Margie Quinn
I heard a story once of a poet who visited his son’s classroom for “Bring your parent to school day.” The man was asked to talk about what he did for a living. He began by asking the children, who were around 9 or 10 years old, what they wanted to be when they grew up. “A fireman!” one said. “An actress!” said another. “A basketball player!” replied a third. Then, he went to the board and wrote down several words: barista, athlete, nurse, artist, writer, construction worker, actor, poet. Guess what? He said. I have been all of these things, and I will continue to be more. I am a poet, yes, but I am a lot more than that. You can be so many things when you grow up!
You can be so many things.
The gospel of Mark begins like an alarm clock, as theologian Ted Smith puts it. John the baptist has just been arrested and Jesus is on the move, perhaps feeling a sense of urgency to proclaim the good news, to share that the kingdom of God has come near, to get people to turn away from their greed and individualism, away from their judgment and exploitation, and to believe that another world is possible: a kingdom where all are kin, where oppressive powers are overthrown, where everyone has a seat at the table. He passes along the Sea of Galilee, sees Simon and his brother Andrew fishing in the sea and says to them–Follow me, and I will make you fish for people. Immediately, they throw those nets off to the side, and follow him. Then he keeps going, with the brothers in tow–and finds James and John, another set of fishermen who are in the boat mending their nets. Immediately, Jesus calls them, and they follow him.
Growing up, I bristled at this text because it felt pushy. Drop everything and follow Jesus! Hurry up and chase after him; convince other people to do the same! Now I read it differently. Did you catch it? In this text, Jesus speaks the language of the people he’s talking to at the current moment. In front of him are fishermen, so he invites them to now fish for people. He doesn’t tell them to “bake for people” or “to sing for people:” he uses their own vocation to propel them into ministry.
Imagine if all of us felt the need to become a pastor. That we assumed there is only one way to do ministry and it is through getting ordained and serving a church. We’d drop everything, even our individual gifts and talents, to preach, teach, and pray.
What if, instead, we dropped everything to use our specific gifts in our ministry.
Did you catch it? Later in the gospel of Mark, Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes to feed a crowd, bringing abundance to a people who have been fed the lie of scarcity and not-enough-ness for so long. I wonder who caught those fish for him to share, though. Jesus, the carpenter? There’s no way he knew how to mend nets and cast them out into the sea. He needed fishermen who used their gifts to bring people in in order to fulfill the kingdom of God.
I have been reflecting on our own congregation and the specific gifts you all bring as ministers to us. Abi uses her voice to bring the Spirit into this place. Ellen draws art for our Advent devotional, bringing us powerful images from scripture. Martha knits hats for our guests at Room in the Inn. One man was so excited about the hat he picked on Thursday. This looks professional like I got it in a store. I love the colors. Larry uses that radio host voice to move us when he reads scripture to us. Thomas bakes bread and then breaks bread with us, remember that delicious loaf from Christmas? I play frisbee with the youth, bringing us together to play and laugh. Are you picking up what I’m putting down? I don’t know how to bake or draw! I can hardly sew a button on my shirt let alone knit a hat! But God doesn’t ask me to. Jesus calls us to live out our particular vocations and passions for the fulfillment of the gospel. Proclaiming good news looks different for each and every one of us.
Sometimes I get so lost in the weeds with how wide we cast our nets in the church, distracted by numbers and growth and strategies of bait. Have I forgotten to look around and focus on who is already here, doing the very things that Jesus does in the gospel? Being compassionate, sharing our gifts, being satisfied with the quality of our ministries as opposed to the quantity. Jesus’ first act is not to call hundreds of people but to call four. FOUR! Who are not asked to leave behind their life’s work but to bring their calling with them to add richness and uniqueness to the ministry of the gospel.
And did you catch it? They don’t hesitate to do this, they jump up immediately.
Immediately! The word is used 41 times in the gospel of Mark and only ten other time in the New Testament. Clearly, Mark is trying to tell us something about the urgency with which Jesus lives. As Dr. King puts it, “We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.” Positive action–like when Jesus heals and touches people that no one else wants to touch and IMMEDIATELY the leper is cleansed, IMMEDIATELY the bleeding woman is healed when she touches his robe, IMMEDIATELY the blind man regains his sight and follows Jesus, IMMEDIATELY, Jesus consoles the Disciples when they are scared as heck seeing him walk on water, IMMEDIATELY the paralyzed man stands up and walks once Jesus heals him…not gonna do all 41 immediatelys but are you catching my drift?
What are you being called into? Where could you begin using your particular calling immediately to fulfill the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven? As Elton Brown puts it, becoming a faithful Christian disciple takes both a moment and a lifetime. It may have only taken you a moment to realize your love of teaching, nursing, gardening, coding. But now, urgently, we bring those gifts into a lifetime of discipleship, together. the specificity of what we do and what they did will matter, how that will continue into their following of Jesus, translate new possibilities into fulfilling the kingdom of God
My friend Grace approached me on Thursday night. She has been helping out at Room in the Inn. Grace finished culinary school recently and is a baker at Dozen. On Thursday she made a cherry chocolate cake for the guests. “Hey, I’d love to keep baking on Thursdays for the guests. Will you keep letting me know when I can?” We would love, that I said. “Follow me” Jesus tells us, and I will make you knit, bake, sing, paint–for people.” You don’t have to be a minister when you grow up. Be you, all of you, because I’ll need that in my kingdom.”
May it be so.