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Have Sensed the Nearness of the Kingdom?

The Reverend Canon Beth Knowlton
January 27, 2008
The Cathedral of St. Philip
8:45 & 11:15 am
Third Sunday Following the Epiphany
Matthew 4:12-23

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 

Frankly this is a clarion call that few of us would hope to be the first thing we hear before we’ve had our first cup of coffee.  Lately we’ve heard these words from John the Baptist and now from Jesus.  Of all the calls to new life and faith, this “good news” is one of the most loaded.  We have different reactions to what constitutes repentance.  And we suffer from an enormous lack of clarity about the kingdom of heaven. 

Imagine for a minute that as you approached the Cathedral this morning, someone shouted this to you across the parking lot.  Maybe instead of this language, they selected the version from the Cotton Patch Gospels and shouted, “Reshape your lives, for God’s new order of the Spirit is confronting you.”  A little more palatable, but what would you do?  Hurry along a little faster? 

What do you imagine that person would look like? Disheveled? Dirty?  A little wild in the eyes?  What if they were dressed in a suit from Brooks Brothers, drove a luxury car, and had perfect teeth?  What if it was one of the clergy here fully decked out in vestments?

While our responses would vary, there is one scenario I believe to be the most unlikely.  If one of us responded to this call by running down the street after the proclaimer, leaving us staring after them, there is one thing we are very unlikely to say.  We would not say, “Isn’t it wonderful?  Joe or Suzy finally found Jesus!”

No, in all likelihood it would be a contest to see which of us could punch 9-1-1 into our cell phones fast enough to rescue poor Joe or Suzy from themselves or the grasp of a new cultic leader.

Which is why our gospel text for today is so difficult to grasp.  Or perhaps so easy to distance ourselves from.  What on earth do we have to do with Simon Peter, Andrew, James, or John?  How can we possibly imagine a call like that directed to us here, in Buckhead, which would frankly have any credibility to it?

It is not unlike the reaction many of us may have to wisdom handed down from the desert fathers and mothers.  Yes, they have said some wise things, but how many of us really plan to go settle in an isolated cave for the next few decades. But to distance ourselves from those we see as more holy than ourselves is nothing new.  In the last days of Egyptian Abba Paphnutios, he entreated God to show him a vision of those who were like him on the earth.  God showed this devout monk a street musician who had been a thief, the busy headman of a local village, and a wealthy Alexandrine merchant.  Before he died the Abba told his fellow monks “in every condition of human life there are souls that please God and have their hidden deeds wherein He takes delight.” But it is still difficult.

This is frankly the gift of poor father Zebedee in this passage.  If all we saw were disciples running forth, we might never imagine this gospel had anything to do for us.  It could remain a nice historical recounting of how the followers of Jesus were rounded up.  Inspiring perhaps, but not terribly relevant.

Very few of us can imagine dropping everything and immediately changing the course of our life in one quick motion.  It is a lot easier to think about how Zebedee might have felt as he watched the backs of his sons as they left.  I mean we have mortgages to pay, loved ones to care for, obligations we must fulfill.  And we can probably all remember a time when we’ve been left holding the bag, or net as it may be.  Yes, it is easier to see ourselves as the one called to keep mending nets. 

And the odds certainly seem to be in our favor.  If only 12 were called of all the people Jesus encountered, most of us in fact are called to be the net menders.  Not an easy task, but it has the tangibility of knot tying and a pattern to follow. 

So what does Zebedee have to teach to those of us left back in the boat?  The text is frankly not a lot of help.  How do we imagine he responded?  Did he shout after his boys?  Was he angry?  Maybe relieved...we don’t know whether they were really any good at fishing.  There might have been other children back at home that he was trying to figure out how to place in the family business.

But maybe he wasn’t angry or relieved. Maybe he was so spiritually mature that he was able to immediately rejoice in their decision.  Maybe Zebedee is a model for how to let go of things we are attached to.  So, we should strive to not be bitter if we find ourselves suddenly responsible for a shared task.  Our goal can at least be to be the best Zebedee we can be.  Maybe we can wish those rushing forth bon chance, maybe even write a check to support their missionary efforts.

That is quite a lofty position to seek in all honesty.  To recognize that the time has come for the children to spread their wings can be hard.  One has to be fairly sure of oneself to let go and still remain content with the task at hand.  Frankly it can seem about as far distant as dropping the nets and running towards Jesus.

“Follow me.”  “I will make you fish for people.”  “Reshape your lives, for God’s new order of the Spirit is confronting you.”

When we are confronted with the reshaping of our lives, we have two choices.  One, we can distance ourselves and assume we are not really the one being called. Or we can take the risky step of exploring what the new order might be calling to us.  And it probably doesn’t matter if we’re Zebedee or if we’re one of the disciples?  Frankly it would seem from what Matthew has to tell that he called forth to all of them.  He didn’t call them individually by name.  What if Zebedee responded just as profoundly as the disciples?

Clearly his life was open to some reshaping after his two sons up and left.  He was being confronted by the nearness of the kingdom despite his less obvious role in the story.  And if he is only a negative model for us, the poor schmuck who was unable to answer the call, that really places most of us net menders in a predicament.  Is our only option to serve God the way of the twelve?

Hardly.  The nearness of the kingdom is not just for a few.  The proclamation is made to all.  And whether we are the ones dropping the nets, or those that remain to keep fishing, we will all have to do some reshaping.  The nearness of the kingdom is meant to be felt and experienced in the parking lot here in Buckhead as much as it was by the Sea of Galilee.  We need not have an audible prophetic voice to still know this is true. 

But we do need rethink how we are listening and seeing.  We can be reminded of the nearness of God.  We need to recognize our own temptation to distance ourselves from the call.  That recognition is our repentance whether we stay at our nets or not.  But then we need to seek the nearness of the kingdom.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 

We are not likely to each hear these words.  But this good news is still being proclaimed all around us.  The words are being translated.  They may come to us in an unexpected moment of grace, or the awareness that comes from intentional reflection.  It can be as we serve a meal to a homeless brother or sister, or take the time to really listen to a friend who is struggling.  It may be most obvious when we are walking in the woods by ourselves or laughing with a large group of children in Sunday school.  It may be a loud clap of thunder or the barest whisper on the wind.  But it is there.  The kingdom has come near.  And it asks only one thing of us.

“Follow me.”

Amen

Comments? Contact Beth Knowlton at: BKnowlton@stphilipscathedral.org

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