Preparing for Worship - January 21, 2024

The Gospel lesson for this week is from Mark 1:14-20. (John 1:35-40 seems to indicate that Jesus already had some contact with Andrew and Peter, who had been disciples of John the Baptist and then had met Jesus and talked with Him.) Now, after John the Baptist had been arrested, Jesus went to the Sea of Galilee and was proclaiming the Gospel: “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.” He then calls Simon Peter and Andrew to follow Him and He will make them become “fishers of men.” He calls James and John, too, and all four, who are fishermen, quickly follow Him.

Becoming a fisherman for other people is a challenge, though, as we hear from the other readings this week. In the Old Testament, we hear the story of Jonah, who when he was told to go to Nineveh and call the people there to repent, went in the opposite direction. He had to be swallowed by a great fish and vomited back onto land to stop him. In the Old Testament lesson, Jonah 3:1-5,10, for a second time the Lord asks Jonah to go to Nineveh. This time he goes and warns of coming judgment, as God wished, and the people actually believed God and repented of their evil ways, including the king, and God did not bring disaster upon the city. The preaching of Jonah worked, by God’s blessing, but after our text, in Chapter 4, Jonah was very angry. He hated the people of Nineveh and did not think they deserved to be forgiven. God had much more teaching to bring to Jonah himself and needed to call him to repentance, too.

The Epistle lesson, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (32-35) is a hard one. Paul knows that difficult times are coming for Christians, with persecution ahead for their faith. He feels that people would be better off single, as he is, without the added concerns of marriage and family, in these hard times. He very clearly says he is giving his judgment, though, in v. 25-26, and not a command of God. Plenty of other Scriptures speak also of the joys and blessings of marriage and family, and the importance of carrying out family responsibilities, too. The challenge, again, is balancing all those responsibilities, and still remembering the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:37 not to love others more than the Lord and His will.

David speaks of the same challenge in the psalm for this week, Psalm 62. Four times he says that God alone is his Rock and Fortress and Salvation and that all should trust in the Lord’s power and steadfast love, instead of riches and evil activity and others high or low, who are false in their ways. David knew his own struggles in following his Lord and says to us, in this psalm: “Trust in the Lord at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is a Refuge for us.” “Our hope is from Him, and in Him we shall not be greatly shaken.”