“The Clash of Two Kingdoms”

( Isaiah 9:1-4/Matthew 4:12-23)

But there will be no gloom for those who are 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.

You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy;

They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.

For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulder, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.             (Isaiah 9:1-4)

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.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

            As I have spent some time with these two passages during the past two weeks, I’m imagining how repetitive it must seem to you to hear them both.  I wanted you to hear them because it’s always important for us to know the basis of Jesus’ faith, life and ministry. It’s important to know how influenced he was by the writings of the prophets.  It’s inspiring to know how the Gospel writers saw the prophets’ words being fulfilled by Jesus. 

The prophet Isaiah was talking about how God envisioned light dawning to a people who had been living in a very long, dark time under the rule of foreign nations.  So, it’s understandable that Jesus’ followers picked up on these words: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.”  It’s understandable because they, too, were living in hard times, under the thumb of the Romans and the harsh religious rulers.

            And so, Jesus’ ministry began.  From that time he began to preach: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  Then he began calling his disciples. 

            I’m always amazed when I listen to stories about people who just up and leave their normal, average lives; they give up receiving their normal, average paychecks and go do some wonderfully unselfish thing.  You know, the ones who followed someone or something in which they believed.  Or the ones who acted upon a vision they received of what they were supposed to do.

            I’ve always thought, “What an amazingly courageous, wild and crazy thing to do.”  And I sometimes wish I were a bit more wild and crazy.  I think for a moment what it would be like…but then all these kinds of thoughts come racing into my head: family responsibilities, safety and security issues, my own need to maintain my life as it is, my age!!!

            We’ve all heard about people who have completely changed their lives so they can be in solidarity with poor people, people who are in danger.

            And so we have the story in today’s Gospel reading: “As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee he saw 2 sets of brothers who were fishermen.  He called to them and said, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.”  We are told that all four brothers responded to his call in this way: “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”  James and John even left their father, old Zebedee, sitting there in the boat, wondering what in the world was going on!

            These guys had their feet in the human world—their ordinary life—when Jesus walked in and invited them to come into God’s realm.  Today I want to talk about what it means to be in the midst of the clash of those 2 worlds—between the Kingdom of God and the way of the world.  One of the main themes throughout the Gospel of Matthew is that clash.  Over and over, Matthew tells us the stories of Jesus, showing how his life and ministry brought into focus our own human dilemma, that is, the clash between God’s way and the world’s way.

            Indeed, the reading begins with the news that John the Baptist had been arrested, John who stood apart from the world, whose life and message—whose very persona–showed that he didn’t give a hoot about what the world expected or thought.  John’s message insisted that the hearers choose God’s way.

            We know that John suffered the world’s consequence for sounding threatening to his hearers.  John was arrested and prevented from continuing his ministry, ultimately dying for it.

            When Jesus heard the news of John’s arrest, we are told he withdrew to Galilee.  Surely he knew that this was foreshadowing his own fate.  Yet, Isaiah’s words gave him the vision for his own ministry: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light…”

            Again, we see the contrast between the 2 realms—the realm of darkness and the realm of light.  For many of us, when we are living without God’s presence in our lives, we feel like we’re wandering around in darkness, living in fear.  I know what that feels like.  Some of you may know it too.

            Our fear can become like a straight-jacket.  Fear can come in the form of anxiety and panic, it can come when we are over-burdened with the responsibility of children and other family members, it can come when we are under great financial pressure with heavy debt or the uncertainty of retirement. 

These days my fear is about the state of our nation, the way the rule of law is being ignored.  My fear is for the brown and black people who are being rounded up and deported, or worse, murdered.  My fear is for those protesters who are being killed for standing up for what’s right.  Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in my mind, were following Jesus’ direction to love one another.  They were murdered in cold blood.  We saw it on video.  There is no doubt about what happened.

            These days it would be easy to take up residence in the land of darkness and deep terror.  It would be easy to simply give in to despair and hopelessness.  We can be paralyzed with fear for the future.  Many are using that language today and living in that fear. 

            A funny aside: The Cleveland Cavaliers were playing the Los Angeles Lakers at home in Rocket Arena.  Those who know me know that I love the Cavaliers, and if you know pro basketball you know that LeBron James plays for the Lakers.  One of our players, Jaylon Tyson, a young man only in his second year, was interviewed during the game, and was asked how he was feeling about being tasked to guard LeBron James.  His answer was kind of funny, kind of arrogant.  He replied, “I fear no man!”

            I’ve been thinking about that, realizing that that needs to be our mantra these days, as well.  It was certainly Jesus’ approach, as he was targeted by the religious leaders and the Romans as his ministry leadership emerged.  He could have said it.  “I fear no man.”  He realized the people around him had been worn down, living in fear, dwelling in the darkness.  He knew that their only hope was in the great light.  He knew that that great light was not going to magically appear and change their world.  It was going to require the dedication and hard work and leadership of himself and those he was calling to the work.  It was going to require a clear vision of revealing the difference between the two kingdoms: the Kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God. 

            That was what was at stake in the days of Isaiah, in the days of Jesus, in so many times throughout human history, and, now, in our day.  The clash between the two kingdoms.     

Our fear comes when we forget to walk along the way with Jesus, our leader and Redeemer, whose message is NOT to conform to the ways of selfishness and greed.  These are messages from the world around us, not from Jesus.

            These messages are just a few more of the fear-mongering things that are being drilled into our heads on a daily basis.  The thing is, they come out of the land of deep darkness.  Many of our leaders are coming out of that land.  They are preying on our fears…. 

On the other hand, Jesus, who lives where the light has dawned, is drawing us out of those fearful thoughts.  He came out saying, “Repent, turn around—you are living in a world of fear and anxiety.”  Jesus offers us freedom, love and joy.  In him, the kingdom of God is coming near to us.  Jesus is calling us to a place where we truly want to live—in the land of light, where there is enough for everyone—enough love, enough food, enough resources, enough shelter—if we all share, if we do the work of protecting our neighbors and our government as it was created to be.

            Residing in God’s kingdom promises the abundance of joy, peace, courage and strength.  But it is our human dilemma to be caught in the clash between those two worlds—the constant struggle between abundance and scarcity, between being what the world says we should be and being who God made us to be, between grabbing all we can get or sharing what we have, between light and dark, between fear and confidence, between suspicion and compassion.

            I need to be constantly reminded to turn my life away from the darkness, the darkness that robs us of our peace in God and eats away at our souls.  Jesus’ words are not meant to condemn us or declare that we’re hopeless, but, rather, to offer us hope—the hope for those of us who have sat in the shadow of death but now are given the gift of seeing the light of dawn.

            We are always busy in our lives, mending our nets, teaching our classes, typing on our computers, doing our work, cleaning, organizing, volunteering at church, tending to others, doing what we do—when God breaks into our world with a new possibility for living.  When Jesus says, follow me, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to drop our nets, leave our fathers in the lurch, abandon our computers, sell all we have, move to Haiti or pare down to two outfits and a coat, but it does mean that Jesus calls us to open ourselves to the new possibilities that are there for us, the doors that may be opening.  It will surely involve leaving behind that which keeps us far from God and each other.  It means we may need to realign our priorities.  But it will surely include a life of more joy, more gratitude, more courage, more strength, more light.

            So I began to think about what this text might mean for the people of the Peninsula United Methodist Church.  These times are fortunate for our church.  Because of our parking lot and your generosity, we are able to be helpers, rather than a church that always needs help.  Because of our present circumstances the joy within these walls is pretty easy to find.  Who knows what tomorrow may bring?  We may once again be like many churches who live in fear.  I’m hoping that, should that happen, we will continue to find the joy in Christ, the trust in God, the motivation to be out there working for change, standing up for what is right.  And, ultimately, not living in darkness, but, rather, trusting the light.

            Now, it’s easy for me to say, like the angel in the Christmas story, “Fear not.”  But I will say that scared is not how we want to live and prosper as Christ’s church.  Perhaps one way to look at this time is that maybe Jesus is breaking into our lives and calling us to be a brave sort of church, a church that guides people to God’s love and Jesus’ mercy and forgiveness. 

We know a bit about how that might look, but not completely.  What we do know is that if we trust God in all that we do, we needn’t be afraid or anxious.  We needn’t try to force solutions, but, rather, watch for where Jesus is calling us.  For sure, we needn’t try to copy those churches who seem to be so “successful” in the ways of the world.  That is not the measure that God uses.  Instead our job is to follow Christ and the mission to which he has brought us thus far.

            …When you feel as though worlds are clashing in your life and the life of the church, please pay attention.  Don’t desperately hang on to the way of the world.  Just think–if the Zebedee boys, James and John, had put their heads down and ignored Jesus when they had heard the words, “follow me,” how would the story have turned out differently?  If the people in Minnesota decide that it’s too cold, too hard, to be out protesting, would we have any hope at all for change?  Would darkness continue to take us over? 

I think we all are looking to live among the people who have seen a great light.  So, I say to you, keep your heads up and your eyes and ears open and discover what God has in store for you as individuals and us as a church.  You may be amazed…and transformed.