The Bible is full of beginnings; not only the universal one, when God speaks into existence the components of a magnificent cosmos, but other beginnings as well. Thus the human race begins with Adam and Eve, and begins again after the flood with Noah and his family. In old age, Abraham answers the invitation of God to go away from home and begin anew.
The Bible presents us with beginnings over and over again, until at the end a holy city comes down from heaven to earth, and its name is not Jerusalem, but New Jerusalem, for it is a place to begin, the start of what will be forever new.
Some of the beginnings in the Bible are known as call stories. A call story recounts how somebody was invited by God to begin something new and unexpected. God calls this person to begin, and not only to begin, but – and here's the hard part – to persist, to persist so that another beginning can take place.
One day Andrew and Simon, James and John get up when the sky is still dark, walk down to the sea, and hurl nets into the water, anticipating a catch of fish. It is a day like so many other days. Nothing special. These men have engaged in this same routine hundreds of times before. This is what they do, for they are fishermen.
Amid familiar water and nets and fresh fish, rough wood of boats, rhythmic motion of waves, in the midst of this familiarity, for these four men, a beginning takes place.
Jesus turns up at the waterside. Have they met him before, heard about him? It does not matter. Today, as he calls them, a beginning takes place. He glances out at these working men with their nets and their hard-won catch, and announces in a voice almost comic, the way men kid one another, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." The four hear this as a put-down, a dare, a challenge from this landlubber on the shore.
Like every other call story in the Bible, this one is an adventure. According to G. K. Chesterton, "An adventure is, by its nature, a thing that comes to us. It is a thing that chooses us, not a thing that we choose."
Other rabbis wait for disciples to come to them. This Rabbi Jesus goes out and finds his own. He looks, not among the likely candidates, the best and the brightest, but down at the docks, where he interrupts fishermen at their work.
An adventure is something that comes to us, that chooses us. Discipleship is the great adventure, for the one who comes to us and chooses us is great beyond all measure. We are taken away from predictable lives, plunged into adventure.
Woe to anyone who dilutes this adventure with dullness, who makes discipleship into something safe.
Happy are those for whom the adventure remains forever sharp, who find themselves always at a new beginning.
Are these four men – Andrew, Simon, James, and John – ready and equipped for the adventure that comes to them, that chooses them, this adventure of discipleship? Jesus at the waterside does not collect resumes; he does not check references. The personal histories of these four do not have the last word about their futures. Christ's call means a new beginning. He takes a wide-open risk by inviting them. They do the same in their response.
Subsequent events do not demonstrate that they are particularly fit for their call. Simon, who will come to be known as Peter, betrays Jesus in an even more boldfaced way than all the rest. James and John, nicknamed the Sons of Thunder, not the most agreeable pair to have around, indulge in dreams about their own enthronement, missing the point completely when Jesus announces that downward mobility is the path to his kingdom. Andrew rarely appears again on the radar. Maybe his flaw is playing it safe. Yet Jesus never withdraws his invitation to any of them to share in his adventure, and partners with Jesus is what they finally become.
The novelist James Baldwin once wrote, "Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always known it ... the end of safety." The call to discipleship of these four fishermen, the beginning their story represents, implies the breakup of their familiar world, the end of their safety.
They leave behind old securities: the waterside, the boat, the nets, those days of fishing that so resembled one another, and even old Zebedee, the father of James and John, standing astonished in the boat as his two sons suddenly walk away. The new beginning requires this. Disciples must walk away into the future. They may be afraid, but not so afraid that their faith does not lead them forward.
The Bible tells us of this beginning for the four fishermen. They are called out from their occupation about which they know a great deal, in order to fish for people, about which they claim no knowledge.
In the same way, our discipleship means a new beginning, one that appears before us again and again. We keep experiencing the end of safety so that we may participate in a new world. We find ourselves engaged in an adventure, for however strangely, however unjustifiably, Christ comes to us and chooses us, and sends us out to be the next new beginning in the world.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
Monday, 7 January 2008
An Epiphany Moment?
Sorry for not blogging as usual on Sunday afternoon but time got the better of me!
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Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12
Celebrating the birth of Jesus is an incredible opportunity for all Christians to begin again – be born again – to a life of transformation, first of ourselves and then as instruments of transformation in the world. Our scripture readings today mark the feast of the Epiphany, a word that the Dictionary defines as “to show forth, manifest” and “the revealing of Jesus as Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi” and also “a moment of sudden intuitive understanding; flash of insight.” The definition of “epiphany” is apparent in our readings today. We are invited through the feast and its meaning to understand what it means to be a Christian and what God seeks to reveal to us and through us.
Since the early third century, the Eastern Church celebrated the feast of the Epiphany honouring the baptism of Jesus. Together, the feasts of Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost brought together water and light as imagery representing new life. But during the fourth century, the Western church disassociated the baptism from the feast of the Epiphany, emphasizing instead the manifestation of the Good News to the Gentiles through the figure of the Magi. But the symbolism of light and baptism come to life as we consider our readings today along side the season of the year.
Only weeks ago we experienced the shortest day of the year, winter solstice; and now more light, more day comes with each new dawn. Considering that it is much more difficult to see even the most obvious things in the dark, this season invites us to travel toward the light so that we might see what it reveals. But it also compels us to bring all our gifts, no matter how humble, to honour Jesus and all that Jesus stands for in our lives and the world.
A star both announces and guides the wise men as they travel to be witnesses to the birth of Jesus. They bring to him gifts that represent the best of what they can give yet humbly pale in comparison to the great gift Jesus promises to be for the world. They logically seek their “king” first coming through Jerusalem. But as the story tells us, they are met with fear.
Their encounter with Herod illuminates how fear can prevent us from seeing what might bring us closer to God and living out our call to be followers of Jesus. Of course we want to know what might prevent us from our call, but our other readings, (and especially the Psalm,) guide our path for understanding.
Jesus as a light to the world put the spotlight on injustices suffered by the poor and needy. Jesus gave us the hope for peace in abundance and a life free of violence, oppression, poverty and injustice. The writer of the Psalm described it as “rain upon the mown field, like showers that water the earth.” The poetic nature of the words might seem almost dream-like, but they are very much a reality if we are living life as God intended.
The Psalm is reminiscent of Mission Goals adopted as a way to reconcile ourselves to God and to live out our mission in the Church. They include:
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Achieve universal primary education.
Promote gender equality and empower women.
Improve maternal health.
Reduce child mortality.
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
Ensure environmental sustainability.
Develop a global partnership for development.
Stop our teenagers being killed.
Isaiah calls us to “Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. … Lift up your eyes and look around.” Indeed we are called to look around us, to be enlightened by what we see, and to offer all our gifts humbly honouring every part of creation. The Mission Goals highlight poverty as the root cause to all eight goals obvious to those who lift their eyes and look around. But Isaiah did not stop there. Isaiah demands that we rise up and shine so that God may come in glory.
Isaiah also said, “If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday … you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.”
Light is a symbol commonly used in ceremonies and liturgies to signify a light in God’s world. But it can only shine brightly through us and our actions. Light makes things more visible, and our scripture reading demands that we acknowledge the needs of the poor and come out from the dark places that represent complacency and false peace.
Rather than allowing fear to dampen our spirit or darken the day, we have an opportunity to see the light that is directing our path toward the promised kingdom, revealed to us when we see the face of Christ in each other. This new season in the church along with the season of the year on God’s earth is an invitation to be a light in the world.
As we live into these seasons and recall our baptismal covenant, may we arise and shine to see the glory of God possible and do what is needed, we must rise up and say enough is enough and contact our MPs, Councillors, the Police and say we will not stand for one more teenager being killed in our land. Lift up your eyes and look around you. We as a Church have the power to change things, let’s strive to make this land a safe place for our teenagers.
May they know us, as Christians, by our works. Amen.
Since the early third century, the Eastern Church celebrated the feast of the Epiphany honouring the baptism of Jesus. Together, the feasts of Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost brought together water and light as imagery representing new life. But during the fourth century, the Western church disassociated the baptism from the feast of the Epiphany, emphasizing instead the manifestation of the Good News to the Gentiles through the figure of the Magi. But the symbolism of light and baptism come to life as we consider our readings today along side the season of the year.
Only weeks ago we experienced the shortest day of the year, winter solstice; and now more light, more day comes with each new dawn. Considering that it is much more difficult to see even the most obvious things in the dark, this season invites us to travel toward the light so that we might see what it reveals. But it also compels us to bring all our gifts, no matter how humble, to honour Jesus and all that Jesus stands for in our lives and the world.
A star both announces and guides the wise men as they travel to be witnesses to the birth of Jesus. They bring to him gifts that represent the best of what they can give yet humbly pale in comparison to the great gift Jesus promises to be for the world. They logically seek their “king” first coming through Jerusalem. But as the story tells us, they are met with fear.
Their encounter with Herod illuminates how fear can prevent us from seeing what might bring us closer to God and living out our call to be followers of Jesus. Of course we want to know what might prevent us from our call, but our other readings, (and especially the Psalm,) guide our path for understanding.
Jesus as a light to the world put the spotlight on injustices suffered by the poor and needy. Jesus gave us the hope for peace in abundance and a life free of violence, oppression, poverty and injustice. The writer of the Psalm described it as “rain upon the mown field, like showers that water the earth.” The poetic nature of the words might seem almost dream-like, but they are very much a reality if we are living life as God intended.
The Psalm is reminiscent of Mission Goals adopted as a way to reconcile ourselves to God and to live out our mission in the Church. They include:
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Achieve universal primary education.
Promote gender equality and empower women.
Improve maternal health.
Reduce child mortality.
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
Ensure environmental sustainability.
Develop a global partnership for development.
Stop our teenagers being killed.
Isaiah calls us to “Arise, shine; for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. … Lift up your eyes and look around.” Indeed we are called to look around us, to be enlightened by what we see, and to offer all our gifts humbly honouring every part of creation. The Mission Goals highlight poverty as the root cause to all eight goals obvious to those who lift their eyes and look around. But Isaiah did not stop there. Isaiah demands that we rise up and shine so that God may come in glory.
Isaiah also said, “If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday … you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.”
Light is a symbol commonly used in ceremonies and liturgies to signify a light in God’s world. But it can only shine brightly through us and our actions. Light makes things more visible, and our scripture reading demands that we acknowledge the needs of the poor and come out from the dark places that represent complacency and false peace.
Rather than allowing fear to dampen our spirit or darken the day, we have an opportunity to see the light that is directing our path toward the promised kingdom, revealed to us when we see the face of Christ in each other. This new season in the church along with the season of the year on God’s earth is an invitation to be a light in the world.
As we live into these seasons and recall our baptismal covenant, may we arise and shine to see the glory of God possible and do what is needed, we must rise up and say enough is enough and contact our MPs, Councillors, the Police and say we will not stand for one more teenager being killed in our land. Lift up your eyes and look around you. We as a Church have the power to change things, let’s strive to make this land a safe place for our teenagers.
May they know us, as Christians, by our works. Amen.
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