"When Jesus Calls"

Matthew 4:12-23

As our gospel lesson for today tells us, Jesus actually began his ministry among people who made their living by going fishing every day. Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were both men who had probably been fishing for years. And then there were James and John, who had been fishing with their father, Zebedee, and would have probably made a life of it if it hadn't been for Jesus. At least four of Jesus' disciples, or one third of them, were fishermen.

Now, most of us probably wouldn't think too much about this. And when I was young this didn't mean a whole lot to me, either. But, then, when I was young I had no idea that I, myself, would be starting my ministry among people who made their living from the sea. In fact, when I was still in seminary, out in Washington, D.C., back in 1973, my wife and I had two churches, in a place called Hoopers Island, which was really two small islands in the Chesapeake Bay. And the people there did nothing but take their living from the water. In the winter they went out for oysters and clams, scraping them from the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake with tongs. Then, in the summer they would put out their eel pots for bait which they would put into their crab pots which they then lowered to the bottom of the bay for blue crabs. And, in between the oysters and the clams and the crabs they would go fishing for everything including rock fish and blue fish and anything else they could bring into eat or to sell. And, as I said, everyone was involved. If they weren't out in the bay in their boats, they were in the crab houses, shucking the meat from the crabs. And I mean EVERYBODY was involved, from kids all the way up to grandpa and grandma. It was a way of life that still goes on today.

And, it is a good life. The people there are good, honest people. They work hard. They're pious. And they love and support the Church. And they get together often to support the important things in their community. They have their fire house crab cake dinners to keep the volunteer firemen going. They have their community meetings to make sure the bulkheads along the shore of the island are strong so that the wind and the waves won't erode their island homes away in a storm. And the kids who grow up in that community are good kids because everyone cares about everyone else's kid, because they're all related, somehow, and they all know each other and care about each other.

Our gospel lesson talks about how Jesus walked among just such a people. And he called them away from that good life so that they might follow him and be his disciples. He even called James and John, the sons of Zebedee, to follow him.

Now, you've got to wonder about those two fellows, James and John, those sons of Zebedee. After all, Zebedee means, "Thunder". So, they were sons of Thunder! You've got to wonder what such men would be like to have had a father with such a name. For it probably was a nickname that had been given to him. Maybe he had a real loud voice that could be heard over a long distance, so his friends had nicknamed him "Thunder". And the Bible tells us that Jesus saw the three of them, James, John, and their father who everyone called Thunder, sitting in a boat, mending their nets. He told them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And, we're told that the two immediately left their work and their boat and their father and followed him.

I remember another fisherman, out there on Hooper's Island, who everyone called "Pancake". I'm not sure why they called him "Pancake", except that he was a huge guy, about six foot, six inches, and weighing about 260 pounds. And Pancake's arms looked like Popeye's. He had muscles like you wouldn't believe. And he had a boat that was the envy of the other fishermen. One day Pancake invited my wife and I to go out fishing with him and his wife, Gloria. So, out we went in his boat. And we caught some rock fish and some blue fish, each one weighing in at about 10 to 15 pounds. And each time I caught a fish and was wondering how I was going to get it out of the water, Pancake would simply scoop down with one of his huge arms and pull the fish out of the water like it was a minnow. And as I think back about Pancake and his wife and that community of fisher people I have to marvel about the wonderful life they led and continue to lead, today. And I have to ask how anyone like Peter, or Andrew, or James, or John could have left something so good, even to follow Jesus.

But, quite often the choice we must make about following Jesus is, indeed, a choice between following Jesus or doing something else that is good. For example, you may find yourself working hard to support your family, doing work that is honorable and helpful to your community, but then suddenly you hear God calling you to go into the ministry. Or, you may find yourself working as a volunteer, doing all sorts of good things during the week, but then you get the call to use some of that time working on something in the church, instead. Or, you may find yourself spending quality time with your family only to hear God's call to take some of that time to do some mission work at a place like Cass Avenue United Methodist Church, doing work with the homeless, instead.

Answering such a call from God can be difficult. Yet, when you think about it, going from doing good to doing something else that is good can't be too bad. Perhaps God's call to you is a call like this. Yet, what do we do when Jesus calls? Do we hear it? Do we answer positively? Do we leave our good nets to follow him?

But, then the easiest call to answer is when Jesus calls us from doing nothing, or doing something that is meaningless, or even doing something that is just plain wrong. And we may be able to think of many people who say that they answered Christ's call to be saved from emptiness and meaninglessness. I've even heard people explain how they used to spend hundreds of dollars on bad habits and then heard God's call in such a way that God's Spirit changed them so that now they spend their money to serve the Lord. And, perhaps God's call to you is a call like this. Yet, again, what do we do when Jesus calls? Do we hear it? Do we answer positively? Do we leave our empty nets to follow him?

Yet, very often when Jesus calls us, it may not be to quit our jobs and go do something else. In fact, when Jesus calls us it may actually be to keep our jobs and do something else. Think about it!

A truck driver, for instance, told a friend how Jesus had called him to make some changes in his life, indeed, to be a disciple of Christ. His friend asked him to explain what he was doing now that was so different, and the truck driver explained, "Well, when I find somebody tailgating my truck I no longer drive on the shoulder of the road to throw up gravel on his windshield. And when someone looks like they're in trouble on the road, I stop to see if there's something I can do, or I use my radio to call for help."

But, perhaps the difficult thing about following Jesus is that we don't know where he may lead us. Indeed, many people talk about being a Christian. They like the idea of giving their lives to Christ. But, how many of us are afraid to give ourselves completely for fear that there might be a cross in it for us, somewhere down the line? How many of us would like to be disciples of Jesus, but only a little bit? We want to answer his call; we want to love him, but with only with a little or our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

There is a priest who works with the homeless people of one of the poorest neighborhoods of Detroit. He tells of how one day while in prayer he had a vision Christ, the healer. He says, "We had a little chapel in which the Holy Communion was reserved for the needs of the sick and suffering. I was in it one morning, kneeling in prayer. And while I was praying for the needs of my homeless parishioners, I could see their faces in my mind. And then I saw the Lord in the midst of them, with his hands behind his back, looking upon them with great tenderness and love. And, as I watched in prayer, the Lord began to turn so that I could see why his hands were behind his back. They were tied. And I knew what this meant. The hands of Christ which wanted to touch and heal the sick and the homeless were held back by the unbelief of the Church. Christ was not free to heal.

Christ still waits to heal the multitudes, if only his hands were untied. Let us ask ourselves whether we of the Church are the reason why, in our day, the ministry of his healing touch does not reach into the hearts and lives of those who need him. It seems as though one could hear Christ crying in the midst of his agony: "Quick, someone, untie my hands." And, perhaps God's call to you is a call like this. Yet, again, what do we do when Jesus calls? Do we hear it? Do we answer positively? Do we leave our nets to follow him?

Carved in stone on the base of one of the huge sculptured figures outside the Archives building in Washington, D.C., is the inscription, "The Past is Prologue." How true this is! When you think about it you have to realize that the present is born of the past and the future comes out of the present when it too has become the past. This means that life is always before us! No matter how many conclusions life seems to have, each of those conclusions is a commencement for something else.

When I think of this, I'm reminded of Jesus' call to discipleship. It is much like Moses' appeal to Israel when he said, "See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil . . . choose!" He was saying to them: "Life is before you, make of it what you will. You may make it good by your faithfulness, or evil by your treachery; you may make life noble with worthy service to others, or you may make life stupid with self-centered indulgence. Life is before you: what will you make of it?"

Is God's call to you is a call like this? Yet, again, what do we do when Jesus calls? Do we hear it? Do we answer positively? Do we leave our to follow him?

Amen.