At once and immediately

Given that it's Lent I think it's only fair that I try and shoe horn Jesus in here somewhere.

Interestingly, when I started thinking about Jesus and spontaneity it didn't take me long to come up with an example of a story that really challenges me.

Both Matthew and Mark's gospels record Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew's life-changing encounter with Jesus. The two men are just minding their own business, earning a living, when Jesus turns up and announces, ‘Come, follow me and I will send you out to fish for people'. I suspect that for those of us that have grown up in church this will have become one of those stories that we risk getting a bit 'Whatever' about. This is Jesus - of course there's nothing remotely weird about him just wandering up to people, telling them to drop everything and follow him around. What's no more weird than that is the fact that they do exactly what he says. They drop everything and follow him.

Now this is one of those stories where it's important to compare and contrast with other places in the Bible. John's gospel suggests that before Andrew met Jesus he was already beginning to engage with the teaching and ministry of John the Baptist, describing him as one of John's disciples. Chapter one tells us that when John pointed Jesus out to Andrew and a friend they decided to spend the day with him, the result of which is that Andrew goes and finds his brother and tells him that 'We have found the Messiah'. Once Andrew's spent some time with Jesus, he wants to start introducing him to other people.

So back we go to Matthew and Mark. Let's assume that this is not Andrew and Simon (Peter)'s first encounter with Jesus (as my NIV Study Bible also assumes). These are two men who have spent time with Jesus although probably not very much. Now let's have Jesus walking along the sea shore, reaching the boat and suggesting they ‘Come, follow me and I will send you out to fish for people'. Let's be honest, that makes a bit more sense.

But you still can't get away from the fact that their unequivocal, unhesitating response is pretty impressive. 'At once they left their nets and followed him.' What's that statement actually saying? These two men are walking away from their jobs, their means of earning an income. We know Simon (Peter) was married - in Luke's gospel we hear about Jesus healing his mother-in-law - so you could argue that he's jeopardising his family's well-being.

And yet, 'At once...'

Not 'What a great idea! Let me just finish this catch, make sure there's enough in the bank for a little sabbatical, and pack an overnight bag'.

'At once...'

For me, those are terrifying words.

If you read slightly further on in the same passages, Jesus calls James and John in the same way. Their response? 'Without delay...' (Matthew) and 'Immediately...' (Mark).

Even if we work on the basis (and I'm not sure there's much in the Bible to support this) that maybe Jesus had had a chat with Andrew, Simon, James and John a few days earlier and said, 'I'm thinking of going travelling - are you up for coming with me?', those responses are pretty astonishing. Jesus gives the nod and they get up and go.

I'm not sure I could have done that. I certainly couldn't have just got up and gone, and I suspect that a few days reflection and a list of pros and cons wouldn't have made much difference. It's just too much of a risk.