Good morning!! My name is Alan and I will be taking up from where Tom left off on our journey through Matthew’s Gospel.
I hope you are having a great September! I don’t know what is going on in your Covid-impacted lives, I am just starting my 3rd week back in the office and all I can say is, despite the new way of working, it is nice to be back.
REFLECTION:
Tom has taken us through the preamble – Jesus’ lineage, birth, Magi, Egypt, Nazareth, John the Baptist, Jesus’ baptism, wilderness and temptation – to the beginning of his ministry. From here on in we are concerned about the final 3 years of his life here on earth, beginning with the call of his first disciples.
Today’s reading is Matthew chapter 4 v18-25. I am going to focus on v 18-20
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Come! Follow me and I will send you out to fish for people.
What the flipping heck does that mean!
Is this is a good thing?
Jesus, where are you going?
What do we do when we have caught people? Do we throw them back? Do we sell them for profit? Do we eat them?
Most of us have been around church for a while; most of us have heard sermons and teaching series where this line is used. We are used to it. We feel we understand it. We know it’s a good thing – fishing for people – and we need to get with the programme and do our bit.
For some – this fishing for people command is a good thing – it brings clarity to what we are supposed to be doing. For others of us it’s a curse – it’s a stick that has been used to beat us, it’s something that, when we hear it, makes us feel guilty: “ah yes, there was something I was supposed to be doing – but I am not very good at it”
Whatever your reaction I want us to hear these words afresh this morning. I want us to hear them as Jesus intended – as a grace filled invitation, as a great promise of loving investment, and Jesus’ unswerving commitment to his disciples… and by extension… to us!
So here’s a quick question to get us thinking… Have you ever been thrown in at the deep-end? One of those sink or swim moments…? Or have you been tasked with the seemingly impossible task, not knowing where to being?
A moment where you have felt completely out of your depth? Disorientated or overwhelmed by the scale of the task?
Leading a team for the first time.
A new job
A promotion.
A brand new baby
Flat packed furniture?
Taking a funeral!
Change the world!
Fish for people…
You know… that sort of thing
What is it for you? I bet that for all of us there is something. It may be something small and seemingly insignificant but to us it felt huge.
Let’s take a sport analogy. How about the couch to 5k challenge?
The thought of running 5k to many is a huge deal, a seemingly impossible task. It’s not something that we can pull on our trainers and just do. Try it on our own and there’s a good chance that it will hurt… that it won’t go as well as we hoped… that we will put the notion of running 5k down to having too much cheese and a momentary lapse of sanity. We are likely to give up… and leave it to the Liam Brennans of this world
No-one wants to see me in lycra anyway!
It’s tough… and then the excuses kick in.
But to get round this problem, the couch to 5k challenge breaks down the task into little steps… someone who knows what they are talking about has designed a programme, that if we follow, will enable us to go… well… from the couch to being able to run 5k over the course of just 9 weeks.
So, through this lens let’s consider Jesus’ words again.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
Perhaps a better translation is, “come, join me and I will cause you to become fishers of people” or “I will enable you to fish for people,” or, “I will produce in you the ability to fish for people”
Jesus sees the raw talent in these young fishermen, he sees their gifting and invites them to come and hang out.
He promises to take what they’ve got and grow it… to enable them to excel… to make them fit for purpose in the kingdom of God.
Jesus makes their growth his responsibility. All they have to do is follow.
From couch to 5k… we put our trust in the person that put the plan together. We trust that they know a thing or two about running and fitness… we follow their instructions and we are amazed at what we can achieve.
And from raw material to powerful, pure child of God, fruitful in his kingdom… come follow Jesus, hang out with him, trust that he knows a thing or two about life… about you and me… follow his instruction and be amazed at what you can achieve.
God’s grace in our lives is alive and active. To become the men and women God intends for us to become starts with an invitation… Come, follow me.
PRAYER:
Jesus we thank you that your burden is easy and your yoke is light. We accept your invitation to us to follow you. Help us to hear your instructions. Help us to trust what you say and do what you ask of us. We trust you to make us into whatever you decide, knowing that your plan for us is far, far better than anything we could hope or image. Amen.
BIBLE READING: Matthew 4:18-25
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.