Indexed by Date. Sermons for Epiphany Year A

January 2, 2005

Isaiah 60: 1-6
Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14
Ephesians 3: 1-12
Matthew 2: 1-12

A woman was walking along the street one night and came upon a man parked outside of her apartment building walking around under the streetlight and gazing intently at the ground. She inquired as to what he was doing and he replied that he was looking for his car keys.

She offered her help and started looking. After about 15 minutes of intense searching she asked, “Are you shure you dropped them over here?”

“No, I dropped them near my car”, he replied.

“Well, why are we looking over here”? she responded, barely able to hide her sarcasm.

“Well, because we’d never find them over there. There’s no light over there!”

This is the season of increasing light. The longest night, December 21, was some days ago and the number of minutes of daylight increases each day. In times past, before the advent of the kinds of artificial light we enjoy today, this was an important balance to the cold and snowy days of January, February and March.

The dominant image of the season of Epiphany is light. The scriptures tell us that the light of a star, that rose in the east, guided foreign travellers to pay homage to the Christ child.

Light has long been a symbol of knowledge and dark, or the absence of light, symbolic of a lack of knowledge. Our everyday expressions convey this too as well, as “To see the light”, is, of course, the opposite of being “in the dark”.

In the biblical tradition, light is also a symbol of God’s presence and guidance and of the knowledge of the ‘things of God’. As the light of the Nativity star shines in the darkness of our world we are challenged to reflect on the light of Christ in our lives and how the darkness is challenged and driven back by it.

The story of the magi has three key characters: the magi themselves, King Herod, and even though he does nothing in this story, Jesus himself is a very important character.

Some scholars believe that these unusual visitors undertook a journey of some two years, and that the Jesus they visited was no longer an infant but a young boy.

Some scholars also believe that these magi were not kings or wealthy aristocrats but star-gazers from what we might loosely call the ‘lunatic fringe’ of quasi-religion. They are the tarot card readers, the writers of horoscopes, the holders of seances, or the kind of people who appear on tv shows where they tell various things about an audience member’s family by merely being in their presence. According to these scholars, the magi were followers of religious practices condemned by many biblical laws. Regardless, they were foreigners in ever way, and that is perhaps the feature most important to the story.

Now to King Herod. Herod was a family name, a family closely connected to the government in Rome. Members of this family ruled over Palestine for about 120 years. The Herod we are talking about today was “Herod the Great”, the only one to actually be referred to as “King”. When Herod was appointed “King of the Jews” by Rome another King was ruling Judah and Herod requested his execution when he was defeated. He ruled for 33 years and his reign was marked by a total loyalty to Rome, harsh repression of opponents and great family strife.

What about Jesus himself? In a way, he is merely a helpless infant, or an inquisitive toddler, oblivious to the story that is unfolding around him. Yet it is his birth that has been at the top of the people’s whish lists for generations.

Every so often a popular toy tops the list of “I-must-have-this-or-I’m-gonna-just-die” wish lists. The item becomes scarce and stays expensive and the craze feeds on itself. When I was in university every child wanted a “cabbage patch doll”; a very ugly doll that came complete with adoption papers. One store in Sackville had only one left and they were having a draw for it on Christmas eve. By day, its presence in the window encouraged would be shoppers to spend money in the store, to qualify for a ballot; by night, it was locked in the office safe. A few years ago it was ‘Tickle-Me-Elmo’, a red furry Sesame Street creation which required batteries to make it laugh and wiggle upon demand. Most of these “I-must-have-this-or-I’m-gonna-just-die” toys eventually becomes just another item for the next yard sale as the child loses interest or grows to the next phase: the X-Boxes and the Game Boy Advance.

The hope of the Messiah had been part of the fabric of the culture for many generations. It was fuelled by many generations of oppression and a reading of the scriptures which promised an eventual vindication of God’s faithful ones.

I suppose that there were as many expectations of the Messiah, or the King of the Jews, as there were people to do the expecting but basically they all agreed that the messiah would sit on the throne of his ancestor David and would rule, in justice and righteousness. Their nation would be great and powerful once again. Oh, those were the days. Oh, those would be the days again.

So the magi, not so wisely to be sure, go to the palace looking for the new king. You would have thought that they should have realized that this King would not have been BORN a prince and that the LAST place they would go, would be, the palace. Then again, it certainly builds suspense and intrigue. We know that the plot will be more complicated because of this blunder.

Nevertheless, to the palace they went and once set on the right course, they arrived at the place where Jesus and his parents were staying and they gave him their prepared gifts, gifts fit for a King and paid him homage.

No doubt they left changed. For them the world had changed. This event would change everything. No doubt they had much to think about on the way home. No doubt they went home with one eye over their shoulders as they sought to outwit the wicked King; the King who didn’t want that kind of change.

But not only had the world of the Magi changed, everything HAD changed. The world and Joseph had changed. Any baby changes a couple’s lives forever, and in their case, this baby was soon to make them refugees, fleeing for their lives. This child would bring them great joy and great sorrow in the next 33 years or so.

Herod’s world had yet another obstacle to his reign. This baby would grow to become a man and his ministry would challenge everything that the world of the Herods held dear, and a lot of other things too. In the life and the death of Jesus of Nazareth the power of hate, vengeance and self-centeredness were challenged by the power of love and self giving.

Epiphany is a season of light, a season of seeing things in new ways and within the context of the way of Jesus of Nazareth. The words weren’t really new, they were recovered from the ancient traditions of prophets and teachers who called the people into a relationship with God who would make of them a light to the nations.

Tsunami, is a world that has reentered our vocabulary in a very powerful way this past week. Formed because of a massive underwater earthquake somewhere near Sumatra, on Boxing Day, sudden shifts in the earth’s crust, caused walls and waves of water to crash onto unsuspecting tourists vacationing away from the sleet and snow and innocent fishers and villagers trying to earn a living as best they could. Whole villages have been obliterated and the debris and stench of destruction are everywhere. It has been called the biggest natural disaster in recorded history. The death toll is already over 100,000 and will certainly climb much higher.

Because this is a natural disaster there isn’t the talk of vengeance there would be were it an act of war, violence or terrorism. There are no ‘sides’ to this disaster; everyone involved has been marked for the rest of their lives. Some can go home and at least leave the location of the disaster behind them. Most have to live where they have always lived.

The response has been so heavy that the airports in the affected areas have trouble keeping up with the relief flights. Getting the supplies to affected areas will be difficult with destroyed bridges and washed out roads hampering the swift movement of goods.

The human interest stories we are hearing tend to be of tourists swept away and separated from children and then, miraculously, reunited. There are stories of those who survived because they were away from their hotel and those who survived because they were in their hotel. All of the stories touch us at a very deep level.

Now some would look at the disaster and blame God. Some would look at the disaster and make a claim for atheism, based on the idea that any kind of God one would want to worship would cause such a thing. I look at it another way. I look at those who banded together to save lives while their own were in grave peril. I look at all those who left homes, workplaces and vacations to go to the areas affected to do what they could. I worship a God who is weeping with those who mourn and strengthening the efforts of those who are seeking to help. This is the God who walks with those who work in horrible conditions and who sits with those in the most horrible grief we can imagine. This is the God revealed in this baby of Bethlehem who grew to become Jesus the teacher from Nazareth.

I look at those who have donated what is becoming millions for the relief efforts, knowing that it will take millions and millions more. Yet, what else can one do, when we have food and clothing and safety, and the ones who were involved have lost almost everything? What else can we do when our path is lit by the light of the Epiphany star?

Years ago when you heard of such disasters it was on radio or in the newspaper that you connected with those who were suffering. Today its by TV and its practically instant. We watched those home movies of the disaster over and over again. We heard the mothers crying over their children and everyone with the ears to hear and a heart to feel was touched.

You see, in the light of Christmas it’s not a matter of us and them. Whoever the magi were, or how learned or, conversely, how wacky and weird, they were not Jews. From the viewpoint of the gospel writer, they were not “us” they were definitely in the category of the “them”. The point of Matthew’s account is that in Jesus, the distinctions between “us” and “them” had become irrelevant, despite the antagonism of the powers of the world to maintain the divisions of race and creed. So the maxim sometimes used to justify limiting our care for others, that we have to “look after our own first”, becomes a moot point for all people are “us”, all people are brothers and sisters.

As followers of Jesus we walk in the light of God. As followers of Jesus we sometimes need to bring the light to situations of darkness and despair. As followers of Jesus we need to help others to find the light. As followers of Jesus we must be prepared to let the revelations that come to light grow and change us.

As followers of this light let us go into this new year with generosity toward others, dedication to family and friend and most importantly to the ways of God as revealed in this babe of Bethlehem.

Amen.

January 9, 2005

Isaiah 42: 1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10: 34-43
Matthew 3: 13-17

“All in the Family” was one of my favourite shows when I was growing up. Archie, everyone’s favourite bigot, would sit in HIS chair, smoking his cigar, drinking his beer, yelling at his wife, and arguing with his son-in-law, whom he called ‘Meathead”. Occasionally, we all could see ourselves in him and in the absurdity of his opinions, and that was the point. One of the most touching episode I can recall was the one in which he baptized his grandson, little Joey. Like many grandparents, Archie tried to convince Gloria and Michael to have Joey baptized. You might remember that Michael was an atheist and, of course, didn’t want to pretend that he had any belief in God so didn’t want to have Joey baptized. So one day when Archie was looking after Joey, he bundled him into the baby carriage and went to the church to talk to the minister. The minister at the church refused to baptize the baby, because the parents had no wish to have it happen and were not prepared to make any faith commitment. Archie was so convinced that baptism was necessary, however, that he went into the sanctuary on the way out the door and performed the service himself. We see Archie looking heavenward and apologizing to God just in case he didn’t get it right, and then placing some water on the baby’s head. It was touching because that one scene showed us a side of Archie that we rarely ever saw, truly humble before God and the awesome meaning of baptism.

((This past summer, a tour bus from Fredericton visited St. Andrew’s. Many of the members of the tour group were from Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton. During my talk about the sanctuary I mentioned to them that when I had visited their church I noticed that their baptismal font was at the entrance to their church. I said that I understood that this placement symbolized that baptism is the entry point to the Christian church. I then pointed out that ours is at the front of the church and visible to he worshipping congregation, a symbol of the importance of baptism in the daily life of our community. Each time a person is baptized he or she is welcomed into this congregation and the church universal, at the front of the congregation, for all to see and participate. Each placement has its own symbolism and each is a silent proclamation that baptism as very important in the life of the congregation. )) This illustration was not used in the smaller church, as they have a baptismal bowl that is brought out when needed, and not a font. I feel that this issue cannot be dealt with in worship in this way. In fact only one of my four churches has a ‘permanent’ font. My ‘home’ church keeps their font in the corner, out of the way!!!!!

We have many and varied beliefs about baptism. Most of you who have come here today would say that it is important. The parents who bring their children for baptism say that it is important even though they are not always able to articulate why or how. When I began ministry I had a number of grandparents who would ask me to persuade children to have their children baptized. They were not able to articulate ‘why’ it was so important but just knew that it was. However, I had to tell them that baptism in those circumstances would likely be hollow and meaningless. I’ve never tried to convince someone to have their children baptized just because the child’s grandparents wanted it. Baptism is very important, but it is within the context of family committment and involvement in the community that it its importance is made most visible.

What do we believe about baptism?

Some people believe the baptism makes a child safe; in other words, if the child were to die, that child would go to heaven. I remember discussing this at my high school graduation banquet with two friends. Involved in the discussion with me were Mario, a Roman Catholic and Mae, a Muslim. It must have been quite a discussion, after all we were all 18 and very certain about almost everything. Yet, I haven’t changed my opinion very much on that topic. God does not condemn a child because she or he has not been baptized. We believe in a God of grace and I tell all parents the love of God is there for all of us, whether or not they choose to have their child baptized.

Some people believe that a child is given his or her name at baptism, and I have indeed seen the liturgy reflect this on some of those tv shows depicting the ‘olden days’, but all children who are brought for baptism already have their name. I think we should be looking at it a different way. A couple bring me a child, who is already named, (Daniel Henry, for example) and we as a community embrace the child, acknowledge God’s love and intention to bless the child and then give to that child the name of “Christian”, the name, “follower of Jesus”.

Baptism is about choices, about new beginnings. In baptism the symbol of the water is employed to show that we have died to our old selves and risen again, in Christ. We all know that water is essential to life, but that too much in thr wrong place can also end our lives. Baptism is meant to hold these two realities in tension.

There was once a soldier who became a poisoner of war. While in prison he was tortured by being strapped to a chair and then lowered backwards into a tank of water. He would be held there so long that he was sure he was going to drown. After he was released, he married and became involved in a church which practised adult baptism by immersion. He decided to be baptized. It was a big step for him. At that church, baptism involved standing in a tank of water and being lowered backwards until he was totally underwater. As he faced his baptism, all of his experiences of torture came flooding back and he knew, as few others could ever know, the literal meaning of rising from waters of death to freedom and new life.

In the story of Jesus’ baptism we are told that there John protested. He refused to do it, initially; not because Jesus wasn’t good enough, but because he was goodness itself. John felt that the tables should be turned and that he should be the one receiving baptism.. After all, how could the ‘holy one’ possibly need a baptism of repentance? But Jesus told him that it was all in God’s great plan and John went ahead with it. After his baptism the affirming words of God are proclaimed for all to hear.

I feel that it is Jesus baptism that sets the stage for his ministry and his baptism that unites us in ministry with him. The heavenly voice at Jesus’ baptism proclaimed his status as beloved child of God and it is this certainty, this affirmation, that carries him trough many difficult times.

We too are given this same affirmation at our own baptism. In baptism the church and the community speak the words of God to the child, or to the adult, “you are God’s beloved child”. This affirmation is meant to strengthen us for our ministry for if we are baptized as Jesus was, then we are baptized into the ministry of Jesus. The ministry of Jesus involved proclaiming the Good News to all who would listen, healing the sick and giving sight to the blind. The early church focussed on the care of widows and orphans, the most destitute groups in their society. Social involvement is not new to the church but in each and every era we must determine what our baptism is calling us to do and where wea re to be.

There are many situations of need in our own community and around the world. We have all heard stories of homeless people in larger cities and we know that locally the food-banks have great needs. The tsunami that caused great destruction at the end of December continues to occupy our news coverage and our hearts and minds. Somehow this disaster has touched millions around the world in a very deep way. It is as if we feel a great bond with these folk we have never met in a place we have never been. For some of course, it is very personal.

Elsewhere there are the tragedies of sickness and disappointments and other kinds of need. As individuals, and as a people of faith, we wonder what we can do when we are so small and the problems are so large. Sometimes we walk away saying, “It’s not our problem”: either because we don’t see any connection or we just don’t know what to do.

After the 1972 earthquake that devastated Nicaragua, one of the world’s richest men, Howard Hughes who was staying in a luxury hotel in the area left as quickly as he could on his private jet and booked himself an entire floor of a luxury hotel in London. By contrast, Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente was in Puerto Rico during that earthquake. He quickly raised some money and chartered a plane loaded with relief supplies for the devastated area. He is quoted as having said, “Any time you have the opportunity to make things better and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on this earth.” Sadly he was killed in a plane crash while on that mission. Ministers Annual Manual, Logos Publications, p218.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, far from ignoring material needs once gave this advice on Christian mission to his congregation, “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, Yo all the people you can, As long as ever you can.” Wesley himself would beg on the streets so that he could buy clothes, coal and food for the poor. For him, religion was more than being saved, it was also showing one was saved by doing good.

In 2005 we will have no shortage of opportunities to show our baptismal faith. Our own congregation has great needs - from the bricks and mortar issues of keeping (our roof on, the steeple standing and ) the doors open, there are the issues of welcoming the community, teaching our children the faith and reaching out in love.

We cannot sit back in our easy chair like Archie Bunker and pontificate about the problems of the world or why we are justified at not being involved. Our identity as a baptized and baptizing church compels us out into the world of hurt and need to be the hands and feet of Christ. Like Jesus though, we do not go alone, we go empowered by the power of God through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In baptism we are united one with the other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world. Let us remember our baptism, give thanks and pray for what we need to enable us to live up to our calling and identity as God’s beloved children, sisters and brothers of Christ.

Amen.

January 16, 2005

Isaiah 49: 1-7
Psalm 40: 1-11
1 Corinthians 1: 1-9
John 1: 29-42

Come and See

In 2004 PEI tourism used a nostalgic theme for its tourism promotion campaign. Its TV spots were composed of ‘home movies’ of tourists having a ball in the land of fun and the voice over was a recreation of Stompin’ Tom’s unmistakable voice singing as only he can, the famous jingle about ‘the land of fun’ which, of course, ended with “eight-double-zero-five- six-five-seven-four-two-one which may be the most recognizable phone number ever! A few years ago the theme was ‘Come and Play on My Island”.

Other tourism promotions include:

“Come and Walk on the Ocean Floor”, a promotion of Hopewell Rocks and the Bay of Fundy;

“Come and See the Tall Ships”

The current New Brunswick campaign seems to be ‘Winter is Big in New Brunswick” However we all know that if we invited anyone to “Come and See” right now they would find neither winter or summer. Note for website readers. We are in thye midst of a ‘January thaw’ where temperatures are predicted to be well above zero (freezing) on Sunday. ANDS the snow from our last blizzard on December 27 is all but gone. We know though, that the best advertising is not the multi-million dollar campaigns with flashy tv ads, the catchy slogans and the glossy brochures but is rather “word of mouth”.

A friend and I went to a certain Moncton restaurant recently, based solely on the recommendation of her co-worker.

Some stores take full advantage of the ‘tell a friend’ idea. COSTCO allows a member to bring a friend to their ‘members only’ store. Of course the hope is that once a new person “has come and has seen” they will come back, pay the membership fee, and then return every week.

In our lesson from the Gospel of John we continue the story of Jesus, picking up where we left off last week. In the account I read just a few minutes ago, John the Baptizer sees Jesus (whom he had baptized the day before) and declares to his disciples that Jesus is the ‘lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’. When they week Jesus out the next day thery are invited to “Come and See”. They respond to this offer and, one of them, in turn, tells his brother that he has found the messiah and asks his brother to “come and see” for himself. So the message passes from one to the other, and the movement grows.

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. Now to be honest there is no real scholarly consensus on what John meant by the phase ‘lamb of God’. There are several options though.

The best guess comes from the celebration of the Passover, which is still observed by Jews today. The Passover was and is an annual celebration which commemorated the night in which the people ate a hurried meal of roast lamb and escaped from captivity in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. As part of the ritual on that evening they were to smear the lamb’s blood on their door casing so that the angel of death would pass over their houses during this last and most terrible of the plagues that the God of Israel sent upon the land of Egypt. So the Passover lamb, was for Israel, a sign of life, freedom and redemption. The meat provided energy for the journey and the blood was a sign of their faithfulness and their trust in the God who would lead them to freedom.

Another way of looking at the phrase ‘lamb of God’ centres on the system of sacrifices. Within the worship life of the people, animal sacrifices were offered to atone, or make up, for sins committed or they were offered as a way of thanking God for blessings received.

In addition, lambs were weak and defenceless and to proclaim that Jesus was both ‘lamb’ and ‘messiah’ was to say something very insightful about who Jesus was and what he had come to do. I guess you could say that, John’s words were far more prophetic than even he knew at the time!

You see, the people, John included, expected that the messiah would come among them and make their nation great once more. The images that often came to mind were ones of power and wealth, and strength and military victory.

But as Jesus ministry unfolded the people would become more and more confused, and some, more and more disappointed. He did not talk about defeating the enemy, but about loving them. He talked about ‘turning the other cheek’ instead of ‘drawing the sword’ as a response to violence. So, at least part of the process of getting to know Jesus and his mission would be one of re-learning who the Messiah was to be and what his mission was. No wonder Jesus invited them to ‘come and see’. Andrew, one of the two who were first disciples of John, must have liked what he saw because he immediately sought out his brother Peter and invited him to follow Jesus as well.

So, what does all of this say to us about our life as Christian community, all these years later.

ONE: I think this passage emphasizes the importance of seeing for ourselves and getting to know what Jesus’ message is for us; and then TWO: going out and proclaiming to others that we have found meaning and purpose in the Christian message and to invite others to ‘come and see’ for themselves.

Now one of the things we should remember is that the disciples did not achieve perfect faith and trust from just this one day with Jesus, but that it was more like they invited others to join them on a journey of discovery. It was a journey that would take the rest of their lives.

Many people in the mainline churches are reluctant to use the word evangelism, or to proclaim their faith, or even to go to the new folks next door to invite them to church. However, surveys have shown that this kind of invitation is the most effective means of church growth and evangelism.

Good friends of mine told me how they became involved in the United Church. They were unloading their U-Haul in front of their new home when a neighbour came over with some baking and an invitation to the United Church. They had already agreed as a couple to accept the first invitation they received. An hour or two later they were greeted by another neighbour who issued an invitation to another church but after visiting the first church they knew they would be staying there and not looking any further.

Sometimes, when we issue an invitation we will end up giving directions to the Catholic church, or some other church, but that’s OK too! As people of faith our role is not just to promote our own church but to develop links with other people of faith and forge a wider Christian community.

Of course our words and actions have to be consistent. We proclaim our faith with our actions as well as our words. We have any opportunities to show love and care in our jobs and opportunities to issue low key but enthusiastic invitations to their children to attend Vacation Bible School or a church supper or a special service. If we are enthused about our church and church family and activities then we will surely pass it on to others. It’s part of our role as disciples of Jesus.

In the church I served in Nova Scotia, the clerk of session took it upon herself to drive a neighbour’s daughter to church and Sunday School. Her family was United Church but for various reasons never managed to get their children to Sunday School. The offer was made and accepted. When she was picked up the first day, the girl remarked that the girl who lived next door to her was her age and had the same first and last name. The elder said, “Oh, that’s a coincidence. Maybe she could come with you next week? I have lots of room in my car.”

The girl replied, “Oh, I don’t think so, she has her own church”.

The elder then told me that she had figured out who the other girl was! Her father was the minister of one of the other churches in town! Clearly, she had her own church to go to, but many people won’t come without being invited. The worst people can do is say NO! Hanging out our sign that says ‘all welcome’ just doesn’t seem to work anymore. We don’t want to be accused of sheep stealing, but there are enough others who have no church homes, and enough who have lost their connection with our own community to keep us busy. We need to be more proactive in our inviting of others.

We also have to look at other ways of being church that are apart from the Sunday morning service. We know that life is very busy and very hectic these days and very few people, even committed church goers can attend every week. We also know that Christian faith is more than an hour a week. So we need to focus on the various ways in which we learn about our faith and proclaim our faith such as: groups such as the UCW and the Bible Study; the outreach of the Prayer Chain and the Cradle Roll.

And we need more ways of being the church and sharing together; ways we can strengthen our bonds as a faith community and invite others to join in a positive way.

I’m not talking about approaching a total stranger in the mall and asking, “Are you saved”, or handing out tracts, but welcoming people we come into contact with, in other aspects of our lives. Inviting a neighbour to come back to church because you have missed seeing them there. Welcoming them to our church events. Inviting them to ‘come and see’. Inviting them on a journey of faith, with us, as we walk together to seek God’s will for us as it is revealed in Jesus of Nazareth.

We are called to extend the invitation that has been extended to us -“Come and See”. We invite- we welcome - then allow God’s Spirit to work through us.

Amen.

January 23, 2005

Isaiah 9: 1-4
Psalm 27: 1, 4-9
1 Corinthians 1: 10-18
Matthew 4: 12-23

It’s a dangerous job; being God’s prophet. It’s not for the fainthearted. It’s not for those who are overly concerned about their own lives. It’s not for those with other priorities. The gospel of Matthew began with a genealogy, the story of his birth, the visit of the magi, Jesus baptism and temptation. So after this somewhat longer introduction than we find in the other gospels, Jesus gets down to the work of ministry.

We are told that when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he went to Galilee. We need to know that he was not really ‘withdrawing’ or retreating, as if he was walking ‘away’ from trouble, but deliberately going to a place controlled by the same man that had put John in prison.

To make things perfectly clear from the beginning, Matthew emphasizes that Jesus’ ministry fulfils what was spoken of by the prophet known as Isaiah. There will be many surprises with this Jesus and many might accuse him of heresy or of abandoning his heritage, but Matthew, clearly states that Jesus’ ministry is in line with what God has been talking about all along.

These were hard times. In the early part of what came to be known as ‘the first century’ there were a few wealthy people, well connected to the government and military who ran the country with an iron fist. These people were the “have’s”. The religious elites were included in this class. There were many, many people who were desperately poor. They were forced to eke out an existence and to see most of the fruits of their labours go to the social, religious and military elites. These were the “have not’s”! The widows and orphans, the handicapped and those who were mentally challenged were not even that well off.

In the tradition of the prophets of old, Jesus saw the light, he saw a different way, he saw a way where people adhered to God’s will and word in such a way that justice rolled down like mighty rivers and righteousness was a part of every day life. He saw a society that looked after the poor and followed God’s way. This society modelled the ways of God to the other nations; they saw the light and they were a reflection of that light. Thye trouble was that most of the time, those prophets got themselves killed for spreading that message. That is what John had tried to preach; that vision and a that way of being in the world. In the end John, like so many other prophets, lost his life for the sake of God’s truth.

Jesus, if he had been smart, would have gone the other way, and ministered in much safer locations, but he did not. He acted in faith and trust; picking up where John left off. He began to gather together a community of followers who would help him proclaim the message of light and love and hope and joy and devotion to the ways of God. As Matthew tells the story, Jesus called four fishermen, and they followed, immediately.

For many years, the pond which for many years provided the water power for our family’s saw mill, has also been a popular fishing spot. Even though the fishing rights are leased by a private club, members of the general public can, and do, fish from the dam and in the stream below the dam. The first morning of fishing season they would gather before dawn, in snowmobile suits to guard against the cold, to get in every possible minute of trout fishing they could. We would be eating our breakfast, getting ready for school and agreeing that they were all “nuts”. I remember fishing once or twice, no more than that. I didn’t care for fishing as it was VERY boring and I’d much rather have been reading a book. When we were younger some of the fishermen would give us fish; perhaps wishing we’d go away and leave them alone! They had this idea that noisy children would scare fish away; perhaps it was just their relaxation that went away! Since it was my dad’s property they figured a small bribe was in order!

If we wanted fish to eat my mother would buy it, from the man who came every week - with cod and mackerel. She rarely bought cod, because she was never sure that the scales the fish man carried in his truck were accurate. She bought mackerel and boil the tails and fry the rest and that would be our evening meal on that day. The other kind of fish we ate came from the grocery store, frozen and breaded and we ate that in the winter or for Sunday supper. In the summer we would watch the calendar for a full moon so that we could go and dig clams and we would occasionally have lobster or scallops as a special treat.

The gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus called the disciples , who were professional fishermen, to follow by drawing a comparison between the work of discipleship and the work of a fisherman. The fishermen were said to have left their father in the boat and gone off with Jesus. Such a decision would have been a big blow to their father who needed all the hands he could get in order to make his quotas and earn his meagre living.

I wonder though, why fishermen? Why not something else? Well, to begin with, fishermen know a lot about trust and faith. Unlike farmers they cannot see their product until it is caught and in the boat. Unlike farmers there is a lot more danger to the job. Yet tehre would be other disciples, other days, other metaphors for discipleship.

This passage is not just a story about something that happened long ago. It’s not just about the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry; it’s about us and about our call to be disciples.

How do we follow our call to be disciples. First, I think we need to be aware of the light and make use of the light we know. One day quite a few years ago now I went to Sears to look at vacuum cleaners. The model I was trying out had a light on the power-head. I jokingly said to the very condescending middle-aged salesman, “What’s that light for, to see the dirt better?” I was right though. When I got home and read the manual it bragged about the ‘bright, dirt seeking light’ on the power-head.

The light of faith, the light of God, comes into our lives and it helps us to see things we hadn’t noticed before. I’m not talking about the dust- bunnies that threaten to take over our carpets but the things which separate us from God and the things that keep others from the fullness of life that God intends for them.

SECOND: Another thing that this passage shows to us is that the skills and training that we use in our everyday lives can be used to further the cause of the Gospel.

While the life of faith can set us on a new course; the call of God in Jesus the Christ meets us where we are and calls us to be more than we ever thought we could.

Much of our modern world gets in the way of our finding God and God’s will for us. The pace of modern life between our jobs and our kids’ hockey games and soccer tournaments and yes, church and community meetings and activities, often leaves us falling into bed exhausted and hitting the shower long before our bodies are ready.

When will we be willing to follow, to make a commitment? Tomorrow! Next week! When the kids are out of diapers! When hockey is over. When the kids have left home. When the grandchildren are out of hockey? When the mortgage is paid off? Or are we just listing excuses as goals we have to reach before we have time to think about responding to a call.

God says to us: “No, I won’t wait, follow me now. “ The reality is that not everyone is called to follow in such a way that they have to leave their whole life behind them. For some it is simply to be the best parent we can be: to be a good neighbour; to be a kind friend who goes the second mile, walks the distance, cares in that extra way; or a nurse or aide who has a warm heart and a listening ear; the teacher with compassion; the student who befriends the one with no friends; or the person who writes letters and calls the people in power to account for actions which are against what we see as appropriate for a caring and compassionate society.

It’s not just the clergy who are answering the call. It’s not just the clergy who can speak in those terms, We should all allow our faith to lead us in ways where we can talk in those ways.

I would even go so far as to say that the call is in the naming. If we can name what we are doing as a call, then it is! If what we do is as the result of the love and power of God working in our lives, maybe we need to begin naming it as part of our discipleship, part of our Christian journey.

Two college students were being credited for their caring and observation last week. They noticed a five year old child wandering all alone along busy Fredericton streets. No doubt others had seen her but had not paid any attention. When she was not too forthcoming about who she was or where she was supposed to be the students looked in her knapsack and found out her name and her school. A phone call to the school enabled her to be reunited with her worried parents who has been searching for her since she was let off the school bus at the wrong stop. Whether they would consider themselves ‘disciples’ or not, the parents were giving thanks for the caring of strangers and calling them guardian angels.

Matthew doesn’t tell us everything about Jesus and his ministry, no one could, partly because the story isn’t finished yet. Matthew was most concerned to tell the highlights and to connect Jesus’ ministry with the promises of the past.

We get the idea that the ‘Bible times’ and the Bible lands’ were special, so special that we have no hope of duplicating them or really understanding them. The Very Rev. Dr Stan Mackay, former moderator of the United Church reminded us once that the ‘holy land’ is not ‘over there’, where Jesus the human being lived, but that the ‘holy land’ is where we are, here and now.

God’s promises were for the people oppressed by mighty Assyria; and for those oppressed by cruel Rome, but they are also for us; as comfort and as mission.

We listen to the tv and read the newspaper and catalogue ads and we are told that happiness lies in the accumulation of things, in being able to retire early and having a certain kind of car so that you can be ‘that kind of Dad”.

We have opened our hearts to those affected by the Tsunami but Africa and the devastation of HIV/AIDS there gets hardly a mention. We have hungry people in our own community and province. We have people suffering from low wages, the high cost of living and \ inadequate education and training and trying to raise families on only seasonal work and this has been going on for generations.

We are called, to answer the call and to minister in the places where God’s call finds us. When we connect with God’s light and God’s will we see many things that could be different, many ways which we as individuals and as a society could be more in line with God’s will.

Let us seek the light, listen for the call, and seek what we need to be able to answer with every ounce of our being.

Amen.