Follow Me - 1/22/23

2023.01.22. Sermon “Follow Me” (Matt 4:12-23)- Pastor Michael W. Newheart

This year we're in Matthew following Jesus. Let’s review: Matthew has already given us the genealogy, then the angelic appearance to Joseph telling him of the birth of the baby Jesus, the visit of the wise men, the escape to Egypt, the massacre of the innocents (ooh!), the return from Egypt, and the settling in Nazareth in Galilee.

But that's all baby Jesus stuff. With chapter 3, we see the grown-up Jesus, who is baptized by John and called God's Son, God's beloved, in whom God is pleased as punch! We talked about the baptism a couple of weeks ago. After Jesus is baptized, the Spirit leads Jesus into the desert, and we'll talk about that next month at the beginning of Lent: the devil tests Jesus. But after the baptism and the temptation, Jesus comes into Galilee. He makes his home in Capernaum, which is on the sea of Galilee and was a big fishing port in Jesus’ day.

Jesus proclaims, "Repent," that is, change your mind-set because the kingdom of heaven--that is, the reign of God--has come near. Scholars usually say that the author of the Gospel of Matthew was a Jesus-believing Jew, and Jews were—and still are--reticent to call the name of God, so "heaven, or heavens" is a roundabout way of saying God. Mark and Luke usually say, kingdom of God, while Matthew usually says kingdom of heaven, or more literally, the kingdom of the heavens. They mean the same thing: Kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God. But what did these words mean in the context of Jesus' ministry.

Matthew presents these words as a summary of Jesus' preaching. Jesus and his contemporaries lived in the kingdom of Caesar. He was the man in charge, emperor Tiberius at the time. In case folks had forgotten that, the sea of Galilee was renamed the sea of Tiberias. Who owns this lake? Oh, that’s right: it belongs to Tiberius, the emperor. He’s in charge. But Jesus proclaimed that another was in charge, the Lord God of Israel. Change your lives—literally, your mind-set--in light of that fact, that God not Caesar is in charge.

As an example of folks who changed their mind-set in light of the kingdom, Matthew presents these fisherfolk, Simon and Andrew, James and John. Jesus is walking around by the Sea of Galilee, which is really just a lake, and he sees two bros--Simon, whom Jesus later calls Peter or "Rocky" , and his bro Andrew, whom Jesus called Andy. Not really, but anyway. Rocky and Andy are fisherfolk, which was a profession that was heavily taxed and regulated by the Roman authorities. Fishing served the elite. It’s important to realize that no middle class existed in Jesus’ day. The vast majority consisted of the poor and a small minority were the rich, and very few existed between them. So Jesus encounters here folks who are the working poor and they suffer under the heel of the rich, and the governing body, the Romans, support that structure.

As Jesus walks by, Rocky and Andy are casting their nets into the lake. They weren't fly fisherfolks, with rod and reel. No, they used nothing but net. Or seines; they weren't insane. And Jesus says, "Follow me--or literally, come behind me--and I'll make you fishers of people, or, if you like alliteration, fishers of folk." Nice little turn of phrase: no more fishing for fish but now fishing for folk. Jesus has a lot of these sorts of phrases, doesn't he? Maybe that's why I like the Gospels. But Jesus is here building on an image of the prophet Habakkuk, at the end of chapter 1, in which he speaks of people being caught in the net of rebellion, of arrogance, of destruction (1:14-17). But no, Jesus calls people to be fishers who catch people in love, catch people in peace, catch people in joy.

 Rocky and Andy are caught up in Jesus’ net of love. “And immediately they left their nets and followed Jesus.” They don't talk about it; they don't think about it. they don't phone home. Rocky doesn’t call on his cell phone, "Honey, I'm going with this preacher guy. Don't wait up for me; tell the kids I love 'm." None of that. In Bible study, someone said that they were concerned about the women and children left behind. I understand that. Jesus here is a homewrecker! The proclamation of the kingdom of the heavens makes deadbeat dads out of fishermen. They apparently repented of responsible family life.

Then Jesus goes a little farther, and he eyes two brothers, James and John—or Jim and Jack—who are fishing with their father Zebedee, or Zeb, as I like to call him. Some real male-bonding and un-bonding going on here. Zeb's boys Jim Jack are mending their nets so that they could cast them out into the water again. But Jesus called Jim and Jack--and maybe Zeb. Probably he said the same thing that he did to Rocky-Andy, “Follow me, and make you fish not for fish but for folk.” And immediately--everybody is in a hurry here—Jim and Jack leave their boat and dear old dad--and follow Jesus. But hey, how's Zeb going to handle these nets and this boat all by himself? Jesus and Zeb’s boys don’t seem to think about that. Jesus and the kingdom of the heavens awaits! Dad and the kingdom of Caesar will have to go fly a kite. These two sets of brothers go with Jesus as he teaches, preaches, and heals. And then he gives to them the Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Beatitudes, which we will talk about next week.

What does the scripture say to us in 21st century New England? Our circumstances are very different. Jesus is not in the flesh, so he's not going to be calling anybody to leave their government job or middle management job to govern or manage people. Yet we are still called to be disciples. I'm teaching a baptism class, and in that class, four young people will be considering the Risen Jesus' call to follow him in baptism and full membership in Christ's body the church. What does it mean to them and to us to follow Jesus?

This weekend I am attending virtually a conference on centering prayer. Centering prayer. Over 400 people have been attending. I became even more committed to contemplative prayer, prayer beyond words and thoughts, but simply silently sitting in the presence of God. Listening to God's voice, that lovingly addresses us as God's intimates.

Perhaps you might say, "Pastor Mike, That’s wonderful for a chosen few. But see, I’ve got things to do. I've got to work and drive and parent and make money. Let's not get too serious about this discipleship business, this following Jesus jazz.

I understand. I heard in the prayer summit how in the context of centering prayer, God can enter your being and wrestle with your conscience and challenge your preconceptions. Sometimes it is better to keep God at a distance and say to the Risen Jesus who bids us come, "Not today, Jesus, come back later."   

But Jesus offers a pure heart, Jesus offers healing, Jesus offers peace, “the peace that passes understanding,” as Paul says. That’s you get not by quitting your job, but letting go of your attachment to your job, your nets, your father, your mother. Worship is a space of letting go. What would it mean for you to “let go’? What is the Risen Jesus calling you to let go of? What is standing in the way of your doing God’s will on earth as it is in heaven”?

We will soon sing our closing hymn, but let me say something about it before you grab your hymnal from the pew rack. “Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me . . . Come home, come home, ye who are weary, come home.” I don’t know anybody who is not weary these days, with the last bit of covid and this bit of winter with its cold temperatures and little snow. “Come home.” It’s great to be home—usually—however you define home, wherever you are truly yourself. We must leave home to come home. Rocky, Andy, Jim, and Jack found home in Jesus’ peripatetic entourage. Where do you find it? How are you caught in Jesus’ net of love?

 Listening carefully to the words—O sinner, O saint, come home!—let us stand and sing our closing hymn on page 441, “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling.”