A Second Time

Is it, “They immediately left their nets and followed him” or is it, “The word of the Lord came a second time”? I know, you’re saying that they are both in there. But I mean, which is it for you? Or for your congregation? How often do you get an immediate response? It does happen. Someone who is ready, someone who is leaning in already, someone who is itching to get going. Maybe Peter and Andrew were already thinking about leaving this fishing thing behind. Maybe James and John were just looking for an excuse to get off their boat, leave their dad behind, and set off on an adventure. It could be a case of narrative foreshortening, meaning that there were details left out of the story so as not to interfere with the flow. But that’s just speculation. Maybe the better clue is in Jesus’ announcement – or what some call his first sermon, at least according to Mark.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven has come near.” That’s the announcement. And it is followed by an invitation, “repent and believe the good news.” There are so many layers to this statement, and we often go for the easiest, or simplest, or the one that asks for the least amount of effort on our parts. But what if we went deeper? What if we asked why Peter and Andrew and then James and John jumped to respond to Jesus so easily and so quickly? Maybe they did so because it was the right time.

“The time is fulfilled, says Jesus,” and Mark uses the word “kairos” to talk about that time. Kairos, as you know, is different from chronos. The latter is time on the clock. The former is the right time, the appropriate time. Or as many of us say so easily, God’s time. But what does that mean: God’s time? Of the many things that it could mean, it might include an idea of preparation, of watching and waiting, of conversation and questioning that plants some seeds and gives them some time to grow. Maybe Jesus did that in the unspoken background of the text. Or maybe Jesus listened to the questions that they were asking one another or to the complaints that they made at the end of a long day. Maybe Jesus was paying attention to the condition of the spirit of those he was wanting to call. That’s what made it the right time. And the kingdom is near because they were somehow open to God, ready for the Spirit to come and set their feet on a new path, to respond to the hope in their hearts. Maybe they responded because Jesus listened to them first, got to know them, saw them and heard them, and then invited them.

And what did he ask them to do? “Repent and believe the good news. “ What had they done wrong? That’s the problem with the word “repent.” We associate it with doing something wrong, with sinful acts. It might mean that, but in this case, it is more like Jesus was calling them to reorient their lives. You’ve been working for one thing; now it is time to strive for something else. You’ve been going in one direction, now you need to make a turn toward a new destination, a new set of priorities. Jesus was asking them to change. That is a considerably larger transformation that stopping some habit or behavior. And he tells them what they are to change toward: “Believe the good news.”

Here we have taken this word, this call to a new way of living, and turned it into an intellectual assent to certain propositions or ideas. There are, to be sure, intellectual components to this call to believe. But it never was intended to be a head thing only. It is a way of living. It is claiming a new possibility with every fiber of your being. It is putting all your eggs in this one basket. It is betting your life on the truth of the gospel. All of that and more. It is the lens through which you look at everything in the world, including yourself. We dabble with belief for the most part. We skirt around the edges, nod our heads, and recite the proper creeds. But this placing all our hopes and dreams in Jesus seems distant for many of us. At our best, we are on the way.

Did Peter and Andrew and James and John get all this at first? Not in the least. But they had an inkling, I believe. There was something passionate about this invitation and the person who issued it to them. There was something attractive in an indescribable way. So, maybe they did seize the moment and follow immediately. We can always hope that is the case when we invite and encourage and reach out to our community, that they too will jump at the chance and follow the one we follow too.

But what if they don’t? What if, instead of leaving their old lives behind, they turn and dive even deeper into what they were doing, how they understood life and love, and run from us? Then what do we do? Reread Jonah. The word of the Lord came a second time.

Let’s compare the two calls in Jonah. Chapter 1, verse 2, “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” Now, chapter 3, verse 2: “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” Kinda the same and kinda not, don’t you think? Well, there is the “get up” in the second call. But that’s because Jonah is lying on a beach covered in the regurgitated meal of a great fish that served as an Uber. So, yeah, get up Jonah. Maybe take a shower? That’s implied, I think.

Nineveh is still a great city, and Jonah is still called to proclaim. But the tone has changed. There’s no talk of their wickedness in the second call. Just the command to tell them what God wanted them to hear. But it seems like the tone has changed. This makes us think that maybe the hard line in chapter one was more for Jonah’s benefit than for Nineveh’s. God knew that Jonah didn’t want the job, didn’t much like Nineveh, and was likely to hit the bricks—tr the waves, in this case. But now that Jonah has been chastened somewhat, God just says, “Go tell them what I want you to tell them.” And Jonah drags his feet partway into the city.

One of our constant questions when addressing a biblical text is, “Who are we in this story?” If we’re honest with ourselves, we can’t help but identify with Jonah. Maybe this is our story too. And it is good to be honest enough with ourselves to admit that. But the real call of the book of Jonah is to be more like the God who sent him; the one who believes in second chances; the one who doesn’t give up issuing the invitation, even when the response isn’t what was hoped. We ask again and again; we invite again and again. We make ready, roll out the carpet, and focus on hospitality again and again. That’s what it means that God didn’t give up on Jonah. We don’t give up on one another and on the community around us. We are in the business of making disciples who make disciples.