January 22, 2012 - Dee Tucker, Senior Warden

I grew up fishing in Missouri in the creeks, the rivers, the man made lakes with my father, Jim. He loved fishing and patiently taught his two daughters to love the outdoors and the thrill of catching a fish. We started with poles and worms which we dug ourselves before setting out for a day on the bank of a creek. How exciting to learn how to put the worm on the hook, to watch the cork bob in the water and just when to jerk the line to set the hook to pull your very own perch to cook for dinner.

We never had a boat of our own, yet, we rented one….and with the 18 horsepower Evinrude motor we spent the day on the lake casting, trolling and enjoying the beauty of the Ozarks. There is nothing better than lying on the seat of a boat and watching the clouds float by…once in a way trailing your toes in the water.

Today we hear in Mark what the urgent call of the kingdom looks like. Jesus, walking along the Sea of Galilee, sees the two brothers Simon and Andrew, fishermen, casting their nets in the sea. He calls them to follow, and immediately, in obedience, they leave their nets and follow him. The same happens with James and John.

Are you like me when you hear this passage about Simon and Andrew? To me it is striking that these four men would drop everything to follow Jesus if they did not already know him. Indeed, some scholars have speculated that they actually knew Jesus, or knew about him, before he called them into discipleship. Whatever the history of the relationship between Jesus and these four men may have been, however, the story gives effective expression to the urgency of the call to discipleship.

I know my father would drop everything to follow someone that would say anything about fishing. But what if we have been missing something critical in this passage? What if Jesus never intended fishing to become our main metaphor for evangelism? What if Jesus was only inviting Simon and Andrew to be “fishers of men” because that’s who they were — fishermen? Think about it. If Simon and Andrew had been carpenters, would Jesus have invited them to be “fishers of men” or might he have invited them to follow him and learn how to be “builders of the God Kingdom?” If they had been physicians, mightn’t Jesus have invited them to follow him and learn how to be “healers of people’s souls?” I think Jesus invited Simon and Andrew to follow him and join him in God’s work in a way that fit for them!

Now, if this is true, it suggests that Jesus calls us to follow him and join in God’s work in ways that fit who we are, too. We don’t have to become something or someone that we aren’t in order to follow him. Instead, he frees us to bring the best of who we are to him and offer it up as we join him in God’s work in the world. Whether you are a lawyer or retired, a nurse or stay-at-home parent, a teacher or supervisor, Jesus calls you to use the talents and strengths and knowledge and passions that we have to make the contribution to God’s kingdom that you alone can make. Imagine the freedom and purpose Jesus offers each of us by inviting us to join Jim by being who we are and investing this in blessing others?

Even when you are a fisherman you have many ways to choose to fish. As I mentioned earlier you can dig a worm, take a pole and sit on a riverbank. When we had a small boat on the river we tied ‘limb lines’ – a line with a hook and a worm from a tree that was arching over the water….then float to the next tree limb. And many, many times we heard a fish ‘hit’ the limb we just left! What a sound! Another way we fished was to ‘troll’ which means you have a rod with lots and lots of line – and you put a lure with a double hook, the line is let out many, many feet and you wait for a fish to ‘strike’, then you jerk to set the hook and you reel him in – patiently, as he has several tricks to throw off that hook – one by jumping out of the water…a spectacle sight! There are many, many more ways to fish…just as there are ways to do the work of God.

I am serving this year as Senior Warden for the Messiah vestry. If you are visiting today, that is like the President of the Board. As in all Episcopal parishes, the Vestry is the elected governing body of the parish. In addition to the Rector, the Vestry is composed of the senior and junior wardens and ten other members who oversee the work of the church. Today, following this service, our parish will conduct their annual meeting. We will hear reports from the Every Member Canvass/Stewardship campaign, the budget report of 2011 and the budget prepared for 2012, an update on the rector search process, reports from outreach activities and everyone will have an opportunity to participate and ask questions.

As we continue to journey thru transition – learning from Father Brad for most of 2011, praying for the Holy Spirit to join our process, learning to work with an interim rector - your elected vestry has been on a steep learning curve….realizing that saying goodbye to four vestry members who had worked and learned together would not serve Messiah well. Each vestry member made a loving decision last fall to extend their 3 year terms to 4 years. You, the church, voted to amend the by-laws in September at a specially called meeting. I personally thank each vestry member for their hours and hours of focus and intention in the work of Messiah. We, at Messiah, will continue the work of being ‘fishers of men.’

So, if Jesus calls us to invest who we are in serving others, it also means we can (and should!) quit focusing on what we don’t have or who we aren’t as an excuse for not ministering to others. I don’t have to be as rich as someone else, or as smart or as “successful” or as educated or as able to speak in public or as able to teach as anyone else in order to minister. In fact, focusing on what I don’t have is really just a way of avoiding my responsibility for making my contribution to what God is doing in the world. God has already equipped me to make the contribution that God wants me to make. Sure, I grow and learn as I follow Jesus, but that doesn’t mean I’m trying to be something or someone I’m not. It means that as I follow Jesus, as I offer up to him all that I am, I become more fully who God created me to be.

What if we quit making excuses and did these three things as disciples: “Be who you are. See what you have. Do what matters.” How would that free you from focusing on what you don’t have and free you to be a blessing to others?

Here at Messiah we have a pretty good track record of responding to the needs of others – we take food when someone is sick, we pray for each other, we respond with cash for advent giving project, the auction, coffee hour and numerous other needs, we support the Noah project and Hands Together, we bring food for Catholic Worker. Is this enough? Have we grown complacent? Patting ourselves on the back with our goodness? Are there still ‘fish’ waiting for us?

What if every person here heard Jesus inviting her or him to follow him being who they were and investing their amazing gifts and talents, skills and experiences, passions and knowledge to service others in His name? Imagine the impact that could have on people’s lives and on our community?

Jesus is walking along your shoreline today and calling you. “Be who you are. See what you have. Do what matters.”