HARD WORK PAYS OFF

October 18, 2015

Pentecost 21

Mark 1:16-20

Mark 10:35-45

(prayer)

I am quite certain that Mark (and the other gospel writers) have shared with us a very abbreviated version of Jesus calling his first disciples.

//

As we heard today, as Jesus walked along the shoreline, he invited two sets of fishermen-brothers to follow him.  The text tells us that they went away with Jesus that very day.  The gospel writer uses carefully chosen adverbs to make it clear that there was no hesitation on behalf of Simon, Andrew, James and John when Jesus asked them to join him on a new fishing expedition: Immediately they left their nets and followed Jesus.

//

I have to assume that it was not as simple as hearing Jesus use a catchy metaphor: Fishers of fish, follow me and I will make you fish for people. 
What does that even mean: to 'fish for people'?

I have to assume that this quick conversation by the lake was not the first encounter between Jesus and the brothers.  When Jesus invited them to fish for people, I assume that they had a pretty good idea what that meant. 

I have to assume that Jesus had already set the context for them.
They must have met him in the village or heard him speak by the water.

Jesus must have caught their attention. 

And they must have impressed Jesus in some way.

And it must have been exciting.

When Jesus invited these people to join him on a new adventure, they knew that it would be worth it to just turn their backs on their current life.

//

//

It was the disciples' experiences spending time with Jesus that motivated them to remain committed to the mission that Jesus was leading.

//

 By the time the story moves in to chapter 10 (in Mark), the former fishermen had nurtured their relationship with Jesus.
They had grown more deeply committed to what Jesus was doing and the impact that Jesus was having.

That is the context to us hearing John and James ask Jesus for positions of honour.  They are among Jesus most longtime followers and (we must assume) that felt they had earned to be 'vice presidents' in the Jesus corporation.

As we read through the rest of the passage, it doesn't appear that consulted the others about their desires.  Certainly, according to Mark's gospel texts, we can imagine if years of service is a deciding factor that Andrew and Simon could claim to be the longest serving disciples.

//

Jesus wants his close followers to not get too far ahead of themselves.  While James and John (and maybe others as well) were focusing on the final set up of God’s Realm, Jesus wants them to remain focused on the glimpses of that Realm that they were helping the world see in the here and now. 

And this - Jesus says - is not a time of sitting back in comfortable chairs.  It is a time when discipleship has costs. 

As we look at that conversation in Mark, we can see how the author takes passion imagery (language we associate with the end of Jesus life) and reads it back into this point in the story.

Are you prepared to drink the cup I must drink?

The readers of the gospel - being fully aware of the events of Good Friday and Easter knew that this meant: are you prepared to lay your life on the line for what we are doing: for what
you believe?

The disciples say yes:  they are willing to do the hard (even dangerous) work.  And what they want is some reward for their efforts.  They want a contract with Jesus - that assures them what that reward will be - special seats in glory. 

The logic here is easy to appreciate.  If I am going to embark on a dangerous mission, I want to know that it will be worth my while.

Hard work should pay off.

Dedication should be rewarded. 

//

A coach asked the team during a particularly sweaty practice, “why are we doing this?” Catching their breath, the team knew the answer and repeated back: “to get better.”

Later, as they are hyping themselves up before a game, you could hear the team captain shout “Hard Work!” and his teammates shouted back “Pays Off!” Hard work… pays off! Hard work… pays off!

For many of the players, the hard work had gone on for years. 
Then the day came that it paid off in a championship game.

In sports, it is almost universally true that the teams that work the hardest, even if they have less raw talent, gain the rewards in the end.

//

//

In the movie, The Field of Dreams, the main character Ray Kinsella has blindly followed the directions of the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson and built a baseball field where the 1919 Chicago White Sox, all banded from baseball for life, can play ball again. They appear from out of the corn field each day and play ball.

If you build it he will come. 

Ease his pain.

Go the distance.

When the author, Ray has picked up in his travels is invited to go off the field with the players, Ray gets jealous. 

I want to go out there.

I built this field; that’s my corn field; you are guests in my corn.

I didn’t understand it, but I did everything you said and never asked: ‘what’s in it for me?’ 
‘What are you asking?’, Shoeless Joe says.

“What’s in it for me?

 ‘Is that why you did this Ray, for you’.  
Then the real purpose of all of the events of the story are revealed.  I won’t spoil the ending for you, if your haven’t seen it.

//

You may have heard the old proverb: to the victor gets the spoils.

//

In human realms, the rulers have all the power and are served by their subjects.  They can violently and fearfully ensure subjugation. 

Fear and threats of violence are still common governing techniques in 2015.  That is how the Islamic State is holding on to its lands.

It may be more subtlety in so-called democratic societies, but rulers still often 'lord' over us.  (Not a direct comment on tomorrow's election ;) )

But, Jesus insists, in God's Realm, it is not only to the victors that go the spoils.

Discipleship involves selflessness and willingness to sacrifice for greater good. 

Again passion and resurrection read back into story re: impact of Jesus' death.  He may appear to have been defeated by the powers of the world, but his message and his mission endured.

I like the fact that the text of our Bible readings does not give us any real sense how the disciples reacted when they expectations got turned upside down.

You want a guarantee of a reward, Jesus says, well I can’t do that.  But come and join me in setting the world right - right now, and we’ll let the future sort itself out in due time.

//

We might wonder how they might have reacted to this upside down logic: that to be served, we must serve.  To be great, we must put others first.

//

Maybe the more important question is...

How do we react?

How important is recognition?

How are we motivated to serve?

What motivates us to serve?

//

I am not asking this, trying to illicit guilt in us.  I know that it is hard to not ask (even in the quiet of our minds): what’s in it for me?  Is this service I offer going to be worth my time in some way?  What do I get out of it?

In the Broadway musical, Avenue Q, although the first line of a song is “helping others brings you closer to God”, the characters eventually all admit that the reason they help others, is because it feels good.

“When you help others,

you can’t help helping yourself.”

//

We all do this.

It is human nature.

We have survived the evolutionary process (so far) because we take care of ourselves.

//

What Jesus can help us do, is to find those times when we can fight against that natural tendency and see the bigger picture: God’s Realm is one where the barriers are irrelevant - where every tear is whipped away, where all are safe and comfortable.

A hint of that in the world right now can be shown when we selflessly serve a greater good.

Jesus is promoting humility as one of the characteristics of faithful discipleship.

When we make room to be humble, our perceptions of the way the world works are challenged and we can be changed - which allows God’s Realm to shine through.

We lead through following.

We are served by serving.

//

It is an alternative vision to the one, we see before us most days.

That’s why it is not easy. 

That’s why it takes discipline to be a disciple.

//

May God be our comfort and guide as we try hard to live in Jesus’ Way.

//

Let us pray:

Holy God, You are deeply committed to the well-being of your creation.  We are the result of your hard work.  May we live out our faith with the same enthusiasm.  Amen.

#161MV “I Have Called You By Your Name”