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January 27, 2008 Epiphany 3A Good News The Rev. Dr. Larry S. Hunter
There is
a Welsh saying, four words with many consonants in them, that goes something
like this:
“Hanne y daith, cychwyn”
Oh, the
translation is
“Half the journey is starting”
There is
a law of physics, the law of inertia, part of which goes like this:
“A body at rest tends to remain at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force.”
Both of these came to mind as I read the story in today’s gospel in which Jesus calls his first disciples. Everybody in the story is moving. Everybody in the story is leaving somewhere. Everybody in the story is going somewhere.
First a little background. Jesus had earlier been at the River Jordan, where he submitted to the baptism of John. He was then in the wilderness for forty days, facing great temptation. Returning from the wilderness to Nazareth, his boyhood home, he hears that John, his cousin and the one who had baptized him, had been arrested by King Herod. Perhaps fearing that he also was in some danger, that Herod would make the connection between Jesus and John, Jesus left Nazareth and moved further north to Capernaum, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. If John the Baptist, who was so popular and had attracted such large crowds and so many disciples could be so easily swept up, what would prevent the authorities from doing the same to Jesus as he grew in popularity?
Here in Capernaum Jesus began his active ministry. This ministry, Matthew tells us, consisted of “teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.”
This was a ministry of teaching, proclaiming good news, and of healing. It was a ministry characterized by an announcement and an invitation. The announcement: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” The invitation: “Follow me.” From the story, we know that four of those he invited – Simon and Andrew, James and John, immediately left their life’s work, fishing, and followed Jesus.
I suppose, without that invitation from Jesus, Simon, better known to us as Peter, might have ended his life surrounded by adoring grandchildren, telling fishing stories as he gently laid them in their beds. Instead, he hung on a cross, upside down, crucified for the sake of the one whose invitation he accepted.
And James and John and Andrew, and all the rest, well, their lives would have been much different had they not encountered Jesus that day by the Sea of Galilee. But Jesus was the force that exerted upon these men, drawing them out of the inertia of their lives, propelling them into motion, and embarking them on the journey of a lifetime. Instead of continuing life as it was, they would now join with Jesus in fishing for people for the kingdom of God. But just how suited were these fishermen for the task ahead of them?
Knowing what we know about the disciples, have you ever wondered about Jesus’ judgment in picking them. Really, the most elementary personnel selection process would have weeded most of them out. One wag has characterized a fictitious personnel consultant report like this:
“Dear Jesus.Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests. We have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychological and vocational consultants. It is our conviction that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in management and proven capacity to perform.
Simon, alias Peter, is emotional, unstable, and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The other two brothers, James and John, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a skeptical attitude that would undermine staff morale. We feel it our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James and Thaddeus have dangerous radical leanings that can lead to trouble down the road.
One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of great ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind, and contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your Chief Financial Officer and right hand man.”
Well, Jesus did not use a personnel consultant; he merely issued the invitation – “Follow me.” It was a radical invitation and those who chose to follow him made a radical response. Immediately they left their nets, their boats, their families, everything – and followed Jesus. Immediately!
And that brings us to our place in the story. You know, I warned you three weeks ago. Remember, that sermon about 360 days of adventure? I reminded us that God would reveal things to us as we travel together through this season of Epiphany. Well, just look at that collect for today. We prayed, “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and to proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation….” If we are paying attention, we know that God has placed a radical call on us, just as surely as on the lives of those first disciples. Now the call may not have come as dramatically as it did to Simon and Andrew, James and John. It is perhaps more subtle and is somehow wrapped up in our own baptism and our attempts to follow Jesus in our own lives.
Like the disciples, Jesus did not evaluate us for fitness for duty as a follower. He simply called us as we were, accepts us as we are, and hopes for better from us. In fact, he has placed a radical hope in you and in me. His hope is that we will daily choose to answer the call to follow him.
God calls us to stand in this place and proclaim the Good News of the kingdom. At our baptism, and every time we renew that baptismal covenant, we promise to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.” Jesus put the Good News this way: “the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
I remember in a Bible study once we paused on that verse when someone asked," What does it mean, ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near?’” Someone in the circle responded, “It means we don’t have to try to be good on our own. God has seen our need and has come to help us.” ----Not a bad summary of Jesus’ central message. That verse will follow Jesus throughout the gospel. Where Jesus goes he brings God’s presence to those who are trying to change and turn around their lives, but can’t on their own. Isaiah would term that Good News as light – light shining in the dark places of human existence, light giving hope to those for whom life seems very, very dark.
So maybe when we promise to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ” it means to shed light into the dark places of our surroundings and to let the lonely and forgotten know by our words and by our actions that God and we have not forgotten them, and to let the hungry and the homeless know by our words and by our actions that God and we have not forgotten them, and to let those who are oppressed and those who are excluded know by our words and by our actions that God and we have not forgotten them, and to let the victims of war and violence know by our words and by our actions that God and we have not forgotten them, and to let our beleaguered planet know by our words and by our actions that God and we have not forgotten it.
The good news for us is that we’ve already started the journey, so according to that unpronounceable Welsh saying, we’re halfway there. And Jesus has already issued the call to us, so whatever inertia there may be in our spiritual lives has been acted upon by the force of his grace.
The only question left for each of us is this:
“How will God call me this week to announce the Good News?”