Reflection by Kit Allgood-Mellama
Scriptures: Psalm 27:1, 5-13; Isaiah 9:1-4; Canticle 11 Third Song of Isaiah; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Canticle 16 The Song of Zechariah; Matthew 4:12-23
One of the best things about having gospel readings from four sources is that we hear different points of view and maybe get details that another writer missed. For example, today’s gospel lesson from Matthew introduces us to some of Jesus’s first disciples. If that sounds a bit familiar, you aren’t mistaken. Last week we heard a reading from John with a similar story, as Jesus called and named his disciples. In her reflection last week, Deacon Kathryn reminded us we all are God’s Beloved, called and named even as we were being formed.
Today we also heard that Jesus had just learned of John the Baptist’s imprisonment. Jesus and John lived in a time and place of unrest and tyranny, under the rule of a force that wanted to repress and control the Jewish people, who lived in poverty and fear. Hearing the news about John seemed to energize Jesus, as if it was a signal that sent him on a path in line with the prophesies of Isaiah, a path to the Sea of Galilee. There he began to share his message of repentance, redemption and love. And it was there, according to Matthew, Jesus met two brothers, fishermen named Simon and Andrew and called them to follow him. He promised to make them fish for people. Matthew tells us Simon – later called Peter - and Andrew, and a little while later brothers James and John, immediately followed him.
When I hear this passage, my first thought is always, ‘Jesus had a magnetic personality!’ People were drawn to him irresistibly, leaving behind family, friends, homes, livelihoods, expensive equipment, everything they had, to be in his company! What was it about Jesus that made this happen?
I believe when Jesus met people, he met them exactly where they were in their lives. He recognized each person individually as Beloved, just as Deacon Kathryn said last week. He saw them and loved them as the people they were - perfectly imperfect individuals, with needs of their own and needs that were universal. He knew they had strengths and weaknesses, talents and rough spots. And that was OK.
So, when Jesus called to the four men and said, Follow me and I will make you fish for people, he was calling those four fishermen just as they were. And they listened and followed him. If Jesus had found a group of bakers, he would have said, Follow me and you will feed all the hungry. And if he’d found a gathering of midwives and healers, he would have called to them, Follow me and I will make you healers of all the sick and infirm, caring for the vulnerable and marginalized. To a group of weavers and sewers, he would have called, Follow me and you will clothe those in rags. To anyone who had sinned, he would have said, Follow me and find a new life for yourself and others.
Jesus changed lives by accepting people in the lives they were living, by loving them as they were, and by asking them to do likewise with everyone they met, whether by fishing, feeding, healing, clothing, caring and listening. This was the way of love he lived and shared with people two thousand years ago. It’s been the way of love ever since.
In our time, as we grapple daily with unsettling news, images of violence and threatening rhetoric, it’s difficult to look about ourselves without feelings of unease and suspicion. Our fears for the future of our families and friends, and the future of our world can be overwhelming.
In the middle of the night when I can’t sleep, I often wonder what Jesus would say to me, to you, to us about our fears, our unease, our suspicions. I’m pretty sure he would remind me that I live in a world surrounded by people who are named and beloved by God. He would remind me that the way of love is the way of justice, peace, mercy and hope. He’d say, You’ve got this, and I’ve got you. He’d tell me that he welcomed the tax collector and dined with him, and that he healed the centurion’s daughter, coming face to face with both of them just as they were. He would tell me I’m loved by God. And I’m pretty sure he would tell me to always meet people where they are, as they are, and to always care for them, listen, heal and love them.
If Jesus walked in our doors today, how would he call us? I believe he would say, Follow me and I will hold you and I will make you the light that shines on the path of the way of love.
Thanks be to God!