Wednesday, 29 January 2020

SERMON 143 - SUNDAY 26 JANUARY 2020


Sermon at St. Mary’s Church, Alderbury and  St. Mary’s Church, East Grimstead – 3rd Sunday in Epiphany - Sunday 26 January 2020

Isaiah 9:1-4;  1 Corinthians 1:10-18;  Matthew 4:12-23

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be always acceptable to you, O Lord.  Amen

I have always liked this morning’s gospel passage because it constantly reminds me that, in choosing those he wished to closely follow him, Jesus chose everyday folk – fishermen.  Having been brought up in the then largest fishing port in the world, Grimsby, I saw at first hand the ordinariness and gruffness of those men who risked their lives in the cold waters of Barents Sea and the northerly reaches of the Atlantic Ocean, above Iceland, where one simple error could cost them their lives and the lives of their companions.  They were a hard folk who lived hard and played hard too.  Their livelihood, and that of thousands of other people on the land in and around the town depended on these men going out again and again in the cruellest of weathers to harvest the seas. It was very fitting, then, that the church closest to the fish docks was dedicated to St. Andrew.  Alas, like the fishermen themselves, the church has gone and the town a shadow of its former self.

It is interesting that, after 30 years on the Earth, Jesus should choose this moment to start his ministry.  John the Baptist, the great evangelist and baptiser of Jesus himself, his cousin, has been arrested on the orders of Herod Antipas and Jesus had withdrawn to his home area on the side of Lake Galilee – but not his home town of Nazareth but to the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali – mentioned in Isaiah’s prophesy which we heard earlier and which is then repeated in the gospel account. This is so very important as it is placed there to remind us that our Faith is not just founded on scripture contained within the New Testament but also we need to be aware of everything that went on before as recorded in the Old and that Christ’s life is indeed a fulfilment of those scriptures – “I have come not to abolish the law but to fulfil it” he tells his followers in the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5:17).

Jesus clearly saw that following John’s arrest the land had been plunged into that darkness which Isaiah described and prophesised and that he had been brought into the world by his Father to be that Great Light to shine in that darkness.

So, Jesus begins his ministry, we read in verse 17 by proclaiming “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near”; echoing those same words of repentance as shouted out by John himself.

The Greek word for repentance, I dare say you will remember, is metanoia meaning a transformative change of heart – something deep and meaningful – a real turning round from a past life to a new one – wholehearted and transforming.  That is what Jesus was requiring of those whom he wished to be followers – a real, deep change of heart for the better putting God before everything else.

In the context of these biblical times Jesus is looking for people to turn away from their selfish, self-centred ways and look further towards what is selfless and sustaining.  To bring the Kingdom of Heaven down here to Earth.

Our account of Jesus’s encounter with the first two fishermen, Peter and Andrew, on the shores of Galilee is very understated in Matthew’s Gospel.  We are told that he simply saw them engaged in their profession – casting a net into the lake to catch the fish. There appears to be no massive proselytising or a big outdoor sermon being preached; just a quiet word – “Follow me and I will make you fish for people”. 

I have often wondered how the hardened fisherman of Grimsby would have reacted if Christ had appeared to them in Riby Square with the same invitation.  I can imagine a few choice words being exchanged.  Here on the shores of Galiliee his presence, his charisma must have been something so remarkable that these fisherman, and Peter does indeed epitomise the rough and ready fisher folk I encountered in my younger days, we are told, simply that they immediately left their nets and followed him. Likewise, a little further on two other brothers, James and John left their father and their boat and joined Andrew and Peter without further discussion.  Matthew ends the passage with these few extra lines “[They] went through Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people”.

Wow, if there ever was an example of metanoia this is surely it – forsaking everything of familiarity and comfort to follow an itinerant preacher and healer.  Jesus himself tells us, time and time again, that following him will never be easy but what we have here is the beginning of a community;  A community of Christians, of a family who will share the ups and downs of Jesus’s ministry.  It starts with the five – Jesus, Peter, Andrew, James and John - and as of 2015 numbered some 2.4 billion worldwide.  Now that is some family.

As with those original five, we are, each and every one of us, called upon to be “Kingdom People” – to proclaim the good news of the kingdom and to heal the sick.  This morning we have (had) at Alderbury a healing service. All our ministry must always begin and end in prayer but we have a great precedent in those first followers of Christ who took a great leap of faith in immediately leaving their boats and nets and following Jesus.  Let us never lose sight of the fact that we are indeed all one big community, a family.

Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians has this very much in mind as he writes his epistle. He is concerned about the fragmentation of his church into factions claiming to follow different leaders. He reminds his readers or listeners that there should be no divisions amongst the Christian family. We have seen this so much in the number of different denominations within the Church.

I am reminded of a joke told one evening by Jeff Lucas at Spring Harvest:
A church minister was walking across a bridge one day, and saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. He ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it."
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.
"Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Are you religious?"
He said: "Yes."
The minister said: "Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?"
"Christian."
"Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
"Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God."
"Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
"Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"
He said: "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."
With that the minister said: "Die, heretic," and pushed him off.

This simply goes to show that what concerned Paul then is still with us today – divisions based on church dogma rather than a universal understanding of the simplest of things which Christ wants us to remember – a knowledge that we are all the children of God and are chosen by him irrespective of which doctrine and rituals we follow. 

Paul insists in his letter that his role is simply one of herald - announcing Jesus, the crucified king to the world.  A great family is created from nothing but a huge family of which you and I today are members and whose role, like that of Paul, whether or not we had a great Damascus road experience or not, is to preserve unity and to shine God’s great light into the dark culture which we find all around us.

As Tom Wright asks, in his devotional for today “As we prepare to celebrate Paul’s own conversion, and to keep the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 1 Corinthians provides a salutary lesson. So what are we waiting for? Is the world not dark enough yet? Let’s get to work.
Let us pray:-
Lord God,
the source of our unity,
faith and love:
bless your churches here on Earth,
in all their denominations,
that sharing our gifts as Christ’s chosen disciples
we may proclaim the gospel
and reveal your glory,
in Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen                                                                                      MFB/23012020/143

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