A light in the dark

Third Sunday after Epiphany-Year A

January 26, 2014

Matthew 4:12-23

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

  "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
     on the road by the sea, across the Jordan,
     Galilee of the Gentiles—
  the people who sat in darkness
     have seen a great light,
  and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
     light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

One of the things that I miss most about being in Papua New Guinea (other than the heat this time of year) is the sky. There were few factories in the country that kicked out large amounts of smoke or smog. As an island, there were few neighboring countries that contributed greatly to the amount of pollution in the air. What that meant was during the day the sky was usually the most brilliant of blues, with puffy white clouds sprinkled throughout. Think of a beautiful summer day, and that was what pretty much every day looked like.

The nights were even better. As you can imagine, there weren't many large cities around that pumped out tons of light that broke into the darkness. In most places, after the sun went down the only light you had was the moon and the stars. Yet, the clear air was such that it was often easy to see even with the moon and stars being the only light sources. It was amazing to me how when things truly are pitch black, several thousand pinpricks of light in the sky can cause the darkness the seem somehow less.

When we are young, we are dependent on others. Our entire life depends on someone else. Someone needs to feed us, someone needs to change us, someone needs to pick us up and give us a hug and a cuddle. I think all of us have seen or heard a child start to cry when they think they are alone, when they can't see a parent or a caretaker. They might just be in another room, just a few feet away; but, it doesn't matter. They can't be seen, which means they aren't around. Psychologists talk about the idea of object permanence. Children have to learn, they have to get old enough to realize, that when they can't see something it can still be there. It's why peek-a-boo works so well with babies, but once a child is a few years old they look at you funny if you do what they found so fascinating and amazing just a year or so earlier.

Being in the dark can make it virtually impossible to know what is around you. You can't know in the dark if something is in front of you, beside you, behind you. All of us have walked across a dark room and paid the price with stubbed toes and bruised shins; and that was in a room we knew well. Imagine what it would be like to walk across a room when you had no idea what might be there; where the chairs are, where the tables are, if there is a throw-rug, a dog sleeping in the middle of the room, a forgotten toy. Trying to navigate in a dark room can be completely unnerving.

But, if you had a light, even a small one, things are suddenly different. You can at the very least see the shadows around you of furniture and things on the floor. You can see the shadows of doors and walls. You may not be able to see everything, yet suddenly the amount of worry we have about running into something, about tripping over something is immediately reduced. And, if you have a larger light then the worry is almost completely removed.

There was a day when the world didn't have electric lights, when we didn't have cellphones that could be used as flashlights. There was a time when once the sun went down, the only light around was from a flickering fire, or the lights in the skies. And if the fire went out, and the sky was cloudy it was dark. The reality of being in darkness was real, the comfort that was known by having even the smallest of lights was known.

Isaiah's words about people living in darkness having seen the light speak to the comfort of knowing, the comfort of knowing what is around you, what lies before you, that you are not alone. Matthew quotes these verses in reference to Jesus beginning his ministry in Capernaum. And in quoting these verses he identifies Jesus with the light that enters the darkness. The light that brings comfort and awareness that we are not alone, that we are never alone, that in his presence we can know better, see more easily, the path that is before us.

The path before us is the same path that Jesus called the first disciples to: to be fishers of people. It's a funny phrase that we often just hear and accept without thinking too much about it. But, if we think a bit, it can easily cause some rather amusing images to appear in our minds: what sort of tackle and bait do you use? Is there a size limit? Is it a catch and release type of system (seems like it often is)? When Jesus told his first disciples that they were going to be fishing for people, was he seeking to get them to understand that all people have a place in the kingdom he was announcing?

Jesus called the disciples, and us, into a relationship with him and with those around us. God's call is in many ways truly about relationships. Us with God, and us with others: bearing each other's burdens, caring for each other and especially the vulnerable, holding onto each other through thick and thin, always with the hope and promise of God’s abundant grace. “Jesus called ordinary people right in the middle of their ordinary lives to be in relationship with the ordinary people all around them and through that did extraordinary things … and he still does.”¹

In the first days of his ministry, Jesus reached out to ordinary people – fisherman. He could have reached out to people who were rich, people who were powerful – but he didn't; he reached out to people that worked hard for a living, people who knew what it was like to have days when you came home feeling like you had accomplished nothing other than getting tired. He reached out to people where they were and said, I love you for who you are, and I want you, the you you are to be in relationship with me, to be a part of my kingdom.

God is interested in ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill, average, regular people! Had Jesus recruited only the most religious, holy, pious people of his time, the richest, the most powerful, the most popular -- most of us would be left out. We would get the impression that genuine faith was only for the select few. But that’s not what Jesus did. He went to the fishermen.

And that’s the point, that’s the lesson we are to receive.  If Jesus can use a fisherman, he can use me, he can use you. God has a role for each and everyone of us us to play. To a fisherman he says, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." The carpenter's invitation reads, "Follow me and I will make you build people."  The accountant will hear it as, "Follow me and I will make you help people know they count."  The waitress will hear, "Follow me and I will make you serve the spiritual hunger of people."  The physician will hear, "Follow me and I will make you a healer of people's souls." A tired, overworked mom's call is, "Follow me and I will make you a builder of children."

You were meant to be a part of God's divine plan to bring light, hope and meaning to a dark world.  You can do this where you are.  In fact, Christ needs you where you are. Fishermen will reach the fishermen.  Teachers will reach the teachers. Farmers will reach the farmers. Builders will reach the builders. Hairstylists will reach the hairstylists. Moms and Dads will reach the moms and dads. Kids will reach the kids.

Yes, God is calling you, each and every one of you to follow; to be a light in the darkness. It's a daunting task, especially when we look around and we see how much pain, sorrow, sickness and disease there is in the world. It can be easy to throw up our hands, “What's the point, there's too much, it's too big.” The world is too big for any of us to have much if any effect on it, yet, we can have an impact on a small part of the world; on a person. One of the the things I notice about the way Jesus worked is how he did miracles. When he did a miracle, when he healed someone – he addressed their need, one on one. When he encountered someone who was blind, he didn't heal every blind person in the world, he came to the aid of the person in front of him. When he encountered someone who was paralyzed, he didn't eliminate crippling diseases from the world, he helped one person to walk.

God is calling each and every one of us, exactly where we are and as we are to be a point of light in the life of others. God is calling us to bring light into the darkness. God isn't asking us to transform the night into day, the darkness to light. God is asking us to be the match in the darkened room. Just a little bit, not much. A warm blanket on a cold night. A meal on a day when there had been no food. A pair of shoes to replace the ones that were more holes than soles. A warm conversation in middle of loneliness. A hug when there is no love.

Jesus didn't call the fishermen to build bridges. Jesus didn't call the fishermen to sing operas. Jesus didn't call the fishermen to knit scarves. Jesus called the fishermen to fish. God is calling you to do what you do, to be the person you are, with the gifts and abilities, interests and passions you have, to be a light, to share with others the light. How is God calling you to be a light? God is calling, may we respond.  Amen.

1https://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3018