The Message, January 21, 2024: "Follow," Mark 1:14-20

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
January 23, 2024

 

“Follow”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Mark 1:14-20

            Some of you know that my wife, Renee, and I have worked with dogs for several years fostering for an animal rescue based in Memphis, Tennessee. After we adopted our dog, Sadie, we asked the rescue if there was anything that we could do to help. The director said, “Well, we could use foster families. Unlike you, most people like to meet their dogs before adopting them.” We adopted Sadie after seeing her photo on the website and talking on the phone with her foster. We did not meet her until the day we picked her up.

(Photo of Aubie on the screens.)

            In addition to fostering, we also used to work with service dogs. We were blessed to work with two service dogs for the ministry, Maxwell and Aubie. Maxwell had been partnered with a boy in a wheelchair. When the boy passed away, Max spent his remaining time working with us. Aubie came to us a couple of years later. He was a special dog that worked with us as well as with a chaplain for the United States Marines Corps. One of Aubie’s “jobs” with George was to visit wounded Marines in the hospital and convince them that it is okay to receive help. (Apparently, Marines can be a stubborn breed.)

            When Renee and I worked with our service dogs, there were a number of vocal commands and hand gestures that helped us communicate with them.
            If we wanted them to stay, we put them in a “Down. Stay.”
            If we wanted them to get up on something, we said, “Jump up. On.”
            If we wanted them to ignore something, we would say, “Leave it.”
            If we wanted to recall them; to have them come back to us we said, “Come.”

            And if we wanted them to follow us, we had a series of commands.  “Okay, Max. Okay, Aubie. Let’s go. Heel. Heel. Side. Side.”  Every time we turned or changed direction, we repeated the command, “Heel. Side.”
            When we got to a doorway … “Wait.”  Then after we had opened the door, “Okay. Go through.”
            For a retrieve ... “Fetch. Hold. Come close. Thank you.”
            Out at a restaurant, or at a church dinner, we would put them out of the flow of traffic ... “Okay, go under. Down. Stay. Leave it.”
            They knew the difference between their nose and their paws. If we said, “nudge” something, they used their noses.  If the command was, “shake,” they used their paws.

            I could go on, but I think that you get the point.

            Both Maxwell and Aubie had been trained and conditioned to respond to and follow a large collection of commands.  In the process of training Maxwell and Aubie, Renee and I were also trained and conditioned. We had to remember that although special, highly trained dogs, they were still dogs. We always had to be alert when we worked with them.  When we were working we always had to have them under control.  They were not allowed to anticipate, and they should not “free lance” – that is they should not act without a command from one of us.

            Before they could interact with another dog or with a human, we had to prepare the setting.  We had to set the stage for the interaction.

            Sometimes when people see someone working a service dog, they feel that they are being mean to the dog or harsh. It is true, sometimes the corrections are swift and abrupt, but that is out of necessity in order to keep the dog and everyone else around safe.  However, there is a difference between being mean – or cruel – and maintaining discipline and control. Of course, we also always had a pocket or baggie full of goodies to reward Maxwell and Aubie when they complied with their commands. It is not all work. The photo of Aubie on the screen was taken right after he ate a “pup cup” of ice cream!

            In last week’s sermon, Jesus encountered Philip and Nathanael in Galilee. He did not issue a long series of complicated vocal commands and hand gestures; he simply said, “Philip, follow me.” And then Philip took the next step, he went to his friend Nathanael and said, “We have found Him! We have found the one Moses and the prophets spoke of. Come and see!” Nathanael went and saw, and then he followed as well.

            In this morning’s scripture reading, we hear Mark’s account of the call of the disciples. The setting is the same. Jesus was still in Galilee. Jesus said, “The time was fulfilled!” John had prepared the way. He had set the stage and Jesus began his ministry.
This morning we hear of his meeting of Simon and Andrew, James and John, and once again his simple call, “Come, follow me.” Jesus called Simon and Andrew, and at once they left their nets and followed him. Immediately. Jesus called James and John, without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee, and their hired helpers, in the boat.

            As a Christian and as a pastor, whenever I hear the Gospel message, I recognize that the Bible is not short on “follows.” Jesus was always calling on people to follow. Many of the stories that we read end with those familiar words, “Jesus said, ‘Follow me.’”  He said it to Simon Peter and Andrew while they were casting nets into the sea.  “Follow.”

            He said it to James and John while they were mending their nets, “Follow.”
            Matthew was sitting in a tax booth; paralytics were sitting on their mats.
            Saul was sitting blinded on a dusty road.

            Follow, follow, follow.

            The Gospel is a beautiful story, and the emphasis is clearly on the word follow. 
Sometimes we hear that word explicitly:

            And they dropped their nets and they followed.
            And they left their father sitting in the boat and they followed.
            And they picked up their mats and they followed.

            But at other times, the instruction to “follow” was implied.  “Come and see,” Jesus would say.  “Go and do likewise,” Jesus would say.  “Go into all the world,” Jesus would say. As it turns out, part of following is GOING. In fact, some might say that GOING is the most important part of following.

            No matter how you phrase it, the message is still the same.  Follow, follow, follow. Jesus called the disciples.  They responded and followed.

            As Jesus traveled through the countryside, to those to whom he preached he said, “Repent! Turn away from your old ways. Turn away from the ways of the world. Be redeemed unto God. Turn toward God. Hear the Good News and believe! The Kingdom of God has come near! The time is now!”

            To those who would become his disciples, Jesus asked them to turn away and follow. His instruction also gave them a glimpse of what it meant to follow; they would receive a new vocation – a spiritual vocation. They would become fishers of men. Look at Philip. After he responded to Jesus’ call to follow, the first thing that he did was cast the net for his friend, Nathanael when he said, “Come and see!”

              Jesus calls us as well. The call to follow extends across the generations. How do we respond?  How do we follow?  What does it mean to follow?

            Receiving the call from Jesus Christ and responding by following Jesus is about being open to radical change. Simon, Andrew, James and John gave up the only life that they knew. Fishing was in their blood. It was their heritage. They likely planned to fish just as their fathers had done, and their grandfathers had done, and their great grandfathers had done. Prior to that day, they did not imagine doing anything other than cast their nets and fish.

            But they dropped their nets and followed. Their encounter with Jesus changed everything.

            When Renee and I worked with Maxwell and Aubie, they had to surrender some of their natural tendency to be dogs, and allow themselves to be instructed, led, controlled by us - their human partners. Of course, they did get to be just dogs sometimes. But they knew the difference. They were only working when they had their capes on. Without the cape they could romp and play, and sleep and laze around the house like any other dog.  But when we said, “Okay Maxwell. Okay Aubie.  Let’s get dressed,” they knew it was time to work. They were no longer in control.

            When we, as Christians, decide that we are going to respond to the call of Jesus, when we decide that we are going to follow, it means that we reorient our lives. We accept that our lives will change radically when we open ourselves to the direction of the Word of God. The word follow that Jesus used is literally translated as, “Come after me.” “Do the things that I show you. Do the things that I do.” When we turn our lives toward God … toward Jesus Christ … our lives are changed.

            Follow.  Follow.  Follow.  Jesus did not say it just one time ... Follow.  Jesus repeated the instruction throughout his ministry ... Follow.  Follow.  Follow.

            Jesus Christ calls. We respond. We follow. So, let us get dressed and cast our nets. We have fishing to do. Amen.

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