We get to hear as our old testament lesson today part of the story of Jonah. I love the story of Jonah. I love how ornery he is. How he refuses to do what God asks him to do and how God gets him to do it anyway. The story itself takes a little suspension of doubt but if you can get there then it is wonderful to picture. God asks Jonah to go and take a message to the people of Nineveh and Jonah doesn't want to. He says no. So...God appoints a fish to scoop Jonah up, to sweep him away and to spit him out on the shore of the land that he refused to go to in the first place. The best part of that little story is that God makes a fish, a fisher of men, a phrase from our New Testament lesson today. Really a fisher of one man. And leads Jonah to Niveveh where he gets to try his hand at fishing for people too.
And really for both Jonah and the big fish, it is easy fishing. Native Americans in the Northwest where I come from have stories of water so full of salmon during their runs up the rivers that you could practically just reach in and grab one. Easy as anything, not really even fishing so much as just kind of...being there. That is what it is like for Jonah.
He hates the people of Nineveh. He is mad at God for making him go there but he knows enough, after the fish incident, to just cast his net. Like God told him to. So he goes into the city and halfheartedly he says "repent folks or bad things will happen here" and like salmon jumping right up into the picnic basket the people of Nineveh say ok, you're sent from God, you must know best and they go above and beyond what is expected. They repent, they change their ways, they honor God and Jonah must have just looked around and thought this is like shooting fish in a barrel. It was so easy to get those folks on board, to get them swept up in the message of God. But the text doesn't say that the people of Nineveh believed Jonah and were caught up by Jonah, it says that they believed God. They were swept up by God, it just took Jonah to make it happen.
There are other stories in the bible like this too. A great one is where the disciples were fishing, at least they had been fishing all night, which was common practice, fishing worked better at night or in the very early hours of the morning. But they had been fishing all night and well into the morning and they had caught nothing. Fishing for the day was over, all the boats were in, everyone knew it wasn't the time of day to cast your net but Jesus hollered at the boat and told Simon Peter to cast his net off the other side of the boat. So halfheartedly because he was tired, done working for the day, hungry and didn't want to, Simon Peter cast his net back into the water. And quickly it was so full of fish that they couldn't pull it abroad the boat because it was too heavy. Again the fishing was easy, the fish were swept up by God and all it took was Simon Peter casting a net.
In our gospel lesson today Jesus tells Simon Peter and Andrew to go with him, to follow him and if they do, he will make them fishers of people.
I have never loved the image evoked by fishing for people. Maybe I am a little more squeamish than the average pastor but something about it bothers me. I think of hooks and poles, cleaning tables, coolers. It is unpleasant.
But that isn't how everyone fishes now or how they did back in Jesus' time and it wasn't how the people that Jesus was talking to fished. Really fishing practice since Jesus' time hasn't changed wildly. Like in the story about the disciples above, they used big nets to catch fish then just like many fisherpeople do now. There were huge nets that would be lowered by fishermen and after fish had had opportunity to swim into the range of the net the ends would be gathered up and the fish swept through the water with the boats and eventually swept up into the boats.
In this context then, fish are swept up like that huge school that Simon Peter caught on Jesus' instruction and fish are swept up like Jonah was swept up and taken to Nineveh and fish are even swept up like the people of Nineveh by hearing an inspiring word and following. Fishing for people then isn't so bad, it is more like getting them swept up in who you are and what you are doing than reeling them in, hook line and sinker. They get caught up by God it just takes us to make it happen.
There are so many sermons on this text that go from where we are right now to bait. We have established that our job is to be fishers of people because we carry with us the great message of salvation that Jonah carried and we have to offer the great abundance of love and blessings that Jesus offered Peter, so now...how do we trick people into following us so that we can foist these gifts upon them? How do we hook them? What bait do we use?!
The great news really of today's gospel lesson is that there is no bait. We aren't meant to lure people in, there is no tricking folks into God's fishing nets. Jonah never schemed to get the people of Nineveh on board, he just showed up and spoke the truth. There was only Jonah. And now there is only us. Only our lives. Only our willingness and excitement to be here. To listen to the word of God to walk with the people of the church. To bring people to the font to be baptized and to the table to be fed. There is only us.
I have a cousin...this is kind of a gross story, please brace yourselves. I have a cousin who lives on the San Gabriel river in Texas and he is a big fisherman. Sure, he has a fishing boat and spends some time on lakes but what he loves most is being in a little rowboat, or better yet just in waders in the muddy San Gabriel, fishing for catfish. I remember being a little girl and being faced with one of the mighty catfish that he had caught. Seeing the gaping mouth of one of these huge fish and wondering how a hook would ever work to catch one. How a tiny hook could wrangle such a big fish. So I asked...and the answer is both the gross part of this story and something that still seems a little bit magical to me today. He told me that that wasn't the kind of fishing he did to catch those fish. He said all he needed for catfishing was himself. No pole, no hook, no net and certainly no bait. Just himself.
Catfish, I learned, if you put yourself in their midst and make yourself available to them, will come along and grab right on to your arm, then you just pull them up into the boat. All you need is you! Now the metaphor has to stop there, for a few reasons, but it is a good one up to that point and very true to what Jesus was telling Simon, Andrew, James and John. They didn't bring anything with them. The text says he spoke to them and immediately they dropped their nets and left
their boat and they followed him. Or immediately they left their
father in the boat with the hired men and they followed him.
Immediately. Without delay. Swiftly, quickly, without hesitation, without packing, without lengthy goodbyes, immediately. They saw Jesus, they heard Jesus, they were introduced to what Jesus was doing and they were so
swept up that immediately they followed.
All Jesus needed to sweep them up was him. And he tells them that all they need to become fishers of people is themselves. Their hearts and minds, their gifts and talents, their hopes and fears and honesty and faith. That walking through town with just these things they will gather followers in their midst. And they did, and in so doing a church was born, people were fed and healed, children were loved, widows were helped and communities were strengthened. People were swept up by the disciples being people, just like them, who had a story to share, who had good news, who knew something wonderful. They were swept up by God but it took the everyday disciples to make it happen.
That is what it means and that is what it takes be fishers of people. To walk down the streets with our everyday lives good and bad; with ours fears, hopes, dreams, pains and joys and a story about who God is or what God has done so that others can experience the great gift of being swept up by God. Amen
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Baptism of our Lord B Mark 1:4-11
In our gospel lesson today Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."
I'm going to give you just a little refresher about the bible and the four gospels now before we talk more about this. We get the bulk of our information about the story of Jesus' life on earth, his death and resurrection from the four gospel books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All four of these writers tell the same basic story but we are blessed to have all of them and not just one because they were different people from different backgrounds and slightly different times and they experienced and understood things differently and that comes across in their writing. So we can look to different ones for different details, different emphasis and that kind of thing.
The gospel lesson for today comes from the writing of St. Mark and there are two really important things about how St. Mark experiences the baptism of Jesus. First this is like Christmas for Mark. Mark doesn't have any grand story about the birth of Jesus. There are no wise men, there is no stable, there is no Mary mild. That doesn't mean that those things didn't happen but what it might mean for Mark, is that the event equivalent to the birth of a Messiah, the coming of a newborn king, is Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan. For all of the gospel writers baptism is where Jesus begins his ministry but for Mark it is more, it is the event of new life, it is like Christmas.
In addition to being the only gospel writer who first introduces us to Jesus in this way, Mark is the only one who tells the story with God speaking directly and only to Jesus. It is as if everyone else fades into the background for the moment of Jesus' baptism and it is just him and God, looking down lovingly, only at Jesus saying you are my son the beloved with whom I am well pleased. This is the place in the bible where we get baptism from, this account of Jesus' baptism and I think it means something that St. Mark writes that Jesus had an encounter like this with God at his baptism.
Not everyone, not just anyone, but at the baptism of Jesus, Jesus encountered God. You might even be able to take this to a level where for Mark the birth of Christ that mattered was the new birth through water, the Holy Spirit and the very breath of God.
A friend of mine just had a baby and through the magic of the internet I was able to see pictures of her and this child almost immediately and, of course, because there were grandparents there, there were a lot of pictures! But the most striking ones, the most striking ones always it seems, are the ones right after the baby was born and it, the new baby is handed to it's new parents and it is as if everyone else, even the face behind the camera fades into the background and for a few moments it is just mother and father and baby and you can almost hear a voice, whispering, you are my child.
A similar thing just happened with some friends of mine who recently adopted some children. There are lots of pictures, pictures of the kids beforehand, pictures of the kids meeting their new parents for the first time before the adoption, pictures of them all playing and getting to know one another over some time but, if you ask me, the only picture that is needed of the whole process is the first one after they officially became a family and are all in their new home together looking dazed and in love and like a family. It is hard to even see anything else in the picture because the new life, the new family in the middle is so prominent, so decided and strong but tender and reassuring. Everything else just fades away and again you can almost hear a voice whispering, softly, you are are our children.
It was like that, that day in the Jordan. So many people around but they faded away and Jesus looked up and he heard, you are my son. It was like that too when each of us was baptized. For just a second everything else faded into the background and we heard, whether we remember it or not, softly, you are my daughter, or you are my son.
There is of course more the the story, there always is. In the case of this gospel writing, Jesus went into the desert and was tried and tempted after this. He wandered alone in the wilderness without food, without companionship and almost without hope. It was one of his most difficult times and it came right after this, one of his most affirming. Being a beloved child of God did not keep him from hard times, from trials and temptations, from pain, loneliness, hunger and suffering of all kinds but it did sustain him throughout. The text says that angels waited upon him and helped him to get through the trials but I wonder if more of what happened was that he waited on the Lord as he spoke those simple, familiar words to himself: "you are my son with whom I am well pleased. Over and over. If he remembered that moment, like in an old family photo of when you or your child or niece or nephew or grandchild was first brought home, and he knew, because of that moment that he was ever loved, and never alone especially once the abundance of water was gone and he found himself in a dry place with no glowing voice to speak to him and no crowd to gather to him.
This is why we are baptized not into Trinity Lutheran Church, not into American Christianity, not into Lutheranism, not even into our biological families but into God. Because we need to have that memory to look back on and that assurance to rest on, that even when things are at their most dry, their most scorching, we have been called beloved children of God in a moment that is just between us and our Father in heaven. This is the good news of the gospel lesson today and it is the good news into which we were baptized.
And because of that good news I would like for us all to stand now and take a moment
to remember our baptisms. This is a version of the prayer of thanksgiving that is
part of our baptismal rite:
I'm going to give you just a little refresher about the bible and the four gospels now before we talk more about this. We get the bulk of our information about the story of Jesus' life on earth, his death and resurrection from the four gospel books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. All four of these writers tell the same basic story but we are blessed to have all of them and not just one because they were different people from different backgrounds and slightly different times and they experienced and understood things differently and that comes across in their writing. So we can look to different ones for different details, different emphasis and that kind of thing.
The gospel lesson for today comes from the writing of St. Mark and there are two really important things about how St. Mark experiences the baptism of Jesus. First this is like Christmas for Mark. Mark doesn't have any grand story about the birth of Jesus. There are no wise men, there is no stable, there is no Mary mild. That doesn't mean that those things didn't happen but what it might mean for Mark, is that the event equivalent to the birth of a Messiah, the coming of a newborn king, is Jesus' baptism in the river Jordan. For all of the gospel writers baptism is where Jesus begins his ministry but for Mark it is more, it is the event of new life, it is like Christmas.
In addition to being the only gospel writer who first introduces us to Jesus in this way, Mark is the only one who tells the story with God speaking directly and only to Jesus. It is as if everyone else fades into the background for the moment of Jesus' baptism and it is just him and God, looking down lovingly, only at Jesus saying you are my son the beloved with whom I am well pleased. This is the place in the bible where we get baptism from, this account of Jesus' baptism and I think it means something that St. Mark writes that Jesus had an encounter like this with God at his baptism.
Not everyone, not just anyone, but at the baptism of Jesus, Jesus encountered God. You might even be able to take this to a level where for Mark the birth of Christ that mattered was the new birth through water, the Holy Spirit and the very breath of God.
A friend of mine just had a baby and through the magic of the internet I was able to see pictures of her and this child almost immediately and, of course, because there were grandparents there, there were a lot of pictures! But the most striking ones, the most striking ones always it seems, are the ones right after the baby was born and it, the new baby is handed to it's new parents and it is as if everyone else, even the face behind the camera fades into the background and for a few moments it is just mother and father and baby and you can almost hear a voice, whispering, you are my child.
A similar thing just happened with some friends of mine who recently adopted some children. There are lots of pictures, pictures of the kids beforehand, pictures of the kids meeting their new parents for the first time before the adoption, pictures of them all playing and getting to know one another over some time but, if you ask me, the only picture that is needed of the whole process is the first one after they officially became a family and are all in their new home together looking dazed and in love and like a family. It is hard to even see anything else in the picture because the new life, the new family in the middle is so prominent, so decided and strong but tender and reassuring. Everything else just fades away and again you can almost hear a voice whispering, softly, you are are our children.
It was like that, that day in the Jordan. So many people around but they faded away and Jesus looked up and he heard, you are my son. It was like that too when each of us was baptized. For just a second everything else faded into the background and we heard, whether we remember it or not, softly, you are my daughter, or you are my son.
There is of course more the the story, there always is. In the case of this gospel writing, Jesus went into the desert and was tried and tempted after this. He wandered alone in the wilderness without food, without companionship and almost without hope. It was one of his most difficult times and it came right after this, one of his most affirming. Being a beloved child of God did not keep him from hard times, from trials and temptations, from pain, loneliness, hunger and suffering of all kinds but it did sustain him throughout. The text says that angels waited upon him and helped him to get through the trials but I wonder if more of what happened was that he waited on the Lord as he spoke those simple, familiar words to himself: "you are my son with whom I am well pleased. Over and over. If he remembered that moment, like in an old family photo of when you or your child or niece or nephew or grandchild was first brought home, and he knew, because of that moment that he was ever loved, and never alone especially once the abundance of water was gone and he found himself in a dry place with no glowing voice to speak to him and no crowd to gather to him.
This is why we are baptized not into Trinity Lutheran Church, not into American Christianity, not into Lutheranism, not even into our biological families but into God. Because we need to have that memory to look back on and that assurance to rest on, that even when things are at their most dry, their most scorching, we have been called beloved children of God in a moment that is just between us and our Father in heaven. This is the good news of the gospel lesson today and it is the good news into which we were baptized.
And because of that good news I would like for us all to stand now and take a moment
to remember our baptisms. This is a version of the prayer of thanksgiving that is
part of our baptismal rite:
Blessed
are you, O God, maker and ruler of all things. Your voice thundered
over the waters at creation. You water the mountains and send springs
into the valleys to refresh and satisfy all living things.
Through the waters of the flood you carried those in the ark to safety.
Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery to freedom.
In the wilderness you nourished them with water from the rock, and
you brought them across the river Jordan to the promised land.
By the baptism of his death and resurrection, your Son Jesus has carried
us to safety and freedom. The floods shall not overwhelm us, and the
deep shall not swallow us up, for Christ has brought us over to the
land of promise. He sends us to make disciples, baptizing in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Pour out your Holy Spirit; wash away sin in this cleansing water; clothe
the baptized with Christ; and claim your daughters and sons, no
longer slave and free, no longer male and female, but one with all
the baptized in Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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