On the Beach

Matthew 4:12-23
The Rev. Sara Fischer

Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and raise a loud shout to him with Psalms.

It has been our custom on our Annual Meeting Sunday to celebrate our patronal feast of St. John the Evangelist. This year’s Epiphany season is so short I just couldn’t bring myself to substitute the readings for the third Sunday of Epiphany with the readings for the feast of St. John the Evangelist.

But we won’t forget our patron Saint. This morning’s gospel gives us that memorable scene on the seashore—really more like a lakeshore—long ago on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, of Jesus walking along the beach saying come, follow me. One of the four fishermen named on the shore that day was John, son of Zebedee. Through the centuries, tradition holds that this is our John, St. John the Evangelist.

Layered on top of that image I have an image of the founders of our church, picking this spot, this intersection between two dirt roads on the shores of the Willamette River. History tell us they picked this spot because it was strategically located between the two major ports along the Willamette, Oregon City and Portland, settlements equidistant between the region’s only other Episcopal churches, St. Paul’s and Trinity. But what were those missionaries from New York City thinking about when they and a newly-formed vestry decided to call the church St. John’s? As unlikely as it may be, I like to think that they were thinking about the call to John as it’s described in today’s gospel. I like to think they imagined the sandy shores of the river just down the street to be a place where disciples and evangelists might be called to follow Jesus, in the same way that disciples and evangelists were called from the shores of Galilee.

Imagine yourselves on the shore of the Willamette, right out here where the boat ramp is. Imagine that your life feels fairly dark and desperate—we’ve all had our moments, right? How desperate would you need to be, to drop everything when a stranger comes along and says: follow me, and I will make you fish for people?

Sometimes I wonder if we live in a culture that lacks sufficient desperation. The places in the world where the church’s numbers are growing like wildfire are places where the people live in conditions of intense poverty and oppression. Does that mean that Jesus’ work here is done? On the contrary: we are so insulated from the need for salvation that we must listen even more attentively for God’s voice saying come, follow me.

I believe that our longing and our need for spiritual renewal and direction is no less than that of the fishermen on the beach two thousand years ago. Our longing shows itself in completely different ways, in the plague of anxiety and busy-ness, or in the sense of poverty in the midst of abundance that causes us to want more and more of that which does not fill us.

Because our longing for God looks different from the longing and desperation in today’s scriptures, we need to listen to God’s call to follow in different ways. For one thing, few of us make our living casting nets into the sea. If you’re a lawyer, imagine that you’re sitting in a meeting with partners and clients preparing a brief and someone comes in and says, follow me, and I will make you win people, not lawsuits. Or you’re a waitress, and someone comes into the restaurant as you’re pouring coffee and says follow me, I will make you serve grace, not coffee. Or you’re a school teacher, struggling to teach long division, and a stranger comes into the classroom and says, follow me, I will make you teach God’s holy word. Chances are that if someone came up to us while we were in the midst of our work and said something like this, we’d call security.

So what would it take? What would it take for you to drop everything and change your life? How will you hear the call to follow?

The Rule of St. Benedict tells us that “the first degree of humility is obedience without delay.” The remarkable thing about today’s gospel is the report that these guys—Peter, Andrew, James, and John—left their nets without delay. Immediately. It indeed takes humility—which I define as knowing our human flaws and our need for one another and for God—to respond without delay to God’s invitation.

On this festive day when we remember St. John the Evangelist and when we celebrate our ministries, elect new leaders, and review the budget and all the work of being church in our time and place, what is God’s invitation to us? You all know that there are infinite ways that God calls us and invites us, and we could answer that question in many ways; today I want to say that discipleship begins and ends with worship.

Last week I talked about the invitation to “come and see,” and how the best way to answer the question about what Episcopalians believe is always “come worship with us.” God’s invitation to us is always to worship. The Daily Office, said every day, twice a day by millions of Anglicans throughout the world, begins “Lord, open our lips. And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.” At the beginning of each day and at the end, worship is at the heart of discipleship and formation. It is how we serve God and it is how God nurtures us. What does worship look like? Sometimes worship is sitting in the pews Sunday after Sunday. Sometimes it is making French toast for a hundred. Sometimes it is cheering our hearts out at a soccer match. Sometimes worship is changing your plans at last minute in order to follow Jesus. Sometimes worship is sitting in silent contemplation. Worship is celebrating and proclaiming our connection with the holy in all its forms.

Occasionally someone will say to me: I feel like I’m not able to contribute any time to the church right now. Or they’ll say: I do so much volunteer work I just can’t get here on Sundays. I think we all need to be reminded from time to time that coming to church is discipleship and is part of the work of the church.

The first of our baptismal promises is that we will continue in the apostles teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. In other words, as followers of Jesus we promise to gather in this place to hear God’s word, to be in community, to break bread in thanksgiving for all God has done for us, and to pray for one another.

Our worship and our presence in this place is our response to God’s invitation. Worship is the place where we both hear God’s call to follow, and answer that call. As we continue together on this day in fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in our prayers, how will we hear God’s call to follow?