Matthew 4:12-23
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
"Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
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."
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."
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. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 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. Immediately 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.
There is an old proverb that says, “ You can’t cross a chasm in two steps.” In other words, incremental change, at least in the case of crossing a chasm, is not effective. It seems Peter and Andrew, James and John must have been privy to the wisdom of this old proverb because when Jesus walked by and said, “Follow me,” they didn’t say, “Hummmm – what are the pros and cons of following you today? A week from Thursday? How does this fit our 5 year plan? What will the neighbors think? They didn’t wonder who would take care of their boat and their nets nor how they would make a living and eat. When you think about it, those fishermen – the first disciples - did just one thing, They took one step across the chasm from the status quo to the unknown.
ReplyDelete“And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” And that is repentance. It is stopping, immediately and unequivocally, whatever it is you are doing to turn around and follow Jesus. It is turning away from the status quo and immediately stepping across the chasm to the kingdom of God.
What boats or nets or strings keep you tied to a way of life that is less than that promised by Jesus? What keeps you hooked to the status quo? What keeps you in the dark? Haven’t you heard, “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom ….the kingdom of heaven has come near.” God is with us. God is among us in the person of Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine what life might look like if we acted as if believed Jesus’ words? We would not be afraid, because God in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit is with us no matter what is going on in our lives. And if we were not afraid we would be free to love, to live with open hands and open hearts. We would no longer be tied to the strings of the past: past triumphs or past failures, past loves or past losses. We would be free to choose to live in faith with Jesus in the kingdom of God right here and right now.
The light of Christ is shining on us. Let us open the eyes of our hearts to see and follow – immediately. Let us believe that Jesus is with us when we take the one step across the chasm to new life in Christ.