January 22, 2017 – Matthew 4:12-23
Matthew 4:12-23
Agents of the Empire of Light
Third Sunday after Epiphany – Lectionary 3 – January 22, 2017
First Lutheran Church – Winnipeg, MB
Jesus is forever healing sick people.
At the end of the reading today, Matthew tells us that Jesus went throughout Galilee
curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
And throughout the Gospels we see him tirelessly curing the sick of many different illnesses.
He spends so much time doing that sometimes you start to wonder,
“Why are there so many sick people in Galilee?”
The answer is, simply put, that the Roman occupation of Palestine was bad for people’s health.
70-90 percent of people experienced some form of poverty.
Understandings of hygiene was limited; social stresses were high;
water quality poor; and food insecurity was rampant.
As a result, there were widespread illnesses associated with poor nutrition like
blindness and muscle weakness;
as well as diseases associated with a lack of immunity like diarrhea and cholera.
There were a lot of sick people – and a lot of the blame lay at the feet of the Roman Empire and
Its crushingly high taxes that kept the people in poverty.
(Warren Carter at http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3138)
So when you hear Jesus’ first public words in Matthew’s Gospel, you pay attention.
What does he say this morning?
The very first words out of his mouth are:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
It could also be translated, “Turn around, for the empire of God has come near.”
Jesus announces to the kingdom of Rome the coming of the kingdom of God.
A kingdom of light as opposed to a kingdom of darkness.
A kingdom of health as opposed to a kingdom of disease and illness.
A kingdom of life as opposed to a kingdom of death.
A showdown is coming.
In Matthew’s imaginative world, God’s will is already being done in heaven (6:10);
now Jesus is extending that rule of justice and peace and health to earth.
Well, Jesus is going to need some help.
Rome has its army – and Jesus has, well, Jesus has the first few people he comes across.
A few fishers – Peter and Andrew, and James and John.
They are going to aid Jesus in his work of proclaiming the nature of God’s empire and
in his work of establishing that empire through repairing Roman imperial damage by
healing many of their illnesses.
While there is no longer a Roman empire today there are still forces – many many forces –
that undermine the health and well-being of all people.
While the few may enjoy health and well-being for many those are still difficult goals.
And while we live in a part of the world where we have access to universal health care,
many many people are still sick – around the globe,
in our Northern Communities, and in our West End Neighbourhood.
In some ways the context is not so different from first century Palestine,
and that makes this passage very contemporary.
Those who live in poverty are still much more likely to be unhealthy.
For sure, in our day, it is not so easy to pinpoint blame for poverty and its effects –
we live in a vastly complex world that makes solutions to these problems difficult
even for the well-intended.
But of course that doesn’t absolve any of us from trying – and we have to take heart,
we have to take heart from knowing that there is an unstoppable force in the universe
working for good, working for life, working for health – wanting to enlist us.
The very first thing Jesus does, I have often said, is enlist some help.
And I believe that it could have been anybody that day – it just happened to be
Peter and Andrew and James and John.
All people have the gifts and the ability to be agents of healing and light.
Like us, these four are fallible and they are weak and they are not perfect – and God will work
healing and life through them anyway.
I am sure that is part of the point of the story.
Jesus calls them away to work with him and they respond, immediately.
They break with their old life, leave their nets, leave their boats, leave their poor father Zebedee
and leave their families to follow Jesus and cure the sick.
And it sounds romantic and it sounds grand and it sounds like a big risky adventure –
and it is all that but . . . don’t you wonder?
Don’t you wonder about poor Zebedee, left all alone to provide for the family?
Don’t you wonder about him all alone in his boat?
It was a shocking thing, I am sure, for Jesus and John to have left their families in that culture
and wander about the countryside stirring up trouble –
Don’t you wonder about John’s family when they hear the news of his arrest this morning?
Yes: it’s amazing that they all follow Jesus, yes we commend and honour them for it.
Yes: we are all called to follow Jesus – yes, this story is absolutely about us too.
But is it about Zebedee too? Was he a coward, or is there something else going on?
The Bible, as a big story, is about people journeying from home to follow God’s call.
It begins with Abraham and maybe it ends with Paul.
But occasionally it is also about people just staying put – and doing God’s work where they are.
Like the people of Judah who were taken away to exile in Babylon and who longed for home –
but whom God told to stay put,
and be a blessing to the Babylonian people right where they were.
See, I think we could read the story as seeing Zebedee as being no less called by God than
Peter and Andrew and James and John.
Were there no sick people along the Sea of Galilee?
Were there none to be cared for back at home in the house where they lived and
the village they inhabited?
If somebody doesn’t mend the nets, how will the fishers fish?
And if the fishing is abandoned, how will the people eat?
See, it’s not that Zebedee wasn’t called – it’s that, maybe, he was called to stay put,
to mend nets, to catch fish.
I think sometimes we read today’s story and think, “I am more like Zebedee than
Peter and Andrew and James and John. Following Jesus was fine for them –
They were adventurous and I am not.”
But the thing is: I think Zebedee was called to follow Jesus too.
To work, to fish, to be honourable in his dealings, to be generous in what he had,
To care for those within his scope, to honour his current responsibilities.
Whether we are Zebedee or whether we are his sons, we too are called,
called to be agents for the kingdom of light.
Whether we are working or whether we are retired,
we are called to be agents for the kingdom of light.
Whether we are in school or whether we have jobs
we are called to be agents for the kingdom of light.
The point is: wherever you are you are called to be an agent of healing and peace on
behalf of God’s empire of love and light that has come near.
Yes: there is lots of assistance to be given to those far away overseas.
But there is lots of assistance needed right here in our own northern communities in Manitoba
and there is lots of assistance needed right here in our own West End neighbourhood.
Those who go are certainly called – but those who work right here at Sargent and Victor are
also called.
It is so important not to prioritize one calling over another.
I was told by a friend this week about a woman who is 67 years old and is wondering whether
or not to retire from her job.
“Who will I be,” she wonders, “if I retire?”
She is worried that she will lose her identity and purpose if she retires.
And that is totally understandable when you have done something for so so long.
I wondered what difference it would make if she were a Christian with an understanding of
how we are called to many different tasks in this life,
none of which is more important than another.
How we believe there is a season for everything.
How we believe that we can be dignified agents of the empire of light in any setting and
at any stage of life, whether we receive a wage for what we do or not.
How we believe that retirement can be a freeing time of life that opens up rich possibilities for
service and care.
How we believe that no matter what we are called to, we always have the identity of being
beloved children of God, full of dignity and purpose, agents of the empire of light.
For that is what you are.
Whether you go or whether you stay.
Whether you retire or whether you don’t retire.
Whether you are in school or whether you are at home or whether you are working.
You are called if you are James and John. But you are called too if you are Zebedee –
to be agents of the empire of healing and light.
So together, let us say, “Amen.”
Pastor Michael Kurtz
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