GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
MARK 1:19
Working and listening
It is interesting to examine the background of those Jesus called to help him in his work, the disciples. Every one of the people Jesus called was working at some occupation—fisherman, tax collector, community organizer (political zealot), some may have been tradesmen, farmers, or craftsmen. None of them were dreamers, hermits, or recluses. The “call of God” usually comes to those who are engaged—who are doing the will of the Father right where they are located. One writer described it as growing “where you are potted.” Shunning employment in the Father’s Kingdom in order to wait for the Father’s call is incongruous.
St. Mark wrote, “And going on a little, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, and they were in the boat mending the nets.” (1:19) For a fisherman, mending the nets is a basic task. Holes or tangles in the nets would make them unusable, so these fishermen were engaged in basic grunt work. If a cook doesn’t wash dishes, no one gets fed. If a painter doesn’t paint, the building rots. If a mechanic doesn’t repair cars, they break down. There are scriptural admonitions such as Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it”; Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord”; or Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good.”
Jesus was not denigrating the dignity of work by calling workmen to follow him. He was demonstrating the importance of working with a heart open to the voice of the Father. True then, and true now.
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