Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, the saying goes,
but teach a man to fish and he eats for his whole life.
Teach a man who is a fisherman, we might say, and if you’re
Jesus, you make fishermen into fishers of men.
Disciples, apostles, crowds, healing, exorcisms and
especially preaching – the beginning of Jesus ministry as described in
Matthew’s Gospel is what is set before us today. It’s a natural Sunday to talk about the
doctrine of vocation. There’s plenty to talk about, and we will.
But before we consider the beginning of Christ’s ministry,
we can say a few words about the conclusion of service for a beloved worker
here at Messiah. Vicki Main has served as
director of music here for 18 years and retires today. Most of you know her, though some not as well
because she’s quite busy on Sunday mornings.
We have appreciated all Vicki’s kindness and dedication, her quiet and
humble service. If you are in one of the
choirs and got to know her even better, you can see her faith shine through. She’s a sinner, don’t get me wrong, like all
of us, and like all of us baptized and redeemed, called to be a disciple of
Christ and serve in various vocations.
But sometimes, for various reasons, those vocations end and new vocations
begin. As Vicki reaches retirement and
moves on to new things, we want to both thank her and wish her God’s richest
blessings. Well done, good and faithful
servant. And we know the Lord who
provides workers for his kingdom has been doing so from the beginning and will
continue to do so as he sees fit. And so
also we say, thanks be to God.
And now to our Gospel reading, where Jesus’ public ministry
begins. He has been baptized by John and
anointed by the Spirit. He has done his
time in the wilderness and defeated the satanic temptations. John is then arrested by Herod, and Jesus
comes forth and begins preaching in the northern region of Israel – near his
home in Galilee and around the city of Capernaum.
He preaches there, partly to fulfill the Old Testament
prophecies about the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, but also it seems because
his course would build and reach its final destination in the south, at
Jerusalem, where he would die.
The content of Jesus’s message was simple, “Repent, for the
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. In a way
he’s carrying on the message of John, but he is also bringing that message to
fulfillment. The kingdom – the reign of
God – the gracious kingly activity of the true king – it’s here, it’s at hand,
it has arrived in the very person of Jesus Christ himself. When Jesus preaches the Kingdom of Heaven is
at hand, he is preaching himself. He is
drawing people to God’s reign through himself.
He has come to be their king. And
of course, his kingdom is not of this world.
All the signs – the healing and casting out of demons, they
are signs of the Messiah – and they also draw great crowds. But you get the impression that the crowds
aren’t all in it for repentance and faith, but maybe to get something else out
of Jesus. Maybe they’ve got a different
agenda themselves.
So it is today. Many
come to the Christian church with their own agenda, looking for a church that
already preaches everything they want to hear and doesn’t challenge them with
anything difficult or uncomfortable. As
Paul says, they accumulate teachers who will scratch their itching ears. Or maybe people aren’t even looking for what
the church teaches, as long as the people there seem nice, or they have good
music, or a nice facility or whatever.
And while it’s important to be friendly and take care of the
building, and we certainly appreciate and support good church music – none of
that matters if we don’t preach the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All of that serves the central thing, of
hearing and believing the word, of sharing and confessing the word, giving
answer to the hope that is within us.
This is why we gather as a congregation, around Jesus Christ
and his gifts – because his Spirit calls us.
So the first and greatest vocation, or calling, is to faith. It is the call to repent for the kingdom is
at hand. It is the call to believe in
Jesus Christ and live. It is the calling
and vocation of all Christian people.
Repent and believe!
But having been called to faith, Christ also calls us to serve. Faith must exercise itself; it must bear its
fruits. And so these secondary vocations
are avenues to serve God by serving our neighbor. They are callings in which we don’t earn
salvation but in which we can do good works that God has already prepared for
us to walk in.
To those Galilean fishermen, Jesus would issue the call to
follow – and he would make them into apostles, a special office of foundational
authority as he built his church. They
would be eyewitnesses of all he said and did, and they would be sent even to
the ends of the earth to bear the message of repentance and faith in
Christ. John prepared the way before
Jesus, and the apostles would proclaim Jesus the way, the truth and the life.
And so the Lord who has called us to faith in our baptism
and by his word also calls each of us to serve in various ways, particular
vocations which do change throughout life.
We may hold many at the same time.
You may be a husband or wife, father or mother. All of us are a son or a daughter. You may be an employee or employer. A citizen.
A judge or a juror or a soldier.
Some of us are pastors, but all of us are hearers of the Word. Some of us are teachers and assist the
ministry of the church in various other callings.
It’s interesting that this passage comes not only on the day
of a church worker retiring, but also on the Sunday in which we elect and
re-elect leaders to fill various positions in the congregation. We continue to pray that God would raise up
workers for our common good, that he would provide us with the talents and
skills we need to do his work in this place.
And if you are tapped
on the shoulder and asked to serve here or there, please strongly consider it –
for God often works through others to call us to serve, even as Jesus called
his disciples who then went and appointed pastors in various places, and also
deacons to help in other functions. It’s nice, and even necessary to give from
your pocket to support your congregation – but the work we’ve been given to do
also requires hands at the plow, serving at tables, even on the mop bucket here
and there.
All our vocations – in whatever sphere of life we may look –
family, church, the public square, the office – all our callings and roles and
tasks find meaning in the Christ who fulfilled his blessed vocation. For from eternity the Father called the Son
to be the Lamb of God that bears the sins of the world. From the Garden at the fall into sin, God
already promised the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent. And even in his mother’s womb, now made
flesh, Jesus was called by that name – because his vocation is to save his
people from their sins.
His calling as savior was also a cup of suffering. To stand before mighty men of the world who
held the power of life or death – but only because it was given from
above. To stand silent before accusers,
making no defense, because really there is no defense for sin – and he was
there to bear that sin to its rightful place.
He was called to die. And so he
did.
And then God called him forth from the grave, not leaving
his Holy One to decay. He called him as
the firstborn of the dead, in whom many others will also rise. The final vocation, the final calling, will
be when he calls his people from the dust of death to a resurrection like
his. And when he calls us into our
eternal rest, to the heavenly courts, and to the light of his presence.
And so Christ, who perfectly fulfills his calling, now calls
you, again, by his Spirit, to repent and believe for in him the kingdom is at
hand. And he calls you also to service –
for faith shows itself in actions.
Caught in his net of grace, let us all follow him with zeal and fulfill
our vocations in love.
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