Mark 1:19-20
Responsibilities!
We all have them. How does the Gospel impact those responsibilities? Does the
call of God supersede our responsibilities? How do we handle seemingly conflicting
sets of responsibilities? We may not be facing these types of conflicts right
now, but at some point in our life these conflicts will arise.
Sometimes
these conflicts show up when relationship conflicts arise. I have found that
relationship conflicts often have to do with feelings of unimportance, a feeling
of “I don’t matter” to them. Work seems more important. Video games, sports, friends,
crafting, the children, couponing, hunting, recreation… the list could
continue. Something else seems to take up time and energy needed for the
relationship. This is a conflict of priorities and responsibilities. How do we
decide what to do, what is most important?
James
and John had to make just such a decision. They were working with their father
on their boat. When Jesus calls them, they leave their father. What was their
responsibility to their father? If they left, would the father be OK? Would he
be able to continue the business without them? Our text gives us a clue into the
answer. There were hired men helping with the business.
It
seems that the business was successful enough that their father’s business had
grown to the point where the three of them could not sustain it. They needed to
hire extra help to meet the demand. When that happened, the father became more
than a father. He became an employer. So now as the two sons leave, the father
could continue to hire other help to meet the need. The father is not left in
the lurch. He will survive.
Would
it be different if there were no hired help? Perhaps in the long run, no. The
father could begin hiring help. But in the short run, over the next few days
and weeks, the father would not only have to try to bring in the haul of fish
to meet the demand, but also try to find help, reliable help to replace the
labor the sons had provided. There might even be some resentment by the father
toward Jesus for taking his boys away and leaving him in such a predicament.
We
don’t know if the sons talked to their father, asked his permission, made sure
he would be OK, gave him veto power over their leaving. We don’t know if any of
that happened. We don’t know if they hugged goodbye. We know nothing of their
parting moments. We do know they left.
Why
would a father let his two sons leave with a perfect stranger? They were men at
this point, but to allow them to leave could be seen as the father letting go
of his responsibility over his sons. Maybe he should have asked some questions
of Jesus. When does our responsibility for our children end?
Mark
writes about the father and the hired men. He has a reason. He wants us to ask
about family and business ties. He wants us to consider other responsibilities and
how we fit into the equation.
I
think the solution to these types of responsibility conflicts is to have
conversations around the issues with all the people affected. Open, frank
conversations about feelings and hurts can go a long way in helping avoid
conflicting responsibilities. If we have them before taking on extra things, it
is easier to make adjustments.