CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: Follow Me

After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

- Mark 1:14-20

They say every preacher has one sermon.

And I think the Rev. Martin Luther King’s one sermon was “Follow Me.”

“Follow me” and find Jesus in your neighbor, in the school children in the south, in sanitation workers in Memphis, in the domestic workers in Birmingham.

“Follow me” and see Jesus in those living in poverty in the richest country in the world.

“Follow me” and see Jesus in the Vietnamese children, women and men being senselessly slaughtered in the name of empire.

The Rev. King was not seeking acolytes for vainglory. King, like all prophets in their time, was asking the people of God to join him in the discipleship of Jesus who preached repentance and the Good News of God.

In a speech given April 4, 1967—exactly one year before his assassination.

In other words, King is saying to us would-be disciples, our society is in need of a revolution! King described his vision of revolution as the Beloved Community. And the trials of the past year have made the call for discipleship and the need for Beloved Community abundantly clear. The isolation of this past year has also made our need for community and companionship increasingly evident.

The disciples called in this reading from Mark followed Jesus in pairs. I like to think that they brought a friend. Jesus came into their town, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

How exciting?!

And how absolutely terrifying!

The radical revolution of values that Jesus calls us to—a world in which love, peace and work are just sounds absolutely amazing. Like the Kingdom of God come near! Yet in order to get there we are learning that we must let go of life as we know it. And that can be scary. We have to put down the nets. The nets that entrap us and tangle us up in the ways of the world. The nets of selfishness, consumerism, materialism, racism, sexism, transphobia, lust for power and apathy.

In putting down my nets and leaving the ways of the world behind I have found that I need accountability, companionship and a good friend. Like Simon and Andrew, James and John, it’s nice to do new things and to follow Jesus with a friend. A friend doesn’t always keep me from feeling lonely as I live into the revelation of Heaven on earth, but it is nice to know that there is someone else who is living into the challenges and joys with me as I walk with Jesus.

The Rev. Hershey Mallette Stephens is the dean of the chapel and spiritual life at Saint Augustine’s University, Raleigh.