3rd After Epiphany A
Grace Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
January 22, 2023
Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27
I Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23
Grace to you and peace from God and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Sometimes when we read Scripture, we may find one simple and plain meaning or understanding in any given story or account. The battle between David and Goliath may be one such story – a small young boy and a veritable giant, a slingshot and a few stones combined with a great faith and the giant fell. Or a stormy Sea of Galilee and the disciples in a boat while Jesus slept. Jesus wakes and calms the storm and they sail on.
Other times, a story may defy understanding and all we can do is puzzle over it and wonder. Maybe creation is one of those – how is it that God gathered together the dirt of the earth and shaped it and fashioned and breathed into it the breath of life and there was a living human. Or when Jesus having just entered into Jerusalem for the last time, sees a fig tree and comes up to it and sees no fruit – because it wasn’t the season for figs yet – and seeing that Jesus curses the tree. I confess to you my brothers and sisters that I do not know what this means.
I rather think that more stories in Scripture, particularly the Gospels, are a combination of these two –having one plain and simple meaning or defying understanding at all. Most fall somewhere in the middle of these. And I believe that today’s Gospel reading in Matthew is one of these. It would be easy to say that this story is about leaving everything behind and following after Jesus. And that might be one of the understandings but instead let’s dig a little deeper here and see what we may find.
It was just a couple of weeks ago that we heard the account of Jesus’ baptism – “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased” came the voice from heaven. This happened at the river Jordan where John the Baptist was calling people to repentance. When he was still wet from the river, Jesus was led by the Spirit (hmmm, what does THAT mean?) into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. When Jesus returns, he is greeted with the news that his cousin, John who had baptized him just a few weeks earlier has been arrested by King Herod. Not a good sign of things to come.
Jesus leaves Nazareth where he had grown up as a child and went to Capernaum, about 50 miles northeast, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This signals a change doesn’t it – but what kind of change is this? When will it come about? What does it really mean?
Capernaum was a small village of about 1500 people, most of whom fished for a living. Jesus was walking along the shore and he comes upon Peter and Andrew casting their nets into the sea. He looks at them – I wonder what was in that gaze – and then says, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” And immediately, they left their nets and followed him. Doesn’t this sound preposterous? What does that mean, they may have wondered – fishers of people? I know how to use a net. I know how to handle a boat. I know where the good spots are. But fishing for people??
Yet, the curious part about this is that they didn’t ask those questions. Scripture bears no witness that they even considered them. In fact, Scripture does tell us that immediately they left their nets and went to follow Jesus. They acted quickly and decisively. They acted in what we might call a “blind faith.” They hadn’t heard Jesus teach, they had seen no miracles. They may have heard about John the Baptist proclaiming preparation and repentance and might have sensed that things were somehow changing. But somehow a miracle was worked in their hearts and minds and they became followers of Jesus.
And the story continues – Jesus walked on and saw James and John mending their nets after a night of fishing with their father, Zebedee. And Jesus calls to them and they too leave it all behind and join up with Peter and Andrew following after Jesus. Another miracle.
There were no seminary classes, no interviews, no aptitude tests, no call committees. No special training or preparation. Jesus saw them. Jesus called to them. They followed.
Jesus’ call to you to follow him in the subsequent days of your life may have happened that suddenly and definitively. Or, perhaps more likely, it may have been gradual. I’m reminded of the story of the Pharisee, Nicodemus. You remember. He came to Jesus under the cover of darkness lest anyone see him and had a very intense conversation about who Jesus was, how living for the kingdom of God could happen. Born again? Really Jesus, what does that mean. And Jesus said, “Be born from above…I come not to judge the world but that the world might be saved through me.” And then Nicodemus drops from sight in the Scriptures until three years later on the afternoon of Jesus’ crucifixion, before the Sabbath that would begin at sunset. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea received the body of the crucified Jesus and buried it in the tomb. Nicodemus. Questioner, wonderer Nicodemus. No about face in his following of Jesus. Yet a man of faith. And action.
Now, there’s someone else in the story today who doesn’t get much notice. Zebedee. You know, the one who was left behind to finish the work after his sons, James and John, went to follow this itinerant rabbi, Jesus. What do we make of Zebedee? Was he not good enough for Jesus to ask? Was he gift-less? Too old? No. None of the above. Zebedee’s call was to continue doing his life’s work. To fish and provide for family, to live in the village of Capernaum. The fact that we don’t hear much more about him does not mean that his life was insignificant. Sometimes the call of Jesus isn’t to leave everything behind. Sometimes the call of Jesus beckons us to embrace the life that is right in front of us.
But let there be no mistake, the call of Jesus on our lives, our lives lived following him, does mean that there is a change. The first words of Jesus’ proclamation in today’s Gospel were to Repent. Repent, turn in a different direction. Shift from one thing to another. Follow after something different. Don’t yield to the beguiling charms of the world as it is. Instead carry the kingdom of heaven with you into the minutes and ordinariness of your everyday life. Let your heart seek that which is of God.
And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
