Sermon for January 22, 2022 – The 3rd Sunday after Epiphany

Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

After a brief recess in John to hear about the baptism of Jesus from his perspective, we are now back in Matthew’s gospel and we can get comfy, because we are going to be here for a while. This section of Matthew builds up to and points toward the Sermon on the Mount, which contains the theological heart of his Gospel. So, it is tempting to breeze through this section or skip it all together in order to dive into the Sermon on the Mount.

Indeed, I can see why we might want to do this. Our reading this morning feels like a frenetic mess of movement, prophecy, calling, and healings, all crammed into eleven verses. In the story precedes this morning’s gospel, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness gets seventeen verses alone. So, what is going on here in these densely packed eleven verses of scripture?

And then, of course, the question we should always be asking of any scripture, what does this mean for us?

So, let’s begin these scenes from the gospel with these first verses that chronicle Jesus movements. At first glance we might see these as purely geographical markers for the readers to know where the divine drama was unfolding. As we often find, nothing is just randomly included in these stories. With Jesus’ move from his childhood hometown of Nazareth to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee, this is the third significant migration for Jesus in Matthew’s gospel.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem and in doing so prophecy was fulfilled. The first move finds the family fleeing Bethlehem and Herod's murderous fury and arriving in Egypt. In doing so, Jesus' life emulates Moses' journeys, am important parallel for Mathew. The second move allows the family to return to Israel after Herod's demise. However, the reign of his progeny leads the family to resettle in Nazareth. In doing so, prophecy was fulfilled. This third move brings Jesus to Capernaum. In doing so, prophecy was fulfilled (4:14-16). We see two patterns emerging from Matthew. First we see from the very outset of his gospel that Matthew seeks to demonstrate how Jesus fulfills the Jewish Messianic prophesies from their scripture. And secondly, that the nature of Jesus’ ministry will keep him on the move. From his earliest days through his adult life and ministry, Matthew's Jesus is an itinerant preacher, a constant wanderer. Jesus does not opt for the comforts of the familiar but embraces God's call to find those who are in need of a word of God wherever they might live. As if that wasn’t enough, you may even detect notes of Moses’ story being woven into and a part of Jesus story.

Now we could pitch our tents and dwell here for a while and wonder more about this; like how our lives are a journey and how God may have been speaking to us through the major events of our lives. However, there just isn’t enough time because our story doesn’t let us dwell too long, as we move quickly into the words of the prophet Isaiah. These words and images from Isaiah should feel familiar because we just heard them at Christmas. And with images of the light dispelling the darkness and the triumph of God, who doesn’t love and feel hopeful by this lyrical poem from Isaiah?

This Isaiah text functions as an analogy for Rome’s empire. “Galilee owned by or under the Gentiles” now belongs to and is ruled by yet another Gentile empire. Roman control had been freshly asserted over Galilee in destroying Jerusalem and its temple in 70CE. Matthew’s Gospel, written in the 80s, cites Isaiah to describe Roman rule as “darkness” and “death.” It positions Jesus, at the beginning of his public ministry, as the light or saving presence that shines in the darkness of Rome’s imperial domination. Jesus asserts God’s light or saving rule in Roman Galilee.

Again, we could just sit and ponder this more deeply, like where Jesus has been the light in the darkness of our lives. However, there just isn’t enough time because Matthew continues to move us to the next scene, in which Jesus calls his next set of disciples. Before we know it, Jesus is walking along the shore and he calls two sets of brothers to be his followers. They are fishermen and Jesus disrupts these men’s lives. He calls them to a different loyalty and way of life. Jesus creates a new community, and gives them a new mission, a new vocation. His summons exhibits God’s empire at work, this light shining in the darkness of Roman-ruled Galilee.

When we look at this story next to the other Gospel writers and their accounts of calling the first disciples, we find that Matthew spends very little time describing this event. It is bare in details but also there is a sense of immediacy and urgency. No time of preparation is mentioned like in Luke and John. There is no time to contemplate the consequences of their actions. In Matthew it is a simple call and follow. And this is the first of six different places in Matthew when Jesus utters that phrase, “Follow me.”

For such a short account of the calling of the first disciples there is still plenty for us to chew on; like how we are all called in our own unique way to seek and serve God. However, there just isn’t enough time because the story doesn’t end there. As if an addendum, a post-script if you will to these three previous scenes, we have Jesus then going to the synagogues to teach, not an insignificant detail to be ignored, and he is healing. Even though the message he bears is one that will ultimately disrupt the status quo, Jesus nevertheless enters into the synagogues to teach and share his message; to testify to the coming Kingdom of God. He is willing to enter into the proverbial lion’s den to make his case for the fulfillment of the messianic prophesies. He is not hiding, at least not yet. And not only is he teaching, but he is also healing. Jesus is performing life changing healings in the midst of a diverse crowd of people, Jews and Gentiles, free Roman citizens and slaves, men and women, old and young. He is drawing to himself and making a reality the upside-down Kingdom of God.

So where do we go? Is there some overarching synthesis of these four scenes that can be distilled down into one coherent idea? There is not one singular take home here, but perhaps a few things we can hold on to as we walk this path of discipleship. To follow Jesus we will find ourselves on the move. We must expect that God will call us to many different places, and that our faith journey will mimic Jesus’ in that we must be on the move; living with one foot raised ready to respond to God’s call on our hearts.

We are called to be the light of the world. We can take heart that what we do here on a daily basis, from our worship to our missional service, from our fellowship to our study, all of what we do helps to bring light to this world. It is so easy to give into the darkness, but the world is desperate for what we have and we must continue to have the courage to share that love with others in this new year.

We are all called to serve. Each of us has been called by God to discover within ourselves what makes us unique and needed in this world. How we are called, is not nearly as important as how we respond once that call is perceived. The disciples immediately left their boats, families, vocations to follow Jesus, and it is a decision that I am sure the disciples had to make each and every day to continue to follow. So, in this upcoming year of our life together, we should all wonder how we might respond to God’s call. To follow Jesus means to shed the pieces of ourselves that do not build up the kingdom, that do not honor God or others, and rebuild ourselves in the likeness of Christ.

We have walked the ups and downs in our life together as a community of faith. And as we give thanks to God for all that we have been blessed with and we reflect on all that has been, we also look forward to what God has in store for us in this new season in our life together. However, there just isn’t enough time, so I pray that we might, like Jesus, have the courage to go out into the world and boldly proclaim the Good News of God, trusting in the unending light and love of God. Amen.