A man goes out ice fishing one morning. He is just about ready to cut a hole in the ice when a loud voice booms out: “There are no fish here.”
The fisherman is shocked, so he moves to another place and prepares to drill into the ice when he hears: “There are no fish here either.” He moves to a third spot and again hears; “I’m telling you, there are no fish here. The man looks up and asks, “God, is that you? The voice replies: “No, I’m the ice rink manager.”
Right away, in today’s gospel, we learn that John has been arrested and that will be the catalyst to start the ministry of Jesus. Did you realize that Matthew, Mark and Luke all have the same start to Jesus’ ministry: John’s imprisonment?
Think about the impact of Martin Luther King’s letter from a Birmingham jail, or how Nelson Mandela ignited powerful change in his whole country from his prison cell. And today we see thousands of people being imprisoned by ICE and look at the magnitude of protests across our country occurring as a result.
Maybe seeing his cousin in jail is the last straw for Jesus. He says, “I’ve had it with this Roman occupation. I’ve got to do something!”
So, he leaves Nazareth and goes to the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. Listeners in the time of Jesus would have understood that these places had long been under the oppressive rule of others: the Assyrians in 732 BC and the Romans in their time.Capernaum, in Naphtali, was a growing city because there was a Roman highway passing right along its northern edge.
Jesus is going right into the heart of an oppressed area to start his ministry as a light that shines in the darkness of Rome’s imperial domination. This brave act brings to mind the hundreds of clergy gathering in Minnesota to protest the darkness there (and they’re singing ‘this little light of mine).
Jesus starts talking about the kingdom of heaven coming near. He recruits young men to become ‘fishers of men’. This phrase has been misunderstood as an evangelical call for centuries.
Earlier in the bible, the phrase ‘hooking of fish’ is a euphemism for judgment upon the rich (Amos 4:2) and powerful (Ezekiel 29:4). Listen to this edited, fiery reading from Ezekiel where the Lord takes down the powerful:
‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great monster lying among your streams.
I will put hooks in your jaws.
I will pull you out from among your streams. I will leave you in the desert.
You will fall on the open field and not be gathered or picked up. I will give you as food to the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.”
I can think of some powerful people I’d like to say this to! Using this fishing image, Jesus is inviting common folks to join him in his struggle to overturn the existing order of power and privilege.
Now these young men are called to choose between the occupying Roman kingdom and this new kingdom of heaven where the last shall be first, the meek shall inherit the earth. Probably not such a difficult choice for them.
Jesus is calling. We are involved in the discernment process for three future priests. It is up to us to help determine if their call to the priesthood is genuine. But it’s not only priests who are called. We are all children of God, and God is calling each of us.
When I was in discernment, I found that I was called to teaching, so I became a catechist and I loved teaching church school for many years. Today, I get to continue to teach through preaching.
How does God call you? I would point out, for example, that Connie is called to the important ministry of hospitality. She warmly greets new people and makes all of us feel welcome. Her calling is so vital to St. Mark’s.
Here’s a bigger question: What is the calling of our church here at St. Mark’s? I would say that we believe that EVERYONE is a child of God. We welcome those labeled by many denominations as outsiders. We’ve added prayers for LGBTQ folks and refugees to our prayers of the people. We hung a gay pride flag outside and another inside our fellowship hall. As we did so, we were concerned about the flag being vandalized or even our building being set on fire. We did it anyway.
We all love giving out candy on Halloween and I bet that many of you remember the lovely young man who came up to us that night, telling us, with great urgency, what it meant to him, his mother and his brother, to see a gay pride flag hanging outside a church. His was a powerful witness to our simple gesture.
Jesus calls all of us to bring light to the darkness, as he did. We are sure living in darkness now and our time together on Sundays is a refuge from the incessant horrible news. I’m so grateful to have this haven.
Jesus calls us to follow him to a new heavenly kingdom. Our church exists to bring light to the darkest of times by proclaiming the good news of the gospel and doing our best to follow the footsteps of Jesus.
God is calling our church to be the gathering of God’s beloved children. God is calling our congregation to be a place of welcome and acceptance of everyone. God is calling our congregation to be a sanctuary where God’s word is taught, the good news of the kingdom is proclaimed, and all find healing.
Amen.