Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 27, 2008
Text: Matthew 4:12-23
For the next few minutes, I would ask you to imagine that you are at your place of employment, working your regular job. Maybe you are at a desk, in a cubicle, behind a counter, alongside a conveyor belt, examining patients, listening to clients, or teaching students. Where you earn a living that is where you are.
If you are retired, imagine yourself at your part-time job, your volunteer job, the senior citizen center or at home fulfilling one of your dreams. For those of you who are students, imagine that you are at school, at your desk, in a certain class.
The day we are all imagining is a normal day, a good day. However, something unexpected is about to happen.
While you are engaged in your daily routine, you notice a strange man walking toward you. You never saw this man before now. As he comes closer, you begin to feel yourself in the presence of an extraordinary person. Soon the man is almost in front of you and he is looking intensely at you. However, his expression is kind and gentle. You do not feel threatened by the presence of this man. Instead, you have a feeling of security and support like you never felt before. You feel at peace.
The man breaks the silence of this encounter when he addresses you with this command, “Follow, me, and I will use you to serve other people on my half.” Then he turns away, walks over to another person, and invites her saying, “Follow me.”
So far, you have not taken a step forward. Who is this man? What is it about him that makes me want to follow him? Trying to imagine an encounter like this is not the same as experiencing it first hand. What we could say was that this person would have to be extremely extraordinary for us to walk away from our livelihood and follow him.
In our Gospel reading from the fourth chapter of Matthew this morning, we heard the story of two pairs of brothers who made a decision that made no sense at all. Simon and Andrew, James and John were working at their jobs, which were commercial fishing. While working, a man by the name of Jesus encounters these fishermen and calls on them to follow him. Their response to Jesus was extraordinary and radical. We might also think it was stupid. Matthew tells us, “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
What kind of person would have such command over Andrew and Simon, James and John, that they would respond the way they did? Given that they were people like us, to whom would we give such extraordinary power over us? Can you think of any one in your life, who having said to you, “Follow me,” you would leave drop everything – career, family and home – and follow that person? What if it were God Who said to you, “Follow me,” would we follow?
The calling of Simon and Andrew, James and John, is not a story of a dynamic teacher inviting disciples to follow him. Rather it is a story revealing who Jesus is. Yes, He is a human, for He walks like a human, He talks like a human, and He looks like a human. However, having such power over others, we come to know that Jesus is also God in the flesh. He is the Son of God, whose invitation to follow him causes his disciples to drop everything – career, family and home – to follow him. Why Andrew and Simon, James and John, followed Jesus was that through Him, they realized and trusted that God was calling them.
Through Jesus, God continues to encounter and call His people. Today in the liturgy of Word and Sacrament, God calls us. For this brief hour, we have left everything – career, family and home – to hear Jesus teach, to receive the very presence of Christ in the sacrament and to heed His invitation, “Follow me, and I will use you to serve other people on my behalf.”
Outside of worship, God also encounters His people. God encounters us in our private prayers, in our doubts and fears, in our joy and happiness, and in the unexpected times of life. What God asks of us may be different from what He asks of others. For some, it may be a radical change of lifestyle, maybe even a change of career. For others it may not be as radical, but just as important. God may be calling you to volunteer for Project Share or for Carlisle CARES. He may be asking you to be forgiving and loving of a person who did you wrong. He may be calling you to invite a neighbor or a friend to come with you to church. He may be calling you to participate in Sunday Church School or volunteer to work on a committee of the congregation.
Through Jesus Christ, God will call us to do many things. The possibilities are endless. The unknown makes us afraid and insecure. However, looking at the two pairs of brothers in our Gospel reading this morning, we notice an important truth. When God calls us, no matter what He asks us to do, God will always be there with us. We will experience His peace.
When Andrew, Simon, James, and John left their nets, they did not wander aimlessly around. They followed Jesus. They were not left hanging. Through Jesus, God was with them. God was leading them to where they were to go and providing them with the courage and strength they needed to fulfill that which God was calling them to do. Wherever they went with Jesus, God went with them. They were at peace with their decision.
In Matthew’s account of the story of Jesus’ birth, we read that the child of the virgin shall be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. When Jesus calls us to “Follow him,” we go with the very real presence of God with us. We are not alone. We are not powerless. We need not be afraid. God with us, our future is filled with God’s peace.
As Jesus called Andrew, Simon, James and John so now He is calling us. Following Him, we now give of our selves that we may serve others on behalf of Christ. Whenever and to wherever Jesus calls you, do not be afraid. For the Jesus who has called you is the Son of God. Wherever you follow Jesus, God will be with you.