Jesus Says: "Follow Me"

Matthew 4:12–23 NRSV

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15 “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. 23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Intro

We’re going to spend the next few months going through the ministry journey of Jesus, the Christ, as he calls disciples, teaches, heals the sick, and proclaim’s God’s liberation for his people. It’s important to understand the context of where this all takes place and some of the historical significance of places and names that show up frequently in Jesus’ story.

A quick summary of events so far:

At Christmas, we celebrated Jesus’ birth in a stable in the city of Bethlehem. Bethlehem was the town of his father Joseph’s family line. It is the City of David, known as the historic location of the great King of Israel’s family, a place of historical renown and significance, albeit small and of little modern power, compared to Jerusalem.

Then, taking the advice of the wisdom seekers who came bearing gifts, Jospeh, Mary, and Jesus flee to Egypt to avoid the murderous wrath of King Herod, the appointed despot of the region, the Roman occupiers’ strong man. Herod went on to order the murder of all the children under the age of two in and around Bethlehem, an attempt to cut off any potential power struggle later on, where a promised Messiah might undermine his rule over the people.

Finally, as Jesus’ childhood continues on, he and his family return to the region of Galilee and the city of Nazareth, in the north beyond Jerusalem, to settle and grow up. There is not all that much known about this period of Jesus’ life, with the exception that Joseph was a carpenter and Jesus worked with him as an apprentice in his younger years.

The inauguration of Jesus’ public ministry is marked by our text from last week, where we hear the story of his baptism at the Jordan River, a place of historical significance as well, the site where the Hebrew people crossed into the land of Promise after their journey out of captivity in Egypt. Quickly, we can see the connection between Jesus’ journey home from Egypt and washing in the Jordan river alongside the return of the Hebrew people — Jesus’ baptism there is not only significant in how it show him to be the Messiah, but also that this Messiah’s story is marked alongside the struggle and return of the Hebrew people.

We know it was Jesus’ cousin, John, who was baptizing people — John was in a sense ushering people across the River, spiritually, washing them and welcoming them into a new way of life, a life of promise and restoration found through this ritual death and resurrection.

The Gospel accounts tell us that immediately following Jesus’ baptism, he quickly ventures out into the wilderness to be tempted by the evil one. We should pause here to see this as both a movement in the story, but also a significant instance of Jesus taking time to seek wisdom and preparation away from the demands of the world. We look at the texts where Jesus is tempted by Satan and see it as an ancient negotiation of power or initiation rite — but it is also a common practice among spiritual seekers to go out, away from society, to face themselves, their fears, and somehow purge and prepare to return to the world ready to tackle greater challenges. Jesus goes to the wilderness to be prepared, to bear the trials of the evil one, and to come home again as one living fully into his baptism.

And here our story picks up. Jesus returns from the wilderness to hear that his cousin, John, has been arrested. Clearly, the ritual cleansing at the Jordan and the proclamation of God’s liberating power had gotten John into trouble with Herod and the powers that be.

Jesus sets out from home once more, this time to begin his journey of ministry around the Judean countryside.

Like an itinerant, he goes to a nearby village, a fishing town, to begin calling others to his mission, to share his good news now that John is off the scene — the time has come for Jesus to begin calling others and sharing his news of God’s liberating love.

Our stage is set.

And where does Jesus go? To the shoreline to bug some lazy fishermen.

Fishing is easy, right?

Cast your nets or your line and just wait for that gentle tug and real in a great catch. Easy peezy. Simple.

Anyone who has spent time out on a boat or on the shoreline, trying to catch a fish knows this isn’t true.

I think of learning to fish with my dad on the banks of the Icicle River in Leavenworth, WA. How many times did I attempt to throw out my line only to have it snag on a nearby tree, skitter across a rock, get snagged in the mud along the shore, or maybe even catch the back of my dad’s shirt on a swing?

Too many. :)

Native Americans and early white settlers of the Pacific Northwest tell stories of rivers so full of salmon that you could nearly walk across them on their backs. Dams and overfishing have greatly diminished these populations and yet we have to wonder at what that would have been like. And we know that fishing probably still wasn’t just a piece of cake. Fish are smart, slippery, quick.

So, again, picture Jesus heckling the fishermen from the shore. Maybe they have come in from another hard day on the water, now tending their boats and nets. I’m sure some days were rewarding, like they gathered up a grand catch. But many days had to feel so discouraging — “what’d you catch?” Not even enough for dinner.

Jesus has relocated to the town of Capernaum and now walks along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, watching the fishing. He comes across a band of fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John. Perhaps they were celebrating a good days’ catch. Or perhaps they were weary of yet another difficult day.

And Jesus boldly says to them: Follow me.

Rewind again to remember: the people were looking for a leader, someone who would help break them out of the oppressive bondage that had been put upon them by the Romans and the complicit religious and local leaders.

Fishing today has obviously gotten much more technologically advance. We have sonar devices that help us “see” where the fish are gathered. We have fancy devices for casting nets, huge operations and ships that make an industry of the work. But even still, there is a great element of chance and trial and error to gathering a catch. It’s hard, hard work.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus calls us to him. We don’t find Jesus, we don’t somehow figure it all out and arrive at faith. No, we believe that first and foremost, God calls us through Jesus by God’s own initiative and presence, not our own. This is where we get some of our doctrine of predestination or free, prevenient grace — It is God’s initiative which calls us and saves us and marks us out for a place in God’s kingdom. Nothing you or I or any of us do makes us more or less worthy of this grace — it is offered freely by God, to us.

To use fish in a positive metaphor here — the fish do not choose to be caught up in the net, but rather, the net finds them and gathers them. The call of God comes to us and we make ourselves ready for it, but it is God who does the saving, gathering, welcoming, washing, renewing. Even as John washes Jesus in the Jordan — it is not John’s initiative, but Jesus’ call to him to be washed.

Peter, Andrew, James and John

And so it is with Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Jesus seeks them out and calls them — he says “Follow me.”

It’s a call of “follow me” that says — this is what you are to be on about now. Put down your nets, let go of former things — God has a clear, new purpose for you from here on out. All your life has led you to this moment — now come, follow, it is time.

Repent - Turn

How does Jesus initiate this call to these men and to us? He walks the shoreline and calls out — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Now, if you walked along Boulevard Park and saw a man wandering up and down the shoreline yelling, “repent”, you might be concerned. You might wonder if he was ok himself.

But we mustn’t be distracted by a misconception of what Jesus is doing here. “Repent” simply means “to turn.” He’s saying, come, turn this way and let us go together. The way of life you’ve been looking for, where you are no longer bound by politicians or business people’s whims, by religious leaders who try to hold power over you or foreign oppressors who occupy your land — the way of life beyond all of this has come near — so come, find out more and join in.

This is how Jesus calls these first disciples. He calls them, come, follow me, and let’s go fish for and call and gather more people. The time for living is now. The good life of freedom and purpose has come.

Follow Me

The message today for us is clear: Follow me, Jesus says.

Back to a bit more Christian theology: As I mentioned before, it is God’s grace, which precedes out ahead of us, that washes us and welcomes us into this kingdom of heaven. Nothing we do, we’re not fish climbing into the net, but rather we swim in the ocean that is God’s grace. Does the fish know it is wet? Does the whale know it swims in the ocean?

And what about us? Do we know that we are already swimming in God’s grace?

Our theology says this: Jesus has already called you and me and offered us this free, preceding grace. I fundamentally believe that each and every one of us, in this particular moment, here and now, has been called, gathered up, by Jesus, to be this picture of the church at St. James Presbyterian. What I mean is, while you might be like me and you’ve set your alarm and prepared yourself and driven here today, while all of this is true, it is actually a deeper calling of Jesus the Christ that has brought us together today. God’s grace has led us here. And God’s grace calls us forward, each day, to serve and love and participate in this liberating kingdom of heaven here and now among us.

Nothing you can do or say can change this call — God calls you. Christ says, “follow me.”

And we try to follow. But more than any attempts we make, more than any of our own good will or initiative — it is God who makes a way for us.

The fishermen leave their nets behind, abandon their boats and their former way of life. Now, they are called to this other purpose: sharing this grace with the world.

The fish don’t know they are swimming.

We don’t always recognize that God’s spirit envelopes us, surrounds us, and calls us.

But our joy, our work and action together is this: We point to this reality, we say, ‘yes’, I follow Jesus because I have been called to turn and go a new direction. My life is forever changed by this call. And I will fish and share this call with others, for it is free, grace, joyous freedom that we have found.

Friends, may we rest in this good news — we have been called to Christ. Now are work is to help others hear that call too, for it is there for them as well. The net is wide, the arms of God are immense, the love that we are welcomed into is sufficient for us all.

So we say, I will follow.

Amen.