Called Together

 Scriptures: Psalm 27:1, 4-5, 13-14, Matthew 4:12-22

I rather suspect that many of you, like Ann and me, are fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece three-part novel, The Lord of the Rings. In fact, back toward the turn of the century it was voted in at least one survey as the best novel of the 20^th century. Tolkien was a devout Catholic, and while he firmly denied that Lord of the Rings was to be seen as an allegory of Christian discipleship, there is much that can be learned from this quest story about how we are to live our lives as Christian disciples. For those of you who may not be familiar with the story, it is about how the hobbit, Frodo Baggins, undertakes to destroy the One Ring, which is an instrument of great power, but also one that can unleash great evil upon the world. He begins with a fellowship of nine – four hobbits, two men, an elf, a dwarf, and a wizard (Gandalf) – as his companions; but as the story proceeds each of them (except for the ever-faithful Sam Gamgee) is forced to leave to pursue his own part in the saga. Thus, each member of the fellowship discovers that talking about destroying evil is one thing; actuallydoing it is quite another. But what not one of them could accomplish alone, is for all nine of them to attempt together – and their lives are forever changed in the process. At the end even Frodo cannot accomplish the deed by himself; he needs the assistance of Sam – and the unlikely aid of the demon-driven Gollum.

The Fellowship of the Ring are called together out of a common purpose. Some, like Frodo, are initially a bit reluctant to take up this task, but ultimately all see its importance and necessity – and perhaps most significantly see how what they can do together is greater than what they do apart. This is a quest that is being undertaken with companionship and and mutual support. When one of them, Boromir, nearly betrays the whole undertaking out of his own thirst for power, they must re-group and find what each can do to be supportive in the larger task to come. Though Frodo and Sam go on by themselves, the actions of the others are still taking place in other venues where they can be supportive.

What Tolkien is doing here is giving us, in a heroic quest narrative, a sense of what it means to be disciples. We are called, as that favorite text from the prophet Micah puts it, “to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” But even more importantly: we are called to do these things together – to be a beloved community – to be God’s peculiar people on mission in the world.

It is, I believe, no accident that when Jesus begins calling his disciples he does it in pairs. (By the way, the lectionary is having us, in our lead-up to Lent, focus on texts from the gospel of Matthew, which shows us how Jesus fulfilled Jewish prophecies and which is closely connected to preservation of the law. Matthew is practically a primer on discipleship. The writer of this gospel was a Jewish Christian living toward the end of the first century.) In our text Jesus begins with two brothers: Simon (who will become Peter) and Andrew, and then two other brothers: James and John. This effort to recruit disciples comes just after Jesus resists the evil one’s temptations in the wilderness, and the other part of the context is that John the Baptist has been arrested. There is, thus, an urgency to his message: “’Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” It is vitally important that Jesus find others to be with him as he begins a ministry of calling for repentance.

Picture the scene. In fact, do better than that: put yourself in this picture. For a moment, stand with Andrew and Peter fishing by the sea, or sit with James and John seated in a boat with their father. The familiar salty air is saturated with a sense of security. Would you suddenly drop everything known best to you and go traipsing off to who-knows-where with a man who shows up one day and speaks with an authority that suggests he can change everything? When you hear this man say “follow me,” would you not first want him to tell you something about where you would be going and what you would be doing? Would you not want some assurance of a worthwhile pay-off for embarking on such a risky journey? Perhaps you would think to yourself: “Fishing on the Sea of Galilee may not seem like much, but it is a means of making a living. And this is my home.”

What’s more, this man who is beckoning to you is saying some strange things about repentance and a new light that has come into the world – things that ought to give you pause. He’s saying that he is the one you are to follow. Do you get up from your sofa or workbench or dining room table or school desk and immediately go after him?

This is what if must have felt like for Simon Peter and Andrew there by the sea. They had a perfectly comfortable life, one quite well molded into the society of their time. They were not expecting anything like this encounter. They were content with their lot in life. They were not thinking about being interrupted. Yet, here is a classic example of what John Lennon meant in his song, “Beautiful Boy”, when he wrote: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

And so they respond: “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Immediately! I’m just amazed by that. No pause, no time for reflection, no “let me consult my attorney and I’ll get back to you on that.” And what’s more James and John act the same way, leaving their father in the process. What must have been his reaction?

Now, I’d be willing to bet that you weren’t terribly shocked when you heard me read those words a few moments ago. We have been inured, haven’t we, through 20-now-going-on-21 centuries of seeing the impact of the life of Christ on others, so that Peter’s and Andrew’s and James’ and John’s reaction and subsequent action seems more like a “been there, done that” than the incredible leap of faith that it must have seemed to those 1^st century Galileans. C. Welton Gaddy has said about this passage: “We have read the stories of discipleship and heard the words of Jesus so many times that their sharp edges have been blunted, their propensity to shock have been stifled, and their radical nature erased. And they seem to come from a time that is no more. Often I wonder if we even can hear those words from Jesus today, much less obey them and follow him.”

It is hard to believe, isn’t it, that Peter and Andrew and James and John would simply respond so immediately to Jesus’ call. They didn’t have our advantage of thousands of years of evidence of the credibility of this man’s vision, the power of his authority, and the healing in his ministry. Even so, there must have been something that spoke to them, that told them here was the one who can indeed change the world. And so we do stand in awe that they could respond so immediately and so completely, give up everything that they had previously known, and answer his call to follow.

And that brings us back to ourselves. We, too, each one of us, have heard that call to follow. Perhaps none of us has responded as immediately as Peter and Andrew and James and John – in fact, for many when confronted by the radical demands of the Christ it has been a long, slow, even agonizing process to come to accept the promises that he has made to us. Once accepted, though, we discover – just as those early disciples did – the glory of what our response can mean and the joy of following Jesus to become fishers for people.

However, perhaps the more significant aspect of this passage is that Jesus did not just call the disciples individually – he called them to come together in community. The church, when it is at its best, mirrors that community – that fellowship (as those nine in The Lord of the Rings called themselves) – which was formed by Jesus and those first disciples. We are, as the scriptures tell us, a beloved community – beloved, that is, by God, who seeks every day to make us more like those early disciples. And we are like them – faults and foibles and follies and all – right up to and including the betrayal by Peter. But we are also like them in dedication and determination and the desire to become more faithful as disciples every day of our lives.

I’ve been struggling with what I should say about our companion scripture from the 27^th Psalm, because, in contrast to an emphasis on community and coming together, it seems to focus on an individual and his or her own confidence in the Lord: “The Lord is my light and my salvation….. The Lord is the stronghold of my life…..” Oh yes, these are positive and affirming declarations, but do they move us in the direction of community? On reflection, I think that the reason the lectionary writers put these scriptures together is because we do, each one of us, come first to a relationship with the Lord on our own…..but then we discover that we need to let this relationship take bloom in the bosom of people who have had the same, or similar, experience as have we. To be able to say with the Psalmist, “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,” is the beginning of an affirmation that proceeds into a kinship and unity that is the people of God at their best.

You frequently hear me quote Kate Huey in these sermons. Kate is a UCC clergyperson on the national staff in Cleveland, and the reason I go to her a lot (besides the fact that she’s very insightful) is that she writes the “Weekly Seeds” reflection on the lectionary texts each week in the on-line United Church of Christ publication Keeping You e-Posted. Here’s Kate’s reflection on the calling of these four disciples and how their reaction impacts our lives:

“In every age, followers of Jesus come from all sorts of backgrounds, all sorts of families, all sorts of faith journeys, and yet Jesus calls us together, to leave our old lives behind, and to be one community even in our diversity….. Perhaps God is still speaking to us, then, in the midst of our efforts to focus on living comfortable, orderly, pleasant lives, in the midst of our attempts to use the gospel, in the face of our expectations that the church under-gird and promote such a life. God calls us, in our own settings, to repent, that is, to turn in a new direction, to open our lives to a radical renewal that may upset and re-orientate them. This radical renewal may contradict many middle-class, prosperity-driven theologies, for example, that seem to under-emphasize the call to work for justice for the poor. How willing are we to have our lives turned upside down in order to experience this kind of repentance? Jesus provoked many of his listeners with such expectations, but on the other hand, he inspired a number of them to leave everything for exactly such a reorientation and renewal. Their lives were never again the same.”

In a few minutes we will be holding our Annual Congregational Meeting. In many ways it will seem like “business as usual” – hearing reports about last year’s activities, electing new Board members, passing revisions to the Bylaws. But in another way an Annual Meeting can be a charge into the future, imaging that “radical renewal” Kate Huey speaks of. It can be a time that we look back on and say that our lives were never the same again. One of the things that I find particularly heartening about this Annual Meeting is that when the Nominating Committee went out to ask people to serve on the Boards and the one officer position that was open everyone who was asked said “yes”. We didn’t have to go to any second choices. That’s remarkable, and speaks volumes about the sense of servanthood and discipleship that is present in this congregation. We are truly, as we will sing in a moment at the close of the service, “Called as partners in Christ’s service, called to ministries of grace.” The second line really describes this congregation: “We respond with deep commitment fresh new lines of faith to trace.” On the other hand, as we discovered three weeks ago, we enter 2011 facing a deficit budget and a difficult, rocky financial road ahead. Our discipleship will be tested in this kind of circumstance. We will need to find creative ways to, as the third verse of the hymn implores, “Bring new power and strength for action, make us colleagues, free and fair.”

“Immediately they left their nets and followed him….. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.” May our own sense of immediacy impel us to a life of discipleship this day and in the year and years to come.

 

Amen

 

Dave Pomeroy

First Congregational Church/United Church of Christ

Las Vegas, NV

January 23, 2011