One of the problems that Abraham Lincoln had at the beginning of the Civil War was that many of his generals seemed to be hesitant to actually engage in a campaign. They loved to practice maneuvers and drills, which in and of itself is often wise, but they never wanted to seriously attempt to engage in battle or follow up on any initiatives where it seemed that they would have had a clear advantage. An exasperated Lincoln is said to have written to General George McClellan, “ If you don’t want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while.” Lincoln is also reputed to have responded to criticism of his choice of Ulysses Grant by saying, “ I can’t spare this man; he fights.” Lincoln was not a rash man; far from it, he was exceptionally patient. But he knew the difference between a good reason and a facile excuse. He knew when the situation called for a choice, for a decision, and for a commitment.
The Gospel passage this morning seems rather jarring to our ears. Mark reports that Simon and Andrew at once dropped their nets and followed Jesus and when Jesus saw James and John, He immediately invited them to join his disciples. Throughout Mark’s Gospel, “immediately” seems to be one of Mark’s favorite adverbs. Most of us are not impulsive people. We like to be responsible and conscientious, to think things over, to weigh the consequences, and avoid making hasty decisions. It may seem to many of us as if the sons of Zebedee were rather rash or even didn’t know what Jesus was asking, and rudely deserted their father, leaving him to take care of all the nets and continue the family fishing business all on his own. They behaved as impressionable and forgetful 8 years olds rather than mature adults.
I doubt that was Mark’s intent. The pace of Mark’s world was not as fast or intense as ours. We are very much people of the clock, splitting things into minutes, seconds, and even smaller segments. Think of how fast we expect our computers to download thousands upon thousand bits of information. While Mark seemed to use the word immediately to emphasize that the Good News called for decision, Mark’s culture used sunset and sun rise to measure time, not hours. Perhaps Mark’s “immediately” was not quite the same as our sense of the word. As we read further in the Gospel of Mark, it is clear that Jesus knew from the first that the disciples had a lot to learn; it was only gradually that they began to perceive Jesus’ mission and who Jesus was. The horizons Jesus set for them appeared much, much later. I wonder if, in the translation of language and culture, Mark was not intending to emphasize the rashness of the disciples as much as insisting that the many ways God calls us are all not far off in the distance, confined to Holy Ground, or occur in so-called perfect moments when we are fully prepared to accept them. Often God’s special graces fall upon us, when we are tired at the end of a day and feel beat, when we are searching, but not quite sure for what we are searching. Contrary to the silly TV series called The Bachelor, true love doesn’t automatically develop when you are dressed in pretty clothes holding a rose or drinking Champaign on a balmy night around a classical Greek fountain. That’s all total fantasy, not reality.
I wonder if what Mark was really trying to convey to us is that Jesus is an immediate presence who offers to change our lives, who offers to teach us new ways, who comes to us to lead us into a new life now and where we are. Jesus never allows any excuses, whatsoever, to become insurmountable barriers.
Perhaps as Mark was writing about Jesus first calling his disciples, he was reminded of when the ancient tribes of Israel were first given the gift of God’s law. In Deuteronomy, it was reported that Moses gathered the people right before they were to cross over into the Promised Land, and said, “Surely, this law that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?’ No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.”
Mark may be also suggesting something else about the nearness of God’s call. To hear, we may have to stop talking; to be truly fed, we may have to stop what we are eating. Now, I have a confession to make, and it will likely surprise you, but before meals, I like to occasionally sample some well-salted popcorn, made with good honest palm oil. It is so hard for me to stop eating well-made popcorn, but at some point, either someone who loves me or I have to tell myself to stop, stop immediately, or else I won’t be able to enjoy my dinner that someone has prepared. The dinner is not only more inherently delicious than popcorn, it is also much more nutritious. The point is, I have to stop eating the popcorn or I will be too full to eat dinner, and the dinner, no matter how well cooked, won’t taste right to me. Poor Mark, Jesus, and the disciples; they did not know about popcorn popped in pure palm oil, but they did know about the values of greed and selfishness and pressures of the world, shutting down one’s taste for God’s Good News. At some point, when we get too busy, when we get too enthralled or intertwined with the values of the world, we may have to stop, or someone may help to remind us that we have to make a conscious or definitive break to be able to let Jesus nourish us. The call to discipleship is not a call away from family or work, or the responsibilities of ordinary life. It is an invitation to leave empty calories behind that eventually leave us parched and dehydrated and weak, to immediately stop so that we may taste the real food of vocation, of play, of family, of love, of forgiveness and grace.
Mark’s world was far, far different than ours. However, Jesus’ invitation still comes among us today! The moment is not in the past, not in the future. The moment is here and now.
