Mark 1:14-20 "Following Jesus in The Space Between"

Why did we start NewChurch? Aren’t there enough churches already? There were a lot of reasons but a big motivation was to create a new church that tries to avoid some of the common problems associated with many modern churches. Like how too many try so painfully and awkwardly to be relevant, positive, joyful and fun—is it a church or a variety show?—to me, it comes off phony as a politician’s promises. 

Or they try to be one of the cool kids and fit in with the culture—they don’t want to challenge people on sin, they avoid controversial issues, try to say what people want to hear so they’ll keep showing up and throwing money in the offering.

Some churches are just so silly—like a carnival freak-show—and the teaching is done by people who seem to have gotten their theological training at clown college.

Some churches are so painfully dull and the teaching is so dry, even the pews have to stand up to keep from falling asleep. 

I know, it seems like I’m being mean but my fear is people show up at those different kinds of churches for a while and then stop going because they think, “I tried the Jesus thing, it didn’t work for me.” I am so not cool with that — they didn’t actually “try the Jesus thing” because it was never offered to them. They were never challenged to repent of their old life, and they were never actually offered the gospel—they weren’t given anything to believe in. 

Church needs to be a place where you can hear you’re a sinner—you need to turn away from your sin and stop trusting in all the foolish things of the world—that’s what repentance is. Turn away from your old life because Jesus offers you a new one with a clean start—and hope like you would have never imagined. We want our church to be a place for people who have been failed by other churches, hurt by other churches—or maybe never been to other churches—we want to be a place where people can find out what God’s love and grace actually mean for their lives. A place where people can learn God’s wisdom that will give them guidance and direction that goes beyond anything else they’ve seen in the world. Church isn’t some little game we play on Sunday mornings—this is life and death.

Like a lot of things, following Jesus is all or nothing. You fully commit or you make a mess.

Today we’re turning to the Gospel of Mark. It’s the day Jesus officially starts His ministry, also the day He calls His first disciples.

Mark starts his Gospel with John the Baptist, telling us about his ministry of preaching and baptizing for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. John was all about preparing the way for Jesus. A couple weeks ago we talked about the day Jesus showed up and was baptized—and what that means for all of us. Well, John got in trouble with Herod for calling him out on illegally marrying his brother’s wife—he was arrested and eventually executed. Mark will tell us more about it later, for now he’s just letting us know that John’s job was done and Jesus is going back to Galilee to start His preaching ministry. Galilee is where he grew up and where His family lived—it’s where His disciples would come from. 

Mark 1:14-15

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” 

Jesus has a simple message. He said it in a lot of different ways but it’s the main message of the New Testament. The most important idea of the New Testament is that the kingdom of God has come—that it came with Jesus. The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Everything God has been doing in the world led to this point. Jesus is here! Nothing will ever be the same.

That’s what the Gospel is all about. Gospel, which means “good news.” Gospel, which is the Greek word “ĕuaggĕliŏn” (where we get the English word “evangel” to evangelize). The Gospel is the message that God has sent Christ into the world to save people from sin, death, hell, the grave, the world, the flesh and the devil. Did you know you needed to be saved from those things? People act like they don’t but come on—look around! Is there death? Do people do terrible things? Are people their own worst enemies—do they drag hell into their lives? I think most of us here know all too well that we need to be saved from those things.

So, this is the beginning: Jesus goes back to Galilee to start letting people know, “No more waiting! The kingdom of God is here!” Right here, right now. The Gospel has begun and continues going forward. Jesus has the same message for you, “The kingdom of God is here.” So, now that you know, what are you supposed to do with that information? 

Well, it’s the next thing He says, “Repent and believe in the One God sent to save you!”

So, what does that mean? How are you supposed to do that?  

Repent means to acknowledge you’re a sinner and you need to be saved. Too many people act like their sin doesn’t stink and they don’t need Jesus for anything but I really don’t think anyone actually believes that. Not when they’re alone with their own thoughts and honest with themselves. We all know. So, to repent is to admit it. Admit it to yourself, to other people, to God. Tell God you’re painfully aware of your shortcomings. And then stop doing those things to the best of your ability. This is what “repent” means. It means to stop. Turn away from your sin (and this is actually the most important part) turn toward God who is waiting to forgive you. Repent and believe. Stop trusting in yourself and your sin (which is what we do, we trust in our sin. All the dumb ways we deal with our sadness, our anger, our frustrations, our boredom—all the ways we hurt each other—we trust our sinful ways of dealing with all the pains of life instead of trusting Jesus.) Repent and believe—start trusting in Jesus. Believe in Him.

That’s the Gospel. That’s always been the Gospel—always will be the Gospel. That’s what Jesus was going around telling people. How do you think people responded to His message? 

Verse 16:

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. Mark 1:16-20

Well, there you go. That’s how easy it is to evangelize. Jesus sees a couple of very busy, very successful, hard working, very religious men. He tells them to drop their nets, drop everything they’re doing, quit their jobs, stop earning a living, and follow Him. He’s going to start a new religion and they can get in on the ground level! “Come on boys! Not to make it weird but I’ll make you fishers of men!”

And they do. Not only them but also a couple of their fishing buddies. 

This is a frustrating passage. 

I wish evangelism was that easy. Ever tried to tell someone about Jesus? Did they just drop everything and start following Him like they’re a puppy and He has cheese in His pockets?

It just doesn’t seem realistic. Jesus says one sentence and gets four disciples.

Is it because He’s Jesus? He has that special divine voice of authority? Must be nice, right? Doesn’t work like that for the rest of us, though. I don’t think that’s the lesson we’re supposed to take away from this. 

It’s frustrating because most of us hear this passage and think it’s impossible. Not only the evangelism part, we also can’t put ourselves in the place of Simon, Andrew, James and John—for a couple reasons. 

It’s impossible for most of us to drop everything and follow Jesus—because we already did. What else am I supposed to do? I’m already following Jesus. Am I supposed to read this story and try to make myself follow even harder? How would I ever know if I was following hard enough? Like, every time we hear this, are we supposed to stop whatever we’re doing—our jobs, our families, all our responsibilities—and, I don’t know, sell our house and become missionaries? Is that the only way to follow Jesus? Blow up my life, drop all my responsibilities, suck it up and run away with Jesus on some Gospel adventure?

Because that sounds too hard. It sounds irresponsible. Is it possible that there might be other ways of following Him?

I like graphic novels, comic books. I grew up reading them and think they’re pretty fascinating. Psychologically, the way they work is they show a key frame on a panel—some moment when something vital to the story happens. Then, in the next panel, the next big idea, and so on, to visually tell the story. The space between the panels is called the gutter. Everything else, all the connecting events and action, happens in the gutter and the reader fills in the gaps with their imagination.

So, if the Gospel of Mark was a graphic novel, we’d have a frame of Simon and Andrew in a boat with Jesus standing on the shore telling them to follow Him. Jesus called Simon by the nickname “Peter” and the Gospel of Mark is actually Peter’s account of the ministry of Jesus, so what would the next frame be? Jesus walking on water? Peter looking up to see Jesus reaching down to save him from drowning? Peter at the Mount of Transfiguration asking if he should build three booths? Peter denying Jesus? Eventually, we’d get to the panel where Peter is standing up and preaching to a giant crowd on the Day of Pentecost and says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

And they do. About three thousand people. He made evangelism look pretty easy, too. And without that special divine Jesus voice of authority. 

But there were a lot of things that happened between those panels. In the gutter, in the space between the big moments. Lots of Jesus telling Peter he was out of line. Lots of repentance. Lots of believing. 

What about the graphic novel of your life? Is there a panel where Jesus calls you to follow Him? One where you were baptized and God put His name on you? And then a frame where it became something very real to you? That moment where your parent’s faith became your faith? Has that part of the story happened yet? Repent and believe. You have to do both! You have to have your own faith. It has to be yours.

And then what happens in all the spaces between those frames? Between big spiritual moments. What happens between Sundays? Between prayers? Between times when you heard God’s word and it came alive for you? 

That’s where life happens. In the space between. That’s where your sanctification happens. Little moments of faithfulness. Little moments of repentance and belief. All the little things that make up your life.

Jesus didn’t say, “Follow me, and show up for an hour on Sunday but otherwise live your life however you want.” “Follow me but keep the rest of your life in a separate compartment.”

Every day we’re supposed to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Every day we’re supposed to ask God to help us be the person He has called us out of the world to be. To do the things He called us out of the world to do. To bring the kingdom of heaven wherever we go, in whatever we’re doing, to whoever is there. 

You’ve been called to follow Jesus. And if you don’t think you have, well here we go, you ready? You. Yes, you. Drop whatever you’re doing and start following Jesus! Repent and believe the gospel. Then, whatever you do, from now on, do it with the goal of calling other people to follow Him.

I think it’s interesting that they were fishermen, and then Jesus said He would make them become fishers of men. I don’t think He was just being clever. God uses each season of our lives to prepare us for the next thing He wants us to do.

They were fishermen, so Jesus said He would make them fishers of men—that made sense to them. There were life lessons they had learned from fishing that were going to help them proclaim the Gospel and round up the people that would become the church.

What do you do? How do you answer when people ask, “What do you do for a living?” Because that’s where God’s training you to do what He wants you to do. 

What would Jesus say to you?

Educators: Follow me and I will make you teachers of the kingdom of God.

Parents: Follow me and I will make you nurturers of the next generation so they can faithfully hand the gospel off to their children.

Healthcare workers: Follow me and I will make you healers of souls as well as bodies.

Whatever you do, you’re supposed to do it as unto the Lord.

You work at your job to make money but if you’re following Jesus, that’s only part of it. It’s also where God is making you into the person He wants you to be. So, don’t let greed or ambition get in the way of why He has you working there. You have a higher calling. All of us carry the kingdom of God and the gospel with us everywhere we go. We’re like secret agents. Gospel ninjas. Our ultimate loyalty is always with the kingdom of heaven and the assignments Jesus has given us.

Everywhere we go, we need to be looking for those opportunities to step up and be the person Jesus called us out of the world to be. Always looking for ways to be His activity in the world wherever we are. How can you bring a little of the kingdom of heaven with you?

Whatever you do in your career, your job, whatever you do in the different roles of your life—all your vocations, your callings—Jesus has you doing those things in the kingdom of God for the sake of the gospel now. There are no compartments. Church isn’t over here, family over there, work somewhere else—Everything is under the Lordship of Jesus. Everything you do is to be done as part of the kingdom of God. Everything is to be done with undivided commitment to Him. 

And you get to do those things with the same authority that Jesus had when He called those fishermen on the boat. That’s what the Great Commission is all about. Jesus said, “All authority on earth and in heaven has been given to me”—and then He gave all that authority to you. To go into all the world telling people the Gospel—with His authority. You have been commissioned to round up the people that will become this church.

But even in that moment of the Great Commission, when they were with the resurrected Jesus in the flesh, it says “they worshiped but some doubted.” I’m sure that’s true of some of us here, too—we've gathered to worship, but some of us have our doubts. 

This time we spend together in church is great. It’s important. But it’s not the end of our worship—not by a long shot.

There’s a poem I’ve heard at a few funerals called “The Dash.” Have you heard of it? The basic idea is every grave marker has a birthdate and a death date. In between those numbers is a dash. What you do in that dash is what matters. What you do in that dash is going to define who you are to your kids, your spouse, your friends, your boss. It’s pretty heavy.

But I want to suggest a Gospel way to look at this. 

Instead of a birthdate, think of that first number as the day Jesus called you to follow Him. The day God put His name on you, gave you faith, and called you to follow Jesus. That’s the first date.

Then there’s a dash—and that’s it. This tombstone is open ended. No expiration date.

Now what are you going to do with the dash? Because it’s a lot longer now—everlasting. And you’re not defined by the dash, not by what you do or don’t do, you’re defined by the grace represented in that born again date. What are you going to do with the dash?

May I suggest that you spend every day responding to the Lord’s call, repenting, turning away from all the bad, all the darkness, all the distractions, and turn toward Him with a grateful heart in true belief. Repent, believe, and then just follow Him one step at a time. One conversation at a time. One encouraging word to someone at a time. One invitation for someone to join us following Jesus at a time. All the little moments that make up a faithful life. All those moments in the space between the big moments. The hundred and sixty seven hours between Sunday worship services. Singing in church with your hands in the air, vibing with the Holy Spirit, having an emotional experience is great—but it doesn’t mean anything if it’s not followed up with action.

I’m glad God brought you to NewChurch. He did it for a reason. You’re here for a reason. What is it? To Simon and Andrew He said, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” What’s He saying to you? Why did He call you? I know this: It’s going to have something to do with letting people know the kingdom of God is here, so they need to repent and believe. AMEN