Is it really all or nothing with God?

Yes, sort of…

January 22, 2023

Scriptures: Isaiah 9:1-4, Matthew 4:12-23

        I have long been interested in the fact that once Jesus saw James and John, and called out to them that morning, that they left their nets and their father in the boat, seemingly without looking back. Just ‘immediately’ walking off and giving up everything when asked to. Now I suppose that one might think that anything other than the hard work of fishing for a living might be a welcome change…that times were surely hard back then, and young men given an opportunity to go off in search of adventure would surely be tempted. That perhaps they may have heard of this Jesus fellow and thought he was an interesting one to check out.

But actually, James and John, arguably two of Jesus’ closest disciples, may have walked away from a fairly secure future, and a family of some financial means, as indicated by the fact that Mark’s gospel account tells us that they left their father in the boat, ‘with the hired hands’. They may have left behind not only their father and his boat, but a comfortable and dependable family business as well.

And it is also not clear that the two brothers did not already know Jesus, at least to some extent. For, biblical scholarship pretty much agrees that James and John’s mother Salome, was either a sister or a half-sister to Jesus’ mother Mary, making the two at least cousins of Jesus. So, perhaps as a result of previous family gatherings they were already attracted to the thinking and energy of Jesus, and given the opportunity to learn more and to journey along beside him, they readily accepted.

And while in the past I have thought that the two young men’s father Zebedee must have been extremely upset with his sons for leaving him literally ‘holding the nets’, this familial connection may have made their decision not such a huge surprise. This family connection to Jesus, and later accounts holding that Salome was one of the women present at the empty tomb, seems to at least suggest that the whole family was pretty much involved with the mission and ministry of Jesus right from the start.

So, while I am not that concerned with the seemingly impulsive decision of the two young men to drop everything and follow Jesus, I do think that what that actually meant for James and John is worth considering.

Various gospel passages dealing with Jesus’ call not to ‘worry not about one’s needs’, and the folly of ‘trusting in wealth or riches’ as security, along with centuries of teachings on the same, and numerous hymns calling forth to ‘Give it all, Give it all to Jesus, Trust and Obey, or I’d Rather Have Jesus than Silver or Gold, have created a narrative of sorts that truly following after Jesus…means ‘giving away everything one has’ and ‘living a life with few, if any means’. Which is a narrative that stands in stark contrast to a whole lot of what many of us base our life understanding on, and, place our trust in…things such as our work responsibilities, or our savings…our 401k’s, or pensions, or whatever else we feel we could just not do without.

And while it may seem like a stretch, all those things which many of us rely upon, are not all that unlike the ‘nets’ that James and John walked away from…these two men walked away from not only their jobs, but that which up until that point, enabled them to make a living whatsoever! These were not small insignificant little nets one might use to catch frogs, minnows, or even land a large fish, but rather large bundles of knotted ropes mixed in with wooden buoys, all meant to be hurled bodily out across the water to sink down, floating vertically from the surface buoys…hanging there for a spell before being hauled in from both the top and bottom, intending to catch any fish who may have wandered in between the boat and the net.  They were heavy, bulky nets, and it was difficult, often frustrating work, on occasion with nothing at all to show for it! 

Which is perhaps not a bad metaphor for some of the things our own lives become tangled up with, or at least mentally or emotionally dependent upon.  Just maybe heavy, bulky nets are an apt symbol for any ‘thing’ or collection of ‘things or understandings’ which hold us back from being able to hear the Spirit’s call to fully and immediately begin to follow after this one who calls out to us. This notion of the ‘nets’, we may have present in our lives, things that may represent obligations having certain holds on our time or on our allegiance, is worthy of careful consideration.

  The two men Jesus first called out to that day also had understandings and certainly obligations regarding what life and living were supposed to be all about. And yet still, in spite of all of them, they made the very radical choice to live their lives in wholly new and different ways the moment they heard Jesus call.

And I wonder how that same choice might look today. Would it, or is it any different? Is it really ‘all or nothing’ with our God…nowadays? Are we really supposed to just empty the ‘cupboards and closets of all our resources’, to put on some sandals, and pray that the Spirit will direct us…and sustain us? What might a 21st Century life, given over in full surrender in the pursuit of God’s will, actually look like? 

We are surely familiar with those in the faith who have chosen to live a wholly religious life within a monastery or a convent. We know what they look like. But I am thinking more about how we, as those who answer the call from our Lord right here and now, might appear to those around us after having done so. Is it possible to make a radical shift towards the pursuit of God’s will, without necessarily changing the way you look on the outside?  Is it possible to become even more fully engaged in a deep faith walk, and still walk in ways much as we have before?

In other words, is it possible to remain mostly within our present life circumstances, and still find the freedom to respond in meaningful and life-affirming ways to the call of our Lord? Is it possible to answer that call fully and completely from within the life and lifestyle we each now live…with all that we have and all that we are, still being pretty much ours to use and to distribute? Is it really all or nothing with God?

Yes…sort of…let me explain. I think we can serve our God fully from within the life and lifestyles in which we find ourselves. I think the thing that may need to change however, is how we view or value those things, which up until this point we have relied upon and put a lot of our hope and trust in. Holding on to what we have very lightly, and remembering that the blessings which we have in such abundance and which are often taken for granted are in truth given in offer to bless others…holding on to them very lightly, and always available for the Spirit to call upon for us to share and ‘to care with’, is the key to faithfully stewarding all that is currently sort of caught in our nets. 

In other words, I think it may be possible to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually disentangle ourselves from the ‘nets of our security and trust’, and to at least put some degree of distance between them and our inner selves, and then to view them as they truly are…as resources that are apart from ourselves and therefore importantly, not a part of our self-definition. Our abundance is apart from ourselves, and in fact part of the blessings from our Lord, blessings given in order to bless others.

A willingness, or the ability to thus ‘untangle’ our lives, to separate out what we have…from who we truly are, is a quality that truly can make our lives a ‘light’ for others and a visible ‘witness of grace and hope’…visible love lived out in the open’ towards all those around us. In other words, we will still have ‘nets’…but they will have been repurposed to ‘catch people’!

Living within our own resources, and with an openness to the Spirit’s guidance as to how to be faithful in giving fully whenever, however, and wherever we may be asked, is the middle ground of how it is that people such as ourselves can live lives filled with mission, purpose, and spiritual fullness. Our willingness to see ourselves as a part of an unfolding story of God’s steadfast love and provision for all of humanity…and as temporary stewards of the blessings poured out into our own cups, to be used in the furtherance of God’s will…recenters us as laborers for the kingdom of God and the unfolding day of grace and glory.

…which is not to say that our cupboards and closets will always, or ever be full again…

…but rather to say that we trust in our Lord to provide for all who fish with…

…or are caught in…his nets…amen