I have a truth for you this morning. It is a truth of which you might not be fully convinced, but that does not mean that it is any less true.
Christ has set you free.
I know, I know…sometimes we feel anything but free in life. Situations seem to dictate our decisions. Health concerns limit us in ways we wish they would not. The world is does not seem to be on our side. Sometimes we do not feel very free.
I know of a young woman who had a vision for her future that excited her and provided her with endless joy just thinking about it. It was a career in the military, serving in the medical field.
As honorable of an ambition as that seems for many of us, she suffered from an intense feeling of entrapment caused by her parents. They told her point blank that they would never support her serving in the military. They threatened to withdraw money from her medical education. They told her that she would have to find someplace else to visit during holidays.
They sound like terrible parents, but that would not be the whole truth. These parents were extremely concerned for their lovely little girl, and they were willing to use any and every leverage they had to keep the young woman safe from harm. This love and over-protection caused the young woman to feel trapped, never feeling truly free to be the person that God created her to be.
To those of us who feel trapped; trapped in our situations, trapped by our own vices, trapped by things out of our power to control, Jesus preaches a sermon to us. In fact, this sermon consists of the first words out of Jesus’ mouth in the gospel of Mark. First words are always important. They serve as a mission statement. First words serve as a key to unlocking everything else that follows. And, Jesus desperately wants a trapped world to hear that “the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
You, who are trapped by circumstance, “the kingdom of God,” the time when the will of God will break into the world, is near. Repent. In ancient Greek that means, “Change your minds.” Change your focus in life and shift your focus to trusting in this good news of Jesus. Shift your focus to the saving work of Jesus Christ who sets us free.
Do you remember how the last day of school before summer break felt? Do you remember the sort of freedom that you felt as you stepped off of the school bus and knew that you would not have to go back to school for months? I would run across the yard, shouting at the top of my lungs. I would throw my backpack on the floor of my bedroom, flop on my bed, and just revel in the fact that I could let go of the concerns of school and focus on something else for a change.
Christ hopes that we can enjoy that sort of freedom. Not that school is bad, I am not saying that at all; but Jesus wants us to experience that feeling of letting go of one thing and being free to fully invest in another.
Repent. Change your focus in life, Jesus encourages us. Put your trust in the saving news of Jesus Christ, and invest your life in Christ’s saving work. In the church we say that we are set free by Jesus Christ to be the people that God created us to be.
Those are not just nice, religious words leading to happy endings. Living a life of freedom in Jesus Christ quite often means that we will have to leave “something” behind; maybe, even “someone” behind as we are set free.
Look at the first two disciples: Simon, and Andrew. When Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people,” the scriptures say that they “immediately they left their nets and followed him.” In other words, they left what was familiar and comfortable for something that was likely outside of their comfort zone. But, they were compelled by Jesus to do it anyway. There was something about Jesus and his ministry of freedom that drew them to follow.
James, and John were called by Jesus in much the same way; but did you notice that the scriptures preach that not only did James and John leave their nets to follow Jesus, they also left their father to pursue this ministry of freedom? One could even propose that they were set free from their father in order to truly follow something and someone much more important.
I do not preach this lightly. Just remember, that in the ancient world, fathers were everything. Anything good that a family member did out in the community primarily reflected well on the father of the family. You did well in school? Everyone would look at what a wonderful father you had who was able to raise such a learned child. Conversely, something bad committed by a child did not reflect badly on the child, but rather reflected badly on the Father. Fathers are supposed to rear good children after-all.
As I said, the Father was everything in the ancient world, so it is not insignificant that James and John left their nets and left their father. That is huge.
Being set free in Jesus Christ sometimes means that you leave something or someone behind.
Now, this makes a lot of sense when that something that is being left behind is destructive to yourself or to others. Plenty of people have left behind their drugs or alcohol. They have thrown those things to the ground as if they were torn, useless fishing nets. After that, they changed their focus in life, and picked up a new set of nets that gathered people to hear the saving news of Jesus Christ. But, what if that something or someone that you need to leave is something or someone you love?
When entering High School I had to choose between singing in the choir and playing my French horn in the band. It was a hard choice, but sometimes to excel in one thing you have to leave something you love in order to focus on that one thing. Therefore, you are not graced every Sunday with a piano and French horn duet.
That is trivial when compared to the young woman who chose to ignore her parents, and leave behind their wishes for her life. She entered into the military in order to do what she knew she was created by God to do; to heal the desperately wounded and to sit peacefully with the dying in the fields of war.
She wanted to join Jesus as a light in a dark place. She wanted to join Jesus in his ministry of healing. Jesus said to her, “Follow me, and I will make you nurse in CAMO rather than scrubs.” She was set free by Jesus to follow, but it meant leaving behind some people she deeply loved: her parents.
You might have already guessed this, but her parents did not pull away from her for very long. Love is often stronger than resolve, thank you Jesus for that. Even so, in the moment of decision, the young woman had to choose to leave two people behind to follow Jesus’ call.
Her call story is not an isolated one. Jesus still calls us today. “Follow me” he says to us. “Change your mind.” “Change your focus.” “Leave the old ways behind.”
You do not need to say it out loud, but what is it that is holding you back? From what does Jesus need to pull you away so that you can follow more authentically? What is holding you back from being the disciple that God has made you to be?
It is hard to let go, always. Even when it is something destructive like drugs, it is hard to let go. So, how much harder is it to let go when it is something that seems really, really good? But, do not forget that a life of freedom in Jesus Christ is also really, really good!
And, that goodness has a lot to do with the type of fishing to which we are called. And, being from Minnesota, any time spent fishing is a really, really good thing!
In our new life of “Jesus freedom,” Jesus directs us to “fish for people.” There is nothing better than to be asked to go fishing. And, this particular kind of fishing is so much more fulfilling than you may think at first.
“Fishing for people” is so much more than just asking people to come to church. So dig deep in the Bible with me for a second to explore this idea.
If you open your scriptures to the very beginning, the book of Genesis, you will see that from the very beginning water represents chaos and destruction. It reads, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” If you continue to read you will see that very soon God immediately starts to put order to these chaotic waters. Light and life emerge from the chaos and destruction of the waters. When God shapes the chaos, light and life thrives.
Now, you are supposed to have all of this in mind when you think about these waters out of which Jesus directs you to fish for people.
People are trapped in all sorts of chaos and destruction in this life. And, when you repent, when you change your mind and start to care about the things that Jesus cares about, like saving the trapped, then you will look into the chaotic waters and see your purpose.
You will look into the chaotic waters and see the addicted. You will see the depressed. You will see the unemployed. You will see the hated and forgotten of our culture. You see those who are forced to do the things they know they should not. You will see the sick and the suffering. You will see the hurt children. You will see those in grief. You will see them all struggling in the waters and a holy kind of love will drive you to cast a net over them and pull them free. Do you not already feel that divine love pulling on your heart?
It is that same love that drove Jesus Christ all the way to the cross to save us. Death on a cross is how far Jesus would go for us. Burial in a tomb is how far Jesus would go just so that he could pull us up from the darkness. Another way to put it, Jesus fishes for us, and pulls us from the chaos and destruction of the waters in order to set us free. You were created to be a part of that saving work.
Yes, it is true that sometimes following the saving news of Jesus Christ means leaving something behind; even if it is cherished and familiar. Sometimes, following the good news is the hardest thing you will do in your life.
But, I will remind you that you are free. Christ Jesus, through his death on the cross, has made you free to be the person that God has made you to be.
You are free to leave behind all that holds you down. You are free from the burden it poses. You are free to follow Jesus in his ministry of setting creation free.
You are set free so that you can look into the dark waters and see the sick and suffering with love in your eyes. You are free to follow Jesus, reaching down into the waters of chaos and destruction with him, and pulling up one hand while Jesus pulls up the other; freeing those who need a breath of fresh air.
After-all, freedom is always about going from one place to another. Be free. Allow Christ to draw you from all that holds you down; all that holds you back. Be free. Allow Jesus to draw you into his task of setting the world free from sin, death, and the devil.
In Christ Jesus, you are truly free, O people of God.
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