January 26, 2020: Net Loss
January 26, 2020 Rev. Rhonda Blevins, DMIN
Net Loss
Isaiah 9:1-2 & Matthew 4:12-22
But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.
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Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” As he walked 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 me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
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I am the net.
I am the net that is broken and in need of repair. I am the net that belongs to Zebedee and his two sons, James and John. I am the net that has captured hundreds, thousands of fish from the Sea of Galilee—tilapia, herring, catfish. I am the net that provides a modest, but steady income for the family. When I break, I must be mended. So Zebedee and the boys will prune away the weak and broken strands. They will tie strong new knots, with their worn and weathered fisherman’s hands.
Now that I’m getting older, it seems I’m breaking more often. None of you know anything about that, do you? It seems that I need more and more attention from Zebedee and the boys. So I break. They fix me. They throw me into the sea. I catch what I can to feed my family and give them a little extra to sell. This is my life. Break. Repair. Down in the water. Back up with fish. Six days a week, with a break for the Sabbath.
It’s a good life for a net. I love Zebedee and his boys, the “Sons of Thunder” they are sometimes called. Now, these guys are fishermen, so they’re a little rough around the edges. I’ve heard my share of coarse language and crude jokes—like, did you hear the one about the . . . oh, wait. This is a synagogue, or what do you call it these days? A church? I suppose your ears are too tender for most of the jokes I hear from Zebedee and the boys. Churchy ears here.
But did you hear the one about a rabbi who came walking along the Sea of Galilee? No joke. His name was Jesus. People wonder if James and John and the other fisherman had ever met him before that day, but I can’t answer that for you. I’m just a net, for crying out loud. But he was a charismatic fellow, I can tell you that. He went around saying, “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven has come near!” Now, your American ears understand a little something different when you hear the word “repent” than what the word meant in the Greek way back when. You may call to mind images of a crazy street preacher condemning people for drinking and smoking and watching R-rated movies. That’s not what the word meant at all back when. The word for “repent” in Greek is μετανοέω (transliteration: metanoeó). It means to change your mind—to shift your perspective. You could easily translate these words from Jesus to be: “Change the way you think—the kingdom of God is here!” That sounds pretty profound, but how should I know? I’m just a dumb ol’ net.
I may be a dumb ol’ net, but I know a few things.
Like, did you know that the very first thing, number one on Martin Luther’s “95 Theses,” is Luther quoting this verse from Matthew 4, the part where Jesus says, “Repent!” Luther launching the Protestant Reformation with a call not to “repent” once, but continually. But remember what the word “metanoeó” means—to change the way you think. Luther said not once, but continually. Daily.
Well, back to the Sea of Galilee. Zebedee with his sons, James and John, were mending me one day in the boat. And that charismatic rabbi came along saying, “Change the way you think—the kingdom of God is here!” Now, another thing your American ears may miss is how subversive, even treasonous, it was for that preacher to say that out loud. In Galilee, there was one king—his name was Caesar. To start talking about some other kingdom—oh my! This fellow was certainly charismatic, but he was also more than a little bit edgy.
That day the charismatic rabbi came around, he had a couple of other fisherman with him. I’d seen those boys around—they were another set of brothers—Peter and Andrew. When I saw them, it struck me as curious. Why weren’t they in their boat on a good day for fishing? Where was their net? Surely they hadn’t left their net behind! Anathema!
I didn’t think much about it, as I was being mended by the strong and capable hands of Zebedee and James and John. But then Jesus called to James and to John—beckoning them to follow him. They stopped mending me at once. They looked at each other. Then they looked at their father, Zebedee. They dropped me in their father’s arms, got out of the boat, and they followed that man, Jesus. Right then. Right there. Those boys didn’t even help their daddy pull the boat back to the shore. They. Left. Everything. To. Follow. Jesus.
I didn’t see them much after that. Zebedee and I went out fishing by ourselves after James and John followed that rabbi. Occasionally I could hear some of the other fisherman ask about the boys, and Zebedee would wistfully tell them about James and John following that charismatic rabbi. I hear that they spent the next three years traveling with Jesus, and that they even went down to Jerusalem with Jesus on the trip when he was executed. They tell a remarkable story about Jesus being raised to life! That’s pretty much all they do these days—tell the good news, and work to build a movement of people following in the way of Jesus, that charismatic fellow on the shore that day back in Galilee.
If they were here today with me, they would tell you their story about seeing Jesus deliver his sermon on the mount, about feeding over 5,000 people with nothing more than a few loaves and fishes, about seeing him walk on water, about seeing him transformed into radiant light one day on a mountaintop, about how terrified they were when Jesus was crucified, but how Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to them and some 500 people, and about how the Holy Spirit fell on them, giving them power and courage to speak their truth throughout the ages. And because of that, you folks know their names 2,000 years later: “James and John, sons of Zebedee.” Do you get how remarkable that is? James and John . . . Zebedee’s boys . . . simple fishermen from Galilee. Not royalty. Not rich. Not famous. Not politicians. Or preachers or pundits or poets. Fishermen. You’re talking about a couple of good ol’ boys who spent their days fixing broken old nets like me. I didn’t understand at first how they could walk away from their father like that. I didn’t understand why they would suddenly cast me off into Zebedee’s arms just to follow some charismatic rabbi. But I get it now.
And today I stand before you, not as Zebedee’s net, not James’ net, not John’s net. Today I stand before you as your net. I stand before you as whatever it is you’re refusing to let go of in order to “repent”—that thing you’re holding onto that keeps you from “changing your perspective.” Because, as that charismatic fellow said 2,000 years ago, you’ve got to change your thinking in order to recognize that the kingdom of God is here—God’s presence is available now. You just have to “repent”—to change your perspective—in order to see it.
So here I stand—your net. I represent that thing that you’ve got to let go of in order to follow Jesus more completely, to claim the life he offers more fully. What do I represent in your life? Your assumptions? Your doubt? Your fear? Your ambitions? Your desires? Your false self? Your judgments? Your codependence you call “love?” Your addictions? Your low self-esteem? Your fixed routine? Your resentment?
That fellow, Jesus, liked to speak in paradox. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Maybe that’s because he was a walking paradox, somehow fully divine and yet fully human.
I leave you with a paradox today, straight from Jesus’ teaching later on in the Gospel of Matthew (10:39): “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
Do you want to gain the world? Let go to claim hold. You want a net gain? First comes the net loss. Lose your net—claim your life.