Epiphany 3A

The lectionary has chosen gospel readings that for the past three weeks have hammered out one theme: Jesus’ invitation to ‘Follow me,’ and our response to his invitation. The gospel reading this morning from Matthew picks up in the story of Jesus’ calling the disciples and records the response of a few. It is worth pausing a short while to consider once again Jesus’ call to us and our response.

What has happened in the gospel story since the last time we heard from Matthew two weeks ago? Jesus has been baptised by the Holy Spirit and then withdraws to the desert to grapple with temptation and his understanding of what it means to obey God. We will hear that story on the first Sunday of Lent.

Now Jesus begins his public life of ministry. John the Baptist’s mission has ended abruptly and, as we will later find out, brutally. Jesus comes on the scene having chosen Galilee, a marginal region despised by the Jews from the capital and by the system. The province is close to pagans, and its somewhat mixed religion is suspect in the eyes of those clinging to cultic purity. Matthew quotes Isaiah’s words, calling it Galilee of the nations or of the pagans — the true light will shine before those who are closer to the darkness. This is an early prelude of the final commissioning of the risen Jesus in which he will charge the disciples to make disciples of all nations, all peoples. (It is useful to keep Matthew 28.19, this commissioning, in mind throughout the year as we hear from the gospel since it is one of the fundamental messages of the gospel.)

The great teaching will start soon in the sermon on the mount but this text gives a summary of its essential elements to situate the framework and the personages in a kind of introduction. The kingdom is near; its contributions and treasures will be specified later. At this point, people are invited to repent and to turn their lives around. In a summary, Matthew presents Jesus in his teaching mission ‘proclaiming the good news of the kingdom.’ At the same time, the works of Jesus show that the announced kingdom is already being fulfilled; it is already working—the healings confirm the validity and power of the proclaimed message.

Between that message and the many who will receive it, the initial framework of Jesus’ public life is completed by his fundamental call to the disciples. He invites them into his mission and, in crucial words, ‘they follow[ed] him.’ There are two sets of brothers. Jesus finds them in their family and work environment, engaged in their daily lives, in the daily routine, and proposes another option for them, to go fishing for others. Without really knowing what they are getting themselves into, they drop everything to follow Jesus.

What does that really mean? Think about your daily routine, whatever it is. Day in, day out, most of us do pretty much the same thing. This workday routine is familiar, and most of the time it fits. It locates us, defines our place in the scheme of things, provides a sense of security and shapes our identity. Our role comes with its own lore, its own language and its own rhythm. Haven’t you ever started a new job and the first week was spent learning the local idiom and peculiarities? We are identified by what we do and when we want to, we promote our identity by saying, ‘I am a… teacher, nurse, shop-owner, business woman, lawyer, doctor, retired, stay-at-home parent,’ whatever.

Then into this world of known habit, Jesus enters. ‘Follow me,’ he announces calling each one of us by name. Jesus summons us to follow him and leave all our nets (and nests) behind. There is a call here that demands a response, and a mystery in the invitation, for it comes from God. For those fishermen, the word goes out and does not return empty. Think of the nets dropped where they are, the boats dragged up on the shore and left. Call and response. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus calls and they drop everything and go.

We get the same invitation at our baptism. Jesus walks into our world and calls us to follow him. Jesus calls us by name and invites us to be disciples. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus says to the church. ‘Leave your nets and follow me.’

Now clearly not all of us can drop everything and follow Jesus in quite the way the early disciples did. In many cases that would be irresponsible. But, we are called through our baptism, to come together as the body of Christ — the church, the ecclesia, the gathered ones — to share in the work of Christ. Paradoxically, by sharing in the work of Christ, we are led right back into the world again. We may find our nets where we dropped them, but we have been changed and energised through the power of the Holy Spirit to do what God calls us to do in our lives and community. We do not see the world as we did before.

As followers of Jesus, as the baptised, we are not allowed to stay at home, doing our own thing. We are not even allowed to be alone, safe and secure in our righteousness. We are asked to associate ourselves with Jesus and with one another in the body of Christ, the church, to bring about justice to a world that desperately needs it. We are called, in the words of the prophet Micah ‘to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with [our] God.’ We are called to live out the baptismal covenant in our daily lives and routines.

For two Sundays running, we affirmed that covenant. Perhaps now with a little distance we can think about what exactly that means in this day and age… because, in the words of hymn 661, ‘the peace of God it is no peace…’ and following Jesus will cost us, too.

God has called us as a people of faith to proclaim a new realm, the Reign of God, and to proclaim this as much by our actions as by our words. God’s dream is for the transformation of this world of ours, where God’s purpose will be done here on earth, even as it is in heaven… but some times we must live and serve faithfully in the face of intractable realties.

Some times we must live and serve faithfully and not be captured by our desire for results. It is like teaching and having no idea what one’s impact will be on the student and trusting even though the results are invisible.

Sometimes we are call not to be a solution, but a sign, a witness to God’s dream. When we pray and work for peace and the end of violence as a solution to things in this world, we have to be ready to witness by word and action, take risks, and yet not see much happen as a result of our witness and prayer. Yet we know that prayer can work wonders so we keep at it.

Some times we are called simply to show up, to be present when we can do nothing… sitting for hours by someone who has just found out awful news; befriending someone whose entire life has been destroyed and who has to start all over again; being in solidarity, sharing in the struggles and hope of the aching peoples of the world, whether in Palestine or El Salvador… simply being present, silently some times, when no spoken word, no action is adequate.

Sometimes we are called to be prophets, that is, to know and believe deeply in our hearts the dream of God, and to live and share that dream and witness faithfully in our lives, like a mustard seed, a dab of leaven, trusting that God, not us, will make something of this witness.

The above examples are what it means in part to follow Jesus, to become one of his disciples. The message of today’s Gospel, and of the entire Epiphany Season, is that each one of us called to follow, to be faithful, to make some sacrifices for what matters, to take risks sometimes for love’s sake, and to be so rooted together in God’s Good News of love, forgiveness and hope, that we are not paralyzed nor dispirited by the struggles that at times overwhelm us.

We can’t do it on our own, however; the task would be far too great and overwhelming. We need one another, companion disciples of Jesus, to walk with us on the way and to pray without ceasing.

God, you are our light, our lamp,
in you all our days are bright.
Light the way of our hearts
and of our minds
that we may know your will
and the longings of our own hearts.
Teach us to follow where you lead,
and to become the ones you love,
that in all our choices,
and in the choices of others reflecting your will,
We may be the ones you desire us to be
and serve where you call.
Give us courage when the light is dim,
faithfulness to live with the light we have,
and a holy wonder in your steadying arms,
and to you we will always give thanks.
Amen.