As Jesus is walking along the Sea of Galilee, he calls to Simon and his brother Andrew. They drop what they are doing and leave their father behind. A little further on, he sees the Sons of Thunder, James and his brother John. He calls them and they too drop what they are doing and follow him. Their father and the hired workmen are left behind.
This phrase left behind, became quite popular amongst protestant scholars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Eventually, making its way to the title of a best-selling fictional series about the end of days, a very loose and poor interpretation of the Book of Revelation—the title itself, coming from a warning that Jesus gave in the Gospel of Matthew. Being left behind does not have a pleasant connotation.
Whether it is by Jesus as He is gathering the Disciples, or being left to endure hunger and pestilence, we don’t want to be left behind. We want to be called.
But this is not a story only about those who are called. It is also about Simon’s father, James’ father and the hired hands. It is not a Kingdom that is reserved only for a few, or the twelve, but the Kingdom of God is at hand for all. Think for a moment, less about the Disciples in their response, and more about the ones who have been left behind.
What must have the hired men been thinking as James and John stopped mending the nets and left to follow this captivating man. They could have been angry at the extra work that was left for them (this is jealousy), or envious wishing that they too could have gone with Jesus. But who would have been left to mend the net? Who would have been left to take care of their father?
The Kingdom requires men to become fishers of men, but also to be fishers of fish; it needs men to mend the nets and to haul the boats into shore. The Kingdom needs students who listen and learn, and what a blessing it is to be able to sit and listen, without having to get up and set the table or pour the drinks (just ask Mary and Martha). Have you ever had a moment when you have sat back and watched a son or daughter, or brother or sister, walk across a stage, give a performance, or simply laugh and skip around in joy? How much of a blessing was that for you, and how much for them to look and see you watching what they were doing.
Not all are called, many are left behind because they do not have to leave to find God, and others for the witness and testimony that they need to give. Think of the paralytic, whom Jesus healed and then sent on his way. Was he any less in the Kingdom? Or loved any less by God? But we follow him even in the fishing nets and the paralytic mat.