Fishermen

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas

January 22, 2012; 3 Epiphany, Year B

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Mark 1:4-20) – Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea-- for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

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[I ran out of time this week, and decided to re-run this sermon from 3 Epiphany, 2003]

Maybe there's a reason why the core of Jesus' followers were fishermen.  Maybe there is something about fishermen that opens them naturally to hearing the good news of God that Jesus first proclaims publically in this passage from the early verses in Mark.

Most of what I know about fishermen I learned from books and movies, stories like The Old Man and the Sea or The Perfect Storm, the movie about the real story of the loss of the fishing vessel the Andrea Gayle.  The literature about those who make their living from the sea reveals that fishermen have a deep acceptance of the conditions of their lives.  There is a holy reverence for the givenness and power of weather and sky and sea.  Fishermen are keenly observant of the signs of the times.  But they accept their frail mortal limits with an almost primitive resignation to the powers of the cosmic stage.  Fishermen simply accept the circumstances.  Sometimes the fish bite; sometimes they don't.  Sometimes it is fair; sometimes it storms.

There is another characteristic of fishermen that comes through the literature.  They are remarkably brave.  There is a fearlessness in the whalers of Moby Dick and the crew of the Andrea Gayle that allows them to cast their lives into the great deeps held afloat by inches of material in the midst of powers and unseen monsters who have the potency to make sport of their flimsy defenses.

Acceptance and courage are profound qualities.  In fact, according to one of my favorite spiritual guides J. Neville Ward, they are the corresponding qualities to the two strongest blocks to a religious life.  He says that resentments and fears are the strongest blocks to a religious life.  (The Following Plough, p. 25)  From the opening of Jesus’ ministry, his good news is a message of acceptance and trust: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near" – look around you and see God's presence now; do not be resentful;  “repent, and believe in the good news” – don’t be afraid; God is in charge; all is well; trust, and do good.

Jesus sees these fishermen and tells them they can take their wisdom of the sea into the earth.  And, with the acceptance and trust of fishermen, they pick up and follow him. 

I think I'd want to know a little more about what he had in mind, wouldn't you?  You see, most of my life is not like a fisherman's.  Most of my life has a bouncing quality to it, like a ship going back and forth from calm to rough waters, but I tend to meet those bounces more with resentment and anxiety than with acceptance and trust.  Maybe you do too.

So many of us are trying to get some control over our lives.  Things tend to get out of control.  But, you say to yourself, if I work real hard, I can get things managed for the most part, and then I can be happy...  For a while.  Maybe.  And that's what consumes so much of life.  Working hard and hoping that you can manage the trick of having things straighten out for you.  Then, when you can get your head above water and things work out like you hoped – that’s freedom, that's happiness.  But then you get swamped again and it feels so hard to have to overcome what's been dished out – you can begin to feel desperate, even helplessness.  Back and forth we go; happiness and helplessness.  All posited on a need to control and fed by the energy of resentment and fear, or fear's more civilized expression, anxiety.

I have this fantasy.  If I can clear off my desk and do all of those promises that each of those pieces of paper represents, and I can clear all my email and check off my to-do list, and I can visit with everyone on my prayer list, then everything in the church will be great.  Now that's a little crazy, I know.  But what's crazier, I take that same controlling insanity from my office to my life.  I say to myself, "I'm not as happy as I need to be, so I need to change.  I'm not functioning as well as I ought, so I need to be improved upon.  So if I can just read the right book, adopt the right technique, work on myself a bit, I'll be able to straighten myself out."  Anybody else ever have those thoughts?  Well that's some of the craziness Jesus came to save us from with his refreshing word, "Repent."

But – and this is what's really crazy – most people hear that word "repent" and think Jesus is telling them that they need to work even harder to fix themselves.  NO!  Look at the fishermen.  Jesus said to them quit trying to mend all those nets so nothing falls through the cracks.  He’s telling them, You've already caught on.  Just bring your acceptance and your trust and follow me.  Everything's going to work out just fine.  Watch!  We'll catch people.  What fun!  And they dropped everything and followed him.  What freedom.

Christianity really is counter-cultural.  You go to school, watch TV, listen to the grownups and here's what they'll tell you.  If you want to be a good person, if you want to have the good life, then you'll need to develop self-control, self-determination, self-direction, self-identity and self-confidence.  That's the formula for the good life.  "I am in control of my self."

But that's crazy.  Who is the "I" that is going to control my "self"?  You make your self into a thing, an object to be manipulated.  You make your self, your life, into a project.  We are not things; we are not a project;  we are not objects to be fixed.  We are mysteries, wonders.  Stop mending those nets.  Surrender.  Repent. 

How do you grab all of the dials and instruments of your life – and life itself – and operate all the controls when you don't even know who is driving or where you ultimately want to go, except you want everything to be right?  Ah, that's the forbidden fruit, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The hunger to be right, to know the right, to win the argument.  But no one has the truth in any absolute sense.  We can only glimpse the greatness of God; we can only appreciate God's wonder as it is reflected in creation.  Fishermen know that.  That's why they observe the signs of earth and sky and sea, accept and respect their wonder, and never make the mistake of thinking the fisherman controls the weather.  Neville Ward says, "to be united with Christ is to be making progress in seeing life as it is, not as the child within you wishes it to be, and receiving grace to love its real presence."  (Ibid, p.  22)  Maturity in spiritual life includes our abandonment of absolutism and perfectionism. 

That's a message that can be freeing.  You don't have to know everything.  You don't have to be perfect.  You don't have to control yourself or your circumstances.  Relax.  Repent can mean relax.  Stop trying futilely to fix your self.  Relax and be who you are.  Sure some of your impulses need to be controlled, but that doesn't mean that you as a person have to be controlled, by yourself or anyone else.  Relax and receive life as a gift.  Don't be afraid.  Trust.  You are just fine.  You are a mystery.  God loves you extravagantly.  There's nothing to be afraid of.  Let God run the world.  Relax and do the best you can.  Sometimes the fish bite; sometimes they don't.  Sometimes it's calm; sometimes it's stormy.  "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."

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Some ideas and phrases in the sermon come from Gerald May, M.D., "Simply Sane" – simply a great book.

"Come and See"

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector

January 15, 2012; 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, Year B

Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

  

(John 1:43-51) B The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?"

Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

All of us have prejudices. We learn many forms of cultural bias from childhood and throughout our life. Even when we have done a lot of conscious work to be fair and open-minded, we carry some implicit judgments with us, much of it below the level of our conscious chosen thoughts. Inevitably, all of us interpret and judge information based on implicit unconscious associations.

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" asks Nathanael. When Nathanael hears what town Jesus is from, Nathanael thinks he knows just about all he needs to know about Jesus. I remember getting similar vibes when I went to seminary in New York City.  I could see the narrowing eyes silently wondering, "Can anything good come out of Mississippi?" (Tell me you’ve never thought that.)

Archeologist Charles Page argues that Jesus' hometown Nazareth was a small, somewhat isolated village. Nearly everyone living there was part of an extended family of the clan of David. He says it was likely that they were an ultra-conservative, orthodox, separatist sect of Judaism expecting the Messiah to come from among their own family line.  That's the town Jesus comes from. 

Philip, and presumably Nathanael, were from Bethsaida. Page says that Bethsaida was probably much like the nearby town of Capernaum where Jesus eventually settled for his active ministry. Those towns were fairly cosmopolitan, influenced by their proximity to the Via Maris, the primary highway connecting Egypt and Mesopotamia. Their synagogues were led by Rabbis from the School of Hillel, the more progressive version of Judaism from which today's Reform Rabbis trace their heritage. 

So we’ve got a potential cultural clash when Philip tells Nathanael, We've found the one! Jesus; he's from Nazareth!

Right!? says Nathanael doubtfully, maybe sarcastically. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And it seems okay with Nathanael if all Jesus knows about him is that he's from Bethsaida. They have some more conversation, and Nathanael asks Jesus, “Where did you get to know me?” A more literal translation of Nathanael’s question to Jesus is "from where do you know me (to be)?" -- something like, "what do you believe to be my hometown?" 

Maybe that gives us a clue to the meaning of Jesus' comment, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." In many Old Testament passages, the fig tree is a metaphor for one's home. Maybe Jesus was saying, I saw you at your home. So, culturally speaking, Nathanael might assume that Jesus already knows all he needs to know about him. He's from Bethsaida. Bethsaida vs. Nazareth. Fayetteville vs. Springdale.

The significant thing for me is that Nathanael is able to set aside whatever he thinks about some prophet coming from that isolated backwash Nazareth, long enough to be willing to investigate a bit. He asks questions, and he listens to the answers. That takes some suspension of implicit associations. Then when he hears things that don't fit with his prior assumptions, Nathanael is willing to adjust and change his thinking. He's able to let some new truth in.  His new observations and new experiences change some of his categories. This guy from Nazareth is not so bad. In fact, he's wonderful.  

From now on, Nathanael will be doing a lot of mind expanding things. When he throws his lot with Jesus, he’ll find he's on a journey that will require him to change a lot of inherited categories.  Over and over.^[1]

That's what happens when people accept the invitations -- "Come and see."  "Follow me." I'm particularly partial to the words, "Come and see." That's what we can say when we invite friends to visit here at St. Paul's. Come and see. This is a pretty cool place. There is good worship and ministry here. Come and see. See if it is a good fit for you.

Most people visit St. Paul's because a friend invited them. "Come and see."  It's not that different from telling someone about a restaurant or a movie you’ve enjoyed. Saying, for instance, I really get a lot out of the worship and music at St. Paul's. Come and see. I've loved some of the speakers we've had at church, and some of the classes. There's something that sounds interesting at St. Paul's next Sunday. Come and see. You wouldn’t believe the scene at Community Meals each Monday and Wednesday when St. Paul's serves lunch to anyone who comes in. It touches my heart. Come and see. 

Sometimes people come and some of their implicit assumptions get changed.  I just thought the Episcopal Church was "Catholic-lite." I thought y'all were stuffy and puffed up; you’re really pretty nice. I didn't know there were so many kids at your church. Being here makes me realize, you folks really are trying to live out your faith. We hear those kinds of comments from people who come and see.

I think it's important for us to share with one another with a Philip-like openness. What is feeding your spiritual life now? What gives meaning or peace to you? Tell the Nathanaels in your life about that. Maybe you’ve started reading Morning Prayer, and it helps to begin your day in the scriptures and prayers. Maybe you’ve started using times when you are just waiting, to consciously recall your centeredness in God. Maybe you’ve started reading a meaningful book, and saying nighttime prayers, with a child or with your own adult self. Tell somebody about that. Tell them, "I think I’ve found something that makes a difference for me." It echoes Philip's words: "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote..." It might be you’ll get a dismissive response, like Philip did. But you never know what may follow. 

We live in community. And we share with each other in community.  Whenever we offer to each other the important things that are making a difference to us, Spirit is exchanged. And whenever Spirit is present, things tend to get shaken up a bit; they change for the good. 

Without those Spirit-prompted exchanges, we'd all just live in our preconceived worlds, comfortable and somewhat blinded

by our implicit assumptions and our customary neighbors. When we are blind, we don't even see the Nathanaels out there sitting under their fig trees. Oh, that's just some guy from Bethsaida. He might as well be invisible. 

Come and see also means for us to see the other, especially the other who is different from you. The other who might be easy to overlook or ignore.

Can anything good come out of St.Paul's? Who knows? That's all up to us, isn't it? Jesus invites us, like Philip, to follow him. So we have to take responsibility for our spiritual lives in order to walk in his way.

Whenever we discover things that bring meaning and coherence to our lives, then, like Philip, we can share them with the Nathanaels in our lives. We can tell about what we’ve experienced and invite others to "come and see." When we encounter something new that is contrary to our implicit assumptions, like Nathanael we can investigate a bit. We can ask questions and listen to answers.  We can be willing to change when we learn things that don't fit our categories.  

Live like that for a while, and there is no telling what you’ll see. Live like that for a while, and it may be that you too "will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man," as Jesus promised Nathanael. 

"Speak. Lord, for your servant is listening." 

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^[1]Thanks to Sarah Dylan Breuer for this train of thought. From her blog at sarahlaughed.net