Reflections on "Immediately" Matthew 4: 12-23

 Another week on call.  Fascinating to see the differences between the story of the calling of the first disciples as found in the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Matthew.  the topic of call has seemed to catch the attention of several members of the congregation.  

This week, the sermon seemed to go better than last week, but it still feels like the sermons are getting in the way of the text.   The third point about "Follow me" not being in the imperative was interesting to me.  I trust the reference I had for it to be correct, but I could not find much more support for it in other resources.  A reminder that if I had kept up my Greek better, I could have figured it out for myself!

“Immediately” Matthew 4: 12-23; SAPC, Denton; January 22, 2023; Calling All Disciples series Richard B. Culp 

Matthew 4: 12-12

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
¹⁵ ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
   on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness
   have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
   light has dawned.’
¹⁷From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’

18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Introduction: We continue our preaching “Calling All Disciples” 

Each week we are invited to reflect on how we see God calling us.

move 1: this week, we begin our reflections by noting that we all have different call stories and callings

a.  Last week, we read the calling of the first disciples from the Gospel of John. 

1.  you remember - Andrew and an unnamed disciple are looking for the Messiah and John the Baptist points them to Jesus.

2.  If you missed it or don’t remember, go home and read the second half of the first chapter ff the Gospel of John while you’re waiting for the Cowboy game to begin.

3.  This morning, we just heard the Gospel of Matthew’s version of the calling of the first disciples.

4. Very different stories.

5. A reminder that we all have different call stories.

6.  A reminder that how we understand our calling may change over time.

7.  God calls all of us, but we each have unique callings, and our calling may change.

b.  Now a brief follow-up to last week’s reflection that your calling is not limited to what you do at church.

1.  I was reading this week about research done a few years ago on Christian vocation.  (David Lose Here’s why: In the research leading up to a grant on Christian vocation funded by the Lilly Endowment, a team of folks with whom I was fortunate to work discovered two perplexing things)

2.  Graduates of the five seminaries, one of which was Presbyterian (Catholic Theological Union, Duke Divinity School, Fuller Seminary, Princeton Seminary, and Luther Seminary) all reported that “vocation” was a significant category in their teaching and preaching. Not all that perplexing, you might say; and I’d agree — this was all to the good! 

3. At the same time, however, it turned out that most members of the congregations they serve don’t feel called. Most of the folks listening to our preaching and teaching on vocation, that is, don’t see most of what they do outside of the church as worthy of God’s attention and interest. https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/fishers-of-people)

4. In other words, they did not connect God’s calling with what they were doing, unless it took place at church.

4.  Perhaps a survey in this congregation would reveal similar findings, but I invite you as you reflect on God’s call for your life to recognize that God’s call makes a claim on you and your whole life, not just on the hours you spend in church.

5. That sense of call carries with it both a challenge and a hope:

the challenge - that God expects us to live out our call in the place where we go each day.

the hope - that God will use us for God’s purposes in the places where we go each day.

Move 2:  This call story in Matthew also gives a sense of urgency to our understanding of what it means to answer God’s call.

a.  Matthew sets the table for this urgency by first noting that John the Baptist has been imprisoned.

1. then, the prophet Isaiah is mentioned, which draws a parallel between Isaiah’s context and Jesus’ context.

2.  We remember that during Isaiah’s time, Assyria was the world power that Isaiah prophesied would destroy the northern kingdom of Israel.

3. It was a time of darkness for God’s people, and Isaiah was prophesying that God would send light into their darkness to save God’s people.

4.  In Jesus’ time, Rome was the world power that brought darkness to God’s people with its brutal way of conquest and control.

5.  in fact, the Gospel of Matthew probably was written shortly after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, so the early Christians reading this call story in Matthew recognize that they are like the Israelites in the time of Isaiah, desperately needing light in the darkness. (https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/third-sunday-after-epiphany/commentary-on-matthew-412-23-3

6. who is going to be light?

7.  Not John the Baptist.  He is imprisoned.

8.  The story sifts to Jesus.

7. God’s people need Jesus to act.

8.  To act now.

b.  So Jesus does.  

1. He announces that the kingdom of heaven has come near.

2.  And he needs help with his work - immediately.

2.  so Jesus goes looking for people to join with him.

3. Jesus spies first Peter and Andrew and then James and John.

4. and Jesus shouts out, “follow me!” 

5. notice - Jesus does not invite them to a meeting next month to hear about his plans for ministry.

6.  Jesus does not send them off on a retreat so they can reflect on their sense of call.

7. Jesus just calls, 

and first Peter and Andrew follow - immediately;

then James and john follow - immediately.

b. We are invited to bring that sense of urgency to our calling.

1.  this past week with Martin Luther King,  Jr. holiday, I reflected on his ministry.

2. often, I reflect on his Letter from Birmingham jail. in part because the Presbyterian minister at First Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL, was also serving as Moderator of the Synod of Alabama, and in that role signed to letter to King which prompted his reply we know as a letter from Birmingham jail.

3. As an aside, the Presbyterian minister was eventually forced to leave FPC, Birmingham because he was too open to integration (read more about Edward Ramage here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_V._Ramage)

4. But, King’s complaint with the Birmingham pastors rings true.

5. the ministers wanted to wait for a "more convenient season." 

6.  king describes this as the “myth of time” which served to  put off needed action on God’s behalf. (https://www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf)

7.  The disciples left immediately;

8. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us that God’s work cannot wait.

8.  there is a sense of urgency in living out our calling.

c.  This urgency, however, does not mean that what we are called to do has to be completed, or maybe even started immediately;

but it does mean our calling demands our attention immediately.

1.  When I decided I was hearing a call to go to seminary, I was ready to act immediately.

2. There was a minor problem, it was about time for seminary to start, and I had not even begun the application process.  In fact, I was about to start law school.

3. As part of my discernment, I went to visit a minister.

4.  He listened to my story, noted my urgency, and then gave me some advice.

“Try to get into seminary.  If you can start now, then start seminary.”

“But, I you cannot start seminary at this late date, go on to law school.  Then, you have the year to see if law school fits and figure out more clearly God’s call for you.”

5. I did get into seminary and started a week or two later.

6.  But, I have often remembered those wise words with the option to wait and refine my sense of call - not put it off, but work at it.

7.  Years later, I had a member come to visit me.  He no longer felt like his job was what God was calling him to do.

it began an ongoing conversation he had with God, his spouse, and sometimes his minister.

it led to his leaving his job and finding another job.

it never quite felt right, either.

so he kept looking and seeking.

finally, he found another job.  

A job that felt right.

A job where he felt like God was using him to make a difference.

it took several years of changing and exploring.  

it was not a quick process, but the urgency was there throughout.

8.  The disciples followed Jesus immediately.

Bring a sense of urgency to live into God’s calling for your life.

Move 3:  Final thought - we hear God’s call as a word of encouragement.

a.   There is something interesting in this story from Matthew when we look at the Greek text. 

1.  Further to the point, exegetes will point out that The Gospel of Matthew’s preferred way of talking about discipleship is with the word akoloutheo, “to follow.” 

2.  But in this story, the word Jesus uses that is translated as “follow me” is not the Greek word typically used.

3.  It is actually a phrase that is generally used as a word of encouragement, not as an imperative command. 

3.  It literally means to “come on behind me,”  as an encouraging word.

Jesus saying:  come with me

join with me

let me encourage you

let me guide you.

Not a demand, but an invitation filled with the promise to be with us as we follow him.

b.  there is nothing easy about living into our calling.

1.  Joining with Jesus to be light in the world of darkness is a challenge.

2.  So Jesus encourages us to join him.

3.  Jesus calls us to follow him.

Conclusion:  Are you ready and willing to go?  Immediately?

Reflections on "Where Are you Staying” John 1: 29-42

This is the first sermon of the series "Calling All Disciples," which invites the worshippers to consider God's call on their lives. The sermon did not reach the potential I imagined when I chose it to begin this preaching series.  I am not sure what happened, but the whole sermon felt a little flat.  It is a great story, so it should have preached easily.   Part of the problem was I tried to organize the sermon instead of letting the story flow.  My structure seemed to suffocate the story!  I also seemed to be a bit off all service, beginning with stumbling through the announcements at the beginning of the service.  

 “Where Are you Staying” John 1: 29-42; SAPC, Denton; January 15, 2023; Calling All Disciples series Richard B. Culp 

John 1: 29-42

²⁹The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³²And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. ³³I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” ³⁵The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

³⁷The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). ⁴²He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Introduction: We begin our preaching series, “Calling all disciples” this morning. Over the next six weeks, you are invited to consider your own send of call.  

Each week, the texts we read will lift up various aspects of call, but they will not cover every aspect of call. so fill free to imagine other aspects of your own sense of call at this particular time. I hope that as you hear the texts and reflect on the sermons, you will discover God’s call for your life.

We begin this week with Gospel of John’s version of how Jesus calls the first disciples.  I am particularly interested in the conversation that takes place between Jesus and the two disciples.

move 1:  Jesus notices two people following him and ask them the question:  “What are you looking for?”

a.  This tells us at the outset that these two disciples were out looking. 

1.  A simple beginning to finding our calling - we have to be looking.

2.  And the very important reminder that when we look for our calling, Jesus notices and is willing to engage us.

b. When Jesus finds these two and recognizes they are looking for something, he asks them, “What are you looking for?”

1.  A  good question for each of us.

1. what are you looking for?

2. When you arrived at church today,  what were you looking for?

3.  When you sit around and dream your dreams, what are you looking for?

c.  In the context of our faith, we are looking for our calling, our purpose, our role as followers of Christ.

1.  In his novel Jayber Crow, Wendell Berry tells the story of Jayber, the town barber in Port Williams, KY.  jabber was born there, but at age ten both his parents died, so we was sent off to the The Good Shepherd orphanage. 

He describes it this way. “For as long as I could remember, I had been hearing preachers tell in sermons how  they had received “the call.” … Not one of those [preachers] had ever suggested that a person could be “called” to anything but “full-time Christian service,” by which they meant either the ministry or “the mission field.” The finest thing they could imagine was that an orphan boy, having been rescued by the charity of the church, should repay his debt by accepting “the call.”  (Wendell Berry. Jayber Crow, pp. 42–43)

1.  As we hear his description, we might recognize that we most often use the word call when describing our activities related to the church - we are called to be ministers, or deacons, or ruling elders.

2.  But I hope as you reflect on your sense of call, you will have a much more expansive sense of call.

3.  No doubt, you have heard Frederick Buechner’s description of one’s calling as, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”  Frederick Buechner. Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (1973), p. 95)

4.  Our call inhabits the places where each of live and and move.

5.  God sends us to those particular places to live our our discipleship.

d. When Jesus asks, “What are you looking for?” it is both a question about what the disciples want to do with their lives and an invitation consider following him.  

Move 2:  The disciples respond with their own question: “Where are you staying”

a.  Sort of a strange response, don’t you think.

1.  Maybe they meant the question literally.

1.  maybe they wanted to see the place where Jesus was living.

3.  Author Lillian Daniel notes that we quickly see Jesus go from being the Lamb of God to a guy having some others guys over to his place!(“Grand introductions: Isaiah 49:1-7; John 1:29-42” by Lillian Daniel, January 2, 2002; https://www.christiancentury.org/article/2002-01/grand-introductions)

  b.  I suspect that the disciples had more in mind then the actual place where Jesus stayed.

1.  they want to learn more about him.

2.  when I hear people talk about meeting people on dating apps, I find a similar pattern.

3. you see someone who seems interesting.  You text wiht them multiple time to learn a little about each other.

then, you meet in a  public place  for coffee or tea.  Maybe even do that a few times.

then, if everything seems ok and both parties are still interested, an invitation to come over to someone’s house.

Going to their place is a big step in revealing who you are and getting to know the other person.

b.  A key part of understanding our calling is knowing the one who calls us.

1.  the disciples go over to Jesus’ place.

2.  We cannot do that literally, but we can learn more about Jesus.

3. Discover what Jesus valued and how he handled himself with others.

3.  Work on our own relationship with him.

4. Listen and watch for the movement of the Holy Spirit.

c.  As we look and listen for our calling, we would be well-advised to go over to Jesus’ place.

1. Get connected with him.

2. interpret our sense of call through the ways in which jesus lived his life.

3. Our calling ought to be closely tied to what we see in Jesus.

Move 3: Jesus responds to the disciples question with a simple response:  “Come and see.”

a. Did you notice that the story begins with two unnamed disciples.

1. Those two disciples can be anyone.

2.  Those two disciples could be you.

3.  But you have to own your sense of call.

4. it is not enough to to just consider our callings or think about what our calling might be.

5. We have to lay claim to our call.

6. We have to go and see what it is about and then make the choice to follow Christ.

6.  when we read Paul’s letters, he often begins like he did in the letter to the Corinthians - “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,”

7.  Paul laying claim to his calling.

b.  As the story progresses, we learn that one of the unnamed disciples is Andrew.

1. Andrew - who will become one of the twelve disciples who work closely with Jesus.

3. Andrew, who goes and finds his brother

4.  Andrew, for whom this church is named.

4.  the unnamed disciple who finds his calling in Christ now has a name.

the point is made - when you discover your calling,  you find out who you really are.

the invitation is there for all of us - come and see, come and lay claim to your calling.

Conclusion:  One disciple remained unnamed.

We do not know what became of him.

maybe he walked away.

Or maybe he heard his call and raced back to wherever he was from to live it out.

We can only imagine.

imagine what God is calling you to be and do.