Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 1:14-20
IN TODAY'S GOSPEL FROM MARK WE HAVE THE STORY OF JESUS CALLING FOUR DISCIPLES, PETER AND ANDREW, AND JAMES AND JOHN.  IN BOTH CASES, THEY WERE INVOLVED IN THEIR TRADE, FISHING, AND WHEN HE CALLED THEM THEY FOLLOWED HIM.  BUT WHAT ABOUT LAST WEEK?  THAT WAS FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, AND IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT STORY.  JOHN THE BAPTIST POINTS TO JESUS AND SAYS, “THERE GOES THE LAMB OF GOD” AND ANDREW AND ANOTHER DISCIPLE OF JOHN'S START WALKING BEHIND JESUS, WHO SAYS, “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” AND THEY ANSWER, “WE WANT TO SEE WHERE YOU LIVE”.  AND JESUS SAYS, “COME AND SEE”.  THEN ANDREW GOES AND BRINGS PETER TO JESUS, SAYING, “WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH.”
SO WHAT'S GOING ON?  WHICH STORY IS TRUE?  THEY CAN'T BOTH BE, CAN THEY?  I THINK THEY CAN BE, AND IF WE LOOK AT THEM A LITTLE DEEPER WE WILL SEE HOW THE TWO STORIES MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH OUR OWN LIVES.
SOMEWHERE DURING HIS HIDDEN YEARS, JESUS MOVED FROM NAZARETH TO CAPARNUM.  MAYBE IT WAS AFTER ST JOSEPH DIED; MAYBE HE BROUGHT HIS MOTHER.  WE DON'T KNOW THE DETAILS, BUT THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE FOR THIS IN THE GOSPELS.  THIS IS THE AREA IN WHICH PETER AND ANDREW LIVED AS WELL.  IN THE GOSPEL FROM LAST WEEK, ANDREW AND PETER ARE CURIOUS; THEY WANT TO GET TO KNOW THIS MAN THAT JOHN CALLS THE LAMB OF GOD; THEY WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT MAKES HIM TICK.  I SUSPECT THAT OVER TIME THEY FORMED A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM, AND THE SAME MIGHT BE SAID FOR JAMES AND JOHN.
THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.  IN ANY HUMAN RELATIONSHIP, GOOD OR BAD, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT TWO PERSONS WHO HAVE AN EFFECT ON EACH OTHER'S LIFE.  IT MAY BE THE RELATIONSHIP OF ACQUAINTANCES, WHERE YOU SAY “HELLO” WHEN YOU SEE THE OTHER PERSON.  OR IT MIGHT BE FRIENDSHIP, WHERE YOU HAVE REGARD FOR THE OTHER PERSON, KNOW THEM PRETTY WELL, ACCEPT THEM AS THEY ARE, EVEN WHEN THEY DON'T THINK THE WAY YOU DO.  IT MAY BE A RELATIONSHIP BASED ON LOVE, AS IN THE CASE OF A HUSBAND AND WIFE, OR A PARENT AND A CHILD.   JESUS LOVES EACH OF US MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE EVER COULD; WE MAY IN FACT RECIPROCATE THIS LOVE TO SOME DEGREE OR ANOTHER, AND THAT WOULD BE A RELATIONSHIP.  IN OUR PARISH WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO COME TO CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS AND EASTER, AND SOME WHO ARE HERE DAILY.  WHETHER  ALL YOU KNOW IS THAT JESUS EXISTS, OR IF YOU ARE MADLY IN LOVE WITH HIM, YOU HAVE A RELATIONSHIP.
IN THE FIRST STORY, PETER DEVELOPS A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS BECAUSE HE KNOWS AND TRUSTS ANDREW, AT LEAST ENOUGH TO AROUSE HIS OWN CURIOSITY.  YOU AND I NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE BRIDGES TO JESUS AS WELL; PEOPLE WHO HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH US ARE THOSE THAT WE CAN HOPE WILL DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.  
THE SECOND STORY IS VERY DIFFERENT.  I BELIEVE PETER, ANDREW JAMES AND JOHN HAVE KNOWN JESUS FOR A WHILE.  THEY'VE HEARD HIM PREACH, THEY'VE SEEN A MIRACLE OR TWO, AND THEY PROBABLY CONSIDER HIM A FRIEND.  IT'S AT THIS POINT THAT JESUS SAYS, “COME FOLLOW ME” AND ADDS THE PROMISE, “I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.”  IT IS THEN THAT PETER AND ANDREW DROP THEIR NETS, JAMES AND JOHN LEAVE THEIR FATHER AND THE HIRED MEN – AND MARK SAYS THIS HAPPENS “IMMEDIATELY”.  THIS IS THE POINT AT WHICH THE FOUR APOSTLES COMMIT TO ACTUALLY BECOMING DISCIPLES.  NOTICE THAT BEING A DISCIPLE IS MUCH MORE THAN BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP.  YOU HAVE TO BE IN A RELATIONSHIP TO BE A DISCIPLE, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO FOLLOW THE MASTER.  THAT MEANS YOU'VE RESOLVED TO LEARN ALL YOU CAN FROM HIM, AND IMITATE HIM IN HOW YOU LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE.  BEING A DISCIPLE IS GOING TO BE PAINFUL.  YOU HAVE TO CHANGE YOURSELF, YOU HAVE TO LET SOMEONE ELSE TELL YOU WHAT YOU SHOULD DO;  AND THE MORE YOU WORK ON DISCIPLESHIP, THE MORE YOUR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES ARE GOING TO BE DISTURBED.   BEING A DISCIPLE IS GOING TO HAVE ITS SHARE OF LONELINESS, OF BEING MISUNDERSTOOD.
BUT WHY BE A DISCIPLE?  JESUS ANSWERS THAT AS WELL – SO THAT YOU CAN BE A FISHER OF MEN.  BEING A DISCIPLE ISN'T ABOUT GETTING TO HEAVEN, IT'S ABOUT BRINGING HEAVEN TO EARTH, BRINGING THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO OTHER PEOPLE.  AND THAT ISN'T EASY EITHER, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY REWARDING, IT CERTAINLY BRINGS JOY.  SOMEONE WHO IS A DISCIPLE HAS SET OUT ON THE ONE PATH THAT WILL SATISFY HIS DEEPEST LONGINGS – BECAUSE WE WERE MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE AND LIKENESS, TO CARRY OUT GOD'S PLAN, AND WHEN WE DON'T DO THIS, WE MISS THE POINT OF BEING ALIVE, BEING HUMAN.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE STORY OF THE RICH YOUNG MAN?  WHEN HE TOLD JESUS THAT HE HAD FOLLOWED THE COMMANDMENTS FROM HIS YOUTH, IT SAYS JESUS LOOKED AT HIM AND LOVED HIM.  THERE WAS A RELATIONSHIP THERE.  BUT WHEN JESUS INVITED HIM TO BE A DISCIPLE, HE WENT AWAY SAD, BECAUSE HE HAD MANY POSSESSIONS; UNLIKE PETER AND ANDREW, HE WAS AFRAID TO DROP HIS NETS.
SO WE HAVE TWO STORIES THAT AT FIRST SEEM CONTRADICTORY; BUT IN ONE, THE DISCIPLES WANT TO FORM A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS; THEY WANT TO SEE WHERE HE LIVES, WHY HE DOES WHAT HE DOES, WHY JOHN CALLS HIM THE LAMB OF GOD.  OVER TIME, WE MIGHT ASSUME, THEY BECOME HIS FRIENDS, AND HE, THEIRS.  AND THEN ONE DAY, HE INVITES THEM TO BE HIS DISCIPLES, AND THEY MUST MAKE A LIFE-CHANGING DECISION, NOT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT TRUSTING THIS PERSON, THIS FRIEND THIS MAN WHO THEY HAVE COME TO KNOW.  AND THEY MAKE THE DECISION, THEY DROP THEIR NETS AND FOLLOW HIM.
A DISCIPLE IS SOMEONE WHO CONSCIOUSLY TRIES TO LEARN WHAT JESUS HAS TO TEACH, AND TRIES TO CHANGE HIS OR HER LIFE SO THAT THOSE TEACHINGS ARE PUT INTO PRACTICE; AND PART OF FOLLOWING JESUS AS A DISCIPLE IS TO DO WHAT HE DID, WHICH IS TO SERVE, TO HEAL, TO BRING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.  SOMEONE WHO GOES AROUND AND TALKS ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP ALWAYS ASKS THE PASTORS SHE MEETS WHAT FRACTION OF HIS PARISH HE ESTIMATES TO BE REAL DISCIPLES?  THE USUAL ANSWER IS ABOUT 5%.  JESUS CALLS THOSE OF US WHO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM TO DISCIPLESHIP.  TODAY WE SHOULD ASK OURSELVES WHETHER WE HAVE DROPPED OUR NETS AND FOLLOWED HIM, OR GONE AWAY SAD BECAUSE WE DON'T REALLY WANT TO MAKE THE COMMITMENT.