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| From one of the panels of the "Waters of Life" tapestry found at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Indianapolis |
In our Gospels these past two
weeks Jesus has been inviting these same men to become his disciples. You might have noticed that the stories each
week are a bit different from one another.
If you remember, last week, in the Gospel from John, John the baptizer
introduced two of his own followers to Jesus, and they asked Jesus where he was
staying, got to know him, and began to follow Jesus.
This week, as we hear in Matthew’s version, the story changes. Jesus has just emerged from the wilderness
after spending forty days being tempted by the devil. He learns that his cousin, John, has been
arrested by Herod Antipas because John is challenging the empire with his claim
that the kingdom of God is near and because of his criticism of Herod for the
way he treats people on the margins.
And now, Jesus comes out of the wilderness and moves to the
sea, taking up where John left off by proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven has come near” (Mt: 4:17).
We don’t know how long he wandered the streets of Galilee,
where the Gentiles lived, proclaiming this.
Nor do we know who heard him and what they thought. But at some point, Jesus goes to the shore
and calls to Peter and Andrew, who were fishing, and invites them to come to
shore to fish, instead, for people. And
they do.
Shortly thereafter, he invites the sons of Zebedee: James
and John, to come along. And they leave
their father with the soiled, wet, torn nets to join Jesus, Peter and Andrew.
These, according to Matthew, are the first disciples of
Jesus. The first who will completely
change their lives and their livelihood to follow Jesus.
Their identities as fishermen change the instant
they leave their boats, their nets, the fish and their families. And they will never be the same again.
These four, the eight more to come, and all those, named and
unnamed, who tag along, create this new faith community. This ragtag group of people are invited to
develop a new community as they participate, learn, grow, and minister with
Jesus for just a few years before his arrest, crucifixion, death, resurrection
and ascension.
The twelve are known as Apostles, the first to be sent into
the world to proclaim Jesus as God’s Son, and to make disciples of all they
meet. To make you and I disciples. You and me.
The question is, what does it mean to be a disciple? The late Billy Graham defines it this
way:
“A disciple is simply someone who believes in Jesus and seeks
to follow him in his or her daily life. Originally, of course, a disciple was
someone who literally knew Jesus in the flesh and followed him — but after he
was taken up into heaven, anyone who was committed to Jesus was called a
disciple. And that’s what you are, now that you have come to Christ and are
seeking to follow him.
What does
it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? It means first of all that we want to learn from
him — and we will, as we study God’s word, the Bible, and listen to others
teach from it. Make the Bible part of your life every day. The Psalmist said,
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple”
(Psalm 119:130).
But being
a disciple also means we want to put God’s word into action by seeking to live
the way Christ wants us to live — with God’s help. Thank God every day for his
great love for you, and ask him to help you share his love with others.”[1]
As Episcopalians, we might look at it the way our Presiding
Bishop chooses to do: Discipleship is the Way of Love. And as he’s been known to say, “if it’s not about
Love, it’s not about God.”
This Lent, our Wednesday soup supper program will be
following the Way of Love, a curriculum designed by the Episcopal
Church. We will explore the practices of
Turn – Learn –Pray –Worship – Bless – Go – Rest.
Our exploration will take about seven
weeks beginning in March. There are only
five Wednesdays in Lent, so we will be creative in the way we accomplish this!!
It is my hope that through this curriculum we will all
learn new ways to be Jesus Followers.
Ways that help us better understand the depth of what it means to be
Disciples.
Today, our Gospel describes them as “fishers of
people.” And that really is part of what
it means to be a disciple. Casting out
our nets to gather people together to introduce them to this faith community,
yes, but more importantly help them feel they are a part of the body of
Christ.
I say this because, as we heard in our second lesson, Paul
reminds us that we are all in this for God, for Jesus, even if we don’t
“belong” in the same groups. The goal is
to help people get to know their Creator.
A couple weeks ago I asked you to consider your baptismal
promises and to talk with someone about what they mean to you. Last week I challenged you to think about how
you are chosen, called and invited into fellowship with Jesus and to then tell
the story, your story, and to invite others to join you on your journey. These are the first steps you can take as
disciples. To share what God, Jesus and
the Holy Spirit mean to you. To share the
impact your relationship with the triune God has had on your life.
To get out of your boat, to stop repairing the nets, and
walk away from the life you once lived and become more fully a Jesus Follower.
Beloveds of God, I invite you to participate in this
community in new ways this year. To live
more intentionally into the baptismal promises we will renew shortly. To get out of the boat of comfort and
familiarity, and try something that challenges you, something that will help
you experience God afresh in your life.
Let us pray.
Jesus, you are the Way of Love. As we travel on this Way, take us to places
we do not expect, that we cannot see, that surprise us. Let compassion replace judgment; cooperation
replace competition. Let us feel things
that make us uncomfortable: the suffering, loneliness and poverty that
sometimes abide deeply within us; that certainly abide in the world around us. Let us see the world as it really is, but
keep us from worry, from resentment, from grudges and fear. Let these behaviors be signs of our
faith. Let our faith be focused on the
Way of Love. Finally, give us courage and grace to intentionally get out of our
boats so we can walk this faith journey as your disciples. Amen. [2]