I will make you Fishers of Men

 

What force could be so strong  and so compelling that would make us drop everything and leave home? Sure, many of us have left our homes as part of a plan to pursue our dreams. Maybe we went away to college, leaving our family and  friends behind; maybe we moved to advance our careers or change our lives elsewhere, or maybe we were summoned or inspired to serve our country in the military. It's not uncommon in today’s world in which greater opportunity and career development are linked to mobility. It seems like only yesterday that this trend in upward mobility was introduced in the book, "The Greening of America."

We all make choices in our lives. But the idea that an unknown itinerant preacher and former carpenter, talking about the kingdom of God, could ask us to drop everything and follow him is inconceivable. That's essentially the scene that Mark1:14-20 describes. Unfortunately the details in Mark’s Gospel are few and there’s obviously a lot more we don't know than we do. But what we do know is that there was something compelling enough about Jesus and his message that prompted these four initially, Simon, Andrew, James and John, to follow him, to become his disciples, students of this teacher and servants of his mission.

What could be so powerful a message in what Jesus said that would compel us to change our lives so drastically? Could this happen in our time?  Mark writes “And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Mark's use of the word immediately suggests that something happened to them, in them. They experienced an epiphany that suddenly prompted them to follow Jesus. I wonder if profound changes in our faith can only happen suddenly? Are they planned or studied or God's working in us has nothing to do with our plans? It's almost as if we are on automatic pilot and all we have to do is to let go of the controls and say yes.

Mark’s sense of urgency, i.e., "immediately,"  leaves bo room for “wait a few minutes. Let me pack my bag and make a few arrangements.” No -- epiphanies just happen. No preparation. No packing list. No recommendations of what to take, what to do. 

Karoline Lewis writes, “Jesus just happens. We have no time to think. Epiphanies are untamable, unpredictable. There is nothing comfortable about epiphanies. They rock your world. “Epiphanies, especially of the divine nature, demand an immediate response. There’s no invitation for contemplation or reflection but instantaneous commitment and risk. Or, to put it another way, no real choice... If the heavens are ripped apart, well then, get ready for a wild ride. This can be simultaneously freeing and terrifying. Free to respond in the moment. Terrified of what beyond the moment will unfold. (Working Preacher, January 18, 2015). 

So, back to the question, could this happen in our time? Can we remember those  times when our behavior surprised us and made us ask, where did that come from? Maybe this is what Mark wants us to think about.

 

What are you looking for?

 

When I entered basic training, I was warned never to volunteer for anything or respond to a request for volunteers. It was common for a drill sergeant to “ask” unwitting recruits for “volunteers” for duties that appeared to be easier on the surface than they were. Invariably, these jobs never turned out to be easy. In time we learned to avoid eye contact with the "inviting" sergeant and stand way in the back of the formation to hide and avoid being “volunteered.” John's (John 1:35-42) account of how Peter, Andrew, James and John immediately responded to Jesus invitation reminded me of my time in basic training. I’m always amazed as to how quickly the disciples dropped everything and just followed Jesus. I wonder how I would respond to a request from a passing stranger who asks me to stop what I was doing, drop everything and follow him. At the very least I think I would have pretended not to hear him and let him bother someone else. If cornered and pressed I might ask for some time to think about it. After all, how could I possibly stop what I’m doing right now? It's too important. Maybe later.

Could we drop everything, leave our families and communities, and follow someone we didn’t even know? Both Matthew and Mark emphasize the word “immediately" to describe the new "recruits’" snap decision. Snap decisions are often fraught with risks and don't always turn out as we had hoped. Yet, sometimes they turn out better than if we had planned for them. Consider those times in my life when our snap decisions turned out really well. Don’t we sometimes wonder what prompted those decisions?

And so what does John's Gospel mean to us today? Does it mean leaving behind the promise of a steady income in a successful family business? Or, maybe it means letting go of things that hold us bound to our comfort zones, and perhaps symbolic of the fisherman’s nets in our Gospel.  Responding to the prompt and letting go can come in a variety of ways and will vary from one person to another. While Jesus does not ask everyone to leave everything behind, no one can be a disciple and follow His call to repent without leaving something behind, or without letting go of the nets that keep us "tied up." 

Jesus is calling us to a new way of life and asking us to turn the focus of our lives to being God-centered. At its basic level, discipleship means saying “yes” to Jesus and following him wherever he leads. There are times we try to run away and go back to where we were before but like the young recruit trying to be invisible, we can’t hide in the back of the formation out of sight. Jesus, like my drill instructor is relentless, and as often as we try to hide, he will find us.

Getting back to “snap decisions” and following that inspiration, John Powell writes "There have been quite a few times when I have felt the winds of God’s grace in the sails of my small boat. Sometimes these graces have moved me in pleasant and sunlit directions. At other times the requested acts of love were born in the darkness of struggle and suffering. There have been spring times and there have been long cold winters of struggle for survival. God has come to me at times with the purest kindness, at times with the most affirming encouragement, and at other times with bold frightening challenges. I think that all of us have to watch and pray, to be ready to say 'yes' when God’s language is concrete and his request is specific-'yes' in the sunlit spring times and 'yes’ in the darkness of winter nights." (John Powell, S.J., The Christian Vision, The Truth That Sets Us Free, p147)

 

Are you waiting or are you looking

 

The Mystery of Christmas embraces both the feasts of the Nativity and the Epiphany. In the Nativity we commemorate God’s humble entrance into human life, incarnated in Jesus. In the Epiphany we celebrate Jesus as God’s gift to the world and embodies the expression for our longing for intimacy with God. (Matthew 2:1-12)

Like the Magi, we need only the "light" of strong, unwavering faith to see Him, to find Him, to serve Him in the people around us and in the circumstances of our everyday living. Like the Magi, we need only to trust in and know God's love for us…only then we will recognize His presence and His power in sunrise and sunset, in storm and calm, in the faces of children and wisdom of the elderly, in moments of elation and heart-break. We will see His radiance and warmth behind every cloud of sorrow or failure that darkens our days.

The Magi went to extraordinary lengths to look for the Christ Child. They serve to remind us that there are those who wait for the coming of the Jesus with those who make the effort to find Him. Like the magi, our search goes on - but so does Epiphany…Are we actively looking or merely waiting… and what gifts do we bring?

 

Be it Done Unto Me According to Your Will

 

The Gospel celebrate those events in the life of Christ that serve as models for us to follow and live. Over time many of our original interpretations that we were taught to believe were eventually dismissed, leaving a void for which literal meanings no longer exist. Over time our faith flourished as knowing filled that void and intuitive knowing took root, and new insights emerged that were clearer, simpler, and more beautiful. I’ve come to realize that if I understand something and feel that I can explain it clearly, it’s not a mystery. Yet, I have this undeniable egotistical urge to do my best to try to explain things that defy explanation. 

Somehow, the mistrust of all that has been handed down to us, has led to a failure of the imagination, evidenced by language that’s childishly comfortable and unchallenging. Our prayers become a self- indulgent praise of ourselves as we purported to “confess” our weaknesses. These prayers are anything but the lifting of our hearts and minds to God. There’s no attempt to listen and stop talking.

Gerald May writes in The Dark Night of the Soul that “It is the same for all important things in life; there is a mystery within them that our definitions and understandings cannot grasp. Definitions and teaching are images and concepts created by our brains to symbolize what is real. Our thoughts about something are never the thing itself. Further, when we think logically about something, our thoughts come sequentially – one after another. Reality is not confined to such linearity; it keeps happening all at once in each instant. The best our thoughts can do is try to keep a little running commentary in rapid, breathless sequence.”

 And so now in this last week of Advent, on Christmas Eve, we focus on the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), a mystery of epic proportions that defies rational explanation. It stuns us to hear some attempt to reduce the virgin birth to a mere story of an unwed pregnant teenager. Have we come to a time when anything that did not stand up to reason or that we couldn’t explain, should be characterized as primitive and infantile? Why do we think that an almighty spiritual being is confined to man’s intellect and his feeble language to communicate? Do we not see how metaphor and poetry reveal meaning, not explanation, on a deep personal level?  

A few years ago we had an opportunity to travel through Eastern Europe, making our way from the Black Sea to Amsterdam. I was taken aback by the devastation in human lives caused by the failure of the “great social experiment,” that created societies whose wealth was shared but only among those at the top. So great buildings were erected for the personal aggrandizement of the elite while sacrificing the welfare of the people who were desperate for food and who desired a modicum of personal enrichment. On the other hand, I was impressed with the number of churches and cathedrals that were reopened after decades of being forced to close. These were flourishing, but more in support of tourism than worship. Yet, as their spires are raised to the heavens so are our spirits for whatever their intended origins, they pay homage to Almighty  God.

Looking at the beautiful classical paintings and art in these churches made me wonder what it was that inspired the artists to create poetic images and visual metaphors depicting the “mysteries” of Christianity. It occurred to me that their art was conveyed in a language all its own and derived its source from inspiration and not the intellect, and while the cynic might deride the image of the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary, the artist understood it completely.

Art and music are languages of the soul that bypass our literal sense of sight and understanding and speak to us at a level we cannot explain or know but do we really need explanation for something we feel down deep? 
When we allow God’s love to break through our consciousness as we contemplate the Mysteries of the Annunciation and Virgin birth, do we run from it? Do we ask it to explain what it cannot? Or are we “virgin” enough to surrender to our deepest self and allow it to fill our being? We cannot ask it to explain what it cannot.

Christ The King

 

Although Jesus' time on earth was short, he created quite a stir during his even briefer earthly ministry (Luke 23:33-43). As a revolutionary he upset Jewish law, tradition and the Roman hierarchy. He consorted with the disenfranchised, despised members of society and violated conventional tradition. He upset the “purity code” by proclaiming that it wasn’t what went into your mouth that mattered but what came out. He performed many miracles that included healing the sick and bringing the dead back to life. Yet he was "unable" to save himself and was executed with 2 petty criminals. And to compound the indignity, the soldiers knelt at his feet, not to worship, but to gamble for his clothes, while deriding his reign as “king of the Jews.” It amused them because they were Romans and they knew what a "real king" looked like, and this definitely was not it. A real king was arrogant not submissive and had power. So they mocked him.  

Yet, we wonder why one of the two thieves also being executed alongside Jesus, reprimands the other for scorning Jesus  and and takes pity on Him and  asks Jesus to "remember me when you come into His kingdom.”   What prompted this dying man to know that Jesus was the Messiah and  somehow,  knew that Jesus' death went beyond mortal understanding. 

We celebrate Christ the King, not because of Jesus' regal bearing, but because of his humanity; not because of his power, but because of his compassion, and because of his triumph over death. 

And what about the kingdom of God?  Richard Rohr writes that “if we go to the depths of anything, we will begin to knock upon something substantial, ‘real’ and with a timeless quality to it. We will move from the 'starter kit of belief to an actual inner knowing.' This is most especially true if we have ever loved deeply; accompanied someone through the mystery of dying, or stood in genuine life changing awe before mystery time or beauty. This ‘something real’ is what all the worlds’ religions were pointing to when they spoke of heaven or the kingdom of God. They were not wrong at all; their only mistake was that they pushed it off into the next world. If God’s Kingdom is later, it is because it is first of all now…In other words, heaven/ union/ love now emerge from within us much more than from a mere belief system and  as Jesus promises the Samaritan woman, 'the spring within her will well up into eternal life. (John 4:14)'"

 

"Come Share Your Master's Joy"

How many of us grew up thinking of God as one whose “performance standards” were rigid and unbending? Weren’t many of us taught to believe that this God requires us to work at and earn our salvation, and that it was up to us as to whether we enter the Kingdom? Yet, we are told that we are loved and there is nothing we can do to lose God’s love. And we don’t earn salvation; the Kingdom is ours just because we are children of God. 

Which is it? While it’s not my place to say that we have no “skin in the game,” and can’t do anything to earn it, I do believe we are “required” to live a God centered life as Jesus did…even if the Kingdom is our “entitlement.” And yet the word entitlement rubs me the wrong way. I’m not sure why. I wonder what this says about my faith?  It just seems to me that somehow, in someway we play a role in our own eternal destiny as we are invited to  "Come Share Your Master's Joy"

It gets confusing doesn’t it? On the one hand Jesus tells us to"Come Share Your Master's Joy"and the Kingdom of God is at hand, yet at the same time there are certain standards expected of us.  Last week’s parables of the “foolish virgins” (Matthew 25:1-13) had more to say about being prepared than reward and punishment. It called for us to lead a God-centered life embodied in the Two Great Commandments and the Spirit of the Beatitudes. As such we are required to take personal responsibility in living our Christian faith.  

Life, love and faith, like investments require taking risks in order to increase. And risks require relationships and true relationships require that we have the courage to be open, to be vulnerable, to let go of pretense and give our egos a rest. We must take risks and be willing to invest our lives in one another. Life in Jesus is all about relationships. 

When we put our talents to work in the service of God, we take risks (Matthew 25:14-30). When we are willing to be imperfect and reveal our humanity we are capable of being open to one another and we see ourselves in the other. Many who have participated in the Twelve Step program will tell you that its success depends on one’s ability to mirror one another: “The pain in me recognizes the pain in you; the love in me recognizes the love in you; the God in me loves the God in you.” This is risky business and taking risks is not easy; its consequences can cause anxiety. When we invest ourselves in one another, the outcome cannot be guaranteed. But, so what…we have a “safety net.” Matthew says those who were given much went to others for help in increasing it. That can do spirit grows everything it touches.

 

About That Day or Hour No One Knows

 

Keep Awake for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. These words have been repeated for over 2,000 years, yet somehow we still fear the end of our life on earth. Sure, we are comforted by the many parallels in nature that reveal death to be a precursor to new life, but the fear of death lingers in the shadows. We have - or likely have - lived longer than our parents and grandparents. We are better fed; we lose few babies, and modern medicine protects us from contagion and diseases that can shorten our lives... and yet, we are still afraid. Why?

Shortly after 9/11 the words “Fear Not” rang hollow and seemed a little out of place. Surely we had every reason to be afraid. After the three devastating attacks, the country held its breath wondering if there were there more to come. During the first few weeks following the attacks, the country was suspended in a state of watchful waiting. We were led to believe that it wasn’t a question of “if” but “when.” We carefully listened to those in authority speak of preparedness, but the summary statement always was, “we just don’t know.” It took a while but in time we began to live our lives with the knowledge that life must go on… but we were implored to remain vigilant and the words “If you see something, say something” became a national mantra.

It doesn’t take much to see the connection between our gospel Matthew 25:1-13 and the story of the so called "Foolish Virgins" with that fateful Tuesday, 9/11/01 that I remember began with skies so blue and air so clean. I'm sure the excited ladies in waiting anticipating the arrival of the groom and the week-long celebration were in a "party state o mind." What could possibly have gone wrong on such a beautiful day? How could they or we have been prepared for what happened? 

Had we ever sustained an enemy attack within our Continental borders during war time, much less peace? How do we begin to replace fear with living fully and, please God, joyfully?

We are taught that Christ's death and resurrection are the answer to our mortal fears. He relinquished his humanity as the divine Incarnation was finally complete so that we could share in his resurrection and in so doing, removed our reasons to fear death forever. Knowing that God loves us and that there is nothing we can do to ever lose His love is a matter of faith, not intellect. So, we live out our lives enriched by Christ’s example when we resist the impulse to live for ourselves instead of for others. It means being prepared to die again and again to ourselves, and to every one of our self-serving opinions and agendas. But about that day or hour no one knows. And death will have no dominion over us.