Matthew 4:12-23
January 27, 2008
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Most of us here in the course of our lifetime have received summons to serve on a jury. Since I have lived in Marin County, I have gotten two summon notices and in both cases, I was dismissed from appearing to serve. When we receive these requests to participate in our civic responsibilities, many of us treat them with disdain. We are so busy and overly scheduled out that we have no time to serve on a jury. We hope that when it’s time to phone in the night before that we would be excused.
Every Sunday, I am amazed and impressed that when we begin the worship service, we have people sitting here in the sanctuary to worship. I’m afraid to say that in many churches around the country, this would not be the case. We didn’t send out one of those computer-generated summons to come to worship, but nevertheless, you are here.
For my tenth year serving as your pastor, I was reflecting on how I got here. I remembered when I was approaching my 20 years of denominational ministry, I thought about completing one ministry and becoming open to God’s leading for another one. When I encountered your former senior pastor in Valley Forge interviewing for a new position, my heart sank and I knew that maybe God was opening a door for me to walk through. That’s how I got sent to be your pastor.
Now, I don’t know how you got to church this morning, what mode of transportation brought you here. Did you come by yourself, or were others with you? None of this really matters much because all of us are Christians, disciples of Jesus, so in a sense we all got here the same way. We have been summoned to appear this morning.
Moses was hiding in Midian (Ex. 3). He killed a man back in Egypt and he’s hiding out, working for his father-in-law, a priest of Midian who does a little sheep farming on the side to augment his ministerial income. Suddenly, a bush bursts into flame. A voice says, “I am the Lord, your God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I have heard the cry of my people. I have seen their suffering. I have come down to deliver them.”
Even though Moses had no theological or oratorical gifts or training, even though he was scared to death of the mighty Pharaoh, he went, reluctantly. Who would call a tongue-tied murderer to do a prophet’s work? God summoned Moses.
Little boy Samuel was asleep in the middle of the night (1 Sam. 3). The child hears his named called. Called three times before the child gets the point. Who would call a child to do a grown-up’s work? “The house of Eli will be cast down and the voice of God will be spoken to a new generation,” says the voice. God summoned young Samuel.
Young adult Isaiah (Isa. 6) didn’t much like to do God’s work. Then, without warning, the heavens open, there’s a vision, a voice, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” Young Isaiah says, “Not me! “I’ve got some baggage in my past. I have done some things and said some things that I shouldn’t have.”
The voice says, “Perfect. Just the sort of truth-teller my people deserve.” God summoned young Isaiah.
God Puts Us Here
Many of you think that you are here because you chose to be here, or your mother made you feel guilty so you got dressed and came to church. No. You are here because God put you here, in this faith, walking this way, in this ministry. You are here because God said to you, in some way or another, “I summon you to appear.” And you simply said, “Yes.”
In Matthew 4 that we read this morning, Jesus calls his disciples together. One thing that fascinates me about this account of calling is that there is no hint of any prior encounters with Jesus, any preparatory work for the call, nor any psychological preconditions. Jesus didn’t have any application forms nor did he set up face to face interviews.
From the disciples’ point of view, they were not necessarily looking for something either. They were not on a journey toward greater fulfillment in life or any such psychological goals. They were simply there doing what they always had done—fishing.
Then Jesus intrudes, calls them, reaches toward them, and demands that they walk with him on his journey. He saw some men bending over their nets in the boat and says, “Follow me!” And they did. Jesus summoned them to follow him. He took them places where they would have never gone by themselves.
When I have the opportunity to meet with seminarians, sometimes one of them would ask, “How did you get here?” “How on earth did you become a minister?”
I tell them when I was only a junior high youth, the assistant pastor of our church in Boston was arrested in the South during the Civil Rights Movement. He was beaten by the police and we as a church raised bail money to set him free. I was forever affected by this act of civil disobedience based on our faith that Jesus is our liberator of our unjust laws against people of color. I felt that God was summoning me to act in faith too.
When I was in high school, my home church gave me a paid job of $10 a week to ride a yellow school bus around the streets of Boston to pick up children and students for Sunday school. My title of being the “Church School Developer” was printed on the church bulletin. As I look back across the many years, God was summoning me to serve even then.
It’s hard for me to believe that it’s already been 10 years since I was first called to serve as your senior pastor in 1998. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when you showed interest in my candidacy to be your pastor. I had never pastored before. I had never helped to plant a new church before. I had never overseen a renovation project before. I had never raised any capital fund campaign before. I had never done many things before as far as running a church. I had no idea of what I was getting myself into! But this is my “How on earth did you become a minister?” question. But today, I know fully in my heart that God put me here—he summoned me to serve at FCBC!
Sometimes in popular American evangelical Christianity, we get this wrong. We say, “Since I took Jesus into my heart…” or “Since I gave my life to Jesus…” or “Since I decided to follow Jesus…” That’s not the whole story! The story of Moses, Samuel, Mary, Paul, Peter, the disciples, you and me is that you don’t take Jesus anywhere—he takes you places. He summons you and you follow.
You can’t “give your life to Christ.” He takes it! It’s not that important that you decided to follow Christ. The Bible says that in Jesus Christ, God has decided for you! God summons you to serve!
Everyone is here because you got put here. For some of you, it was dramatic and life-changing, for others it was a lifetime of quiet leading and coaxing. For every last one of us, God reached in, grabbed us and summons us to serve Jesus Christ.
Follow Jesus
I was told that when I visit Galilee this summer, there would be a boat that might have belonged to Andrew and Peter, or perhaps the Zebedee family.
In one of the most remarkable archaeological finds anywhere in the Holy Land, a boat was found sticking out of the mud one summer when the level of the Sea of Galilee dropped dramatically in a period of dry weather. With great care it was lifted clear of the sea bottom, cleaned and preserved. Now, in a special exhibit, millions of visitors can see the sort of boat Jesus’ first followers used for fishing. It has been carbon-dated to exactly the period of Jesus’ life.
The boat is a vivid reminder of the day-to-day existence of his followers—and of what it cost them to give it all up and follow Jesus. They were, to today’s language, small businessmen, working families not for huge profits but to make enough to live on and have a little leftover. Fish were plentiful and there were good markets. In a cosmopolitan area, with soldiers, wayfarers, pilgrims, and peddlers coming and going, as well as the local population, people would always want what they were selling. But it was hard work, and sometimes dangerous. Their lives were modestly secure, but hardly luxurious.
So why did they give it all up to follow a wandering preacher? The same question faces people like us today. Why did this person give up a promising architectural career to become a preacher, throwing away a lifetime of high earnings for the insecurity and poverty of pastoring and teaching in a church?
Why did that person abandon her remarkable gifts as a singer in order to study theology and get ordained? Why did this person over there become a teacher, that one a prison chaplain, this one a seminary professor, that one a missionary? These are more obvious callings of Christian vocations.
But why do Christians in the millions from all walks of life regularly give up lifestyles and practices that look attractive and lucrative in order to maintain honesty, integrity, faith, hope, and love? Why are you here?
The answer can only be in Jesus himself. When we meet Jesus Christ, we are astonished by his presence and his love. He forgives our sins and sometimes we are turned completely around. Jesus has a way of getting through to us and whatever we are engaged with—whatever nets we are mending or fish we are catching—somehow we meet Jesus and he summons us to follow.
On the Move
It is no coincidence that all the Gospels depict Jesus as we meet him today as always on a journey, always on the move. It’s rare that Jesus ever sits down and rests somewhere. He walked along a road and sees some men working on their nets and calls out to them to follow him. As a church, we are called to be on the move.
Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo tell a parable of a boring, little town that decided to hold a foot race. They were not on the move. On the appointed day, the runners showed up in all their athletic finery. The crowds gathered. But then, something very strange happened.
The runners took a step or two or three across the starting line, and then abruptly stopped. One man fell on his knees, crying, “I have crossed the starting line! This is the happiest day of my life! He repeated this again and again, and even began singing a song about how happy this day was for him.
Another woman started jumping for joy. “Yes!” she shouted, raising her fist in the air. “I am a race-runner! I am finally a race-runner!” She ran around jumping and dancing, getting and giving high-fives to others who shared her joy at being in the race.
Several people formed a circle and prayed, quietly thanking God for the privilege of crossing the starting line, and thanking God that they were not like the skeptics who didn’t come dressed for the race.
The spectators were baffled by this strange behavior, but finally one observer turned to a neighbor and suggested that maybe they ought to get into the race. And so they did. Many others joined them.
Soon many were kicking off their dress shoes, slipping off their jackets, throwing all this unneeded clothing on the grass. And they ran—past the praying huddles and past the crying individuals and past the jumping high-fivers. And they found hope and joy in every step, and they grew stronger with every mile and hill. To their surprise, the path never ended—because in this race, there was no finish line.
Jesus calls us to follow him and we know that our race of discipleship is ongoing and life-long. With Jesus on the move, we are on the move too. He summons us to serve and if there’s a finish line, it’s when the kingdom of God comes on earth as it is already in heaven.
Summoning You
I may be called to be a minister and serve as your senior pastor. That’s my call; it’s the way that God has put me here. I was summoned and after saying “Yes,” God has done the rest.
Jesus’ call to each of us begins not with what he knows, but with what we know. It begins not with what he does best, but with what we do best.
Follow me, you fishing-people, and I will make you fish for people. Before we hear a word about what’s involved in this following, he reassures us that we can do it, because it is not so different from what we have already done.
Follow me, you computer programmers, and I will make you program creative ways for people to come to church!
Follow me, you construction builders, and I will make you builders of God’s house!
Follow me, you electricians, and I will have you electrify and energize your worship times!
Follow me, you accountants, and I will make you count the many blessings that God has given to us!
Follow me, you bankers and tellers, and I will make you bank in the value of human life!
Follow me, you physicians and nurses, and I will make you heal the sick and the diseased so that God’s people will be well!
Follow me, you engineers, and I will make you engineer a safe and livable world!
Follow me, you seamstresses and tailors, and I will make you sew our lives together for wholeness as well as our garments!
Follow me, you cooks and chefs and butchers and bakers, and I will make you season and leaven and serve and share more than food!
Follow me, you teachers and school administrators, and I will make you teach the Good News of God’s love and mercy.
Follow me, you junior high and senior high youth, and I will make you talk about the love of Christ with your friends on your cell phones.
Follow me, all of you, Jesus said, and I will make you my disciples. Jesus just issued you a summon to serve.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus, we weren’t looking for you, only to discover that you were looking for us. We were in no way reaching out to you, only to be surprised that you were reaching toward us. You came to us, tracked us down, sought us out, called us out, and summoned us to serve. Lord, give us what we need to be faithful followers of your call. Amen.