“People of Thunder” a sermon based on Matthew 4:12-23 January 22, 2017

Matthew 4:12-23
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in Galilee, 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 sea for they were fishermen. 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.

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In December of 1955, Rose Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to move to the back of a city bus. Leaders in the African-American community organized a city-wide transportation boycott, and turned to the young black pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr. as the leader. King was just 26 years old, and was torn by issues of call - to ministry, to discipleship. God called him to a vastly different ministry - and the rest is history. He became President of a new organisation called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He organised the great civil rights marches. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His call spelled the end of his life, figuratively and literally speaking.

January is Black History month, and in particular we remember the call of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday was January 15, 1929. Had he lived, he would have been 83 now.

I’m going to take us this morning to a story we didn’t actually read, but one we know – Jonah, and the city of Nineveh.  God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah says “no thanks”, takes a ship, and ends up as fish food – and in the dank, dark cavern of the fish’s belly he prays a doleful lament ("God-get-me-out-of-this-jam, selah"). Up to this point, Jonah’s trip has been a real “downer”. If you follow the Hebrew language, the writer uses the word for "down" to describe Jonah’s journey. Jonah goes . . .
Down to Joppa, down to the ship, down to the innards of the vessel, down into the sea, down into the belly of the fish, down to the land of death. Then the winds of destiny change. Jonah is now “up” on the beach, having just been dropped off by Moby Dick. And he goes up to Nineveh.
How would you feel if this happened next Sunday at church? Call to worship, hymns, and when when it comes time for the sermon, I tell you “In forty days this church will collapse to the ground. May God add his blessing to these words." Well, that is exactly how this reluctant prophet addresses the people of Nineveh. "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed. The End." The end? What do you mean, "the end?" What’s the rest of the sermon?

We don’t actually know where this brief message came from - God says go and give the message that I will tell you - but nowhere in the entire story does God actually give that particular message to Jonah.

We have an interesting insight here that will shed even more light on this revival. The writer carefully uses the word, "Elohim" as the word for "God." Elohim is a generic word, the kind of word you use when you’re not too familiar with God. The people have never heard of Yahweh, but even before all the facts are in, they turn their lives upside down. To the last citizen, the people of Nineveh repent at once. They ‘hear’.

A couple of thousand years later, Jesus stands before the religious leaders - the equivalent of bishops, and Popes, and says "The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But someone greater than Jonah is here, and yet you refuse to repent."

Matthew tells us these first disciples immediately left everything to follow. With Matthew, everything happened immediately. What about James and John? Were they tired of cleaning fish and mending nets? Did they want to get out and see some more of the world? Did Zebedee go along with this, losing two thirds of the family fishing business?

James and John were first were disciples of John the Baptist first - they both held prominent positions among the Apostles. Jesus referred to the pair collectively as "Boanerges" (translated "sons of thunder") because of their temperament and impulsiveness. In the Gospel of Luke they wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan town for not being welcoming to them, but they were rebuked by Jesus. There was some sibling rivalry there, wondering who might be the greatest among the disciples, insisting one could be seated at the left and right of him in the Realm; and when Jesus questioned whether they could do what he was about to do, they very confidently answered: “We can”

Two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "Immediately they left their nets." Peter and Andrew, James and John just drop everything and follow after Jesus on the whim of an invitation—given in fewer than twelve words? If we lock ourselves into thinking about this in terms of measurable time – chronos – I think we miss the point of the story. But what if Jesus wasn’t talking about ‘chronos’ time – as in chronology, calendar, clock, aging. The words were “The realm of God has come near.” ‘Kairos’ time, or God’s time.  Jonah didn’t want to do things on God’s time, even though in his heart he knew. Jonah ran. He tried to escape from what he knew in his heart.

Maybe the fishermen recognised at some deep spiritual level that this was Kairos time. The Gospel of Mark records Jesus using the word "kairos”. God’s time. So when he says “Follow me” he is saying “turn away from what you have been,and embrace this good news." Kairos time is God’s time - that is, the right time, a time in which your whole life is caught up in a moment, when everything crystallizes, and everything hinges on whether you say yes or no.

I wonder if, to each of us, there comes a time that is Kairos time - a time when we have to stand , over and against, saying yes to God’s time even if it means personal risk? Martin Luther King, the leaders of the civil rights movement, recognised that beyond a call to ministry, God called them into an unknown future. The civil rights movement was Kairos time - God’s time. The whole change from legal slavery to freedom, voting rights, education rights – came about because people of faith and good will recognised that they were facing a ‘Kairos’ time – God’s time.

This morning’s story is one of invitation - to open our lives to God’s time – despite what else we might have to do. This morning God stands among us calling out to us, and calling us out. This is about listening to your heart, listening for God, listening to God without having all the facts, without knowing, without being able to plan everything. It’s about being the “people of thunder” – the stubborn ones, the seemingly impulsive ones.

A colleague of mine, Tim Haut, is a Congregational minister in Deep River, Connecticut. Tim is a poet. Hear his words:

CALLED

We are called
to leave behind our solitary searching,
to put on that single garment of destiny -
the uniform of faithfulness -
worn by creatures great and small,
old and forgotten,
young and eager,
broken and bewildered,
spirited and set on fire:
sisters and brothers who share not race or tongue,
but whose hearts are claimed by love,
signed by a cross.
Our future is together, arm in arm,
finding healing as we heal,
knowing freedom in our forgiving.
We are the strangest travellers:
seeking no reward at trail's end,
As long as we know the joy of journeying with him.
We are called
Disciples.
We are called His.

Sources:
1. “God Wants to Save Whom?” a sermon based on Jonah 3:1-5, 10 by Rev. Thomas Hall
2. “Fishers of People” a sermon based on Mark 1:14-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
3. Poem by Timothy Haut, Deep River, Connecticut. January 18, 2009.

4. The Brothers of Thunder by Rev. Frank Schaefer