Fishing for People

3rd Sunday in Epiphany, Jan. 26th 2020

Readings for the day: Isaiah 9:1-4; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

‘The kingdom of heaven has come near!’ we hear Jesus proclaim this morning, just as we’ve heard John the Baptist proclaim numerous times already. Which is why I prefer the alternate translation of this verse as Jesus saying ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand!’ Nothing could be more true in that moment, for Jesus himself IS the kingdom of heaven - the kingdom of God made manifest - come to earth in very real, visible, human form. The kingdom of heaven IS at hand. Notice this is not, the kingdom of heaven is what you will experience in the next life, but rather the kingdom of heaven IS REALITY RIGHT NOW. God’s rule of justice and peace has come to ‘earth as it is in heaven.’

Have any sweeter words ever been spoken to those who suffer in darkness?

Salvation has come to the oppressed!

A great light has shone on those who walk in darkness!

..Have any more threatening words ever been spoken to those who rule earthly empires?..

Jesus was not killed because he was a nice man who played by the rules and kept to himself. Jesus was killed because he claimed authority over heaven and earth, undermining the powers that be and raising up all those whom those powers had tied down and oppressed for centuries.

For hundreds of years the Israelites lived under occupation by the Babylonians, then the Persians, then the Greeks, and then the Romans. They were a people who walked in darkness with a rod of oppression on their shoulders, weighing them down, keeping them fearful and broken hearted. Now here comes this man who claims to be God who is going to set the world straight, show the world the kind of kingdom it has never known, a kingdom that operates under God’s justice and mercy. A kingdom where ALL are free, ALL are treated with dignity and respect, ALL are united in peace.

Christ did not come to endorse the status quo, rather Christ came to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recover sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free, and to usher in the kingdom of heaven (Luke 4:18-19). All of this is what the fishermen whom Jesus calls to follow him would have heard when Jesus invites them to follow him and learn how to ‘fish for people.’ Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John - they were all Israelites waiting and longing for the Messiah to come and invite them to join in turning the world upside down - or actually, right-side up.

We so often romanticize the gospels, looking in awe and wonder at these disciples who simply just followed Jesus because he asked; perhaps because he was just such a compelling man. But if you remember from last week’s gospel, these men were already disciples of John the Baptist, who was proclaiming that the Messiah had come and the promised day of justice reigns. These men were Jews who walked in darkness, knew the heavy weight of the oppressor’s rod across their shoulders, and longed for their promised Messiah, their Savior. They were primed and ready for this call.

In the same vein, we have come to imagine Jesus’ invitation to become ‘fishers of people’ as an evangelical tactic to get more people to believe in God and confess their belief by simply repeating, ‘I believe Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior.’ But friends, there is SO much more to Jesus’ invitation than we even realize. You see the disciples would not have just heard Jesus’ invitation at face value, they would have also heard centuries worth of God’s prophet’s who talked about God’s promise to send fishermen to fish for the corrupt and fling them out of their cities and positions of power.

The prophet Jeremiah tells of God sending fishermen and hunters to catch the evil and sinful people who had ridden God’s land with idols and detestable practices (Jer. 16:16-18). The prophet Amos tells the Israelites that God swears those who oppress the poor, crush the needy, and gorge themselves with luxury while others suffer will be taken away by fishhooks and flung into other lands (Amos 4:1-2). And again, the prophet Ezekiel tells of God speaking against the Egyptian Pharaoh, promising to hook him up with all his followers and fling them into the wilderness (Ez. 29:1-6).

These are the stories that would have run through the disciples’ heads when Jesus called for them to follow him. These are the images that would have played in the disciples’ minds when Jesus promises to teach them to be fishers of people. Quite different than we have come to imagine the call today.. Which reminds me of a quote by Paul Harvey that “we’ve drifted away from being fishers of men to being keepers of the aquarium.”

So what does it mean to follow Jesus?..

How do we stop being keepers of the aquarium and once again become fishers of people?.. Or rather, are we willing to stop being keepers of the aquarium and once again become fishers of people?..

There is a reason Paul’s letters and teachings that make up most of the New Testament constantly remind his hearers to be strong and trust in God.. constantly reminding his hearers, fellow fishers of people, that the journey is hard and the powers that be aren’t going to like it. Over and over again Paul says, you will be persecuted, imprisoned, possibly even killed, just as the prophets (and Christ himself) were before you.

Jesus did not live and die just to give us a list of morals and values to live by.. Jesus’ life and death were so much more than that. Jesus, God in the flesh, came to live so that ALL might have life and have life abundantly (John 10:10). In order to do so, Jesus’ life had to be spent deconstructing the corrupt powers that be. Jesus came because he was GOD. God who created all things and LOVES all of creation SO much that God could not stand one more day of watching Pharaohs and Emperors adorn themselves as if they themselves were God, crushing mass amounts of God’s people under oppression for their own gain. God said no more. God became incarnate in Jesus Christ who came to restore life to the poor, the captives, the oppressed.. to shine a light on his children who walked in darkness! Christ came to show us a new way of living, to help us imagine a world where ALL are free, ALL are treated with dignity and respect, ALL are united in peace.

So friends.. will you follow Christ and learn from him how to be fishers of people?

Do you want to walk with Christ in the light rather than darkness?

Make no mistake, this is risky business.

It will not be easy.

But it is sacred, holy work.

It is the way of Jesus.

It is the way of life.

The world is not as it should be, but Christ promises the kingdom of God is already at hand, has already broken through into this life, ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ Jesus invites you to participate in what God is doing in the inbreaking of the kingdom into this world right here, right now.

You are invited.

Come and learn from Christ what it means to be fishers of people.

Come and break free from your bondage!

Come and live in the light!