Sermon – Sunday January 22, 2016
Are We Good Fishers?
Isaiah 9: 1-4 Matthew 4: 12-23
Our Gospel reading from Matthew tells of the experience of the early disciples hearing the call of Christ in person. It is immediate and unequivocal
“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
There is no wavering…or maybe tomorrow…leave a brochure and we’’ll think about it…
The conversion is immediate and with full commitment. So when I pose the questions, are we good fishers? I perhaps am asking a multi faceted questions…are we sincere, are we committed,,,or do we waver….is our faith rested upon a solid foundation which in tuner will make us good fishers…as we will then present as sincere and committed to the task.
We also must ask ourselves, how much they had heard from John…of this we are unsure. There is no direct reference, but we are told that John had been arrested. As well we are provided with the quote from Isaiah, within the Matthew text.
“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
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.”
Matthew has drawn upon Isaiah for affirmation and to reinforce that Christ is the Messiah, the one, the light that will be our beacon unto the restless night.
James and John are then called to join Jesus and those gathered around him. The response is the same. Immediate and unequivocal…they follow him.
So I tease back to this sense of immediacy that we hear in these passage from Matthew. They are called and they follow. Without question, without apology, without further explanation. Such an amazing story of new faith.
These are challenging times for Christian churches. Many espouse as sense of spirituality, but little desire to: ‘be religious”…to make a weekly attendance commitment. There is no question when I was child, being Christian was easier…I grew up in a rural village south of Halifax…There were four churches Roman Catholic, United, Anglican and Baptist. I was very involved in boy scouts… with our cub pack and scout troop we had members from each church, so we did a rotation of the churches for our church parades. I do remember our priest questioning me once as to why I attended the “protestant troop” at the Anglican Church…it’s where I had started in cubs and simply moved up…I saw no reason to switch. Perhaps it was loyalty…perhaps it was the child’s eye that saw no denominational difference…we all went to church…
It is different now…esp because of the sense of immediacy of reward that electronic devices have created and instilled in us. I spoke of the new immediate faith that we heard in our gospel narrative from Matthew…but this is different…it is an immediacy of distraction…keep my attention or I move onto the next window or tab…
To be good fishers…to be sincere disciple makers it takes time and commitment…the simplicity of “ new found faith” of which Matthew speaks is much more elusive in today’s world.
So where do we start…
I draw back to the words of Isaiah
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.
The light of Christ, the light of the divine spirit that burns within us all has not gone anywhere…we simply have piled a whole lot of things on top of it so it is a little tough to see sometimes.
Our task as fishers…our task as Christians is to move act, and be in the world in such a way that veil lifts…and the light begins to shine…to do this, we must start with ourselves. A set small task before you…each day take a moment to reflect…perhaps halfway through your day…have I been, ro did I do or did I say something Christ-like today…if not…let it be your intention for the remainder of the day. For as we seek with intention to move and be in the world in a “Christ-like” manner, we will become great fishers of people…Amen