What was it like?

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Sermon for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany1 26 January 2014

Emmanuel Church, Greenwood Parish (The Rev.) Christopher Garcia

What was it like? What was it like, when he called you? How did you feel? Were you surprised? Were you frightened? How did it feel, when he said “Come, follow me!”? Were you disturbed? Upset? Excited? Relieved, perhaps? How was when he reached into your life, your self, your soul, and touched you, when he said “You are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased? I wonder what it was like for Simon, and Andrew, and the ben Zebedee boys. You were there! Did you see him walk up to them? It was when winter was just softening into spring, before the schools of fish that winter at the north of the lake migrate to deeper water to spawn. All the Galilee had been abuzz, first talking about John, and his message of repentance across the Jordan, and then the one whom John talked about. John said “One who is more powerful than I is coming after me. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” John told us about him, and then John was gone, and he was with us. Zebedee and his sons, James and John, must have been talking about him, wondering about him. All of Galilee was talking about him. Simon and Andrew, too I suppose. And then there he was, with us, among these beautiful blue hills. At the tail end of the winter, as the days were getting softer, warmer, longer. They say that he walked right up to them, first to Andrew and Simon, and then to John and James. “Come with me,” he said! “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people!”

Third Sunday after the Epiphany (A). Isa 9:1-4; Ps 27:1, 5-13; 1 Cor 1:10-18; Mt 4:12-23. “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” 1

Today’s homily is shorter than our usual sermons in order to allow time for our delegates to the Annual Council of the Diocese of Virginia to report to us.

James and John and Andrew and Simon Peter were successful fishermen. They understood hard work. They understood that patience and persistence, night after night, right through the fishing season, brings results. They understood attention to detail, taking care of their equipment, mending their nets. They understood how to work with others, other fishermen, others in the marketplace, other brokers and traders. What was that he said? How did he start off? “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is here!” “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is here!” That sounds so odd to us now, doesn’t it? Repent! To say the word is to sound judgmental. What have you done bad?! Repent! Can’t you see the parental finger shaking at you? In the original Greek text for the gospels, the word that we translate as repent is metanoia. If you translate the Greek literally, metanoia means “changed perception” or “after thinking” or “with thought” or “think again.” So when he preached “Repent!,” he wasn’t preaching “feel bad!” He was teaching “change your thinking.” “Change your perception.” Why? Well, because “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom of heaven is approaching. The kingdom of heaven is here. The kingdom of heaven is right in front of you. The kingdom of heaven is pressing in, all around us. So change your perception. Change your thinking, he tells us. Change your thinking, because the Gospel has everything to do with here and now. He still calls men and women, old and young, you and me. He calls everyone, not just those who know the scriptures. He can use those who are wise in the ways of the world. Successful fishermen and farmers, brokers and bankers and business people, teachers and stay-at-home moms and too-busy dads, saints and sinners, and thanks be to God, even soldiers. He calls people who know about patience and persistence, day after day, night after night. He needs people who understood how to work with others, other business people and parents and neighbors. He calls them today and every day, and says “Change your thinking. Change your perception. Follow me.” He invites us to take on his priorities, his perceptions, his cares, his values. That’s why we pray “Our father, who art in heaven, thy will be done.” When we do, you and I, the fishermen and lawyers, tax collectors and Moms, retirees and realtors, become his hands and feet, his eyes and ears. When he works in us, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

3 We are invited and charged with the proclamation of nothing less than the very best story that there is -- the story of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the world. We do it in our everyday lives – in our homes, in our schools, among our friends, and in all the different places where we work and where we play. How did it feel, when said “Come, follow me!”? How was when he reached into your life, your self, your soul, and touched you, when he said “you are my beloved, with whom I am well pleased?” What was it like, when he called you?