As we move through these weeks of Epiphany, we are hearing story after story about call. If this is the season of light and of revelation, it is also the season of invitation – invitation into communion, invitation into Christ’s work on earth and into God’s vision of a new heaven and a new earth. A week ago we heard God’s call to Samuel in the middle of the night, and Philip and Jesus’s invitation to a skeptical new disciple, Nathanael. We also remembered a modern day prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was called by God to draw people together, to end the racism and hatred that divides us.
Two weeks ago, we stood by the river Jordan as Jesus was baptized by John and visited by the Holy Spirit, who then immediately pushed Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days. In today’s readings, we hear the story of the call of a reluctant Jonah – and in the Gospel, Jesus calling and challenging his new disciples to enter into a new wilderness, into new and risky work, because the kingdom of God – the dream of God, and of prophets across the centuries, including Dr. King – has come near. And, two thousand years later, Jesus is still calling us into that work as well. Jesus’s call to God’s kingdom in today’s Gospel reading is a call to us today just as much as it was to Simon and Andrew and James and John two thousand years ago.
Jesus, in today’s reading, is starting his ministry on earth. He has gone to Galilee to preach: “Believe in the good news!” These are strange words, given that his cousin and friend, the prophet who inspired so many and baptized him in the river Jordan, has just been arrested. What is the good news in that? “The kingdom of God has come near,” Jesus says. What kind of a kingdom is coming near if its most vocal prophet, the one who has been preparing the way, is in prison? Surely this news is worrisome; it is not a vote of confidence for this new movement, this man who might be the Messiah we have been waiting for. Shouldn’t Jesus be lying low, rather than speaking up? He’s closely connected to John the Baptist. Surely it would be safer to downplay his relationship, wait until things blow over, not attract more attention from the Roman authorities and the religious leaders and risk getting arrested too.
But Jesus speaks words of hope, not fear.
“Repent,” says Jesus, borrowing one of John’s favorite words – “believe in the good news. …The kingdom of God has come near.”
What is this kingdom? It doesn’t sound like any kingdom they’ve heard of.
And Jesus doesn’t act like any king they’ve ever known.
He doesn’t pick up a sword or a crown. He doesn’t meet with powerful leaders or politicians or try to build alliances or make deals. He doesn’t build an army, or stage a coup.
He goes down to the Sea of Galilee, and he talks to some fishermen. “Follow me,” he says to Simon and Andrew. They are ordinary, everyday people. They have no money to speak of, they have no authority or influence – they are not rabbis, they are not noblemen. “Follow me,” he tells them, “and I will make you fish for people.” Follow me, and I will give you new work to do.
And so they follow.
And they walk a little farther, and there are James and John. “Immediately, Jesus called them, and they left their father and followed him.” Jesus offered them nothing. He didn’t give them new titles, or money, or corner offices or company stocks – he just said, Follow me. They knew they were walking into a wilderness, they knew they could end up in prison like John the Baptist – but Jesus’ call, and the promise of a kingdom to come, was enough.
What kind of kingdom was Jesus talking about? A kingdom built by fishermen?
Yes.
I don’t fish. I don’t know a lot about fishing, though I know there are many different kinds of fishing – fly fishing, deep sea fishing, rod and reel fishing, ice fishing, spear fishing, salt water, fresh water. This kind of fishing requires bait, or lures. It’s complicated. Different fish prefer different bait – worms, crickets, minnows. And different lures attract different kinds of fish. They are expensive if you buy them, and take a lot of time if you make them. They can be beautiful. They imitate things that they are not – insects, or other fish. Elton Brown, a Methodist pastor in Minnesota, points out that bait and lures catch fish by deception. They trick fish into biting.
Nets, on the other hand, do not discriminate. On the Sea of Galilee, Andrew and Simon and John and James fished by throwing a net into the water and seeing what swam into it. But don’t let that fool you – it’s not easy work – the nets must be woven, and mended, and they are heavy. Fishermen must build and repair their boats. They must watch the weather. And when you throw a net into the water, you never know what, if anything, will come back to you. It is indeed a bit like the work of ministry.
And that is the kind of work, the kind of fishing, Jesus invites his disciples into. We will fish for people, he said. We will throw a net that will reach everyone. And we don’t know if we will catch anyone. But we will preach, and heal, and teach, and listen, and love – we will keep throwing the net.
“The kingdom of God has come near.”
Surely the disciples must have wondered, what is this kingdom? What does Jesus mean, we will go fishing for people?
Jesus has invited them into the beginning of his his work – he has invited them into the kingdom. Because the kingdom is not some end goal, some prize that they are working for, some huge catch of fish that they haven’t gotten yet – the kingdom of God is already a work in progress. Jesus is asking his disciples to help him lay the foundations. Jesus calls them into work that is not just good news in words, but good news in action. There is a reason why he does not choose to do his work alone. There is a reason why Jesus doesn’t go out alone, a solitary, itinerant preacher. There is a reason why he calls the disciples – his friends – into this work. The kingdom of God is about community. And throughout the Gospels, they build that kingdom, over and over, not by conquest or coronation, but by healing lepers, by breaking bread with tax collectors, by listening to women, by welcoming children.
What does this mean for us? What kind of call are we hearing in this story?
First, Jesus calls us out of our everyday lives. He disrupts our routines, challenges our obligations, challenges us to follow in his footsteps, which may be at odds with the footsteps of the rest of the world. He says, follow me, even though the way is uncertain and the path is difficult. Step away from what is familiar and predictable. Learn to fish.
Jesus calls us, sometimes in the darkest times. Dr. King, in the last speech he gave, said, “only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” Even when things seem hopeless, God’s promises are not. They shine.
Jesus calls us into transformation, revisioning. He calls us to use our gifts in new ways. What love can you share with others? What work, what passion, what talent can you give to the world around you?
And Jesus calls us in and into community. He did not take on the work of the kingdom on by himself. He called followers who became friends, and they traveled, taught and worked together, however different their backgrounds, personalities and traditions had been. They built the kingdom of God by being the kingdom of God.
And just as they did, so we can do, by looking past differences, embracing the diversity of our backgrounds and traditions, welcoming and respecting one another even if we disagree or can’t understand each other.
We build the kingdom by being the kingdom.
Amen.
Sermon for the third Sunday after Epiphany at Trinity Episcopal Church, Staunton, Va., January 21, 2024.
Photo by Hennie Stander on Unsplash.
