Another important day in our liturgical calendar took place
this past week – that is the Feast of Saint James, son of Zebedee - that I want
to discuss with you. It is an important day because, beyond being designated as
a Holy Day in the tradition of our church, it is an opportunity to talk about
the act of being called into Christ’s service.
We read from Matthew 20 this morning, but I want to take you
right back to Mark 1 beginning at vs 16, where James, among others is called by
Jesus.
- Jesus had just left the fasting and temptations in the
desert.
Here it is, “As Jesus passed along the Sea
of Galilee , he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into
the sea – for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will
make you fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed
him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother
John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and
they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed
him.”
Like James, and the others, we are all called into being;
being something. We are all called to some purpose within the body of Christ.
That inner call on our lives, that we may become what it is we are intended to
be.
When we acknowledge that we are called by Christ, by His
grace, we must take a moment to think about what we are, but we must also think
about what He can make us. After all, Jesus does say, “Follow me and I will
make you…” [fishers of people]
This is subtly the language of repentance as acknowledge
what we have been, what we are, but also celebrate and bask in what it is we
may become. This takes prayerful, discerning and confident abandon of our fears
as we leap toward that which is pounding on our hearts; where our passions meet
our hopes. Where we become fully alive, without even having the skill necessary
to realize that hope, knowing that it will come.
Surely it did not appear obvious to James, like the other
three we just read of their calling, that these lowly fishermen would develop
into apostles in a ministry of the Messiah of Israel. That men so handy with a
net would become at home in preaching sermons and in instructing converts.
To an outsider observer one could understand how people
would say, “You cannot make churches with these unsophisticated peasants from Galilee .” But that is exactly what Jesus did.
Jesus encouraged and taught others to follow him, that in
spite of their own sense of unworthiness, we sense our own, God-given
worthiness and encouraged to become what it is we are meant to be.
1 Samuel 2:8 says, “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes.”
We cannot tell what God may make of us. But we can get
glimpses of it along the way as we learn to breathe the creative breath of God.
Do we not hear in our own hearts the inviting, sweet, loving
voice calling you and saying, “Follow me…”
We follow because we know we are not made as a completed
project. We are not made all that we shall be, not all that we can desire to
be. We have not attained the fullness of the Christ-life in us unless we have
opened to this forgiving, restorative grace of God.
“Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” [let us
listen to this invitation in our hearts]
“Follow me”…there is something for us to do…to follow.
And the second part, “I will make you fishers of people”
Listen to this… “I will make you”… “I will make you” You will not need to grow
into this new role, this new vocation by yourselves, but in saying this, Jesus
is actually tasking himself… ‘I will make you”
We do not need to go through this life thinking we have to
do it all ourselves. What we have to do is to learn the spiritual disciplines
of how to follow so that we can open ourselves to being led into the fullness
of life; led into an imitation of the holiness of Christ; of being led into the
kingdom, which we can participate in now with the fullness and sweetness of it
still to come.
It should not surprise us that Jesus called fishermen first.
Likewise, Saint Paul
often used the metaphor of athletes to describe the Christian life.
I grew up in rural Newfoundland .
I don’t think that I need to remind people here of the hard work, early mornings,
uncertainty and danger of life on the ocean fishing. But, like St Paul ’s discipline of an
athlete, I think there is much we can learn from fishermen, and much Jesus
taught us by first choosing fishermen as apostles:
a. A fisherman is hardworking – Being a fisherman is not an
easy way to make a living. It is not an armchair kind-of-job. Not all days are
lovely, sunny days on the ocean. Likewise, if we shall only do the work of
Christ when we feel up for it, we not do much. If we feel that we cannot pray,
we will never pray. Sometimes life, the Christian life in particular,
necessitates that we dig deeply and work hard.
b. A Fisherman is trustful – Especially in the days before
fishfinders and draggers, fishing is a combination of experience and faith.
Experience in knowing the ocean, the weather, the shoals and how to properly
use the gear but to mention a few. It is also an act of faith in that
sometimes, unpredictably it seems times, the catch is vast or empty.
c. A fisherman is patient / perseverant – I can actually
close my eyes and hear the fishing boats in the harbour, early in the morning,
heading out to the fishing grounds. As long as hands will work, fishermen will
fish. In the morning they catch and in the afternoon they process the catch and
repair their gear.
d. The fisherman
understands risk – A little sea water in the face will not hurt him. Likewise,
in response to God’s call, we are entering on a path of risk wherein we must
learn the language of trust. We will hear the roar of distractions like the
roar of a storm at sea but we must learn to trust the silent, still power of
God’s voice calling us forward.
I am sure Saint James, in responding to Jesus, did not
expect he would be part of a project that re-made the world. He probably did
not expect that he would be killed by Herod not long after Jesus was crucified
and resurrected.
None of us, regardless of age, knows when and how our lives
will end. I know a seemingly, healthy, non-smoking 47 year old wife and mother who
on May the 5th went to the doctor with a headache and on June 2nd
she died of tumors on the brain and in her lung.
Does the reality of life and death cause us not to live?
Does the reality of life and death cause us to be afraid
from taking any risk whatsoever? Not taking and risk is, of course, an
impossible way to live. We take risks when we walk to the grocery store. We
consciously and unconsciously make decisions that involve risk every day. So,
what…that’s life.
But like the fishermen called by Jesus, we can re-shape our
lives, re-organize our lives, repent from the past with the total assurance of
forgiveness and hope and peace offered to us by God through Jesus. We can
listen to that silent invitation which calms storms and brings us fully alive.
I do not know what God has in store for you, or for me, in
this life. But I do know that like James, and so many others who said ‘yes’ to
Jesus, so many others who said ‘yes’ to the Holy Spirit, that there is a
purpose for your life.
I want you to hear this; “There is a purpose for life.”
Jesus said, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out.”
Feed on Him, in our hearts, with thanksgiving. Amen.
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