Eternal God, shine the light of your love into our lives so that the
light of our discipleship might shine in all of our lives. Amen.
Boys and girls, adults, everyone: I want you to have this image in your mind.
In our passage today from Matthew Jesus is on the move. There is no grass
growing under his feet. At age thirty, like many young adults today, he has a
new address with great regularity. His mail bears several layers of the post
office’s yellow forwarding labels. First, he withdraws from the area of the
Judean Jordan River valley where he was baptized and returns to Nazareth. The
word “withdraw” here is consistent with Jesus’ alternate view of his kingship,
which is non-violent and non-retaliatory. This move is the reverse of his
baptismal journey. Next, we are told he leaves Nazareth and makes his home in
Capernaum. This is a significant move. It is not a vacation at the lake, not a
business trip, nor a preaching mission from which he will soon return. He makes
a new home. One can’t help but wonder what his family thought and said about
this change. He leaves the place where he has grown up and settles in a new
town, at a new address. We are told he makes this move not because he is
unsettled, not because he is pursuing his own bliss, not because he is searching
for meaning in his life, not because he wants to advance his career or make more
money. Jesus moves to a new address to do God’s will. He moves to offer us
God’s love.
Jesus moves to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah which we heard in our first
passage today. This is a passage that speaks of light, hope and overcoming
gloom. It was most likely a hymn for the installation of a particular king,
which was then used in the inauguration service of a number of kings, which then
became a statement about the expected messiah, and for the early Christian
Church was viewed as a statement about Jesus. What we see in the history of this
passage, and we know from our own spiritual experiences, is that hope and
confidence in God has many addresses.
In Capernaum, a fishing village on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus
preaches a message of repentance. In the Greek the word “repentance” means to
change one’s mind, to have new thinking. In the Hebrew it means to turn, to go
in a different direction, to seek a new address. Jesus’ message at his new
address is for all people to seek a new address. He then calls fishermen, at
least four in this passage, to come and follow him. He tells them they will be
fishing for people. These fishermen are already at work, doing something useful
and important. They are not looking for a new life. Jesus’ call does not fill an
obvious vacuum or meet an obvious need in their lives, but calls them away from
work and family. This means for our lives that God comes seeking us even when we
think life is hunky-dory. We may be quite satisfied with ourselves and our
activities, but God calls us to a new place, a new address. The passage closes
by stating Jesus travels throughout Galilee, teaching, proclaiming the good news
of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. By
the time of Matthew’s writing, Galilee had a strong association with Gentiles
and was the area where the church of his day was growing. This passage would
have extra meaning for the people of that area.
In the tradition of the people, the old way, the way things had always been
done, students sought out rabbis with whom they might study. Remember the image
of the people from Jerusalem and Judea flocking to the Jordan to hear John the
Baptist and be baptized by him. Here Jesus moves to a new area and he seeks
people. He sees Simon and Andrew, he speaks to them, and he calls them to a new
address. Jesus takes the initiative at every turn. In Matthew’s gospel this is
Jesus’ first miracle. These fishermen have never seen Jesus before, have seen no
miracles, and heard none of Jesus’ teachings. They are not told why they should
follow him, nor what following will mean, or where the path will lead. Finally,
they leave the strong, crucial, social bond of family, and the tradition of
following in their fathers’ occupational footsteps, and instead follow Jesus.
Jesus appears disruptively in our midst as well. He calls us not to admire him,
or accept his principles, not even to accept him as our personal savior. He
calls us to follow him, to a destination we do not know. He calls us to live at
a new address.
Whatever our address, we are not lost to God. Boys and girls, that means
if you are at home, or at school, or at a friend’s house, or on a field trip, or
visiting your grandparents across the country, God cares about you. Psalm 139
reminds us, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol,
you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest
limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall
hold me fast.” (v. 8-10) Our Isaiah and Matthew passages are strong affirmations
of this fact.
The Jews considered Galilee to be a place of spiritual darkness because of the
presence of its sizable Gentile population. Yet both of these passages proclaim
that these people, “who sat in darkness, have seen a great light.” Whatever our
physical or spiritual address, we are not lost to God’s love which seeks us out.
What a great word of grace this is. Think of the thousands of refugees around
the world who reside at a temporary address, waiting, hoping, praying for a new
and better life. These passages say to them God knows where you are. You are not
lost to God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book, The Cost of Discipleship,(p.68)
put it this way, “I could not seek you (God), if you had not already found me.
Discipleship is not an offer man makes to God.” Our discipleship is a response
to God’s call, which always comes first.
Whatever our address, we are not lost to God. God finds us, then God calls us
to a new address. To the fishermen, Jesus says, “I will make you fish for
people.” Our new address is to participate in God’s saving work.
Paul in his letter to the Romans writes of being “in Christ.” This is his way of
saying we have a new address, the light of God has found us: “If anyone is in
Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything
has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through
Christ.” God calls us to a new address, in Christ we are reconciled to God. Then
Paul continues on, “and God has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” We
have a new address “in Christ” and we are called to offer that address to
others.
My first new address, that I can remember, was when I left home and went away
to college. I packed all my clothes in one suitcase, and took a manual
typewriter, and an old hand-me-down chair I had received from my grandmother. A
couple of years ago we helped the daughter of some friends move into USD. Mercy,
how times have changed on what people take to college. Mercy, how much more
stuff we have packed, each time we have moved.
When I first told my folks I felt called to ministry, my mother’s immediate
response was, “Do you think you will be able to handle all the moving?” Her mind
had gone back to her little Methodist Church in West Liberty, West Virginia,
where they had gotten a new preacher just about every year. She assumed that
would be our experience as well. We have been blessed to have been appointed to
six wonderful churches and very decent parsonages. There have always been many
people in each of these churches who “in Christ” welcome all others, even
preachers. “In Christ” is the address to which we all are invited.
Through the years, some people who have lost loved ones, are strengthened
when they come to the church, the place where both of them found hope and
strength in years past. For other surviving spouses, coming to church after the
death of their loved one is a mighty struggle because of the memories that flood
them. A number of these people, attempting to deal with these feelings, choose
to worship at a new address. Most often such a move does not ameliorate their
feelings. Whatever the situation of our lives, we need to remember our new
address, our true address, is “in Christ.”
At one church on the day we were moving into their parsonage the temperature
was 109. The air conditioner wasn’t working. We had moved by U-Haul so we were
doing our own unloading. I was passing the front door in the inside hall
carrying Mary Lou’s sewing machine. I was soaked in sweat and smelling as fresh
as a skunk. The door flew open and there stood a wonderful older couple named,
Edie and Speedy Barker. Edie said, “Are you the new preacher?” I answered,
“Yes.” She responded, “Well, then drop that sewing machine and give me a hug.”
Right then I knew our new address was “in Christ.” Such unmerited love is the
address of Christ.
The Spirit of Christ is looking for a new address at which to reside; in your
heart, your mind, your hands. Will you be the Spirit’s new address?
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