Title: Bird in Hand
Author: Christopher Harbin
Text: Mark 1:14-20
It takes a dose of courage to strike out in a new direction when what you have has been working. We have that saying reminding us, "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush." Then there is that other, "We must be willing to let go of who we are to become all we can be." It is somewhere between these two competing notions that we tend to live. We cling to what we know, even as we seek to become more than we have been. What do we do with that tension? Do we seek a happy medium, or to we give our all to transformation?
For all their shortcomings, I have to remind myself on occasion that the disciples really had no idea what they were getting themselves into by following Jesus. I don't think anyone has ever really stressed that point enough to me, if at all. We find four of these guys casting or mending nets, getting on with their daily work of fishing or preparing to fish, thus to earn their living. James and John are at least what we might consider middle class for their day, as they worked on a boat owned by their father. There was no American Dream of making it big in Israel under Roman oppression. Their economic lives were about as good as they would ever get, considering the times.
Along comes Jesus, this rather unknown itinerant preacher, and calls them to follow him. John the Baptist was at least a known quantity. He had been preaching for a while, and crowds had been going out to listen to him and had even gone through a baptism of repentance to help prepare themselves and the nation for the coming of Messiah. Apparently, this Jesus was one of those whom John had baptized. But John had been arrested by Herod. This Jesus was an unknown quantity. He proclaimed himself a teacher, but there was little to nothing really known about him. Even so, he calls these fishermen to leave their nets, whether fishing or mending, and follow him. That was a pretty bi ...
Author: Christopher Harbin
Text: Mark 1:14-20
It takes a dose of courage to strike out in a new direction when what you have has been working. We have that saying reminding us, "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush." Then there is that other, "We must be willing to let go of who we are to become all we can be." It is somewhere between these two competing notions that we tend to live. We cling to what we know, even as we seek to become more than we have been. What do we do with that tension? Do we seek a happy medium, or to we give our all to transformation?
For all their shortcomings, I have to remind myself on occasion that the disciples really had no idea what they were getting themselves into by following Jesus. I don't think anyone has ever really stressed that point enough to me, if at all. We find four of these guys casting or mending nets, getting on with their daily work of fishing or preparing to fish, thus to earn their living. James and John are at least what we might consider middle class for their day, as they worked on a boat owned by their father. There was no American Dream of making it big in Israel under Roman oppression. Their economic lives were about as good as they would ever get, considering the times.
Along comes Jesus, this rather unknown itinerant preacher, and calls them to follow him. John the Baptist was at least a known quantity. He had been preaching for a while, and crowds had been going out to listen to him and had even gone through a baptism of repentance to help prepare themselves and the nation for the coming of Messiah. Apparently, this Jesus was one of those whom John had baptized. But John had been arrested by Herod. This Jesus was an unknown quantity. He proclaimed himself a teacher, but there was little to nothing really known about him. Even so, he calls these fishermen to leave their nets, whether fishing or mending, and follow him. That was a pretty bi ...
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