God's Call to Change

Today's Gospel reading appears to me to have three separate sections.  Before we look at the different sections of this reading, I want to remind us where this is in Jesus' storyline.  This reading is directly after Jesus is tempted by the devil in the wilderness and directly precedes his sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes.     

 

Matthew tells us when Jesus hears that John has been arrested, he leaves Nazareth and travels to Capernaum.  The Gospel reminds us that this move is to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah.  It further reminds us that this is not traditional Jewish homeland.  Land that is: "across the Jordan, Galilee of Gentiles."  Once Jesus is in Capernaum, he begins his ministry by proclaiming the same message as John the Baptist: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."  In "Jesus, Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary" Marcus Borg writes that Jesus is a follower of John and continues John's message of REPENT.  This to me is the first section of today's reading where Jesus moves to Capernaum and starts his ministry.  But Let us recall Jesus' early travels.  He was born in Bethlehem.  Shortly after his birth, Joseph, Mary and Jesus fled to Egypt to escape persecution.  After a time in Egypt, Joseph was told by an angel it was safe to return to Nazareth.  Jesus lived there until his baptism in the Jordan with John.  Nazareth was a small community in Palestine.  During Jesus' life it was predominately a Jewish community with families living there for generations.  Having lived in Nazareth for All of his "missing years", Jesus moves to Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee,  Galilee of Gentiles.  A community which was not primarily Jewish.  In the same text, Marcus Borg writes that he thinks these moves by Jesus are orchestrated by God to show Jesus as an itinerant preacher teaching God's message of love and compassion to the common people of region.  While I am not doubting this interpretation, I am going to ask us to consider this is also Matthew helping us to understand that following God requires CHANGE.  And Jesus is teaching a message of change, by continuing John's message of REPENT and by his own example is living a life full of change.  A Change in how we think and how we live.  A CHANGE To follow the way of the Lord, To go beyond conventional understanding of what life with GOD is about.     

 

The Gospel reading then moves to the second section where Jesus calls the first four disciples.  This section deserves careful review in itself.  Peter and Andrew are actively fishing when they are called by Jesus with that cryptic message: "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." The reading tells us: "Immediately they left their nets and followed him."  The story of John and James is even more startling.  They were working on their nets with their father Zebedee.  Here we are told: "Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."  This to me is a story of unimaginable faith.  These four men left secure jobs, communities they probably spent their whole lives in and families to become disciples of this itinerant preacher, to learn from him and eventually teach his message of love and compassion to others.  They went beyond a conventional understanding of what a life with GOD is about and followed Jesus.  Again, I see Matthew showing us that Peter, Andrew, James and John were open to make a major change to learn the WAY form Jesus' teaching and example.   

 

In the third section of this reading, Matthew is telling us about Jesus' teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.  Jesus is not doing this in Jerusalem, the big city with the Temple.  He is not even doing this in Nazareth.  He is preaching and healing throughout Galilee.  Jesus did not just preach and heal Jewish people in his home town of Nazareth.  He preached and healed in what we were told earlier, Galilee of the Gentiles.  So this region obviously included Gentiles too.  I am going to try to argue this is another example of profound change.  God is telling us through the example of Jesus to teach all people, proclaim the good news of the kingdom to all people and cure all people.  Not just people who speak like us or look like us but all people.  Again, a major change to the accepted norms of the day.  Rather than only healing people in my family, or my clan, or my country, Jesus healed people throughout the region.       

 

So we see in this Gospel reading God's call to CHANGE.  First through the example of Jesus' willingness to move from Nazareth to Capernaum.  Then through Jesus' proclamation to Repent.  To change our way for life.  This is further reinforced by the example of the four disciples dropping everything to change their way of life through their spiritual conversion and follow Jesus and finally but not least by Jesus teaching the good news to all people not just to fellow Jews. 

 

How do we live God's call to change, to change ourselves and our world.  How do we put into practice this lesson from Matthew.  Are we required to become missionaries in a foreign country?  Do we forsake family and community to join a cloister?  I don't think this would be practical for most of us.  But I do think we can follow Jesus' example of love and compassion by practicing love and compassion in our daily lives.  Being aware of the beauty in nature when we take a walk.  Listen to our family and neighbors without pre-judging and praying more.  Finding a space to be quiet and hear God's message.

    

Jesus asked people to change, those 4 disciples accepted change. We must be open to change too.  To live following Jesus' example of love and compassion to all people.   

 

Thank you for listening.