Reading 1: Isaiah 9: 1-4
“But there will be no more gloom for the land that was in anguish! In the past God humbled the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, but in the future God will bring glofy to this Road to the Sea, this Land beyond the Jordan, this Galilee of the Nations.
The people walking in darkness are seeing a brilliant light—upon those who dwell in a land of deep shadows light is shining! God, you have made the nation greater—you have brought them abundant joy! They celebrate in your presence as with the harvest celebrations, or as warriors celebrate when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the weight on their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors—you have shattered it, as you did at the defeat of Midian.
Reading 2: Matthew 4: 18-23
As Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he watched two brothers—Simon, who was called Peter, and Andres—casting a net into the sea. They fished by trade. Jesus said to them, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of humankind.” They immediately abandoned their nets and began to follow Jesus. Jesus walked along further and caught sight of a second pair of brothers—James and John, ben-Zebedee. They, too, were in their boat, mending their nets with their father. Jesus called them, and immediately they abandoned both boat and father to follow him.
Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kindom of heaven and healing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses among the people.
God, open our hearts to hear your word. Open our minds to understand, and give us the will to listen and follow Jesus as he says to us, “Come, follow me.” Holy God, We meet you in our darkest days, and we see you in the light. Shine upon us. Turn us around from thinking more of our own needs than those of others. Forgive us and give us courage to shine with your compassion, justice, and peace. Amen.
Many of you know that I spent 4 of the days in between last Sunday and this at an UFMCC retreat for leaders in the denomination. It was a privilege to be there—to be counted among the emerging leaders in our denomination. But more than that, it was privilege, beyond measure and full of grace, to be there as your pastor, to be representing the wonderful, joyous community called Open Circle MCC. And let me tell you, we were news at that conference. Open Circle was spoken of by Rev. Elder Nancy with pride and celebration. Many asked the question, how and when can we do elsewhere what Open Circle has done. And I reflected with pride and humility about the wonder of our last year’s journey and the excitement that lies ahead as we truly now begin to be church—to expand our spiritual formation opportunities, our discipleship, and our service to others. It was a good time for me to have this time to think about and ponder all that we are and all we can be. Thank you for giving me the time to be in that special place.
And so, on to part 2 of our challenge from Isaiah last week: It is not enough! This week, Isaiah calls to us in a passage that usually finds its way into many Advent programs, “The people walking in darkness are seeing a great light—upon those who dwell in the deep shadows light is shining!” We must combine this message with the message from last week when Isaiah tells us that WE are that light—that we are the light to the nations. And on to the New Testament where Jesus, not only the source of the light, but the light itself, is calling those special people to follow him then, just as he calls us, as special people—a set apart people, to follow him today.
In Jesus we are given a God that is real—a God who walks among us. Even so, this simple story along the Sea of Galilee leaves us with the question: Why in the world did these fisherfolk leave their nets and follow Jesus then and why would we do it now? Is it not because Jesus offered them more? In a single moment, Jesus expanded their vision—told them that there was more to fishing than catching fish and invited them to fish for humankind. What we may miss in this simply recorded story is that it was because of the transforming presence of Jesus that these four left their nets. Jesus, God made real, walked up to them and invited them to take what they felt and saw in this “God-among-us” to all the world.
In the poverty and hopelessness of communities such as those found in Galilee, this was a radical thing indeed. And these poor, humble folks enslaved by society and politics may well have longed for the liberation and hope found in the transforming presence of Jesus. As we follow the stories of these first disciples and the people who came after them, it all plays out. The transforming presence of Jesus worked—it actually made a difference—“Jesus traveled through Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of heaven and healing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses among the people.” And, indeed, we have the same need for this transforming presence of Jesus and those who follow him today. Jesus spoke the transforming word of RADICAL ACCEPTANCE AND LOVE WITHOUT CONDITION to those common fisherfolk and to all that he touched with healing, teaching, and preaching. And so must we!
And here is just a little part of the reason why: Over two years ago, we all watched as both Florida and California fought political battles over the rights of LGBT people to marry. We know the outcome of both. What is most interesting now is the why. There was a study done on the struggle in California. Overwhelmingly, there were three factors that were shown to affect the way California voters voted: first, ideology or viewing oneself as conservative rather than liberal, second, one’s political party, and third—and this is where it truly gets alarming—whether or not one attended church on a weekly basis. When these categories are factored in, they were more important than race, economic status and gender. Of people who attended church regularly, 70 percent voted to support Proposition 8—which, of course outlawed marriage between same sex couples. 70%--think what this means in light of the Gospel that we have been called to preach.
With the wisdom that age, persecution and ministry bring, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Anglican Archbishop of South Africa, states this about the church’s historical treatment of LGBT people: “We reject [homosexuals], treat them as pariahs, and push them outside our church communities, and thereby we negate the consequences of their baptism and ours. We make them doubt that they are the children of God, and this must be nearly the ultimate blasphemy.” Those of us who have known and loved other churches know well this “nearly ultimate blasphemy”.
But we, right here, right now, have been given the word of transformation--and we must take the good news to those who ‘doubt they are the children of God’. We must not grow comfortable within the safety of these walls or the relative safety of our mostly isolated lives. We must reach out to those who do not know the good news that God loves them and Jesus lived and died for them.
Last week, we spoke briefly of our teens and young adults who are committing suicide because that good news has not yet reached them. There is another statistic that we must face regarding our young people. Many organizations working with homeless youth, including Lambda, point out the unacceptably high number of homeless youth who are LGBT. As many as 40% of youth wandering the streets of major cities, including Orlando and Gainesville, have been thrown out of their family homes because of their sexual orientation or so brutalized by parents demanding that they change that they left in fear and despair. WE MUST SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF RADICAL ACCEPTANCE AND LOVE WITHOUT CONDITION before the next child sleeps on the streets of New York, Dallas, Chicago or Ocala. We reach out in ways like we already have, in additional ways like providing for battered and abused families in our current outreach program. And we find new ways—many ways we haven’t even thought of yet.
There are no easy answers, no obvious first steps. But this I know, God is calling us to SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF RADICAL ACCEPTANCE AND LOVE WITHOUT CONDITION beyond these walls. We must find ways to reach the youth, at least in our neighborhood, if not the world. We must find ways to reach the disaffected adults—those who have tried to find acceptance in their churches and have been rejected and those who have never known the peace that comes from a relationship with our great God. We must find ways to reach the older people, those alone, those afraid of ‘coming out’ after all these years.
And so, as I will do as long as you call me your pastor, I call us to action...to explore new ministries and to build up existing ones. I call us to dream dreams and to do the work to turn those dreams into reality. Most of all, I call myself and all of you, to care more about freedom for all people than comfort for the few. I call us to sacrifice in the name of Jesus, to go forth, to SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF RADICAL ACCEPTANCE AND LOVE WITHOUT CONDITION, without exception. I call us to pray, and pray fervently. I call us to love, and love as we have never loved before. I call us to reach out, and reach out farther than our own individual arms will reach. I call us to give, and give of our time and energy. I call us to free ourselves and others, and free our lives to work and live in the name of Jesus, that once, little known prophet from Nazareth who once stood on the side of the Sea of Galilee and called to common people like us to make a difference and, by doing so, saved the world. Amen and amen.
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