Matthew 4:17-25                                                    Ordinary Time

 Many sermons have been preached on this passage through the generations, many of them no doubt beginning with a fishing story. But this story is not so much about fishing as it is about following. When I was a little girl, I followed my sister everywhere.
I wanted to do everything she did. After all, she was nearly twelve years older than I and she treated me like someone very special. She taught me to love the Beatles, she taught me to recite Shakespeare, and she taught me the value of family, but as my sister left for college when I was six, she also taught me that people come and go.

 So next I decided to follow my brothers. They were athletes. My oldest brother was the high school quarterback and I was his most enthusiastic receiver in the backyard. My other brother was a basketball player. By following him around, I learned to dribble, pass, and shoot, and think basketball 24/7. But both my brothers left for college too.

 So I decided to follow a Brother, who promised never to leave me – Jesus. At age fifteen, having been baptized an infant, nurtured as a child by a loving congregation,
I decided (not in worship but at a conference) that following Jesus was what I most wanted to do. Fortunately for me, this did not require leaving my father or my mother, who were both good examples of faith, people who encouraged me to grow in mine.

 This decision to follow did not arise out of no where but was part of a larger picture of God’s care for me. It was not just made at fifteen but reaffirmed for years. There were other people who influenced me – a piano teacher, mentors in college. It was not my own doing but the work of the Holy Spirit in me, but it was clearly a pivotal decision, one in which I became sure that no matter what else I did in life, following Christ was
at the heart of what mattered.

 Some of you have had similar experiences commitment to the Christian faith. Some of you have had different experiences. Some of you maybe are not sure if you are committed – perhaps you’ve never been sure or maybe you were sure at some point and now you have considerable doubt.

 As we read the story of the disciples choosing to follow, I hope you will ponder your own decision. Have you decided to follow? If not, why don’t you make that decision today.
 

 ^NRS  Matthew 4:17  From 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 sea– for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."  ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ As 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.
²²  Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.  ²³ 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. ²⁴ So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. ²⁵ And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

 The first proclamation of Jesus is “Repent.” To repent means to turn away from sin and toward God. Now we don’t know whether Peter and Andrew, James and John had spent much time with Jesus, or whether they were meeting him for the first time by the Sea of Galilee. But they heard and responded. In Matthew and Mark, the call of the disciples seems to happen suddenly and in Luke, they hear him teach and go fishing with them before they are called into ministry. But the point of this passage is that they left their boat and their nets which needed mending. They even left their father and followed Jesus.

 Now if we were to take this quite literally, then we would conclude that doing anything to make a living is against the purposes of serving God – that we should drop the nets of our jobs and follow Christ. Perhaps in some cases, that is true. Sometimes in order to follow Christ, one must cease a particular job. The issue is making Christ first in
life – being willing to drop everything in order to do the one thing you value most. Even family comes second to following Christ. It does not mean that Christ calls you to ignore your family’s needs, only to put them second. Christ is calling to serve your family in ways that please God, in ways that dignify their humanity, in ways that allow you to put Christ first.

 It is interesting in this particular image that you see the disciples making their decision while all the rest of the people go on with life as usual. This is often the way it is. Isn’t this the way it is on Sunday mornings in your street. You get up and come to worship while everyone else is carrying on with life, as if it’s no special day. But for the disciples, this was memorable day because they made a remarkable decision, one I hope you will make today. Or one I hope you will renew today, if you made it long ago.

Jesus says “Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” From that one line have come many analogies between fishing for fish and evangelism – sharing the good news with people. The only problem with those analogies is that fishing for fish is not good for the fish, while fishing for people is good for them. So I’ve always had this negative concept in my head of people getting caught who don’t want to be caught, of their gasping for breath like fish out of water. Richard is away this morning officiating at a family baptism, but when we discussed the passage this week, he had a different take. He said, “Getting caught by the net of the Lord means you die to self and learn a whole new way of living, like a fish learning to breathe air.” So getting caught is good, even though it seems life-threatening. That does connect well with the dying to self themes in the Gospels, and perhaps it explains why we have trouble doing evangelism. People are like fish and really don’t want to get caught up with us and “our religion” It is easier they think to swim freely in the big ocean. It might be easier but it is not better. Nothing is better than choosing to get completely caught up in the net of God’s great love.

 Jesus entered their life, where they were and started with what they knew – fishing. Jesus was simply saying to fishermen, “I am turning your primary occupation that centers on catching fish to an occupation that centers on catching the imaginations of people with the love of God.” Fishing is what they knew. Likewise, to a computer tech, Jesus might say, “Follow me and we’ll design an engaging website to draw people to God.” And to a medical doctor, Jesus would say, “Come with me and we’ll heal body and soul.” And to a teacher, Jesus would say, “Follow me and we’ll nurture the faith and character of these young minds and hearts.” And to a politician, he would say, “Follow me and I’ll show you how to be a servant leader.” And to a builder, he would say, “Come follow me and we’ll build shelter for the poor.” And to a business leader, he would say, “Come follow me and I’ll show you how your business can be profitable at no one’s expense.”

 You see, we are called to follow Jesus such that whatever we do – whether we are employed in a dental office or working for H&R Block, whether we are building roofs, teaching music, helping people die gracefully, managing a home life, caring for or teaching children or youth, engineering a product, working in a prison, working in sales, providing healthcare for humans or animals, or managing a business. Whatever you are doing, your vocation is to serve the Lord. You are serving the Lord by the way you carry out your work, by the way you care for people in your labor and in your leisure. Being a Christian is not just how you live in your private life. Jesus is not just Lord over your church and family life. Jesus is Lord over all of life.

 And Jesus’ ministry is one of healing and compassion and justice and mercy.
So yes, it matters what you do and how you do it. Following Jesus does not mean you need to become a professional minister. Following Jesus means you do what you do in the ways Jesus would do it, if he lived in our time. It means you make choices in your work that reflect the love and mercy of our Lord. It means you work so hard and so well and with such compassion and care for others that people are inclined to ask, “What makes her, what makes him such a great person, a loving person?” That’s being an evangelist. But that’s not all. You also need to be prepared to talk about the love of the Lord, as the right opportunity arises. Your vocation is to do just what Jesus did – to dignify, to love every human being with the love of God, and to invite them, as you have been invited, into a life of service to God.

 Are you follower? Is someone following you as you follow Christ? Who else can you invite? Will you meet them where they are – at work or at play – and invite them to come with you to church, engage them in a discussion of faith? Build a relationship which allows you to encourage them to follow the one who has called and loved you. Invite them to find healing and grace and peace. Invite them to get caught up in the net of God’s great love in Jesus Christ so that they are DYING to live a new life.