Themselves for the Sake of the Kingdom

Matthew 4:12-23

A dear friend pointed out to me this past week that Jesus begins his public ministry not just after his baptism, but also after John has been arrested. She said “Jesus began preaching the kingdom right after it had become unequivocally clear that preaching the kingdom gets people in trouble with those in power.” Jesus saw what they were doing to John, that the powers and principalities of the world were sending a message to all those who threatened their authority. Our Lord received that message, and his response was to echo the words of the prophet, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Jesus knew from Day One of his preaching career that his sermons would not be well-received in the halls of power. He knew it would get him in trouble, probably thrown into prison, most likely killed. He knew exactly how high the stakes were- and he took up the kingdom message anyway. Not only that, he invited some other young souls to leave behind their respectable lives in the family business to join him on his dangerous journey. Even knowing how high the stakes were, he called them, and they came.

Why did they say yes? Why did they leave behind their nets? Why did the sons of Zebedee leave their father and their boat behind? Perhaps out of pure curiosity. Perhaps because they were dreamers, who were tired of mending nets and constantly smelling like brine and fish. Perhaps because Jesus was magnetic, charismatic, the kind of guy anyone might follow. If we take into account the version we heard last week from the Gospel according to John, perhaps they had all already met Jesus, and liked what he had to say. He had a glowing review from their teacher John, after all, and that poor guy was in jail now so what else were they supposed to do? It was a rough landing, I’m sure, coming back from the Baptizer’s intensity to the quiet life. Maybe some small part of them had been listening for a way out, a way forward, and Jesus had said the right thing at the right time. Or maybe Simon and Andrew and James and John had seen a great light, and they couldn’t stomach continuing to sit in the dark.

Whatever their reasons, these four men are remembered as Jesus’s first disciples, his first friends and confidants on the dusty roads of Galilee. They accompanied him on his preaching tour, riding the teaching circuit from synagogue to synagogue and curing every disease and sickness along the way. They saw firsthand the kingdom that John had promised was coming near.

When Jesus called these four friends into newness of life, he did not call them to stop being who they were. The son who was raised by a prophet and a carpenter did not dismiss the usefulness or the beauty of Zebedee’s family business. The nets need mending and the fish need catching, because the people need feeding. Jesus knew that better than anyone. So when he called Simon and Andrew and James and John, he did not call them to come be preachers, although they would be. He did not call them to come be baptizers, although they would do plenty of that later. He did not call them to come be theologians or bishops or priests. He called the fishermen to come do what they do best- fish. Bring the skills and resources and generational knowledge with you, Jesus tells them, we will need it on the way. Jesus called his disciples to be themselves, for the sake of the kingdom.

And immediately, they left their nets and followed him. But they didn’t leave behind who they’d been, what they knew and what they could do with that knowledge and skill. There were plenty of times Jesus ate fish for lunch because his friends knew where to cast their nets. There were several times Jesus fell asleep in a boat in a storm-tossed sea because he trusted his friends could handle the steering. Jesus even let his friends go on ahead of him in the boat one time and met them out at sea, out in their own element, as if to say- I’ll find you at your day job too.

There is no better known metaphor for evangelism than the call to fish for people. But it was an effective metaphor because it was specific, personal, and directed to an audience that would understand it in their very bodies. These four generational fishermen were born into lives of nets and boats and wind and waves. They knew the tides, and how heavy a load their nets could bear, and how much strain their backs could manage before it was time to turn toward shore. They knew the types of fish and their seasons, when to haul in and when to throw back, how to prepare and preserve in times of abundance. For James and John and Simon and Andrew, the call to fish for people was a call to know the crowds that surrounded Jesus the way they knew the sea and its tides. To fish for people, for them, was to bring everything they were and everything their parents and ancestors had been to the work of discipleship. They were good fishermen. It’s what made them great apostles.

What does Jesus call you to become? Perhaps like the first disciples, you are called to fish for people. Or perhaps you are called to grow and nourish them, or build them up, or inspire them. Perhaps, like my mother, you are called to follow Jesus so he can make you a teacher of people, opening new worlds through words and stories. Perhaps, like my father, you are called to follow Jesus so he can make you a photographer of people, capturing the image of God in them when they don’t see it in themselves. Perhaps, like my grandmother, you are called to follow Jesus so he can make you a matriarch of people, a loving mother and grandparent to children of all ages and backgrounds. Perhaps, like my great grandfather, you are called to follow Jesus so he can make you a healer of people, someone who remembered the people others forgot. Jesus does not call you as an individual only to bid you leave your individuality behind. Jesus calls you to follow him exactly as you are, with all that you are and all that you know and everything that you’ve been. Perhaps you are already doing this, and because of you someone else is learning that they don’t have to hide who they are in order to follow Jesus.

Jesus calls you with recognition that the stakes are high, that this ministry is risky, that it will cost us all in the eyes of the world. And Jesus calls you with the promise that the cost will not be your truth, your light. Jesus says follow me, and I will make you more you. Jesus says the people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light. Jesus says I am the light of the world, and I will shine on who you were always meant to be. I will make the world into what it was always meant to be. The kingdom of heaven has come near. Thanks be to God.