January 22, 2023 - Third Sunday after Epiphany - Fishing for People, Following the Way of God

God is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? God can save us from fear and anxiety. I needed to hear this Pastor Steve focused his sermon on this aspect as he preached on the Gospel where Jesus called four fisherman to be disciples and they followed immediately. 

Again and again I am struck with how different the first century life I imagine is from what I read about when I research it. In the Roman Empire I read about at the time of Jesus, fishing was a miserable job. Cicero wrote fishing was the "most shameful occupation".  

The disciples were not leaving successful, independent careers as we might think of today's fisherman. Their lives were lived more in a state of indentured servitude. Fisherman, shepherds, children, tax collectors, the sick - Jesus was drawn to and attracted to those who were not valued by the society around him. They were the low of lowlifes. Church tends to idealize those described in the Bible. We also sanitize the metaphors. We imagine sheep as fluffy, clean balls of cotton rather than real sheep with tangled wool. We think of Jesus in a pure white robe which stands in sharp contrast to what would be the reality of an itinerant preacher's garb.  

When Jesus calls the disciples to fish for people the full import of the future before them becomes much cleared to me. The reality of the life, the effort and the ambiguity they must have experienced at times stirs and excites my imagination. 

God is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Should I fear the people my society teaches should be feared? Do I really think of the crucifixion of Jesus - the crucifixion of God - as a scandal? Would I have even feared the people that followed Jesus at that time? As I think on these things the reality of the life Jesus led fills me with hope and helps me reach this new perspective of accepting what it means to be the body of Christ. And what it means to be a sheep following my shepherd. The strength of being a fisher of people becomes overwhelming. 

Today Pastor Susan Granata, a past interim pastor for Creator and a co-composer of the "Call Us Home" liturgy worshiped with us. I am so grateful for all those who have contributed to the musical richness that contributes to the inspiring tapestry of worship music that is part of the tradition that Creator celebrates as we sing that tapestry together.