"Two Questions Everyone Should Ask"
Mark 1:14-20
January 25, 2009
St. Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John A. Fleming
During the Christmas season, Susie and I hired a sitter for our girls, went out to dinner and then to see a movie that had intrigued me to the point that I had to see it. The professional reviews weren't great and a member of our staff wasn't fond of it all. It's interesting that people said that it was either a must see or must never see.
The movie is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's book The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. You probably know the story line. Benjamin is born in New Orleans. His size is that of a baby, but his body compares to that of a very old man. His mother dies while delivering him and his father drops him off on the doorstep of a boarding house for older adults. Throughout his life, instead of getting older, Benjamin grows younger and younger. I am not sure I can recommend the movie to you because some of the scenes in the middle of the movie. Benjamin is a young man living in New Orleans after all, but if you ask me privately if you should see it, I will tell you yes and provide this disclaimer, "Pay close attention to the first of the movie and the last of it. It is very powerful!"
As I have said, Benjamin, for a time, lives in what seems like a boarding house for older adults. While he lives there, Benjamin meets a variety of people. He also experiences a lot of people out in the real world. Near the end of the movie, Benjamin has this line, "Some people were born to sit by a river. Some get struck by lightning. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers and some people dance." For some reason those lines resonated with me, they were powerful to me and I couldn't help but to wonder, "What would Benjamin have said about me?" What would the world say about me and who I am and what I did?
I think there are two questions that everyone should ask themselves in their lifetimes. I also think that you should keep asking yourselves these questions time and time again, throughout your life. Here are the two questions: Who am I? And why am I here? These are the questions I like for us to consider this morning.
Every January, the lectionary lessons ask us to look at our discipleship, our following of Jesus. I guess the idea is a new year, a new start, and a new walk following Jesus. It's not a bad idea.
This year it is Mark's turn to tell his story of Jesus, which he does at breakneck speed.
Our verses for today mark the end of John the baptizer's ministry and the beginning of Jesus'. Mark gives us these lines, "Now after Jesus was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news."
While he was in Galilee, he walked by the Sea of Galilee. As he did, he saw two men, Simon and his brother, Andrew, casting their nets into the sea. Mark writes something that is very obvious and yet it took up residence in my heart. Mark says that they were casting a net into the sea - for they were fishermen. That is what they did and it also is who they were. Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." We don't really know much about these two. We don't know if they had kids at home and a wife waiting on them. We don't know if they loved their job or hated it. What we know is that they dropped their nets and followed Jesus.
With the two in tow Jesus walked a little further up the shoreline where he saw two more potential recruits. These two were James and John, Zebedee's boys. The two were in the fishing business with their father and because you can't fish all the time, they were mending the nets that would soon be used. Jesus called out to them. The word "call" is a powerful word in a Christian's vocabulary. James and John dropped those nets and their father to follow Jesus. The word Jesus uses for their responses both times is the word immediately.
Who were James and John? Like Simon and Andrew, they were fishermen, but they were also sons. Can you imagine the scene at the Zebedee's house at dinner time when their momma wanted to know where her boys were? James and John were sons who became disciples.
In both cases, these men made an instant decision for Jesus. Just like that these four dropped everything and followed Jesus. This is not the end of their story; this story is just beginning. Ahead for them and for us this year, there is a lot to learn. We will stumble and we will misunderstand. We will, to use a good United Methodist term, backslide. Following Jesus takes both a moment and a lifetime.
Well, let's look at our two questions for this morning a little more closely. First, who am I? Again I think the question is one we ask not once but many times in our lives. When the Staff-Parish Relations Committee at the First United Methodist Church of Little Rock was meeting and was told that I was coming to be their Associate Pastor, John Ed Chiles, a member of their committee asked, "Is that Jo Lee's son?" When I was a kid, that's who I was and its still who I am.
I am a son to my parents and a brother to my brother. I am a husband to the only woman I have ever really loved and I am in awe that she still puts up with me. I am a father to two precious girls who, at the end of the day, are still excited to see me, the youngest sometimes screaming out in excitement when she first sees me. Later she will just scream!
We are not on this earth very long before we realize that we are made for relationships and with relationships come expectations. When I meet with couples who are soon to be married we talk about expectations. It's better to do that on the front end. Unmet expectations can really cause problems. I love watching as one voices to the other what their expectations are. Some are sweet and powerful, others are unrealistic.
Some of us have mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles and cousins. Many feel compelled to tell us how to live. Parents want their kids to do things like sleep through the night, be nice to our sister, clean up our room, tell the truth, and stay out of trouble. Our bosses at work expect us to arrive at work on time, early would be even better, and to stay late and never to ask for more money or time off.
The church even puts a demand and an expectation on our life. I expect you to be faithful in your worship of God and in your discipleship with Jesus. I expect you to look beyond yourself to the world that is our church. Somewhere this week I read that twenty percent of a congregation does a hundred percent of the work. Somewhere I read that another twenty percent come to worship and that is all. This week I read that forty percent of a congregation can be considered a C.E.O. meaning that they will be here on Christmas, Mother's Day, and Easter. I expect more than that and so does Jesus!
Beyond all of that, as deep down as our DNA is who we really are, our true identity. There is a voice deep inside all of us that calls out, spiritually speaking, and tells us we are children of the King. It is the voice that Jesus heard when the heavens were torn apart. It is the voice we hear when we are still enough to listen. We are God's children. Let us never forget that!
Who am I? That is an important question to answer. Let's look at the second one. Why are we here? By the time Jesus was twelve, he already knew the answer to that question. He said that he had to be in his Father's house, doing his Father's business. It takes us longer than that, usually, to figure out what we're supposed to do and why we are here. To be honest with you, I'm still trying to answer it for myself!
What I know is this. My faith in God must be an important part of my life. I must think about it. I must tend to it. I must let it shape my work, my family life, my church life. God must be the main thing for me and us. We must pay attention to that by doing things like singing songs, saying prayers, bending knees, sharing stories, showing up when something devastating happens, turning a good deed, giving a gift. Listen to this. God is big enough to rule this big world of ours and small enough to live in the depth of my heart. I am here to glorify God.
I am also here to serve Him. Later when James and John are vying for a special status in the kingdom, Jesus tells them that real life is serving. Serving means thinking of others first and asking the question, "How can I help?" Servers complete instead of compete. Servants know that life is not about winning or losing, but about sharing. Servers look at the ministry as an opportunity and not an obligation. It was Albert Schweitzer who said, "The only really happy people in the world are those who have learned to serve."
Let me finally say this. We are here to make a difference in someone's life. One of the great stories in the Bible is the feeding of the five thousand. You can find it in all four gospels. As John tells it, the whole thing is made possible by a little boy who shared what he had. Are you willing to do that?
On Friday we had the memorial service for our brother, Lewis Wells who died much sooner than any of us wanted or expected. One of his doctors came by to talk with the family when he heard the news. I was touched by what he said to first Kevin and then to Gail. It was something like this, "He was a good man and I am sure a good father and a good husband. I could tell that." How did he know? The doctor was a specialist who only saw him the last few months of his life. How did he know? He knew because of the way Lewis lived. He made a difference to his son and daughter, to his daughter-in-law and son-in-law, and to his grandchildren. He made a difference in the life of this church. His fingerprints are everywhere.
Go home asking yourselves these two questions, "Who am I?" And, "Why am I here?" Pay attention to your discipleship dear friends. Amen.
(Special thanks to the writers and producers of the movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Special thanks to the friend who helped me see the importance of the two questions. And thanks to Lewis Wells for a life well lived).