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| The Calling of Peter and Andrew, Duccio, 1308-1311 |
http://edgeofenclosure.org/epiphany3a.html https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.282.html
GOD’S IMPERIAL RULE : Right now or not yet?
I’ve been watching a lot of TV shows lately - old shows on DVDs - about hegemony, about rule, about domination, about empire. These shows are about events within the living memory of some of us - as Jesus’ life was to Matthew as he was writing his gospel. Two of them are: “Yellowstone” and “The Queen.” I’d say “the kingdom of heaven is like –” not this!
And I’ve watched two BBC series, about resistance to an oppressive overlord or invader, “Resistance” and “World on Fire,” set during the German invasions of Poland and France.
A friend of mine grew up within walking distance of Runnymede - the riverside meadow where King John agreed to the Magna Carta, only, oh, about eight centuries ago. That time is about as far distant from our present as the time of Isaiah was from the time of Jesus. Imagine if that kind of event seemed once again current news. Or imagine a land war in Europe - a World War Two type invasion by an oppressive hostile power, of a sovereign nation that it had invaded before.
The message of the gospel of Matthew (4:12-23) takes the prophetic message of Isaiah (9:1-4), and makes it personal, makes it immediate, makes past history - and future history? - present.
Isaiah was talking about great events of his time, back in 732 BCE, when Assyria, based in Damascus, was the overbearing regional power, that indeed drove an army right across Israel, through the Northern Territories known to Jesus and his hearers, seven and a half centuries later, as Galilee - or home: that is, right where they were standing.
And here they were again, the people of God, invaded and lorded over by a hostile power.
Right where they were standing, right where the events of Isaiah’s prophecy took place. Matthew tells us that “When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.” But Jesus’ move to Capernaum after John’s arrest was no retreat to safety, as it put him right where Herod Antipas ruled, the king whom John the Baptist had denounced, the king who had John arrested.
This would be like moving to an embattled region of Ukraine, as the Northern Territories of Naphthali and Zebulon, and Galilee, were occupied like Crimea and the Donbas provinces.
At the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus, in Capernaum, a small fishing village on the Sea of Galilee, says to his disciples, get ready, for the real ruler is coming. The one that makes all others subjects. In fact, it is already upon us: it’s here, right here, if you know how to look, how to act.
Later in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “teach us to pray”. And what he said can be translated this way: “Enact your will on earth as you have in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, SV)
You can see why they might be ready for that.
When we pray, we are not without hope. And here’s why:
God’s victory is already won. The main battle is over. What we are called to do are the ‘mopping-up operations’ as military veteran C. S. Lewis called them.
Bishop Weisenburger, in his remarks on Wednesday at the opening service of the week of prayer for Christian unity, quoted Christopher Hall, who compared our situation to that of the allies of World War Two after the storming of the beaches of Normandy. After June 6, 1944, the end of the war was assured. But work remained. It was not time to quit. There was much to do.
And our time, in the great struggle, the ongoing struggle, to bring to earth the kingdom that is in heaven, there is much to do. And we are called to take our place in that great work.
So we are called, but we are not alone. God is with us. In the struggle of life we can be sure that the light has come into the world, that God illuminates me and you, and that in that light we see life, and love, and hope. And we see a call, to follow him who is the light of all life.
Arise, shine, for your light has come, *
and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you.
For behold, darkness covers the land; *
deep gloom enshrouds the peoples.
But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will appear upon you.
(Isaiah 60:1-3)
How does he call us? How does he come to us?
“He comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old by the lakeside He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word, ‘Follow thou me,’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands, and to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship; and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.” (Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, 1906)
The call to discipleship goes out to two sets of brothers, to the rich young man (19:16-22), to a toll collector (9:9-13), to the women who followed him (27:55), to Joseph of Arimathea (27:59).
And it goes out to us: We are charged to go forth together in the one Spirit, with a common purpose: to bear the word and be the good news of Jesus Christ, in this time, in this place, to the people whom God has gathered here around us.
How shall we respond to God’s call? What will it look like in our time? What are the challenges facing us? How will the kingdom of heaven, of God, show in our lives, words, and deeds? How will we proclaim it, in our conduct to each other - Paul’s primary concern in today’s epistle - and how we are active in the society, and the created world, around us? We know that we are called, not to follow the literal footsteps of Jesus along the shore of Galilee, but to follow as the first disciples followed, with trust, with knowledge and the joy of discovery, that Jesus’ disciples are following the one true way, the one true ruler, and the one kingdom that is the one that lasts.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20, 21. BCP)
https://sermonoats.blogspot.com/2014/02/heart.html
- Isaiah 9:1-4
- 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
- Matthew 4:12-23
- Psalm 27:1, 5-13
- https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/surrey/runnymede-and-ankerwycke
- https://www.eastern.edu/christopher-hall
1 They cast their nets in Galilee
Just off the hills of brown;
Such happy, simple fisher-folk,
Before the Lord came down.
2 Contented, peaceful fishermen,
Before they ever knew
The peace of God that filled their hearts
Brimful, and broke them too.
3 Young John who trimmed the flapping sail,
Homeless, in Patmos died.
Peter, who hauled the teeming net,
Head down was crucified.
4 The peace of God, it is no peace,
But strife closed in the sod.
Yet, brothers, pray for but one thing--
The marvelous peace of God.
#661
“He comes to us as one unknown, without a name, as of old by the lakeside He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word, ‘Follow thou me,’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands, and to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship; and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is.” (Albert Schweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, 1906)
“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”― Thoughts in Solitude.
JRL+
