Sunday, January 22, 2023

Sermon: Ripe for a change (Jan 22, 2023)

 Epiphany 3A/Lectionary 3
January. 22, 2023
Matthew 4:12-23

INTRODUCTION

Last week we heard John’s story about Jesus calling Peter and Andrew, the first disciples. Today we’ll hear Matthew’s version of the same event (which is actually considerably different!). In true Matthew form, he will frame it as a fulfillment of Hebrew scripture (remember, his audience is primarily Jewish). We’ll hear the scripture he refers to as our first reading today, a text from Isaiah that you may remember from Christmas Eve. Matthew’s mention of the location of Jesus’ ministry makes it clear that Jesus is in territory that is occupied by Rome, and in the fishing village of Capernaum of Galilee. And just as God came to the Israelites in Isaiah’s time, when Assyria was the oppressor de jour, God comes in the person of Jesus to Galilee, where the oppressor is now Rome.

Another thing to remember – one of the themes in Matthew is his use of the name, “Emmanuel,” God-with-us. So all this geographical stuff hits home the importance of that: that there is no territory or situation that is off-limits for God. God is with us, and will come to us whoever is in charge, wherever we may be, whatever we are doing. That is a recurring theme throughout Matthew: that God is Emmanuel, God with us, no matter what. Let’s listen.

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”

It doesn’t sound like a very compelling invitation, does it? And yet, Matthew tells us, “Immediately they dropped their nets and followed him.” I have long wondered what on earth would make them decide to leave everything – their livelihood, everything they’ve known, even, in James and John’s case, their own father – and follow a man they presumably have only just met. 

Over the years, I have tried out a couple of ideas. Maybe Jesus was just that charismatic and irresistible. Maybe there was, you know, divine intervention – God’s own power filled them up and pushed them to it, against all logic. Maybe Matthew just didn’t report that they did, actually, know Jesus, and had been scheming with him about this for some time, and this wasn’t a first meeting but rather Jesus coming to say, “Okay, guys, it’s time. Let’s go put this into action.” 

I suppose any or all of those scenarios are possible. But this week, I’ve been drawn into considering: what has happened to these guys before this point, that may have made them ripe for a change? 

First, consider their context: they live in a land promised to their ancestors, but occupied by the oppressive Roman Empire (the Greek word there for Empire is basileia – remember that, I’ll come back to that later). They are fishermen, who are pretty low on the social totem pole. In fact, they were downright oppressed. The fish in the Sea of Galilee, you see, were a favorite of the urban elites – that’s Romans or Greeks who had settled in Palestine following military conquest, or Jews connected with the Herodian family (not the Herod who wanted Jesus killed, but Herod Antipas, another client king who was Jewish in name, but really served to keep the Roman basileia happy). Because these elites had such a taste for Galilean fish, they had hired fishers to fish more than was sustainable. Locals could not fish without a lease, disrupting their ability to acquire this dietary staple for themselves. The fish product and processing were also heavily taxed, effectively putting them out of price range for the locals who depended upon the fish. This transformation of the local economy served to marginalize and impoverish the formerly self-sufficient native fishing families, and this pushed them further toward the bottom of the economic hierarchy. Elites looked down on them, even as they depended upon them and their labor to accommodate the elites’ sensual desires. 

When you consider all this, it is no wonder Jesus made the strategic decision to start his ministry by standing with the fishermen. It isn’t unlike Martin Luther King’s choice to stand with the sanitation workers in Memphis in 1968. These folks had little to lose and everything to gain by challenging the status quo.

And make no mistake: in Jesus’ short invitation, he made clear that this is exactly what was happening. First, we get a clue from the context Matthew provides. John the Baptist, he tells us, has just been arrested. John, you remember, had been preaching a message of repentance, and calling the powerful a brood of vipers. Now he has been arrested, and word has likely traveled. They had hoped that John might be the one to start turning some tables, but Herod has tried to put a stop to it, and things have consequently escalated. Now here comes Jesus, and he is taking on the mission, and pushing it farther. “Repent,” he says, just as John, adding “for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” The word, kingdom – guess what the Greek is? It is basileia, the same word used for Roman Empire. Jesus is proclaiming, “There’s a new reign in town, and it isn’t the reign of Rome. It is the reign of heaven.” He is overtly undermining the power of the oppressor. Just as his birth had done 30 years before, when King Herod felt so threatened by this new king of the Jews that he tried to kill him, here Jesus is coming right out and saying it: “I’m here to proclaim a reign and rule that is counter to the one under which you currently exist.” It is an affront to the Roman Empire.

But that’s not all. Here comes Jesus down to the lakeshore, and he calls out to the fishermen, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” To our 21st century ears, this seems like a strange thing to say. Christians have often interpreted it to mean, “Let’s save some souls for Jesus.” And maybe it does mean that. But for those familiar with Hebrew scripture and the prophetic tradition (as Jesus would have been!), that image of fishing for people is a loaded one. In four different prophetic oracles, that image of fishing for people is used, but it is always referring either to the oppressor or to those who have strayed from God’s way, trampling the poor. For example, in Jeremiah 16, in the context of the Babylonian captivity, God says, “I am now sending for many fishermen, says the LORD, and they shall catch them… For my eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from my presence, nor is their iniquity concealed from my sight. And I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin…” (Jer. 16:16-18). When Jesus hearkens this image, he is essentially saying to these impoverished, peasant fishermen, “Hey – come with me. Let’s go catch some really Big Fish, and together we will bring down this oppressive system that takes much and offers little.” And the fishermen, who are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and have little to lose and everything to gain, leave their nets and follow him. 

Ah, and there’s another key word – when Matthew tells us that they “leave” their nets, the word he uses there, aphiemi (ah-FEE-ay-me) is used elsewhere in describing leaving behind sins, or leaving behind debts. It means forgiveness. That is, followers of Jesus leave behind that which would keep them bound, whether that is their sin from which he calls them to repent, the debts that crush them, or the fishing nets that catch fish, sure, but also keep the fishers themselves caught in a system that demands much of them but doesn’t allow them to move from their low position. It’s a word of freedom, of redemption, a promise of a new and better life. And so, these fishermen, upon hearing Jesus’ intention to disrupt this grueling and unjust status quo, immediately drop that which keeps them bound, and follow him. The call they have heard corresponds with a longing they have within. In short, they are ripe for a change. 

Whew! So much packed into those few lines! 

So, this is all very interesting (at least to me, and I hope to you as well!), but the question is: what does all this have to do with us, with our lives as 21st century Christians? A few take-aways:

First, we can see that God is about redemption. The very first thing Jesus promises his disciples is that following him will mean freedom from that which binds them… What keeps you bound in your day-to-day life may be something external, like it was for the fishermen, or it may be more personal: an inability to forgive or be forgiven, a rift in your family, the relentless self-talk that tells you you’re no good… You know what nets hold you captive, from what you need redemption in order to live your life with wholeness and holiness. The mission of Christ is to free you from these things.

But also, while the promise of redemption is for us personally, we can see that from the first disciples, the call to discipleship has been one that commits to overturning the existing order of power and privilege. In the fishermen’s case, that was the oppressive basileia that exploited them. Some among us are more directly affected by such oppression than others, but whoever you are, the effects of racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, and all many of other “isms” do affect all of us, and weaken our society as a whole. Freedom from these systems would certainly bring all of us in the body of Christ closer to the basileia of heaven. 

The call to discipleship offers hope and promise for us, but it is also a call to us to bring this hope to others – to face off with all those “isms” and bring the justice and peace declared throughout scripture. It is a call to do all we can to catch those Big Fish who would exploit the little guy. It is a call even to be Emmanuel, God-with-us, to the people and places that most need to know that God sees them, knows them, and loves them, and that we are working alongside them and our Redeemer to bring about their liberation. That is the call of discipleship: to bring near, by God’s power, the basileia of heaven, the kingdom of God. 

Let us pray… Emmanuel, we are bound by so many forces, internal and external. But you come to us wherever we are, promising redemption. As we are freed, empower us to bring redemption to all the world, that we might all live under your loving reign. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Full service can be viewed HERE.

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