Let's Go Fishing

Let’s Go Fishing

Good News - Part 2

Sunday, January 14, 2024
Mark 1:16-20

“Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.”

 Mark 1:17 CEB)

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

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Whose job is it to make disciples? The prophets? The preachers? The Sunday School Teachers?

We are quick to read between the lines in Mark 1 as Simon, Andrew, James and John leave their nets and follow Jesus like a group of children who have nothing better to do than join in a playground game of follow-the-leader. We struggle to find ways to excuse ourselves from such unreasonable demands. We have jobs and mortgages and kids and aging parents and pets. We have responsibilities that in our minds, are far more crucial than the lowly fishing business these early disciples walked out on. What exactly does it look like to “Come and follow Jesus,” in our day? The story is so brief it hardly does justice to the level of sacrifice these “ordinary fishermen” truly made. If we’re truly honest, most of us tend to think it was a much easier decision for them than for us.

There are much larger implications, however, when we consider the timing of this call. “After John was arrested…” (Mark 1:14, Matthew 4:12).

John was the prophet, the first in nearly 400 years.  No one alive at the time had heard the voice of God so directly and neither had their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents. “Prepare the way of the Lord,” he declared, and then he is arrested.

Jesus picks up right where John leaves off.  But he is more than a prophet.  He is the very presence of God in  flesh and he is not hanging out in the synagogues or even with the prophet’s followers in the wilderness. He is hanging out in the marketplace around the Sea of Galilee. He is eating and drinking and laughing with the tax collectors, the occupying Roman soldiers, the sick and the lame, the women and the children, and yes, even the lowly hard working fishermen.  “I’ll show you how to fish for people,” he says (Mark 1:17).

The nature of following Jesus and “fishing for people” looks different for everyone. Regardless of what shape our call takes or where Jesus leads, the point is that Jesus is leading “us”. Jesus calls you and me, ordinary people, to “fish for people,” to take up the mantle of the prophet and proclaim the Word of God not only in the wilderness, but in the marketplace, at our jobs, in our schools, at the restaurant, in the public square, with our friends and neighbors, in our homes and our families, and yes, even in our churches.

The more we try to plan out exactly how we will follow Jesus, the more we will find Jesus changing our plans. We are not Jesus’ GPS to make sure everything he calls us to do just happens to be on our route. If we stop to think about it too much, we will likely be overcome with anticipation and anxiety about the unknown. We might remember that John was just arrested and wonder if the same might happen to us. Our fear may get the better of us. We will surely come up with a million other things we have to do “first.”

Where our culture says, “trust yourself, trust your instincts, your intelligence, your abilities, your wealth, your plans, etc.” Jesus simply says, “Trust me. Step out of the boat. Drop your nets. Let’s go.” The time is now!

What people is God putting in your path this week with whom you might share the good news?

#BeUMC - Following Christ

Following Christ

#BeUMC - Part 3

Sunday, July 9, 2023
Matthew 28:16-20, Philippians 4:8-9, Colossians 3:12-17

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Look, I myself will be with you every day until the end of this present age.

Matthew 28:19-20

And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.  The peace of Christ must control your hearts—a peace into which you were called in one body. And be thankful people.  The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:14-17

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

Most of us are familiar with the Great Commission - “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20a).  It’s easy to think of “making disciples” in terms of teaching, peaching, baptizing, etc.  In other words, this is the role of pastors, Sunday School teachers, small group leaders, Christian Educators and others in some form of vocational ministry who are trained to preach and teach and baptize. 

When we turn to the rest of the New Testament, however, we clearly see that the role of making disciples is not actually limited to the apostles.  Rather, it is the work of the apostles to continually equip others to do the work of making disciples.  If we want to know whose job it is to make disciples, the answer is simple… other disciples.  Part of discipleship is multiplication.  Disciples naturally make other disciples because that’s how Jesus and his followers taught us as we have been discipled.

“But,” you might say, “I can’t teach or baptize.  I don’t know enough.  What if I don’t have the right answers? 

Let me encourage you now, you don’t know enough and you don’t have all the right answers.  Neither do I.  Neither did Billy Graham or Mother Theresa or Peter or Paul.  And neither has any disciple or disciple-maker throughout history.  Our task is simply to pass on what Jesus has taught us.  The best way to do this is not by passing on our knowledge of Jesus to others, but by  modeling by example the way of life Jesus taught us to live. 

Paul writes that as Christians, as followers of Christ, as disciples, we must “put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”  We must be tolerant with each other and forgive each other as Christ forgave us.  We must live in the unity of love, encouraging and building one another up in the name of Christ with a spirit of gratitude and praise. 

In other words, making disciples is less about what  we do, or what we say, and more about who we are and our way of being in the world.  When we “put on Christ,” or to put it another way, when we allow the Spirit to remake us in Christ’s likeness, our natural way of life will be so beautiful and compelling to others that they will want more of these Christlike attributes in their own life as well.  As we grow together in developing Christlike character and love, our fruit continues to multiply and bear more fruit.  We don’t make disciples by trying to convince people that they need to think or believe everything exactly like us.  We make disciples by living out Jesus’ example of love so that others will want to follow, just as we have chosen to follow Christ. 

So here’s the big question: Do we hang our Christian discipleship more on the fact that we “believe” in Jesus, or on the fact that we are actually following his teaching?  And which one do others most see in us?

Jesus as Way

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Jesus as Way
Series: Meeting Jesus Again - Part 5
2023 - A Lenten Journey
John 13:33-14:7

(based on the book Freeing Jesus, by Diana Butler Bass)

Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going.  How can we know the way?”  Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

John 14:5-6a (CEB)

Apologies that we do not have an audio recording of the sermon this week. Please enjoy the reflections below on Jesus as Way.

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John 14:6 is likely among the most quoted verses in the Bible.  There is only one problem.  It is rarely quoted in the context in which Jesus spoke these famous words, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Typically this verse is used as a way of bolstering Christian exceptionalism or exclusivity, often condemning those outside of Christianity to hell.  Interestingly enough, people are more willing to use this verse to condemn someone born and raised in another religion with minimal or even no access to the Christian gospel than they are to challenge those who call themselves “Christian” while living in a way very much opposed to the way of life Jesus taught and modeled for us. 

The truth is, Jesus did not have Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus or Atheists or Samaritans or even his own Jewish people in mind in this moment.  There is no indication in John’s presentation of the Last Supper (John 13—17) that anyone is concerned about the fires of hell or eternal punishment.  The disciples are not worried about eternity, they are worried about losing their friend and teacher right now.  They are grappling with the fear of the unknown as Jesus’ tries to prepare them for his own imminent death at the hands of the religious leaders and the state.  What will become of them when their leader is gone? 

Throughout these chapters, Jesus emphasizes the way of love and service.  It is in this way of life that his disciples must continue on.  As John would later write, “perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment” (1 John 4:18).  We must remember, Christianity did not even become a religion until well after Jesus’ death.  It is unlikely that Jesus, the disciples, Paul, or any other good Jew at that time would have threatened the whole world with the fear of eternal punishment if they did not convert to a new religion and subscribe to creeds and doctrines that would not be firmly established for another 200 to 300 years.

Jesus is not setting up a barrier between us and God.  Rather, he is reminding the disciples that through the way of life and love he has modeled for them, they have already seen and known the Father’s heart.  “No one comes to the Father except through me” is simply away of saying that except for Jesus, they would never have known the deep love and mercy of God and would have remained in fear.  Except for Jesus, or to put it another way, “if it were not for Jesus,” we would continue to live in fear.  We would continue to fight and scrape our way to the top through violence, anger, hatred, greed, jealousy and every other vice that turns us against one another in a desperate effort to protect ourselves and our own interests. 

But Jesus showed us another way.  We have nothing to fear from our enemies, not even death, because we know how much we are loved by God the Father and we are invited and called to live out the truth of that love in the way we give ourselves for the sake of others.  As the Mandalorian says, “This is the Way.”

Follow Me

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Follow Me
Series: Called - Part 2
Matthew 4:12-25

“Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” Right away, they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 4:19-20 (CEB)

Listen to this week’s sermon here:

___________________

Whose job is it to make disciples?  The prophets?  The preachers?  The Sunday School Teachers?

We are quick to read between the lines in Mark 1 and Matthew 4 as Simon, Andrew, James and John leave their nets and follow Jesus like a group of children who have nothing better to do than join in a playground game of follow-the-leader.  We struggle to find ways to excuse ourselves from such unreasonable demands.  We have jobs and mortgages and kids and aging parents and pets.  We have responsibilities that in our minds, are far more crucial than the lowly fishing business these early disciples walked out on.  What exactly does it look like to “Come and follow Jesus,” in our day?  The story is so brief it hardly does justice to the level of sacrifice these “ordinary fishermen” truly made.  If we’re truly honest, most of us tend to think it was a much easier decision for them than for us.

There are much larger implications, however, when we consider the timing of this call.  “After John was arrested…” (Mark 1:14, Matthew 4:12).

John was the prophet of the day.  John was the mouthpiece of God.  John was the first person in nearly 400 years to hold such a crucial religious position.  No one alive at the time had ever heard the voice of God so directly and neither had their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents.  “Prepare the way of the Lord,” he declared, and then he is arrested.

Jesus picks up right where John leaves off, except he is not just another prophet.  He is something much more.  He is the very presence of God in the flesh.  And what’s more, God is not hanging out in the synagogues or even with the prophet’s followers in the wilderness.  He is hanging out in the marketplace around the Sea of Galilee.  He is eating and drinking and laughing with the tax collectors, the occupying Roman soldiers, the sick and the lame, the women and the children, and yes, even the lowly hard working fishermen. 

“I’ll show you how to be fishers of people,” he says (Mark 1:17). 

The nature of following Jesus and being “fishers of people” looks different for everyone.  Some may leave everything behind and others are needed to proclaim the Good News right where they are.  Regardless of what shape our call takes or where Jesus leads, the point is that Jesus is leading “us”.  He’s not training people for the office of  “prophet” to replace John.  He’s not offering a continuing education course or a doctoral program for Pharisees and Sadducee's so they they can update their methods and theology to fit the changing times.  He is not saying everyone has to quit their jobs and go into full-time ministry, though that may be true for some.

Jesus calls you and me, ordinary people, to be “fishers of people,” to take up the mantle of the prophet and proclaim the Word of God not only in the wilderness, but in the marketplace, at our jobs, in our schools, at the restaurant, in the public square, with our friends and neighbors, in our homes and our families, and yes, even in our churches. 

The more we try to plan out exactly how we will follow Jesus, the more we will find Jesus changing our plans.  We are not Jesus’ GPS to make sure everything he calls us to do just happens to be on our route.  If we stop to think about it too much, we will likely be overcome with anticipation and anxiety about the unknown.  We might remember that John was just arrested and wonder if the same might happen to us.  Our fear may get the better of us.  We will surely come up with a million other things we have to do “first.” 

Where our culture says, “trust yourself, trust your instincts, your intelligence, your abilities, your wealth, your plans, etc.” Jesus simply says, “Trust me. Step out of the boat.  Drop your nets.  Let’s go. Follow Me!”

God's Eye

I arise today...
Through God’s eye to look before me...

The Lorica of Saint Patrick (St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer)

In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

Deuteronomy 1:32-33

Deuteronomy 1 tells the story of Israelite spies who looked ahead to the land God had promised them but in seeing the inhabitants there, they turned back and grumbled against God for leading them into an impossible situation. God’s eye had looked before them even as they cried out from slavery in Egypt, and God’s eye saw a future filled with hope and blessing for all the world through this people he had redeemed, but they could only see through the eyes of fear.

As we arise today through God’s eye to look before us, two questions come to mind.

First, Do we really trust that God’s eye is looking out before us?

God set his people free from Egypt and looked out for them day after day in the wilderness, providing for their every need. Still the people grumbled and did not trust that God was truly looking out for them. Over and over again in Scripture we find God’s people complaining that God has led them into a trap, that God has abandoned them, that God would not take care of them, that somehow God’s way was not good enough. Even in the gospels, we find Jesus looking ahead through God’s eyes at the suffering he would have to endure and his closest friend Peter challenges him.

Then Peter took hold of Jesus and, scolding him, began to correct him: “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you.” But he turned to Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are a stone that could make me stumble, for you are not thinking God’s thoughts but human thoughts.”

Matthew 16:22-23

God sees the path more clearly than any of us, but sometimes it is difficult to trust. Like the famous “Leap of Faith” scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, sometimes we can’t even see the bridge God is asking us to cross. We’re not even sure there is anything there to step on. Where is God leading us?

That leads to our second question, “Do we really want God’s eye to look out before us, or would we rather just see for ourselves?”

Have you ever played “Follow the Leader” with your eyes closed or blindfolded. It’s a classic children’s game in church to teach lessons about faith and listening to the Spirit. The goal is to go wherever the leader tells you to go, trusting that they won’t lead you to walk into a wall or a chair. Sometimes there is an added layer of having everybody give directions so you have to listen more carefully for the leader’s voice to know which way to go in the midst of the chaos.

Honestly, I always hated those games. I don’t think I’ve ever completed one without peeking. Sometimes I didn’t trust the leader, but often times, I didn’t trust myself. What if I heard the direction wrong? What if he says left and he meant his left instead of mine? It’s one thing for kids to wander blindly around a classroom, but what if you tried to do the same thing while driving with only a voice over the phone to tell you when to turn, when to brake, etc. The stakes just got a lot higher and I imagine even the most faithful among us would not take on such a challenge.

Yet that’s often what it feels like to trust God’s eyes instead of our own. When all we see ahead is fog, do we really want to trust that God can still see the way, or would we rather just camp out for awhile until the fog clears and we can see for ourselves.

Here’s the irony. We naturally trust our own sight more than we trust what someone else sees, even if that someone is God. Yet whenever God’s people in Scripture rely on their own sight, they almost always take a wrong turn. Why? Because their vision, like ours, is clouded. Our vision is blurred by sin, by doubts, by pain, and most often by fear. We never see as clearly as we think we do.

Maybe this is why Jesus tells the Pharisees, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t have any sin, but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains” (John 9:41).

This original song written in 2017 speaks to all of those moments when we either can't see or don't want to see the way God is leading us through the chaos of life.

Reflections:

1. How do you think you would score on a “spiritual vision test?” What “astigmatisms” keep you from seeing clearly? Fear? Doubt? Hurt? Sin? Something else?

2. Reflect on a time when you truly took a leap of faith and trusted God’s leading, even when it looked absurd or impossible to you? What was the outcome?

3. Read the story of the blind man in John 9:1-41. Where do you find yourself in the story? Who do you most identify with?

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Our journey through St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer continues next week:

... I arise today,
Through God’s ear to hear me…

Pray along with the full text of St. Patrick's Breastplate Prayer