Sunday, 22 January 2023
The United Church of Santa Fe
The Greek Text and English translation may be found at the end of the Sermon.
+ In nomine Domini. Amen.
If you happen to be in Israel and place your feet on the edge of the shore of the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, behind you is the ancient fishing village of Capernaum – in Hebrew Kfar Nahum, lit. “Nahum’s Village,” which has no connection whatever with the Biblical Prophet Nahum, and rather translates from the Hebrew “village of comfort.”
In this ancient village are two synagogues, one built on top of the other. You can walk in the ruins of those synagogues and so doing you can ponder that it was there where Jesus worshiped and taught and healed.
If you walk from the synagogue toward the water, as I did several years ago (along with Beverly and our Rabbi friend Marvin, and his wife Janet, and several of our Jewish friends) – if you walk toward the center of the village you will find a small church built over some ruins of a house, and that house have been venerated since the 1st Century as the House of Peter.
Now if you leave the church and walk toward the water’s edge, as I said, you will be standing at the north end of this Sea of Galilee. It has other names, the Kinneret, Lake Tiberias (the ancient city of Tiberias will be to you right on the Western edge of the water), and in the Gospel of Luke it is called the Gennesaret. But it is the same body of water in Israel. It is filled by the Jordan River which flows into it from the North and emptied by the Jordan River which flows eventually into the Dead Sea at the South.
Standing there at water’s edge you are looking at the lowest freshwater lake on Earth. It is 705 feet below sea level. It is 33 miles in circumference, 13 miles long, 8 miles wide and at one time had a maximum depth of 141 feet. Sadly because of years of drought the water level has dropped, and when we were there discussion had begun of a project to construct a desalination factory at the Mediterranean which would then pump water through a huge tunnel into the Sea of Galilee so as to save it.
Severe storms can occur on the Lake. Winds rushing eastward from the Mediterranean up and over the highlands of Jerusalem rush down onto the water and make it quite dangerous for boats. [In each of the Four Gospels, there is an account of Jesus calming a storm on the lake while the disciples are taking a boat ride.]
The time we were there, our little group boarded a boat in Capernaum. The boat was of course made for tourists, and was to resemble the fishing boat used by the disciples although this vessel was much larger accommodating some 30-40 people, with a diesel engine of course, no sails.
We climbed aboard and set out on a course to the Southeast. Our destination being a restaurant on the waterfront where we would dine upon “Saint Peter’s Fish”. Soon after we launched, the wind came up and the pilot decided the safest thing to do was to tack our course toward Tiberias on the Western edge and then turn and head the vessel straight across to the restaurant, wind at our back.
It was quite exciting. I spent most of the voyage standing at the very front of the boat holding on of course, similar to that scene in Titanic.
So, if you can picture all these things in your mind, you have the background scene of what the Gospel Storyteller Matthew had in mind as he relates the story (actually just a portion of the story) that we read this morning.
Let me, first, put it into context. Our story, depending upon which translation of the New Testament you are holding is called “Jesus begins his Ministry” or “The Calling of the First Disciples.” Jesus’ Ministry begins in Capernaum, and he calls first Peter and then Andrew, as you recall.
But, what comes before this and what follows after this portion of the 4th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel?
Before it is the story of Jesus being tempted in the Wilderness. And right thereafter and just before what you heard this morning is a sentence about the arrest of John the Baptist, whom Herod has thrown into prison. And then there is this remarkable verse as Jesus makes his way to Capernaum: “– Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’”
That is so remarkably close to the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist, that it is no mistake. Matthew wants to tell us that what John began, Jesus continues. It is a continuum of Good News. That is Matthew’s point in his writing. Jesus is not someone who just appears on the scene, he comes into the whole Story of God’s care for God’s people on this earth.
Then, after our story this morning, Jesus continues to call followers, namely James and John. And then there is a description of exactly what Jesus is doing – going into villages and synagogues, and teaching and healing. In short, the overwhelming act of absolute love, which is after all that to which followers of Jesus are called – absolute love!
Doing all this Jesus attracts huge crowds.
Now, if you were to turn around from standing on the edge of the water at Capernaum, walk back through the village, and off a bit to the west and climb up a hill, you would come to the Chapel of the Sermon on the Mount. It is built at the very top of the hill overlooking the village.
You can go inside of course, but you need to pass inspection by a Nun. And if you are a man wearing shorts you may be turned away; and if you are a woman whose shoulders are bare, you will be told in various languages in a stern voice “Cover!” Meaning that you have to wear a shawl or something so as not to expose your bare skin. And if you so choose you could grab from the pile of shawls outside the door of the chapel one of the “used and worn by other people” garments and thereby have access to this little church. The day we were there, most women so “uncovered” and “discovered” by the good Sister, just turned away.
I think the most significant part is not the chapel, but what it overlooks. Because, if you go outside the chapel and look down the hill a bit toward the West, you will see a natural amphitheatre.
Now since Sunday School I was taught that the people all sat on the ground at the foot of a hill and Jesus was on the top of the hill and talked to them, “Blessed are the poor –” etc.
But when I saw this natural amphitheatre, and I am not alone in this opinion, it occurred to me that what actually took place is that Jesus at the bottom and the people were sitting above him, scattered around this natural hollow in the hill. Just so they would be able to hear him, since his voice would rise up to them.
So here it is where Jesus begins.
Back at the shore of the Lake, he finds Peter and Andrew, two brothers. They are fishing by throwing nets into the water. He goes to them and says, Δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων. Actually he doesn’t say that, he said it in Aramaic, but Matthew wrote the story down in Greek. “Follow after me, and I will be able to make you fish for people.”
Remember Sunday School? The non-inclusive song we learned:
I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men; I will make you fishers of men, if you follow me.
I loved that song, even though I was not ever sure what it really meant.
If you have a copy of the Bible called The Message you have one of the greatest works of one of the best Biblical Scholars and Translators of our time, Eugene Peterson. Fluent in Hebrew and Greek, and at one time a Parish Pastor, he retired and taught in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for long time. And somewhere there he found time to finish this translation. When he fully retired, he and his wife moved to Montana and that is where he died a number of years ago. I have two letters that I cherish from Eugene, one telling me that he was working on another book, which he never finished; the earlier one telling me that he envied me because I was a Parish Pastor and what better following of Jesus could there be? What a gift.
This is how Peterson translates the verse: Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.
Isn’t that magnificent‽ Men and Women, not perch and bass. The only problem is that there are no perch and no bass in the Sea of Galilee. The most prevalent fish (upon which I have dined) is what is called a “Redbelly Tilapia” or Saint Peter’s Fish. There are also some wierd kind of sardines I hear. But mostly Tilapia. That’s the fish which Peter and Andrew and James and John were catching. And yes, I know, Pastor Peterson was making a point and it does indeed make a point.
Jesus summons them to a new vocation. In a sense he says, “Take a chance on me (ala ABBA the singing group), Take a chance on me, come with me, and God will change your life so that you can help change the lives of others.
Does it make sense? No. Not at all. But the Great Gospel Storyteller Matthew says that they did it, in fact the dropped their nets on the sand and just walked away and followed this one who would become for them Teacher and for the world and us Christos. They walked into a new kind of fishing, into a new life. And that, my brothers and sisters, for them, for you, for me, for all of us who take a chance on Jesus, that is what makes all the difference! So, let us. Let us follow and become those who cast our lives into the world and bring about justice, peace, understanding, hope and above all, Love. When we do that, when we fish for women and men, we speak the Good News by our words and by our actions, and then the world is healed. And let us all say: Amen.
Deo Gratias (+)
The Rev. Benjamin Larzelere III
Retired
(Portions of the text in bold are that which were included in the United Church of Santa Fe bulletin for this Sunday.)
Matthew 4.12-23
12Ἀκούσας δὲ ὅτι Ἰωάννης παρεδόθη ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν. 13καὶ καταλιπὼν τὴν Ναζαρὰ ἐλθὼν κατῴκησεν εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ τὴν παραθαλασσίαν ἐν ὁρίοις Ζαβουλὼν καὶ Νεφθαλίμ: 14ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ ῥηθὲν διὰ Ἠσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος, 15Γῆ Ζαβουλὼν καὶ γῆ Νεφθαλίμ, ὁδὸν θαλάσσης, πέραν τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν, 16ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει φῶς εἶδεν μέγα, καὶ τοῖς καθημένοις ἐν χώρᾳ καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου φῶς ἀνέτειλεν αὐτοῖς. 17Ἀπὸ τότε ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς κηρύσσειν καὶ λέγειν, Μετανοεῖτε, ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.
18Περιπατῶν δὲ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας εἶδεν δύο ἀδελφούς, Σίμωνα τὸν λεγόμενον Πέτρον καὶ Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, βάλλοντας ἀμφίβληστρον εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν: ἦσαν γὰρ ἁλιεῖς. 19καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς, Δεῦτε ὀπίσω μου, καὶ ποιήσω ὑμᾶς ἁλιεῖς ἀνθρώπων. 20οἱ δὲ εὐθέως ἀφέντες τὰ δίκτυα ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ.
21Καὶ προβὰς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς, Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ Ζεβεδαίου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα αὐτῶν: καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς. 22οἱ δὲ εὐθέως ἀφέντες τὸ πλοῖον καὶ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ.
23Καὶ περιῆγεν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ, διδάσκων ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς αὐτῶν καὶ κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς βασιλείας καὶ θεραπεύων πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν ἐν τῷ λαῷ.
Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee
12Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 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.’ 17From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
18As 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. 19And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21As 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. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. 23 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.
Nota(ble) Be(n)e 