Epiphany 3, 01/22/2017

Sermon on Matthew 4:12-23, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

-Jesus Begins His Ministry-

“Now when he (Jesus) heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the seas, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles – the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.’

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

-Jesus Calls the First Disciples-

“While walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow, and I will make you fishers of men.’ “Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

[English Standard Version]

“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with the words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” [1 Corinthians 1.17-18]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

Over the hundreds of its years the Church has been accustomed to striding into the Epiphany season from the powerful deepness of Christ Mass’ Twelve Days. The historic connections have tended to be smooth as we were led to see how the Son’s Incarnation impacts the life of this world and its people. This year, however, such striding and connecting appears to be upended. Driving this conclusion is the current messiness of this world’s life. The world still attempts to put on an attractive façade to help us muddle through from one day to the next, but its messiness is quite obvious.

The current reality of this mess did not emerge in the last year or two nor are its causes that clearly defined (there is so much activity that it is bewildering to sort it out). But, apart from the mess, we have noticed over the past couple of generations how people are sinking more and more into their own lives. The realities outside of them have become less and less important. The realities inside of them have grown larger and larger. This sinking has created dispiriting cycles for us trying to live with these realities. We have been hammered economically, physically, politically and spiritually. The culture has become coarse and degraded. The realities that used to connect us with others have vaporized.

What are the Lord’s people to do, especially since we are so accustomed to moving from the Incarnation to the world? While we may be tempted to turn to the world’s messes first and attempt to do something about them, it is much more useful to peer deeply into the Gospel for this Sunday. There are two distinct sections in the passage that are mysteriously and wonderfully connected. First, there are the world’s realities as Jesus’ ministry gets underway; second, there is a refreshing directness as Jesus begins to select those who will follow him.

Digging into the first section, we find out that today’s messiness in the world is not a new phenomenon. The messiness then matches the messiness today. The passage opens with the man who had served as Jesus’ Messianic announcer being arrested and being positioned for the end of his life in a gruesome way. It continues with Jesus’ withdrawal into the region of Galilee. This region is highly significant. It is the area where his ministry will get underway and it is an area where the world’s realities are dark. Jesus settles in Capernaum, a lakeside town that borders Zebulun and Naphtali, two regions named after the tenth and sixth sons of Jacob, the patriarch of Israel.

These regions were not only home to descendants of two of Jacob’s sons, but Zebulun (in particular) was also viewed as inferior because his descendants had mixed in too easily and quickly with the Canaanites who had been living there. Most of those descendants had disappeared hundreds of years earlier when all ten of Israel’s northern tribes were hauled off into exile by the Assyrians and never returned. Consequently, these regions were considered to be in deep darkness and the shadows of death.

Jesus’ move into this region fulfills the words of Isaiah where the prophet described the people in those lands as living in such darkness and shadow. Such a disappearance haunted the Lord’s Old Testament people. It left that area blasted and empty with its inhabitants trying to make their way through life from one year to the next.

What is startling in this quote from Isaiah is that the prophet asserts that these individuals are now seeing the dawn of a great Light! This is occurring because Jesus has chosen to begin his ministry in that area! The area is a mess but this is the place from where our Lord will proclaim his incarnate Life, demonstrating and teaching it to the people who live there!

Further, Jesus initiates his ministry with an overwhelming proclamation – Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand! He is calling on people to be yanked out of their own lives and to be imbedded in the Life he is bringing to this world. This Life is beginning to make its appearance but it will not fully emerge until his ministry concludes in the crucifixion and resurrection!

The passage then brings us into its second section. Here our Lord crosses the lives of two sets of brothers – Simon and Andrew along with James and John. He calls on them to follow and they do! Jesus then goes throughout the region of Galilee teaching in the area’s synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of his kingdom, and curing all kinds of diseases and sicknesses among the inhabitants. On these people the great Light of his Life is dawning!

This passage from Matthew startles the Church’s life today and gives the Lord’s people a fresh perspective as they attempt to stride from the Incarnation to the world’s life during this Epiphany season. In the process it gives the Lord’s parish communities a renewed template for their life and work. While our attention can be grabbed initially by the world’s messiness, we recognize that, because of the Incarnation, our Lord does not leave us wallowing in it. His Life is still able to make its way into the world and rescue the people who are trapped by its unrelenting messes!

The template from today’s passage begins with the observation that the world’s messes are generated and maintained by the self-centering that is instinctive to our lives. While we are quick to see how that centering displays itself in our lives and in the lives of others, we also notice that, when those same lives are crossed by Lord God in Baptism, we are yanked from such centering and given a new one in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This rescue is unique and definitive.

The Lord’s rescue of us from the world’s life then shapes and directs the work of his parish communities. First, it reminds us that there are many people out there who are aching to be freed of the self-centering that has engulfed and trapped them on a permanent basis. Second, we work from the Church’s history and traditions (including its Old Testament background). We do not have to come up with new approaches and insights. Instead, we become more fully acquainted with the Lord’s ways that have been passed on to us.

Third, we are turned loose to proclaim the Good News of the Trinity’s Life. We do not have to get permanently disturbed by the messes swirling around and through us, whether they exist in the world or in the Church. Through the liveliness of his Scriptures and Sacraments, the Lord enables us to sort through such disturbances while grounding us firmly in his breaking and restoring Life.

Fourth, the rescuing, sustaining and creating activity of the Holy Trinity spills over into all the illnesses of this world. While the unholy of sin, Satan and death is determined to have everything end in death, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are determined to have everything end in Life, their Life! The gift of health that pours from them not only surfaces in this life, but also in the Life to come.

With this template from today’s Gospel, the Lord’s people can continue to stride from Christ Mass’ Twelve Days into the Epiphany season. We do not have to get bogged down in the messes of this world. Instead, we can see the Lord’s Life crossing our own, recognizing that he has pulled us away from ourselves and imbedded us in the Life that streams from him, his Father and his Spirit. It is on the trapped and burdened people of this world that the Light of the Son’s Incarnation shines!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts

and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr Carl A. Voges
Columbia, SC
E-Mail: carl.voges4@icloud.com

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