Erl Purnell Sermon

bEpiphany 3 ~ January 22, 2006 ~ A sermon preached by The Rev’d Erl G. Purnell at Old St. Andrew’s Church, Bloomfield, CT

Jeremiah 3.21-4.2; Psalm 130; 1 Corinthians 7.17-23; Mark 1.14-20

We’re back in Mark’s Gospel and I always like that. When Mark provides the gospel reading, I feel comforted and at home. I suppose that’s one reason I chose Mark as the basis of my book, now titled Through Mark’s Eyes. Writing the book invited me to become an intimate friend of Jesus and his disciples, starting with Andrew and Simon, James and John. Let me read how I depict this scene in Through Mark’s Eyes.

John the Baptizer pushed too hard. He was a dangerous Jew. Radical. King Herod snared him, arrested him, and sent him to prison. It was after that that Jesus went up to Galilee in the north country. He traveled from place to place. Jesus talked about good news, the good news that God was right here, right now. He told those who would listen, “Repent and believe in the good news.”*

Good news was radical, too. Many people thought Jesus was like the popular John, calling people to repent. Soon crowds were following Jesus.

One midsummer day, Jesus was alone on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. He had friends there. Jesus spied two of them waist deep casting nets in the sea. They were brothers. The short one was Simon and the other Andrew. Jesus picked up a flat stone and waded into the warm water. Hands on his hips, he watched these two pull in their nets. Empty. He skipped the stone.

“Hey,” Jesus shouted. “No luck today?”

The young men turned and saw Jesus waving his arms in the air. Andrew put one hand to the side of his mouth and called back, “No fish. No fish today.”

Jesus looked to the morning sky. Not a cloud. Gulls squawked as they glided overhead. He scratched the back of his neck and scrunched his shoulders. He splashed his face and wiped the water out of his eyes. He pushed long wet fingers through his oily hair. Then, he called back, “Come here.” He waved to them. “Follow me. I’ll make you fish for people.”* And with that Jesus turned, stepped through the gentle surf, and ambled up the rocky beach, robe dripping and feet slipping in slick sandals.

Andrew and Simon, fed up anyway, dragged their nets across the rough beach and heaped them in a pile with the rest of their gear. Jesus watched from ten paces away. “Let’s go,” he said and he turned again and started to walk down the beach. Andrew looked at Simon. Simon shrugged and smiled. Andrew smiled, too, and threw an arm over his brother’s shoulder. They walked quickly, laughing, following Jesus.

By the time the barefoot brothers had caught up with Jesus, he had come upon Zebedee’s boys, James and John. There they were, just offshore in their father’s old black boat. A couple of hired hands were also helping Zebedee and mending nets. They had just returned from a night of fishing.

“James. John,” Jesus called. “Come here.” He waved his arm two or three times beckoning them. John looked at James. James turned and stared at Jesus. Both men were tired. Time to go in anyway. Without a word, even to their father, they dropped their work and hopped overboard just like that. The two slogged through the water and up the beach to where Simon, Jesus, and Andrew stood grinning. So then there were five. They walked north toward Capernaum on the shore road. Zebedee, still sitting in his boat, didn’t say a thing.

My purpose with Through Mark’s Eyes is to bring the familiar to readers and listeners, to bring faith to life. The gospels can seem quite distant because they are sketchy and theological, not a journalistic account nor pure history, and not a simple story either. Of course they tell the Jesus story—each a bit different from the others—but the humanity of the characters and the situational settings are frequently glossed over. Likewise, the events often feel canned and disconnected from our own experiences.

One result is that for centuries seekers have elevated Jesus to the status and visage of a regal king in golden robes and wearing a jewel-studded crown. Nothing could be further from the truth. While we actually know relatively little about the historical Jesus, we can be confident that he was a Jewish peasant who led an itinerant life during his public ministry. In all likelihood he was short—the average height of men at that time was 5’3”. Certainly his hands—the hands of a laborer—would have been calloused. His sandaled feet must have been dust covered and pretty dirty.

What difference does any of this make? Well, in Jesus, the Divine, the Holy, the Sacred becomes ordinary. Jewish tradition and belief held that God was unapproachable and distant, his name unspeakable. Remember God on Mt. Sinai when the Ten Commandments were given to Moses? Then, along comes Jesus. He turns the notion of the Creator God upside down. God is no longer on a mountain top, in a fortress castle, or hiding among the mid-night stars of heaven. Imagine. Just imagine experiencing the Sacred in the everyday of a peasant Jew!

And so, my point is that Jesus opens our eyes to the Holy in the everyday, the commonplace, and the mundane. He lives with the certainty that God resides in the intimacy of relationship, friendship, and discipleship. What matters most to Jesus is how people relate to each other, not some lording over others, nor the mean-spirited picking fights with neighbors. He stands for collaboration, not confrontation; cooperation, not conflict; trust, respect, and kindness, not suspicion; hope, not fear.

Notice, Jesus is not interested in power or proving he’s right and somebody else is wrong. He doesn’t play silly games with people’s feelings. He’s a grateful and humble Soul. Listening, forgiveness, compassion, justice, love…these are the hallmarks of Spirit among the people of God’s kingdom. For Jesus, the blessèd of God are at the table together, they revel in the laughter of children, and are grateful for the kindness of the woman who anoints their Lord. The church—the Body of Christ—is not so much an institution; rather it’s a vibrant living society of likeminded people in relationship with each other.

This second pericope of Mark’s Gospel challenges us to follow the example of our own Andrew today at OSA. We are the inheritors of the Sacred in the commonplace. It’s all around us and especially in our caring and respect for each other. It’s in the Spirit of the family that we are. It’s in the Sacredness of the enterprise we’re about: bringing the Word into the Wilderness.

When the presence of God becomes known in the ordinary, trust it and follow it, even when you may not know where it leads. To do so begins a transformative journey as one part of the Body of Christ.

At the end of Through Mark’s Eyes is a Study Guide. By way of closing and as something to take with you, I offer you the questions for this particular part of the book and the Gospel.

a. Why do you think Peter and Andrew, James and John dropped everything to take up a new life with Jesus?

b. Zebedee is left in the boat. Can you imagine what he thought about his sons leaving with Jesus? What might others have thought seeing their relatives or friends take up with Jesus?

c. What do you think it means to follow Jesus today? What would you need to give up and what might you gain.

Amen.