Matthew 4:12-23

Now 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.

For those who might not know, one of my ministry roles is as the Uniting Church chaplain at Sydney University, and our core activities on campus is running weekly Bible studies for students. The place where we often begin our studies is with the Call narratives, like we’ve just heard. One of the reasons we use the call narratives is that they are a great introduction to the concept of discipleship, and particularly for people who might be new to Christianity, they also provide a space to explore Biblical interpretation.

But what do the call narratives mean for us here? For many of us, we’re not new to Christianity or this story. We’re already disciples of Jesus, so what do we do with the call narratives? Do we acknowledge them as story of our past, but feel like they’re not so relevant for us right now? Or is there something more for us in this story?

Hold that thought, because I would like us to take a slight detour and consider the Gospel of Mark for a moment, and to think about how it both starts and ends. You would remember that after the introductory passage, we come to verse 9 where Jesus is baptised: “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

In verse 14, we hear that “after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.” And in verse 16: “As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee…

Ok, now we’re going to jump to the very end of the Gospel, to the story of Jesus’ resurrection, keeping in mind everything that has happened in between – all the miracles, all the conflict, all the teaching, the Last Supper, Jesus’ arrest, trial and death. And then we come to the resurrection story, where the two Marys and Salome come to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, and discover that it is gone. And the angelic figure says to them: “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee.

Do you see what is happening here, what the Gospel story is doing? The story begins in Galilee, and ends with Jesus returning to Galilee, calling the disciples to follow. The nature of the Gospel is a story that begins and begins again, and the disciples are called to follow not just once, but again and again.

So, when we hear the story of Jesus’ call of the first disciples, we need to hear it as a people who are called and called and recalled to follow Jesus. There are no time limits to our discipleship, no point where we are done following. Sure, what we physically and mentally do will vary, but the call to discipleship is constant. And we need to be reminded of that, because it can be a little too easy for us to get comfortable, to get lax, to just go through the motions of “church” whilst forgetting the whole reason that we’re here – to worship God, and to follow Jesus.

So, with new eyes of people prepared to be called to follow again, let’s see what this story can say to us.

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus 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. 21As 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. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

There’s one thing that really strikes me when I read this passage – does it seem like the disciples were really suitable to be called by Jesus? Jesus does connect their roles as fisherman to the role of disciples “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people”, but practically speaking, it’s tricky to see where their skills and knowledge as fisherman couple apply to being a disciple.

I want to share a story with you that might help us explore this further. This story is about an experience I had whilst I was a student chaplain at Westmead Hospital. I was called in to visit a man who was struggling with end of life issues. So, I went to the hospital to visit this man. One of the things that we are taught in our Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE for short) is to let the patient do the talking, so after I entered the room and introduced myself to the patient, and his partner, a Filipino man, I sat down and waited to hear what he wanted to talk about. And waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore and asked him “Is there anything you wanted to talk about?” He considered the question for a moment, and then he said simply “Not right now – I will let you know though.” So, I returned to my waiting.

I spent about 90 mins sitting with the man before it was clear that he was falling asleep, at which point I said my goodbyes and left. My initial impression of this encounter could be summed up as – “well, that was weird”. I didn’t think much more of it until a bit over a week later when I received a call from the Uniting Church chaplain at Westmead. The man I had visited had passed away exactly a week after I had sat with him. What came next was a huge shock, because the family of the man had requested that I take the funeral. So, that’s the story of how I came to do my first funeral. I have spent much time dealing with the question “Why me? What did I do?” From what I can determine, my learning in CPE had given me a huge gift that I wasn’t even aware of. Because the man, at that time, didn’t need words, he didn’t need conversation. He needed acceptance. So, by simply spending that time with him, I had accepted him for who he was.

This was a really formative part of my ministerial training, and part of its importance is in the reality is that I didn’t really know what I was doing. I followed the theory that I had been taught, but inside I was a bundle of nerves – what am I doing? What should I be doing? Should I say something? Should I leave? This is really awkward!

The reality was that I was not really prepared for that encounter, but it also doesn’t matter, because God was. What happened there wasn’t about me, but about God, and God’s love for a dying man. And I had the privilege of being present for it. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t awkward, doesn’t mean I wasn’t out of my depth, but I think back to the story of Jesus’ calling the first disciples, and surely, they must have had similar feelings.

Put yourself in the story – you’re at work, doing what you do every day, and this guy comes along, and tells you to stop what you’re doing, and follow him. How awkward is that? And yet there is something there that brings Peter and Andrew and James and John to follow. Where were they following him to? What would come next – surely, they were completely out of their depth.

Brothers and sisters, something that we need to get our heads around is that discipleship is uncomfortable. Because what it means is that we must take our own wants, and needs, and desires to the side, and instead follow the path of Jesus. We must put the kingdom of God first, to the detriment of our own kingdoms. We must sometimes find ourselves in the awkward places, out of our depths, trusting that God will show us the way.

Discipleship is hard, but most worthwhile things are. I hope to be a father someday, and when I talk to the many parents I know, there is a fairly common narrative, which I imagine many of you can relate to– Being a parent is one of the hardest things you will ever do, but it is also one of the best thing you will ever do. The things that are worthwhile are often the hardest.

Just over a year ago, Radhika and I and both sets of our parents did a trip to Sri Lanka, and one day we went to a place called Sigiriya. Sigiriya is the site of the ruins of an ancient fortress, built over 1500 years ago. Now you can see some of the ruins at the bottom of the picture, but the ridiculous thing is that there are vast ruins ON TOP OF THE ROCK! My first degree was in engineering, so I had to force myself to ignore the sheer insanity of such a thing, and just enjoy the spectacle.

One of the things you’re allowed to do is to climb the rock. So, we gave it a go. And it was pretty hard, we almost gave up a couple of times, and it seemed as though the closer you got to the top, the more difficult it became, the steeper the stairs became. But we persevered, and making it the top of Sigiriya is one of the most amazing things I have ever done. The things that are worthwhile are often the hardest.

Discipleship is hard. But it also worthwhile – to see the change that comes when we help people connect with the Gospel, to what happens when we do the work of Jesus – feeding the poor, freeing the captive, lifting up the broken, building the community of God. These are the things that are worth our time and our energy. It’s not easy, it can get awkward, it can push us out of our depth, but it is worth it.

Brothers and sisters, as we begin this New Year, I have a challenge for you. Try something new. Be part of something you haven’t done before. Put yourself in the awkward places, find yourself out of your depth. I’ll give you an example – Mainly Music is an amazing program of music and movement for children and caregivers, and allows this church to connect with the local community. And it’s really meeting a need of the community to the point that they are starting a second session each week this year, starting in February. But to do so, the Mainly Music team is going to need a lot more helpers.

So, if you hear all that, and the first thought in your mind is “that’s not for me”, then I’d challenge you to think again. You may feel too young, or too old, or too male, or too unskilled. But remember the call of Jesus to the first disciples was unconditional- all he asked was that they follow. And if you’re still thinking “that’s not for me”, then you’re right, it isn’t for you, because it isn’t about you. It’s about connecting with the families of the community, that they might experience the love of God, and that they might come to know Jesus, and become disciples themselves. It’s about living out our call to follow Jesus. And it will be awkward, you will feel out of your depth, but that’s ok, because you will also get to experience God at work.

Mainly music is just one of countless opportunities, so again I challenge you to get involved in something new this year. Be called again to follow Jesus with your heart, your head and your hands. Follow into the unknown, trusting that Jesus is ahead of you.

The call of Jesus is simple in its enormity – all he asked is “Follow me”. What will you do?

In the name of the blessed Trinity of love, Amen.