Readings

FIRST LESSON

The first lesson is from Invitation to Holiness by James C. Fenhagen

Every Christian has a vocation. We are called to share in the ministry of Jesus in and through the world. Sharing in the ministry of Jesus involves living in the world as an expression of the holiness we see in him – a holiness expressed through his compassion, his concern for justice (righteousness), and through his healing and reconciling presence in the world. The relationship he offers to us – when entered into with seriousness – results in those qualities we see in him being expressed through us, sometimes even despite ourselves. We cannot, therefore, limit this expression to a particular profession or a particular role or a particular job.

SECOND LESSON

The second lesson is from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 1, verses 16 through 20

And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon, and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, Jesus saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately Jesus called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed Jesus

This Week's Sermon

Date: SUNDAY, January 25, 2009

Title: Let Go of the Net

Message Delivered By: Rev. Joe Mc Murray

They say that patience is a virtue. I would agree this is often the case.

Now it seems that a very patient man was being tailgated by a stressed out and very impatient woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the approaching light turned from green to yellow just in front of him. So the man did the right thing by stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. And he felt very good and satisfied about his choice.

Well, the tailgating woman was furious. She honked her horn, and screamed in frustration. She rolled down her window, and then stepped out of her car flailing her arms and screaming at the man at the top of her lungs because as she was forced to miss her chance to get through the intersection, she dropped her cell phone on the floor and God knows if she would ever find her lipstick.

Just then, the light turned, and the woman sat back in her car, and with a squeak of her brakes, she took off again, tailgating the man ahead of her. In the middle of the next block, she saw a police car flashing its lights, and pulled over to let the car pass.

She was flabbergasted when the car pulled up right behind hers. Suddenly, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took the woman to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, another police officer approached the cell and opened the door. The woman was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for the mistake, Ma’am. You see I was driving behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. That’s when I noticed the “What Would Jesus Do” sign in the window, the “Choose Life” license plate holder, the “God is My Co-Pilot” bumper sticker and the chrome-plated fish emblem on the back. Naturally I assumed you had stolen the car."

Will you please pray with me:

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Dear God, teach us to be patient as we move through our busy and all-important lives. Help us to stop and notice the beauty of your creation, to drink it in, to embrace it and appreciate all that we have. Above all, make us patient with one another so that we may leave room for all our creativity to blossom and to grow. And may my words and all of our thoughts be filled with honor and praise to you. Amen.

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“Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.”

At this early point of the Gospel, the disciples in our reading from today were for the most part, just individual, ordinary residents of their town. We don’t know for certain where they came from, from Galilee itself or neighboring towns or villages.

Simon and Andrew were brothers, and were fishermen. They most likely were carrying on the work of their father and his family business. In those days, few people, particularly those of no status or wealth, branched out on their own to establish themselves separately from their family of origin. The religious law required them to marry within the tradition, as well, so there was little departure in their choice of work from the time of their youth through their adult lives.

Simon and Andrew, as the story indicates, were apparently fishing from the shore, or from a boat that was near the dock. For when Jesus called to them, they responded immediately.

Up to now, I’ve said nothing about their life’s work except that they had probably been doing it for some time. Thus far, I have not referred to their work as a vocation or calling, though it well might have been.

I maintained that the work they performed was most likely connected to the family business—which leaves us a bit less certain that what they were doing was, in fact, their singular vocation or calling. Perhaps they were called to be fishermen. Or perhaps they had been called to participate in and thus protect the business of the family, no matter what it happened to be. All we can do is speculate.

However, when they met Jesus, things became a bit clearer.

And then we have James and John—also brothers—sons of Zebedee. They were clearly part of their father’s fishing business. Again—was their calling to be fishermen—or was it to ensure the success of their father’s business and the security of the family?

Of one thing we can be sure: at least the way this story is told, it didn’t take much convincing for them to follow Jesus.

What exactly was this calling that Jesus put before them? What compelled them to let go of their nets and follow him? What was it about the phrase, ”Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of people,” that made these men literally drop what they were doing, leave their father with his servants and become followers of this stranger, this Jesus?

Of course, we don’t have answers to this, either. That’s part of what’s so compelling about the Scriptures. They demand that we use our imaginations in order to make some sense of the pearls of wisdom they contain. They beg us to explore emotions and feelings, as well as the facts as we think we know them according to the story, and to imagine the power and the draw of a such a person as Jesus.

And there’s more that we can do. We can look at ourselves and our own stories. We can turn to our personal lives and examine the difference, if there is one, between our occupation and our vocation or calling. What is it that compels us to follow this life of Jesus?

I said last week that it would be nearly impossible to trace back, with any predictability, the path of our lives—the trajectory that took us from our childhood and delivered us to the present. In most cases, we ended up in different places, different situations, different occupations, different relationships and with different beliefs than we dreamed of or started out with as goals or ambitions.

But even given that, what are we called to do spiritually with our lives that might be or might not be directly connected to our life’s work? Do we see evidence of the connection of these two happenings, or do we see them as separate entities—existing apart from one another? And what are we called to do collectively as a community?

I mentioned last week that we are often called to many things simultaneously; that given the gift of free will, it was up to us to discern our deepest calling, our strongest and most compelling yearning—and to answer that call as best we can.

Were the disciples called individually or collectively? Again we don’t know, but we do know that they were imperfect in their calling. That did not diminish their good intention or the work they professed as their calling after the Resurrection.

James Fenhagen says that all Christians are called, and indeed, I would say that all people are called to minister to one another; to live our lives as an expression of the love of Christ through compassion, justice, healing and reconciliation. Fenhagen says that sometimes, even in spite of ourselves, we are called to a purpose beyond ourselves, even beyond what we think ourselves capable of.

The possibilities are endless if we remain open to where the Spirit of God calls us.

What are you doing right now in your life? How do you live out this calling, even in the midst of what you do, whether your work is directly or indirectly involved with compassion, justice, healing or reconciliation?

Do those elements exist in your work no matter what you do? Or are you willing to change? Are you willing to drop the net of security around your chosen profession and live into the calling that is so clear to us in Christian community?

Is it possible for us to drop our nets of comfort and walk in the path of Jesus into discomfort because we refuse to take things as they are and say that they cannot change?

Frederick Buechner once wrote: "God calls us to the place where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

I wonder, at times, if most of the world is even conscious of what it is that truly brings us gladness; or if we’re really in touch with the concept of what the world’s deep hunger might be.

These last several weeks, for many of us, have been filled with hope and anticipation. We know, somehow, that even with all the red tape and restrictions and the billions of people in the world, that things can be done differently—must be done differently.

Our relationships with each other must change. Nation and nation must come together and dialogue in a different way. We must not only be wary, and suspicious, afraid or threatened by our neighbors; but we must listen to them—and really hear them; hear what their own fears and suspicions are.

We have been pessimistic about the relationships we have with other believers, regardless of what they believe. We must cease to feel threatened by other people’s beliefs or things about them we don’t understand. We must try to understand; put on the cloak of compassion and build bridges across the gaps that divide us.

Barack Obama promised he would interface with people in a new way. He was roundly criticized for choosing a conservative religious leader, Rick Warren of the Saddleback Church, for giving the invocation at the inauguration. Yet if we are to begin dialogue, we have to let go of criticizing the symbolism of peace, no matter how difficult it may seem.

Let’s look at the situation a bit more succinctly—and bring it to home.

I have invited all of you to come to me with any issues or problems, or joys, or sorrows or challenges or celebrations – to share with me anything you wish to share. That is a standing invitation, and I hope that what I am about to say does not change that.

But I have been disappointed at the many times I’ve heard—sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly—about differences you have amongst yourselves; difficulties from the past that you are unwilling to forgive; hurts you’ve experienced that you are unwilling to forget. The conflicts, in some cases, have become legendary. Legendary! I lament all the literary fodder that Hemingway and Williams have missed by dying too soon!

I am astounded that week after week, even as I struggle in my own life to forgive, and even when I preach it from the pulpit—and believe me, I include myself in this, as well—but it seems such a surprise when I speak of forgiveness and reconciliation! It’s like this is suddenly a new concept to Christian practice!

But I am amazed at the levels at which we work to remember the hardships we have experienced with others; our unwillingness to let go of them; our hesitancy to trust again; the choices we make to continue to hold onto grudges because our feelings were hurt or someone’s business practice affected mine, or so-and-so is an enemy of my friend, and so they’re also my enemy.

It disturbs me what we say about one another and how we manifest our insecurities in our distrust in and distaste for our sisters and brothers. And my words, it seems, fall upon deaf ears, as if we choose to say, “Forgiveness is fine—for other people. But I have really been hurt. I will never get over it. Never!”

While I certainly don’t mean to minimize or ridicule these delicate situations that are often very hurtful and carry a whole host of deep and painful scars—we are all called to participate in this process of healing—whether we wish to be or not.

Ultimately, it is up to us to let go of that to which we cling so tightly. It is our choice how we want to accept and put on the calling God draws us to. We are, after all, free to ignore that call. We can pretend that some of our shallow victories over one another are really our joys, and ignore the deep hunger of our sisters and brothers to achieve wholeness.

But we must, with God’s help, choose to let go of the net that keep us tethered to callings that are not our own; callings that do not serve us, and actually prevent us from growing anew in God’s spirit. We must choose to walk in the path of Christian fellowship. We must be true to our collective call here at MCC Key West, where we are one very large, dysfunctional and very loving family. May it be so. Amen.