In some ways our scripture passage for today is similar to last Sunday’s text. Last Sunday we heard about the call of the first disciples from the Gospel of John. Today we hear of the same events but from Mark’s perspective. The earliest disciples, two sets of brothers, Simon/Andrew and James/John, were hard at work in their trade of fishing. They seemed to drop everything and wordlessly follow after Jesus in response to Jesus’ invitation to, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
Now, truly, this is an interesting and somewhat challenging way to think and talk about evangelism. It’s a phrase and an image that is likely familiar to many of us. But what does it really mean to “fish for people?” Do we really strive to “hook” people, yanking them abruptly out of their habitats, their worlds, in order to invite them into relationship with Jesus? Why did Jesus use this language in building relationships with those early disciples? What can we glean from these words, these images, about a life of discipleship? What language might Jesus use in talking with us today?
Scripture passage: Mark 1:14-20
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