Word to the Wise
Sunday, January 24, 2021 - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[Jon 3:1-5, 10; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20]As [Jesus] passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of en." Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. [Mark]
It can be an interesting and often amusing exercise to ask a couple how they first met. One will say, "We met on a blind date!" The other will say, "No, I remember clearly meeting you in a class we took together. In fact, I registered for that class so I could meet you! You just don't remember it. My buddy deliberately set up the 'blind date.'" Both are right but each experienced the "first meeting" in a different way. So, if someone asked Simon Peter how he first met Jesus, he could say, "Well, I remember him calling out to me when I was fishing..." His brother, Andrew, could interrupt and say. "Wait a minute! I introduced you to Jesus after I met him!" Simon might reply, "Yeah.....I guess so, but I don't remember that!"
Last week, we heard Andrew's side of the story (as told by the evangelist John) and this week we heard Peter's side of the story (as told by Mark, Luke and Matthew). Does it matter? Ask yourself how you first "met" Jesus? How did he come into your life? Ask Samuel (last week) and Jonah (first scripture for today) how they first encountered God in person! The story of Jonah is really colorful. He heard God's voice and tried to run away. He took a boat and God rocked the boat in a storm, for which the sailors rightly blamed Jonah and threw him overboard where he was "swallowed" by a "whale" and spit up on the beach, at which Jonah finally got the message. You can try to run from God, but you can't hide!
The stories of the "call" in the Bible are as colorful as they are many. There is no particular race, personality type or income level or other qualification. At some point there is an acceptance that demands faith and commitment. God's call may be experienced in that man and woman who meet and fall in love and experience all the ups and downs of their history together (including how they first "met"). It may be experienced in that nagging voice that provides an attraction and nudges one in that direction, "You really ought to try this!" (My own experience.) The one thing none of us can say is, "It can't happen to me. I'm too__________!" We can run, but we can't hide! AMEN
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