Weekly Reflection: The Things You Leave Behind (Repost)
Following Christ means at times that we have to let go of things.
Note: There were some problems with the earlier version of this post so here is a corrected version.
Mark 1:14-20 and Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Like a lot of folks, I don’t like moving. And like a lot of folks, there comes a time when you stop putting things neatly in boxes. You just want to move and get things done so, all this junk gets placed in a box and you put somewhere in your house where you won’t ever look at it again.
In some cases stuff you don’t need to keep. I remember when my husband Daniel and I moved into our current home in Minneapolis. In my case, I still had papers from seminary and college that followed me from house to house to house. I had things that followed me from Michigan to Washington, DC, and then to Minnesota. I had junk that I had accumulated over 20 years that was going to take up space in my new home’s basement. I didn’t want to have a basement full of stuff I wasn’t going to use anymore, so I decided that the collection of old term papers and knick-knacks had to be dealt with. Slowly, but surely, I got rid of stuff. I looked at everything and I thought I was pretty ruthless in putting things aside and to the trash bin. I felt in some way that these things were weighing me down and I needed to get rid of them so that I could move forward.
A few years later, when we moved my parents to a senior living and out of their house of 40 years. My husband was ruthless in getting rid of stuff. I can remember setting aside some dresses for my mother and walked out of the room. When I came back they were gone as Daniel had taken those clothes to give away to a local shelter. The excess clothing weighed things down and to move ahead we had to get rid of things.
We’ve heard the old story of Jonah in the belly of a big fish or whale or what have you. He is asked by God to go and preach a word of repentance to the folks in Nineveh. Jonah wasn’t particularly eager to do what God called him to do. So, instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah decided to get lost. He took the first ship out of town far, far away from Nineveh. Jonah was not interested in preaching to Nineveh. He knew God was going to save them if they repented, something they ultimately did. Nineveh was the big power that threatened tiny places like Israel. Jonah wanted them to face God’s wrath.
In the gospels, we see Jesus open his public ministry. He comes preaching a familiar message of repentance; “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” Jesus passes along and finds two sets of brothers who were fishermen. He calls both sets to follow him and the text says they immediately drop what they are doing and follow Jesus on an amazing journey.
When people talk about this text, they are always amazed at how Peter, Andrew, James and John just give up their ways of living to follow Jesus. Some folks say we need to emulate them. Mark never tells us what they were thinking, but at some point, they had to wonder: what in the world they had done. Why would anyone in their right mind give up a job to follow some strange guy claiming to be the Son of God? Did it ever sink in how much they were giving up?
Ten years ago, I was the associate pastor of a church that sold its building and was moving to a new place. The church felt the call to move. Unlike the disciples, it didn’t come at this “immediately.” It took time to discern selling the old building and to figure out what were the next steps.
We were on a new path and there was excitement similar to the disciples when they decided to follow Jesus. But there was also the same fear that Jonah felt as well.
Following Christ means at times that we have to let go of things. For the disciples, it meant leaving their jobs. For Jonah, he had to learn to give up his hatred of Nineveh and preach a word of repentance.
Letting go, and committing ourselves to follow God is never an easy thing. It’s far easier to remain in our comfort zones because having to let go means pain and it hurts. We have left our nets by the seashore, but we don’t feel good leaving our old way of life tossed aside.
So, here we are. We have left our boats of familiarity and security and head down a road we don’t always know. But we have hope in the good news: in Jesus Christ. We leave things behind but look forward to so much more.