Matthew 4:12-23
The Church exists by mission…just as fire exists by burning.
- Mission is not some program of the church.
- It is not one activity we do…among many.
- Mission is the church…and the church is mission!
- We see the truth of this clearly in today’s Gospel lesson: The calling of Jesus’ first disciples.
In today’s gospel reading we see Jesus walking along the seashore and he comes upon two sets of brothers who are fishermen:
- Simon and his brother Andrew…
- And James and John…the sons of Zebedee.
- To all of them he says: Follow me…and I will make you fishers of people.
- Surprisingly…both sets of brothers get up and follow him…based on that mysterious invitation.
When Jesus comes upon James and John…they are not engaged in the act of casting their nets…as Peter and Andrew are.
- They are sitting on the shore…mending those nets.
- Now…net-mending was just as much a part of the work of fishing…as casting nets into the water.
- It would not do to cast a net that had gaping holes and tears in it.
- That is why…on a regular basis…fishermen had to pull their boats up onto the shore…
- And retie the dozens of knots that had loosened or come undone.
- It was slow…tedious work…and it did not bring in any fish.
- But this routine maintenance had to be done for the fishing to continue.
Much of what goes on inside the walls of this or any church can be considered a form of net-mending.
- Once a week…we gather here in whatever state we are in.
- No matter how bruised or battered or bleeding our spirits may be from the struggles of life.
- We gather here for mending.
- There is something about the whole worship experience:
- Scripture…homily…music…prayers…Holy Communion…coffee and conversation…
- That offers healing and restoration.
- But there is also the journey back outward after the mending is finished…
- To cast the nets into the sea.
- As there is the mending…there is also the sending:
- Go in peace. Do justice. Love mercy. Thanks be to God.
Remember how Jesus approaches James and John…as they are mending their nets?
- He comes up to them and says: Follow me.
- Jesus does not say:
- Practice your net-mending until it’s a fine art…then stretch those beautiful…perfect nets out upon the beach. Then…just sit back and wait till the fish see them. They’ll want so badly to get into those nets…they’ll jump right out of the water!
- Well…that’s not exactly how it happens.
It has always been the case that the way most people make their way into a congregation is not by going out shopping for a church…
- Though there are always some who do that.
This is hard for us to really grasp…especially those of us who have been church members for 20 or 30 years or more.
- When we first sought out membership in a church…whether it happened through Christian nurture…or through some spiritual experience…
- It was during a time when American culture generally smiled on church membership.
But here’s the thing…those days are long gone.
- The culture around us does not wake up each morning thinking they would go to church if only there was a good one to attend.
- That may have been true at some time in the past…
- But it has not been true…here in America…for a good long time now.
Remember the movie Field of Dreams…starring Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan?
- It was about an Iowa farmer…a zealous baseball fan…who had a mystical experience.
- And in that experience…a voice told him:
- If you build it…they will come.
- So…he plowed over a portion of his cornfield and built a baseball field.
- Sure enough…people started coming.
If you build it…they will come…may make for an engaging movie plot.
- But it is not a good way to build a church in our present culture.
- And in this respect…the cultural situation in which we now find ourselves…
- Is a lot more like the days of the apostles than it has been for a very long time.
- This may be the twenty-first century…
- But for the church…this is the first century.
So…how do people not already connected to a congregation find their way into the life of the church in our current culture?
- Well…they come because somebody invites them.
- And not a stranger…either…
- Not someone handing out tracts on a street corner.
- It is someone they know and respect.
- Someone who knows them well enough to listen to their story of personal struggle…
- And…at the right moment…to say:
- I know a place where your heart will find rest and healing. It is my church community. Why don’t you come with me next Sunday? Come and see.
It is hard to turn down a kindly…well-meaning invitation like that…if it comes from a trusted friend…
- A trusted friend who has been sent by the Spirit to do the work of an apostle.
It is useful for us to think about the word… church.
- Well…not the English word that has origins in the Old English tongue….
- But the word the Greek New Testament uses.
- That word in the Greek language is ekklesia.
- You may recognize a descendant in the English word
The literal meaning of ekklesia is…those who are called out.
- That is what Jesus is doing with those fishermen…beside the Sea of Galilee.
- He is calling them out: out from their homes…out from their villages…out from their daily labor of mending the nets.
- He is calling them out of all those familiar places…and into a hurting world.
- That is the idea behind one definition of evangelism…
- That is…Evangelism is just one beggar telling another where to find bread.
It can seem like an uncomfortable thing for any of us to reach out to another person and share something of our faith.
- Yet…it’s a blessed endeavor.
- And it is clear…from this story of Jesus’ call to those fishermen…
- To leave their nets and follow him…
- And…this is precisely the mission he intends for us.
- We…too…can become a part of that mission.
- Not just because we love this church and want it to thrive…
- But because we love Jesus Christ even more!