{"id":4574,"date":"2021-01-24T14:02:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T14:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2021\/01\/24\/what-did-they-see-based-on-psalm-625-12-and\/"},"modified":"2021-01-24T14:02:49","modified_gmt":"2021-01-24T14:02:49","slug":"what-did-they-see-based-on-psalm-625-12-and","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2021\/01\/24\/what-did-they-see-based-on-psalm-625-12-and\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat Did They See?\u201d based on Psalm 62:5-12 and Mark 1:14-20"},"content":{"rendered":"

I
\nwas lucky enough to be raised in the church, and a thoughtful loving
\nchurch at that. \u00a0I liked church, I liked Sunday School, I loved
\nchurch camp. \u00a0Nevertheless, feeling a call to ordained ministry felt
\nlike it came out of no where. \u00a0The call came during a worship service
\nat camp, when the leadership of Jesus was being described. \u00a0The camp
\ndirector compared the characteristics of a worldly leader with the
\nway that Jesus led, and invited us into the second kind of
\nleadership. \u00a0She talked about worldly being \u201cimportant,\u201d and
\nhaving people serve and take care of them so they can do \u201cimportant\u201d
\nthings. \u00a0She compared it to the leadership of Jesus, as seen in
\nfoot-washing, where leaders lead by serving others.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nimmediately, viscerally, wanted to be a part of that. \u00a0The inversion
\nof what was important. \u00a0The service. \u00a0The care of people. \u00a0The values
\nof the Jesus movement. \u00a0My desire to be a part of THAT was strong
\nenough to change my life plans \u2013 from a desire to be an
\nenvironmental scientist to a desire to be a minister.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Whenever
\nI read the story of the call of the disciples, I can’t help but
\nwonder, \u201cWhat did they see?\u201d \u00a0What was it about Jesus that was so
\ncompelling that they changed not only their life PLANS like I did,
\nbut their LIVES? \u00a0Why did they go? \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I
\nbring a lot of skepticism to Biblical texts, but I do tend to think
\nthat a lot of people left their lives behind to follow Jesus. \u00a0Thus,
\nthis story contains some big T Truth, whether or not it happened
\nexactly this way. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So,
\nwhat was it that made Jesus and his message so attractive? \u00a0Why did
\npeople walk away from lives they knew just to follow him? \u00a0Why was he
\nso popular it began to threaten the Roman Empire? \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

There
\nare a few pieces that may come into play. \u00a0One option is that
\npeople’s lives were really awful, so any alternative was better than
\nthe status quo. \u00a0This may have come into play, but most people are
\nstill hesitant to leave what they know, so it isn’t SUFFICIENT.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Rob Bell has a
\nvideo series called NOOMA, and in one of them he points out that in
\nthe time of Jesus, all Jewish boys got some basic education, and the
\nbrightest and the best got to have more. \u00a0There was continued
\neducation and continued weeding until the point when Teachers
\n(Rabbis) would pick a few students to teach, and the rest settled
\ninto other lives. \u00a0Thus, the very best Jewish scholars got to spend
\ntheir lives working on questions of faith, Biblical interpretation,
\nand things of God. \u00a0The rest \u2026. didn’t. \u00a0Rob Bell suggests that
\nwhen Jesus called the fisherman, and invited them to follow him \u2013 a
\nteacher \u2013 a rabbi, he was inverting that system and inviting those
\nwho’d been weeded out first into the best sort of education.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That is, perhaps the
\ndisciples followed because Jesus called \u2013 and no one else had.
\nThey were welcomed to be students of Jesus, but no one else had
\nwanted them.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I haven’t heard this
\ntheory elsewhere, so I’m not sure if it is true, but it also seems to
\ncontain some big T True. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Even so, even if
\nlife was hard and even if Jesus was the first one to invite them into
\na life of Spiritual goodness, there had to be something about Jesus
\nhimself that was simply attractive enough to follow. \u00a0Based on how
\nstories are told of him, it seems most likely that what was amazing
\nand attractive in Jesus was his connection to God. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Now, it is important
\nto remember that connections to the Divine are not a Jesus-only
\nthing, nor a Jesus-movement-only thing. \u00a0Today’s Psalm, which comes
\nfrom Christianity’s Jewish roots, speaks profoundly about connection
\nto the Divine.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Psalmist says,
\n\u201cFor God alone my soul waits in silence, my hope is from God\u201d –
\nand then goes on to name all the ways that God is the source of
\ndependable goodness that allows for life to be lived well. \u00a0The
\nPsalmist compares the inconsistencies of life with the constancy of
\nGod, the un-importance of wealth and measures of power with the
\nimportance of steadfast love. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That sort of
\nmystical connection to God, that trust, that wisdom \u2013 seems much
\nlike what the disciples may have seen in Jesus. \u00a0Embodied love and
\ngrace are profoundly attractive. \u00a0(If Im totally honest, I prefer the
\nsort of \u201cevangelism\u201d that is being such a happy, kind, and loving
\nperson that people want to know how you became like that.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I wonder if the
\nchoice of the disciples to follow Jesus had some of each of the
\ncomponents we’ve talked about \u2013 and one more. \u00a0I wonder if those
\nwho followed Jesus had always been looking for something, that is
\nthat they’d always been nudged by God towards more, and when Jesus
\ncame they had \u201cah ha moments\u201d and recognized that this was what
\nthey’d been waiting and looking for.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That way of God
\nworking in lives fits what I’ve lived and what I’ve seen in people’s
\nlives. \u00a0I wonder if it fits in yours? \u00a0Have you felt God nudging you
\nalong the way? \u00a0Has God pushed and prodded you towards something?
\nHave you found it? \u00a0Are you still looking? \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I think that God is
\nalways calling us, prodding us, nudging us — that is, guiding us.
\nCalls aren’t one time events that can be answered and then
\ndisregarded. \u00a0Rather, calls are continual guidance on the next steps
\nof our lives. \u00a0Sometimes God’s calls are rather small, urges to be
\n\u201cgood\u201d or \u201ckind.\u201d \u00a0Sometimes they’re huge \u2013 reminders to
\nbuild the kindom \u2013 to take on the issues of injustice and change
\nthe world.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But \u00a0I think there
\nare also particular asks for particular people (at particular times).
\n Jobs or volunteer positions to take (or not). \u00a0Relationships to
\nbuild or let go of. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In what way are you
\nbeing called <\/b>right now?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Is it just to offer
\ncare in and love in the world \u2013 a call that might be met with one
\nof the Lenten projects coming up? \u00a0Is it something bigger? \u00a0Or
\nsomething different?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Are you listening?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Will you be ready to
\nrespond?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I suspect many
\nfactors were involved in the way the disciples choose to follow
\nJesus. \u00a0They were disenchanted with their lives, they were yearning
\nfor something more, someone finally invited them, they could SEE
\nGod’s hand in the life of Jesus, and God had long been at work
\npreparing them for that moment. \u00a0I suspect many of those factors are
\nalive and well among us as well. \u00a0May we be ready to answer, when God
\ncalls. \u00a0Amen <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

January 24, 2021<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was lucky enough to be raised in the church, and a thoughtful loving church at that. \u00a0I liked church, … Continue reading \u201cWhat Did They See?\u201d based on Psalm 62:5-12 and Mark 1:14-20<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,38,28,39,33,1874,1872,1877,1873,1484,56,57,1875,1876],"class_list":["post-4574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-a-different-kind-of-leadership","tag-call-of-the-disciples","tag-getting-ready","tag-god-calling","tag-pandemic-preaching","tag-schenectady","tag-sorry-about-the-umc","tag-what-did-they-see","tag-why-did-they-follow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}