Sermon Mark 1:14-20

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon Mark 1:14-20
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
January 25, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

In our first reading this day from Jonah chapter three we have a truly extraordinary story. Consider these two verses. “Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.” (Jonah 3:4-5). This story is incredible, just unbelievable. Nineveh was the capital city of the hated Assyrians; the very people who would one day destroy and enslave much of Israel. The Assyrians had their own gods and thought them to be far more powerful than the Lord, God of Israel. And yet when they heard the bad news from Jonah that they were about to be defeated they immediately believed in the Hebrew God. It would be as if the Taliban after reading or listening to this sermon suddenly threw down their weapons in Afghanistan and worshiped Jesus as the Son of God, an unbelievable, incredible event.

We would probably write this story from Jonah off as an interesting, but improbable, work of fiction but for a similar story which we find in the Book of Mark. In this story Jesus has just returned to the city of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee near his childhood home in Nazareth to begin his ministry. Listen to the story as told by Mark.

Mark 1:14-20 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." 16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

We are told by Mark that Jesus’ ministry consisted of proclaiming that the kingdom of God has come near, good news to all who were oppressed under Roman occupation. And we are told that as a result of this proclamation, four men, fishermen, by trade immediately left their families and family businesses to follow this rabbi from a neighboring village. This too, like Jonah chapter 3, is an incredible and highly unlikely story. Wouldn’t Simon and Andrew and John and James have needed a little time to think about Jesus’ request? Wouldn’t they have talked with their parents, wives and children about the major change in career they were contemplating? Could any of us imagine just walking away from our jobs, or our businesses, or our homes and families to follow someone we just met? Of course not! But tradition teaches us that Peter himself, one of the fishermen, was Mark’s source for this story. Peter who had experienced the immediate transforming effects of the gospel of Jesus Christ reported to Mark what happened and Mark wrote it down for us. So we are left with an historical event where four fishermen are suddenly transformed by the power of the gospel.

The gospel, or good news of Jesus Christ is contained right here in the pages of the Bible and can suddenly transform the reader or listener into a follower of Jesus Christ. How can it be that this Book has this kind of power to change people? There are three reasons. First, the words we read in the Bible are the words of God who created us. Second, this Word of God has been faithfully preserved by the by the apostles and by the church for thousands of years. And finally, the Word of God is empowered in our listening by the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at each of these.

The words in this book are written by God. Since creation God has given us evidence of His existence and His care for His creation. Everyday we see the light of God’s creation rise in the east and set in the west. This week we saw the waters of creation pouring down from heaven. The trees in the patio area spout new growth as evidence of God’s continuing creation. God who continually reveals himself to us has revealed himself to men and women throughout history. People have seen God in the natural world, though visions and dreams, and through the goodness of other people. They began to realize that their idea of God was much more than mere opinion; rather it was based of the reality of God who has chosen to be revealed. The experiences of these people of God were written down and preserved for us to read and hear. Thus when we hear the Bible read, God is revealed to us, and this revelation can instantly transform us into followers of Jesus Christ

The followers of Jesus Christ believed with firm conviction that the words of good news he was speaking were certainly the Word of God. After Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension to heaven many of these followers continued to proclaim Jesus’ good news. They traveled around the Roman Empire proclaiming the Word of God. And they saw the transformative effects that God’s Word had on the people who heard it. These apostles left behind a church which was dedicated to the preservation and proclamation of God’s Word. The church has faithfully preserved the scripture and continues to this day to proclaim it. And many of those who hear the Word of God proclaimed in the church are transformed by it just as people have been transformed in times past. So for two thousand years the Word of God, has been preserved and proclaimed by the church with transformative effects.

But how is it that God’s Word faithfully preserved by the church has such transformational power? The only way this is possible is if we are convinced that the words we are hearing are truly God’s words. How would we know with assurance that what we read and hear in the Bible is truly God speaking to us? If we examine our own conscience we realize that we are filled with doubts. These doubts can only be overcome by faith. And it is faith the gives us assurance that these words must come from God. So for the Word of God in the Bible to transform people into followers of Jesus Christ, God must first plant seeds of faith in their hearts.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit; the same Holy Spirit that spoke though the authors of the book of the Bible. This Holy Spirit inwardly teaches us that what we hear or read in the Bible truly comes from God. This teaching creates faith in our hearts. This faith leads us to the conviction that the words of the Bible are truly the words of God. And when we are convinced that God is speaking to us we can suddenly become followers of Jesus Christ.

So when you hear or read the words of the Bible and believe in you hearts that the words truly come from God then you can be assured that the Holy Spirit is with you giving you faith. But if, as you read scripture you are not convinced, if you still have doubts then I urge you to pray that the God who created you will send His spirit upon you with the gift of faith. Then you will believe that the Bible contains the Word of God and be transformed into a follower of Jesus Christ.

And this is exactly what happened to Peter and Andrew and James and John that day two thousand years ago when Jesus walked by. The words Jesus spoke were the words of God. The four fishermen heard these words. The Holy Spirit placed faith in their hearts. The fishermen believed with full assurance that they were hearing words of God. This had a powerful transformative effect on them and they immediately became followers of Jesus Christ leaving behind their old lives and walking into new lives as disciples.

Just as Jesus called those four fishermen he is calling you. Jesus has commanded the church and me as a minister of God’s words to proclaim them to you just as Jesus proclaimed them to his disciples. That is what I am doing this morning. I am proclaiming the word of God to you. The Holy Spirit is here with us ready to enter your heart and convince you that what you are hearing is true. The Holy Spirit has come today with the gift of faith that will give you the assurances you need. And with this gift you will be transformed into followers of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, I ask that you enter the hearts of everyone who hears my voice. Fill them with God’s love and assurance that the Word of God they have heard this day is really the words that God is speaking to them. And with this assurance I ask that you transform them into followers of Jesus Christ. Amen.