Come and See, Go and Do

One day after completing our work at the dig at Tiberias, our crew of archaeological helpers washed up and then took a little trip up the coast of the Sea of Galilee to the Kibbutz Ginnosar.

The residents have built a little museum there to hold what has become popularly known as “the Jesus boat.”

Two of our workers are residents of Ginnosar, and as we were walking up the sidewalk to visit their house, we met a man who, it turns out, is the one who found the “Jesus boat” 25 years ago.

He and his brother were walking along the shore one day in a year when drought and great water usage had dramatically lowered the level of the Sea of Galilee.

And there it was, the remains of an ancient boat, sticking out of the mud.

Since folks there are attuned to things archaeological, he quickly summoned the experts.

I remember seeing the boat years back, after it had been carefully removed from the mud and transferred to a chemical solution which gradually replaced the rotted wood fibers with an epoxy something or other.

After years of this soaking process, the result is a small fishing boat that has been carbon-dated to exactly the time of Jesus.

It is not a pleasure craft, but a working boat.

It had had a hard life; it was repaired and patched over the years with 6 or more different kinds of wood, evidently whatever was available.

It is not clear why it was left to sink into the mud; a sudden storm? one too many holes? an owner's argument

Was it abandoned by those who followed Jesus?

We simply don't know.

But it is really nice to have this tangible connection with the daily life of those who were living when Jesus walked and taught in this area, even if the boat is shabby and dilapidated.

There was a need for fishermen, and their product was always in demand, just as it is still today.

One can walk down the street in Tiberias each day and see fresh-caught fish for sale, lying on ice in a case open to the sidewalk.

Peter, Andrew, James and John have a steady job.

It is hard work, but steady.

Why would they, among others, just walk away from that job?

Why did their boat, like the one at Ginnosar, get left behind figuratively or actually to sink into the mud?

The same question is posed today. Why does someone like Greg Davidson or Matt Schuster leave good jobs in business,

and Lisa Schuster walk away from teaching in a high school,

and trot off to seminary and all of the anguish there is in the process of becoming a pastor?

And let's also be clear that we are not talking only about those who become pastors, but indeed about every Christian.

There are various members of this congregation who have told me over the years about their decisions in school or business that because they are followers of Christ, they will not do something that lots of friends or co-workers in fact do, and instead choose to act in a different way.

Why do millions of Christians in all walks of life regularly give up lifestyles and practices that look attractive and lucrative in order too maintain honesty, integrity, faith, hope, and love?

The answer can only be found in Jesus himself, and in his effect upon all those whom he touches.

All who hear of Jesus' resurrection are challenged to trust that because of it, the promises that Jesus makes are ones that will surely endure.

This is what we hear from Jesus:

Given and shed, for you, ..[1 Cor 11:24]

Go into all the world, making disciples, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that I have said to you, and lo, I will be with you to the close of the age..., [Mt. 28:16-20]

Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men...,[Mt. 4:19]

and this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, so that all those who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life. [Jn 6:39]

When we hear these things with joy, we are acknowledging that we have been caught in that great net of promises by the Master fisherman.

Perhaps the way to think of this is as a sort of catch-and-release program;

those who are caught by Jesus are released back into the sea

in order to let others know that this catching is not just for death but for the sake of a new life, a newly re-made life, resurrected life.

If Satan would catch us, it would be only for death; but when Jesus catches us, it is for life, always.

C.S. Lewis expressed it well in his famous Screwtape Letters, where the senior devil could hardly contain his glee when the junior devils made mistakes, because then the senior devil could suck even the negative devilish life out of the unforgiven miscreants.

But, at the end of Lewis' story, when Jesus caught the main character at the point of death, he suddenly saw all of Satan's tricks for what they were – dead ends -- and Jesus' promise for what it is – true life.

Years ago there was a commercial about the drudgery of everyday life, doing the same things over and over again.

The character in the commercial trudged into the room mumbling “Time to make the doughnuts....”

And if that is as far as our horizon extends, then we understand the dull voice and the despairing tone:

Time to make the doughnuts,

time to get the kids up,

time to argue again about the bills,

time to fix the broken-down car,

time to quit, and die....

But Peter, Andrew, James and John begin to see things a different way.

First, they follow after Jesus.

Second, as they follow, they begin to understand a bit about who this Jesus is.

Next, they are sent out to give a message from Jesus to all who will listen, and they even were granted some success .

But there are crisis times along the way, most especially the crucifixion, which drives them to despair.

Back they went to the seashore and got their boats out of the mud and started the same old thing again.

But the resurrected Jesus does not leave them stuck there, but reveals himself to them so that they can pass the news of resurrection on to us.

Scripture does not tell us more of the details about these disciples, but I suspect that wherever they went, they continued to use those fishing skills.

They would still need to earn some money in order to keep going.

Even if they returned to the sea of Galilee and worked on their old boats once more,

it would be with a different attitude.

Instead of the drudgery of “Time to make the doughnuts...”,

it would be with the attitude that all of our everyday mundane tasks

can be opportunities for the promises of Jesus in the kingdom of God to shine through.

--Baking bread, or indeed even eating bread can be a reminder of the Bread of Life promised by Jesus.

--Struggling into the shower in the morning can now be a reminder of the drowning waters of Baptism and the promise of Jesus to wash away all that we need to shed.

--The morning light after the darkness of night is the reminder that the darkness of separation from each other and from God will not get the last word; the Light of Christ wins.

--The repetitive tasks of employment or homemaking remind us that Jesus undertook every aspect of human life, honed the skills needed in his family, and observed all that was going on in human society and the world around him, so that he could speak from experience and act on the basis of knowledge, as a pattern for us.

-- Jesus wept, even as we weep. [Jn.11:35] But he does more. He transforms the situation, so that our lives are not everlasting sorrow.

--Fishing is what they do; the catching part is what Jesus opens up to them.

(It helps keep things in perspective of who is in charge here.)

There is much for us to do when we discern that we have been caught by Jesus, gently cared for, and released into a new life.

Whom do you know that is still in the “Time to make the doughnuts” doldrums?

Who needs to hear something different?

It would be a true kindness to let them know about what is happening with us.

We all are called to service,

to witness in God's name.

Our ministries are different;

our purpose is the same:

to touch the lives of others

with God's surprising grace,

so ev'ry folk and nation

may feel God's warm embrace.

[WOV #755.2]

Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, John, and millions of others across the centuries.

“Immediately,” Mark writes, we follow.

Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.