“Alarm Clock”Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCC Epiphany+4B (January 29, 2012) Mark 1:14-20 (text for Epiphany+3B) I use my telephone for all sorts of things these days. Talking, playing games, surfing theinternet in the doctor’s waiting room, checking my email when I’m away from my computer,finding my way from here to there, and waking me up in the morning. Recently, I upgradedthe system that makes this complicated little tool run, and it now has the capability of makingnew sounds. It can quack like a duck, chime like a bell tower, give me a piano riff, beep like thesonar on a submarine, - it can even wake me up to little snippets of songs. However, on thislist, my old wake-up sound was nowhere to be found. I set out to find an appropriate replacement. My specifications were a little bit picky, I have toadmit. There’s a relatively narrow sweet spot. Loud enough to cut through my dreaming andtell my consciousness that morning has broken. Gentle enough that it doesn’t set my heart a-pounding when it goes off, and start my day in a panic. With so many options available, youwould think it would easy to find the right one. Several weeks later, I’m pretty sure I haven’tfound what I’m looking for. Once upon a time, alarm clocks came with just one setting: loud. Some of you might be of anage where you can remember alarm clocks that had actual bells on them and a little hammerthat whacked into the bell. My first alarm clock was a little digital number with red digits, andthe insistent electronic BEEP BEEP BEEP was enough to vault my teenage body out of bed at O-dark-thirty, and leap across the room to silence it. Alarm clocks have one simple job to do: inform you, in terms you should be unable to avoid,that IT’S TIME. That action of some sort is required. That whatever it is that you are supposedto be doing, you’d better get a move on. NOW. The snooze button was the best – and worst –invention in the history of alarm clocks. It totally defeats the intended function; it lets you talkback to the alarm. With every push of the snooze button, it lets you say, “I’ll get a move on – in9 minutes when you come back to remind me.” Jesus does not come with a snooze button. The Gospel of Mark is full of words like “immediately” and “right away” and “just then.” Markis not concerned about finding the sweet spot. We are racing through the story, because thesituation is urgent. We need to know Jesus’ message. We need to know that we are called tofollow. We need to know what brought Jesus into confrontation with the authorities. We needto know what brought him to the cross. We need to know that he is going ahead of us. We need to know this, because this is our road, too. Jesus was baptized and immediately he was driven out into the wilderness, where he wastempted. John was arrested, and there’s no bridge, no “let’s get our feet back under us”period, no interim ministry. Jesus just kept going. “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came toGalilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom ofGod has come near.’” BEEP BEEP BEEP: It’s time! Get moving! Repent, and believe in the good news. I don’t know about you, but that alarm clock going off at O-dark-thirty seldom feels like goodnews to me. Nevertheless, Jesus is traveling along the sea of Galilee and saying, “Wake Up!God’s time is here. Get up! Get moving! Pay attention!” And we say, “where’s the snooze button?” I don’t want anything else on my to-do list. I don’thave ROOM for anything else on my to-do list. I don’t want an unexpected appointment. I hadPLANS. I was going to have a cup of coffee and a bite to eat, get my gear together, and get towork early. I was going for a bike ride. The calendar is packed. I can’t squeeze anything elsein. Maybe next Tuesday? But Jesus shows up, and stands at our desk, or our workbench, or our locker, and says, “It’sGod’s time.” God’s time: not only did God make it, but God owns it, and God has plans for it,and those plans involve you. The Kingdom of God is here. Now. It’s time. Get moving. Jesus will not be put off. The invitation he offers is brief, and simple: Repent and Believe.Follow me and become fishers of people. Follow me, and become agents of the Good News. The Jesus we see in the Gospel of Mark is not waiting around for an answer. This is not a philosophical debate or a long-drawn-out courtship. Jesus asks each of us to make a real liveflesh-and-blood decision that will change your whole life. You: New life – yes, or no? Want tocome work for me? Then come on. Immediately, he called them. We want some time to think. To reflect. To strategize and to figure out if this will fit into ourplans. To see if we can add fishing-for-people to our to-do list without blowing the whole thingup. The invitation is brief and immediate. Jesus is not calling or inviting us tomorrow. Jesus iscalling us right here. Right now. No snooze button. There’s a short shelf life on this offer, andif you miss it, you’ll have to scramble to catch up. The lesson that the first disciples offer us is that it is possible to respond differently.Immediately. Like the folks in Ninevah (the ones we heard about last week), they hear themessage, and get the urgency, and do something about it. Immediately, the Ninevitesrepented. Immediately, Simon (Peter) and Andrew left their nets and followed. Jesus sawJames and John, and immediately called them, and they went. There’s not a ton of explanation up front. This is on-the-job training at its finest: “Followme, and I will make you fish for people.” The older translation – and quite possibly the moreaccurate one – is “I will make you fishers of men.” He doesn’t invite us to dabble in the hobbyof fishing – he invites us into the life of fishing. Jesus does not ask us to add one, or three, or five more things to our to-do list. Jesus asksus to change our way of living to follow the Good News. Jesus calls us to let go of our ownpriorities, and accept God’s priorities. That’s what being a Christian means. To order our world according to God’s priorities. To stopworking for ourselves and start working for what Mark calls the Kingdom of God. Discipleshipmeans dropping our nets – giving up whatever we have been fishing for – and picking upChrist’s net: fishing for those who are left out, who are outside, who desperately need to hearsome Good News in their life. So what have you been fishing for? A promotion? Financial security? Independence?Popularity? Peace? A little breathing space? Put down the net. Step away. Jesus is here, saying “Follow me.” Jesus calls us to accept the urgency of spreading the Good News. Here. Now. For the sake ofwhat God is doing in the world. For the sake of our neighbors. For the sake of ourselves. Jesus is on the move, already heading off down the road. The alarm clock has rung. TheKingdom of God has come near. Have you heard it? Do you intend to follow? Get up. Getmoving. The Good News is urgent business. We have ministry to do, fishers of people. Amen. http://www.archive.org/download/McfarlandUccSermon20120129/MUCC_Sermon_20120129.mp3