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Third Sunday in Epiphany
January 23, 2005 Sermon by Rev. Peggy E. Tuttle, Interim Rector

Today’s Psalmist writes, “Lord, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar.” This is a God who is near, who knows my every move, who knows what I think and believe; even before I speak the words, He knows what is on my lips.

Even distance does not separate us from the Lord, for there is no place, however distant, that God has not created. To God, darkness and light are the same. God is everywhere. God’s love is ever-present. And He will not let any one of us go.

Because God singled out the people of Israel from all the families of the earth, they were God’s people. The Lord showed the Israelites particular favor through their deliverance from Egypt, but they turned away from God. They made false agreements and began adopting the customs of surrounding peoples.

Through the Prophet Amos, God made the truth known. The lion roared to cause terror for everyone. God spoke to reveal the meaning of that roar. Amos had no choice but to proclaim it to the people.

As for the Apostle Paul, he, too, has a word of warning for the people in the Church in Corinth. There is division among the people. There are those who feel a deep loyalty to Paul while others want to follow the eloquent Apollos. These factions are fighting and dividing the church. For Paul, it doesn’t matter how many different groups there are, this is no place for division. There is only one discipleship—a baptism in the name of Christ.

As you recall, Jesus’ public ministry begins after his baptism by John in the River Jordan. Jesus is baptized; from there he goes into the wilderness where he is tempted “by the devil.” Jesus passes the tests of temptations and leaves Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee. That’s where we find him in today’s Gospel lesson.

As he walks down the beach he sees fishermen.

“Follow me,” Jesus says. And they do. Simon, who is later called Peter, and Andrew his brother, leave their nets and follow him. Then Jesus sees two other brothers, James and John and he calls them and they immediately drop what they are doing and follow Jesus.

They leave behind their boats but not the desire to seek the unknown of the sea. They leave behind their fishing nets but not the challenge of a risky business. They leave behind the crashing of waves, but not the ebb and flow of the water’s rocking rhythm.
What are they thinking, these fishermen, Simon and Peter?! Isn’t it risky enough to fish for a living? To contend with the weather, the seasons, the market prices for fish, the vagaries of the market which dictate which fish is the gourmet fish for today? Is it tuna, or tilapia, or salmon, or trout or walleye or Coho? (I know, I know, you purists out there are saying, “Hey, she’s mixing fresh water fish with salt water fish with farmed fish and Pacific Ocean fish with fish from the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. Well, I’m trying to make a point. Fishing for a living is quite different from the fishing people do for fun.)

Professional fishing is a dangerous business. Whether you take a cod boat out of Gloucester, Mass or a guided boat from Mexico, Florida, Alaska or Hawaii, it is an unpredictable business.

Professional fishermen are hearty. They are risk takers. They depend on the unknown and risk all they have for the sake of catching fish. Enough fish, the right kind of fish, healthy fish, fish that can last until they get back to port.

Maybe that’s why Jesus called Peter and Andrew and James and John. Jesus knew these men were hardy and capable. These were men who knew patience as they waited, yet, could spring into action when needed.

In the movie, “The Perfect Storm,” Billy Tyne is the captain of a fishing boat. He is highly competitive and has been badly stung by a string of poor outings. His crew is hardly back in port when he tells them he's going out again, even though it's October and the weather can turn ugly. It is 1991, and the "Andrea Gail" leaves Gloucester, Mass. and heads for the fishing grounds of the North Atlantic. Five crewman join him: young Bobby, newly in love; Murph, a devoted father recently divorced; Sully, a guy Murph despises; Bugsy, who's finally met a woman who likes him; and Alfred, a quiet Jamaican. They catch little, so they sail east. Two weeks later, an event takes place that had never occurred previously in recorded history. A confluence of weather conditions combines to form a killer storm in the North Atlantic. Tyne ignores the storm warnings behind him. Finally, the fish bite, but the ice machine fails. Should they head home through the storm of the century, or wait it out and lose their catch? And Billy Tyne’s sword-fishing boat is caught in this Perfect Storm.

Fearful, their women waited. Billy and his crew were hearty men, men of brute strength. The crew was committed to their captain and the people back home whom they loved.

They were professional fishermen. These were the kinds of men Jesus called as his disciples:

• Men who knew how to combat the perils of the sea, the changing winds and roiling seas.

• Men who could change course if needed.

• Men who had been tried.

• Men who knew failure and men who knew success.

Jesus called fishermen because what lay ahead of them was going to be rough waters, unpredictable winds and difficult sailing. They would be faced with life threatening choices and Jesus knew they had to be strong of character and body. And they were.
Living in Duluth, MN you know the perils of sea going vessels. You know the stories of sunken ships, ships lost in storms and in calm weather; people whose lives have been lost battling unpredictable waters. After the past two weeks of severely cold temperatures sprinkled with a few feet of snow, I have come to greatly appreciate the heartiness of Duluth residents. You are the kind of people Jesus looks at and says, “Come follow me.”

This is to be a year where we will follow where we are called. We will seek out where God is leading us. It is a time of transition, transition from the leadership style of Howard Anderson to the unknown.

What strikes me most about the Gospel of Matthew is that he writes, “Immediately they left”. They left whatever it was they were doing and they followed him. And traveling with them, Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the Gospels.
I am here to tell you that there is good news for the Church of St. Paul’s, as well. We will leave where we have been and follow where we are called. We will seek out where God is leading us. We will travel this way together, respecting each other, serving Christ in one another.

Our guide and teacher is God in Christ who passionately searches us out to know us and comes to know us in order to love and lead us. Faithfully, let us follow.