January 28, 2020

 January 28, 2020         Matthew 4:12-23        Isaiah 9:1-4     1 Corinthians 1:10-18

            Jesus is on the move.  He’s motivated to get moving by news that John is arrested.  Jesus knows he is in danger of being arrested, too.  Jesus isn’t avoiding danger, since we know he later goes to the cross, but now is not his time.  He is here to announce the light, the good news to people who have been living in the shadows.  So he sets out on his journey.

            Jesus is going from Nazareth to Capurnaum by the sea of Galilee.  That’s about 27 miles on foot, through some hills and valleys to the Sea of Galilee and then walking along the sea going north.  As he was walking through, he was probably reflecting the history of the area.  It once belonged to Zebulun and Naphtali, two of the tribes of Israel, divided up when they entered the promised land.  We know something bad happened to it, right?  It was in the region and shadow of death.  What happened was, the Assyrians attacked.  The Assyrians killed the people living there.  They looted their possessions.  They took Israelite prisoners captive to Assyria.   The land that Jesus walks through has known warfare and anguish.

            Jesus goes that direction to fulfill the prophecy that we read this morning in Isaiah about no gloom for those who were in anguish and about shining brightly for those who had struggled.  And there another time of struggle is brought up, God’s victory on the day of Midian.  This battle on the day of Midian actually happened quite a few miles south of the Sea of Galilee, although a chase ensued afterward that took them up through this land.  But it was a good example of how God brought light and hope to people who were struggling. 

            The Midianites had been fighting with Israel and laying waste to their land, their crops and animals.  According to the story, God had allowed it since the Israelites were so disobedient.  After they smashed a few altars to other gods,  God heard their cries and promised to help them,.  God told the whole army of Israel to go drink from a lake.  God said whichever soldiers lapped the water like a dog, rather than lifting the water to their lips, would square off against the Midianites.  Out of tens of thousands, about 300 remained that lapped the water.  Those ones were given a trumpet and a clay jar.  All together they blew their trumpets and smashed their jars and scared the Midianites right out of town.  Apparently the Midianite captains fled the direction toward Zebulun and Naphtali and were pursued that direction out of town.  So the area had known a lot of trouble, but also God’s deliverance, not through violence, but by making a loud ruckus. 

            The name Galilee means circle or circuit.  It was a well-traveled path by people of all nationalities, as they traveled to trade with each other.  That’s why it is called here Galilee of the Gentiles.  Galilee of the foreigners.  So this land was held by these two tribes.  And it was a path of commerce and meeting all kinds of different people going different places.  Some of them would have stropped and set up shop to serve all the travelers.  It was a busy place.

            Jesus begins proclaiming about the nearness of the reign of God.  What a wonderful place to do it.  We might expect that starting his ministry, he’d go to Jerusalem and start a mega-church.  Instead he goes to this place on the outskirts, but also a place that had known both struggle and victory through the power of God.  It was not a seat of power or a particularly Jewish place.  It was a mishmash of history, a mishmash of people, a mishmash of religions.  And there Jesus is making people aware of how close God is.

            So he’s passing by the sea of Galilee, and he decides to start calling his disciples.  I don’t know how much he’s planned this out.  We don’t know if he knew these guys already a little bit through John the Baptist, or if they are total strangers.  But he calls them, kind of like last week, when he said, “Come and see,” this week he says, “Follow me.”  He doesn’t tell them where they’re going or what to expect, but he simply invites. 

            Jesus invites them to leave what they have known, their father, their authority figure, and take on a new authority figure, Jesus.  Jesus asks them to leave their nets, their means of making an income, and put their trust in this new way of life, following him.  The thing I didn’t realize until this week is that they are probably fishing for the Roman Empire.  A lot of their fish would probably have been dried and used by the Romans to feed their armies—the same armies that went conquering people and oppressing them all over the known world, the same armies that took from the poor and made sure the rich and powerful stayed that way or got more rich and powerful.  Even though the fishermen made some money on this prospect, they were feeding the very people who were keeping their wages low, who kept them from having the leaders they wanted, who forced them to walk miles out of the way to carry their packs, and give them their coat upon request.  Jesus was asking them to abandon the task of feeding the Roman Army, their oppressor and the oppressor of the poor and powerless.  Matthew’s audience, his congregation, knew this oppressor well, because it is the same one that has killed many Jews when they finally got fed up and rose up against Rome who then destroyed the temple for the last time.

            When Jesus says the Kingdom of God has come near, he is saying there is a new ruler in town, a new king.  There is a different set of rules in this realm that is very nearby.  He is saying that we can live in this kingdom now, when we follow a different set of rules, when we live by grace and love.  In this Kingdom, the rich and powerful aren’t more important than anyone else.  God listens to the poor and weak.  In this Kingdom, violence and might doesn’t make right.  People who kill and use threats have no power, because God’s people will rise again to new life following Jesus.  In this Kingdom, no one goes hungry, because there is enough for everyone from God’s abundance—no one stores up food so that others go hungry.  In this Kingdom, people don’t owe each other money because everything belongs to God, who generously provides everything we need. 

            In our baptism, we are called to follow Jesus’.  We die to our old selves, the old Kingdom values of this world that destroy and harm especially God’s little ones.  We are invited in baptism to live the new life Jesus offers, the Kingdom life, no matter what oppressive violent Empire we find ourselves in.  When we come together in the Christian community that God has given us as a gift, we find others who share these new values and are strengthened to resist when we go back out into the world.  We are strengthened to follow.  When we come here, the richest members don’t make all the decisions, everyone is invited to the table, there is enough for everyone, even when the estimates of giving don’t measure up to the estimated expenses.  When we live as Kingdom people nobody owes anyone else.  We generously share with others because God has been so generous to us.  This is why I am here, because whenever we are together I catch glimpses of the Kingdom of God.  I am tired of the Empire.  I am tired of people going hungry and being piled with medical debt that it wasn’t their fault they incurred.  I am tired of people living in tents rather than homes that are safe and warm, especially while properties lay empty.  There is enough because of God’s generosity, but because we don’t have faith, because we stockpile and fear that we won’t have enough, people are squeezed, people are hurting.  I don’t want to live that way.  I want to live a Kingdom life.  I want to follow. 

            And when I do, it’s not going to be any walk in the park or pleasure cruise.  We’re following Jesus into some unfamiliar places that will make us question and wonder and feel vulnerable and sometimes even scare us.  Sue and Dawn followed Jesus to the resource fair this week.  They saw people giving homeless people haircuts and hand massages, touching people who are almost never touched and pampering them, showing them honor.  Ron followed Jesus to Project Share where he worked with them to get nonprofit status so that people can have the most basic shelter when it is so cold and wet outside.  JoAnn and Dan and Dave followed Jesus to LifeCare Community FoodBank this week and loaded people up with food and a smile and basic respect.  And I know you followed Jesus, too.  You met people different from yourself.  You shared with them, you helped them, you let them help you, you worked together with them, you made their life a little bit better.  And when the time is right, we follow Jesus to the cross.  Sometimes our faith demands so much of us that it is torture, and sometimes death is looming.  But we still follow because living the Kingdom life is so much more satisfying and real, so much more beautiful than the way of the Empire, that there isn’t anything that will take us away from following our savior.

            Jesus the goes throughout Galilee, the circuit, teaching, proclaiming, and curing. 

            What parts of our history have been troubled and painful, like that of Zebulun and Napthali?  As a church, as individuals? 

When and how has God come near to us as a church or you as an individual? 

When have you heard Jesus’ call to follow?  How did you know it was Jesus?  Did you follow or stay put?

What part of your history or personality motivates you to follow? As an individual?  As a congregation?  What parts of your history or personality hinders you following?

What parts of you are wrapped up in Empire and injustice?  What parts of you resist?

In this story we are both the fish and the fisherpeople.  We take the bait when Jesus calls us.  We respond to his invitation to join him in the boat.  Then we get to go fishing, too, taking risks, acting in faith, moving around among the people, taking rejection, sharing God’s light, bringing healing and good news, being patient and faithful, resisting injustice, and when we fail trying again.  That is the way of God’s Kingdom, the way of grace and love.