1-21-96	Leaving the Nets	Isaiah 9:1-4

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

When I was 19 years old, my 16 year old brother and I went down to Mexico during our Christmas vacation. We drove down to Guad alajara in an old Volkswagen Squareback, following our mom and dad, who were driving an Oldsmobile Delta 88, pulling a 20 foot trailer. Now, believe me, that was quite an adventure for the two of us. And, probably because it was somewhat gory, one of the most memora ble things we saw when we went down there was the bull fights. And one of the things I learned about bull fights is that there are at least two different prices for bull fight tickets. If you want to sit in the shade, you will pay more for tickets than if you are willing to sit with the sun in your face. And, this really does make a difference, since most bull fights take place in the late afternoon. If you sit on the cheap side of the bull fight arena, on the sunny side, all you will see is the sun, unless you take along your sombrero, which is a broad-rimmed hat used to provide the wearer with shade. And, of course, anyone who has studied Spanish knows that "sombre," from which the word "sombrero" comes, means "shade."

Now, certainly, there are definite advantages to living in the shade. It's handy for bull fights, of course. But, if your house is in the shade you won't sweat quite as much in the summer and your air conditioning bill will probably be quite a bit lower. But, then, as every farmer knows, an excess of shade can be a problem, too. And this is especially true of our spiritual life. For we need God's sunshine in our lives, as well.

In our Old Testament lesson for today we find the words: "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." What was Isaiah saying here? He was saying that there are times in our lives when we walk in spiritual darkness. And during those times we stumble over the smallest things; things people may do, things people may say, things that happen to us in life. We stumble on them in the spiritual darkness of our souls. And then, once we have fallen, we find it difficult to get back up and on our way again. We get stuck in life, paralyzed by the darkness of anger, blame, guilt, or depression. Or, once we have gotten back upon our feet, in the darkness of our souls, we may find ourselves walking in the wrong direction towards even greater crevices and pitfalls, each one of them having the potential of doing even greater harm to us and those whose lives we touch.

And, I'm not pointing my finger here. We've all experienced the darkness, from time to time. But, there is something about the shadow that we need to remember. It is insidious. In other words, the darkness is something that can creep up on us in our lives, so that a place that we thought was full of God's sunshine may actu ally become full of the shadow if we stay there too long.

Karl Barth, one of this century's greatest theologians, liked to compare our spiritual life to a journey in a strange land where you have the choice of either walking towards the sun, or moving towards the darkness. It is one or it is the other. Either you are making a conscious effort to walk towards the light, to prog ress and to become, or the darkness is moving up on you. And, even if you think you've found a nice sunny place and decide to stop and rest there for a while, you will soon find that place becoming a dark hole, unless you get up and actually begin your journey towards the light, once again.

Personally, I have found this analogy very helpful. In our spiritual lives, there is no time to sit still. Rather, God is constantly ahead of us, leading us on to different places, to newer understandings. Just when we think we understand all there is to learn about God, God offers us something new. That's why you've heard it said that Christian education and spiritual growth is a life-long process. Indeed, for those who are really God's chil dren, for those who are active disciples of Jesus Christ, there is no such thing as "sitting still."

In our Gospel lesson for this morning we heard about the call of Simon, Andrew, James and John. Just as Jesus told them, "I will make you fishes of men," so are we called to move beyond our horizons, as well.

When you think about it, those fishermen on the sea of Galilee were, no doubt, pretty good at what they did. Even when they weren't successful in catching fish they could still throw their nets with skill and grace. And they may even have felt that God had called them to be fishermen, so they prided themselves in expertly rowing and sailing their boats, even on rough seas. With a sense of vocation it was a life they had learned to love. But, then along came Jesus, calling them to do something radically different with their lives. And, so, they had to make a choice – to follow Jesus, to become fishers of men, or to leave their life of fishing for fish.

You know it is hard to leave something you're familiar with to do something different in your life. Yet, that is exactly what God may call us to do, from time to time. And God's call may include a lot of things: It may be a change of jobs, or a move to a new town, or seeing the last kid leave the nest. Or, God's call to us it may be as simple as meeting a new friend, or changing an atti tude, or learning something new, or becoming a volunteer, or inviting someone to church.

But, answering God's call often means leaving something that you treasure behind. Take my wife, for instance. She's got this old electric typewriter that doesn't work, anymore. It has an old worn out nylon ribbon that I can't replace. And some of the keys get stuck. And it makes a funny noise when you turn it on. And you can't get it fixed. So, the other day, I convinced her to buy a new one. The new one even has a little display on it so that you can type out a whole line before anything shows up on the paper. And it uses a plastic ribbon that leaves nice, crisp letters on the paper.

Well, we brought the typewriter home, moved the old typewriter over, and put the new one in its place. And, after seeing how nice the new typewriter worked, I asked my wife, "So, what are we going to do with your old typewriter?" And she answered, "I'll put it back in its case and put it in the basement." – which means, "We'll be hauling that old thing around with us, as we move, until the day we retire." It's silly, when you think about it. And, yet, this is something that we all are tempted to do, even spiritually, when God calls us to do something different in our lives, or tries to lead us into a new day.

But, you know, it is natural for us to resist the coming of God's light in our lives. Once you've gotten accustomed to the darkness it is difficult, even understandable, to look the other way when the light suddenly comes. Anyone who has been in a cave or a theater for a couple of hours knows how difficult it is to step out into a bright, sunshiny day. Your eyes squint. You want to put on your shades.

Isn't this true of our spiritual lives, as well? We want to resist the light, the reality of God's new day. And, yet, when we are bold enough to take that day and move out into it, how thrill ing it is! For there is life in God's new day. Indeed, the following poem, I leave you with today, makes this point:

Our eyes were good, but we were blind inside.

Didn't see it, hardly even tried.

For in the dismal darkness, unaware,

We stood within a sweet and awful lair.

Accustomed to that lack of light, we shared

A fear to know just who it was. You glared

With brilliant beams of godly light and cut

The darkness like a knife. O God, we shut

You out! For coming to the light brings pain

To those who've let the shadow reign.

But some have dared to look upon that Sun;

And those who have are thrilled, for Christ has done

A task that leads to life. And now we are

God's children of the light. The Shining Star

Of Love has pierced the umbra of our pain.

The Christ of love has come on earth to reign.

( PGD)

Amen.