, Andrew, James and John were called out from a collective of people working hard together to support their families. Yes, there is no mention of women and children in the calling scene, but I propose we put them back there, since they would have been close at hand. The calling of the first disciples changes a whole community. We can only imagine the mixed feelings had by the wives, mothers, friends, sisters and the hired help. None of it is recorded, but it was there, and it is still among us today. God called disciples from the most overlooked places on earth, from the least important and most disregarded places. And they were extracted from families and communities that gave them identity. God calls us all out of comfortable, familiar places. God calls the most unlikely and disregarded to follow him. May we say yes as the disciples did all those years ago.
Wondrous Creator, source of life and abundance
you lift us from our communities and our families
so we might make the whole world your family.
We resist for there are mouths to feed, jobs to do
we are comfortable in what we know and fear others
thinking we can hide away in familiar surroundings.
Draw us from hiding and help us follow you always
to places where love has been lost and trust destroyed
so we might make the whole world your beloved family. Amen.
