Catching or being caught

One evening several months back, Donna and I were dismayed by what was on most TV channels, and instead we found one of those old singing cowboy movies from the 1930s.

In addition to lots of the usual silliness in the story, the bad guys in the black hats were determined to destroy the livelihood of the good guys in the white hats by inciting the cattle herd to stampede into the path of a speeding locomotive.

Once a stampede is underway, it is very difficult to predict or control the outcome.

At the very last moment the hero brought the engine to a halt, but there were casualties among the cattle and even among the good guys in the conflict.

A disaster was narrowly averted by the brave actions of the hero and those who responded and followed his instructions.

Israel in the first century was a very dangerous place.

There were many who were inciting the people to rebellion against the Roman overlords; in effect, trying to start a stampede.

They certainly had grievances enough for it.

The Romans were just the latest in the series of foreign conquerors who had subjugated the land and people of Israel for most of the prior 600 years.

The choices were: to do things the Roman way, or be killed; the masters were brutal.

But the Hebrew desire for freedom from the Romans went deep, to what they believed about God.

They reasoned that f there is but one God, the creator,owner, and king over everything,

and if they were God's special people, chosen for God's special purposes,

then it couldn't be God's will for them to be subjugated to Rome or anyone else.

That interferes with the plan.

The Bible said that God would rescue his people and put everything right, establishing his kingship.

There should be no king but God alone.

God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, was that for which these people hoped, longed, prayed, and often, died,

It is a very powerful thing, this being caught up in a stampede.

It is very difficult to resist once it is underway.

Rather than to freedom, the rush to revolt brought Israel to destruction in AD70, and again in AD130, because they had misjudged the strength of the enemy.

When Jesus was preaching and teaching, those times of destruction were in the future.

They came about because so many joined the stampede.

But when Jesus was using the code-words “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of heaven”, he is not urging the people to a lemming-like military response to Rome.

The clue is in the translation of the verb.

“The Kingdom of God...

...is near (TEV)

...is arriving (N.T.Wright) ,

...is upon you (NEB)

.. is at hand ( KJV)

...is close at hand (Jerusalem B).”

I'll add another possibility: “...is come upon you.”

Unfortunately, I'm thinking that none of these translations quite get enough of the Greek word.

Whatever the translation, it probably should indicate a presently completed action.

This Kingdom of God of which Jesus speaks is not a purely future thing; in significant way, it is in present and in process wherever Jesus is present, speaking and promising.

Wherever that Word is doing its job, there is the kingdom of God.

And to those who hear what he has to say, the first admonition is “repent.”

When we hear that word, we most likely think it means to feel sorry for something.

That is not the most accurate or complete idea.

The word means “to turn around”, or “to change direction.”

There will be an element of sorrow in this, but the main thing is the turning around to a different way of proceeding, of pulling back from the edge of disaster, of getting away from the stampede.

It isn't what we feel about things, it is what we actually do that matters.

Our neighbor doesn't know our intentions, but can see what we actually do.

Can we do something different, without the violence that can lead to disaster?

The temptation is always there to go for the power, but that is of the darkness.

Jesus comes to bring God's light into our darkness, to live in peace, healing, and forgiveness.

As Jesus continues to teach as he walks around Galilee, we will begin to sense the alternatives.

His word and promise invites us to repent, to turn back from the precipice, and live.

If we insist on darkness, darkness we shall have.

If we busy ourselves with hatred, hatred and all it brings will come crashing down around us.

It is just as vital a question today as ever:

Are we working in ways that will extend God's kingdom by getting his word spoken in the world, or are we silent, going along with the stampeding crowd, impeding the work of the kingdom?

This uncomfortable question brings us to the second part of the reading today, where Jesus calls disciples.

Why is it that these busy laborers turn from their one kind of work and tag along after Jesus?

Why does it happen yet today?

The British author Nicholas Wright notes:

“The answer can only be in Jesus himself...in his presence and personality.

This can be known and felt today, as we meditate on the stories about him and pray to know him better, as did the first disciples, [and gather at his holy table.]

Sometimes his call comes slowly, starting like a faint murmur and growing until we can ignore it no longer.

Sometimes he calls people as suddenly as he called Peter, James, John and Andrew.

Whether a long time or short, Jesus has a way of getting through.”

Then comes the admonition: “Follow me! And I will make you fish for people.”

It is repeated at the end of Matthew's Gospel, where there is a subsequent admonition, “Go...make disciples...baptizing them... and teaching them.....”

So much of the time, we think we are hearing bad news in those admonitions.

We focus on the burden of all this stuff that we have to do.

Here is an odd way to regard being a fisherman; is the pescador actually catching the fish, or is he or she merely putting the fly and line, the seine, or the net in the right place so that the fish will be caught?

When we are referring to Jesus admonition about catching people, it is much like that.

We are charged with getting Jesus' word out there, getting it into position so that it can be heard, and Jesus' Word is itself the net that will catch people.

We have a significant responsibility, but not the whole thing.

Jesus says that we must see to the speaking, the inviting, the preparation of the bath and the meal, providing for the teaching and the conversation, but Jesus is himself the one who wins over the listener's heart and mind, who makes the promise and is host at the banquet.

This should be a great relief for us.

Rather than despairing that the task is so huge that we cannot complete it, the one who fishes on behalf of Jesus does so with the knowledge that he is the one in charge, not us.

We can with assurance get at the tasks of inviting friends and neighbors, of teaching all ages and sizes, of welcoming the curious and aiding those in every kind of need,

while knowing that Jesus expects and appreciates our efforts, and will use them to make results where he chooses and where hearts are ready to receive him.

There is a sort of parallel in our Stephen Ministry, where we remind each other that we are care-givers but Jesus is the cure-giver, the one in charge.

Are we helping the in-breaking kingdom, or getting in the way?

“Let yourself be turned around” is Jesus' word to us,

and then discover that “Follow me” is a joyful admonition, not a burdensome one.

Church of God, elect and glorious, [HS98#864]

God has called you out of darkness

Into his most marvelous light.

Let his love flow out to others,

Let them feel a Father's care;

That they too may know his welcome

And his countless blessings share. 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.