B Cycle – 3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 23

Mk. 1:14-20

If you had or have children, you have experienced reading their favorite book to them.  Because it is their favorite you read it over and over until they can recite the lines of the book with you as you read to them.  Today’s gospel is one of those familiar stories we know so well we can envision them casting their nets repeatedly hoping to haul in enough fish to pay their bills.  We can easily recall Matthew’s version and blend it in with Mark’s version of this encounter.  It is so familiar we like children can recite it and enjoy it but like them we quickly fall asleep and never think about it until we hear it again.

At this point, Simon, and Andew’s understanding of who the Messiah was and what the Messiah would accomplish was an intellectual knowledge of freedom from the oppression of foreign rulers.  We know from last week’s gospel Andrew and Simon had prior contact with Jesus.  Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist.  He was obviously interested in the concept of repentance for sins and how repentance leads to another kind of freedom.  But how that freedom would be given to them by the Messiah was still unknown. 

Yet they dared to leave behind everything they knew to discover what Jesus was offering them.  This is more than a story it is a glimpse into a decision every one of us must make at some point in our journey of faith.  We cannot just do what we believe is demanded by our faith.  They would have met every obligation of their faith and yet they knew instinctively something was missing.  They like us can worship without engaging our minds. We are like children who can recite all the words of the story without ever entering the story. 

What we do think about when we hear this story is what happened when Andrew and Simon spent that time with Jesus.  What happened to them began when Jesus turned to Andrew and said, “what do you want.”  It was a probing question and Andrew’s answer is even more telling.  He did not respond by saying “I want the freedom promised me by God.” He did not say, “I want proof you are who John the Baptist says you are.”  No, he said, “where are you staying.”  Interesting response which I believe goes beyond just asking for a street address.  Keep in mind Jesus tells his disciples “…the Son of Man has no place to lay His head” (Mt.8:20). 

Where are you staying was a declaration of Andrew’s intent to go with Him and listen to Him.  This is what disciples do! They listen.  As John’s disciple, Andrew would have stayed with the Baptist. He would have been excited and anticipating the appearance of the Mesiah.  Andrew’s intent in following Jesus was to learn all he can from the person John called the “Lamb of God.”  His response to his encounter with Jesus was to go and tell his brother and to bring his brother to Jesus. 

That is the journey of faith we all must make at some point in our lives.  We must believe in more than the fact Jesus has lived, has died, and is risen.  We must believe He is still passing by and waiting for us to respond to His invitation to follow Him. We must abandon our held to practices and take a step into the unknown learning to listen to the voice of Jesus penetrating those places in our hearts we have long ago sealed off from others and ourselves. 

This is not a story we can ignore because we know it so well.  It is not about Peter and Andrew, James, and John.  It is a story about us and how our lives are lived without curiosity or without understanding what Jesus desires to do within us. It is about us today, living in the here and now.  Jesus is inviting all of us to cast our nets into the deep. To go where we are unwilling to go because we tried that before. Or because we do not think it will be worth our time. Or because we have better things to do that are less demanding and more rewarding.

The problem with us is we are too comfortable with our faith, and we allow it to demand something of us, but we limit its demands to a standard we set.  We forget God said He wants our hearts not out time. We understand enough to know if we listen to the promptings of Christ, or the Holy Spirit, it will require us to leave the comfortable practice our faith to live our lives as disciples. Disciples following the promptings of the Spirit and walking into the unknown trusting God will be with us. 

Simon, Andrew, James, and John walked away from all they knew to begin a journey of total and complete transformation.  They responded to an invitation. That same invitation is made to each of us today, tomorrow and every day of our lives.  It is time to stop listening to the story and begin to live the story.  Jesus is speaking to you inviting you to follow Him.