You guessed, it really IS all for the best ...

Epiphany 3-A Jan. 27, 2008 St. Paul’s
Isaiah 9:1-4 Psalm 27
1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Matthew 4:12-23

If life was always going smoothly, I don’t know how I would read the Bible. If a group of people lived in a society where there was enough money, where everyone not only knew their place, but were happy and secure in it, where resources were abundant, the water clean, the skies clear, the sofa comfy and the wine chilled, well, then, how could this Bible make sense to them? They would have no idea of what Isaiah was talking about, bringing light to those in darkness, for their way has always been straight and well-lit. They would see no connection between the first line of today’s gospel, “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested.” They had never known anyone who had ever been arrested. They would have no idea of the fear of authorities, of the assumption that those authorities might be unjust or not acting on behalf of their interests. They would not know what it meant to leave everything one had behind just to follow Jesus, an itinerant teacher, who preached a message of light, repentance, change, good news – they would have no need to follow such a preacher because their lives were good already. Why follow Jesus if you have nothing to gain?

Well, thank God none of us are in that position. Do you remember the song from the musical Godspell, a musical based on the Gospel of Matthew? This song is from the part in the musical about the early ministry of Jesus, when he is calling people to join him.

Some men are born to live at ease, doing what they please,
Richer than the bees are in honey
Never growing old, never feeling cold
Pulling pots of gold from thin air
The best in every town, best at shaking down
Best at making mountains of money
They can't take it with them, but what do they care?
They get the center of the meat, cushions on the seat
Houses on the street where it's sunny…
Summers at the sea, winters warm and free
All of this and we get the rest...
But who is the land for? The sun and the sand for?
You guessed! It's all for the best...

There is a lot of speculation about why those four fishermen up and followed Jesus, leaving everything – family, livelihood, familiar surroundings – behind. One scholar says this is a miracle story, like the feeding of the 5000, explainable only as an action of the Holy Spirit. Others think Jesus already knew these guys, they were familiar with his message, and even though they abruptly left what they were doing to follow him, the way had been prepared. Yet the power of Jesus’ invitation is clear; it produced immediate results.

There was something about that Good News that the fishermen were eager to hear. If they didn’t know Jesus before this, somehow they were ready for what he had to say. There was something that made them know, “This is it.” Perhaps they were so far down, that they were ready for hope. Perhaps if they were a little better off, a little more secure, a little closer to the centers of power and prosperity in Jerusalem, they wouldn’t be interested in Jesus.

Jesus knows people who were thrown in jail for not doing anything wrong. Jesus as a baby once hid from that same Herod who jailed John, and this time Jesus stays, goes further into Herod’s territory, into Galilee, by the sea where people make a subsistence living fishing with nets. It’s these people, who have nothing but hope, who are ready to hear the Good News, who understand that repentance means turning around things inside themselves and outside of themselves that have gotten so bad, people who know they have everything to lose – the families, their fishing, their place – and that they have everything to gain.

There are a lot of fish in the sea. When I think of these sea-side stories in the Bible, I have a Sunday school-version of fish in my mind, fish that are all the same, manageable to catch, pretty, worth money if they are sold. Fish that would be good to eat. Fish that are desirable. It’s part of that Sunday school picture I have of those “happy, simple, fisherfolk.” If they were so happy, why would they leave to follow Jesus? Why not just stay there and fish?

Someone pointed out to me this week that there are lots of kinds of fish in the sea: there are sharks, and swordfish, and electric eels. If we cast the net as wide as Jesus wants us, to, we may catch some fish we didn’t think we wanted, fish that under other circumstances we might want to throw back. The people to whom Jesus said, “from now on you will be catching people,” knew that fishing was a risky, difficult and not always prosperous business. What does this say about the way Jesus describes what he wants us to do?

This idea came across my desk while I was preparing this sermon:

There is a great deal of difference between fishing for fish and fishing for people. Fish can be caught against their will and violently pulled from the sea. People are caught by uncovering the deep desires of their hearts.

That’s what caught Simon and Andrew, James and John: they were caught by someone who offered them what they had been yearning for their whole lives. No matter who the fish are outside our doors, what we have to offer here is what they yearn for: a new chance, a new life, a new home, some bread, some wine, maybe even some fish. Leave behind those old things, all those things we thought we had. From now on, Jesus assures us, we will be catching people.