The Greatest Fishing Derby of All

Sisters and Brothers in Christ I bring you greetings from the gathered saints at my home congregation of Orinda Community Church near San Francisco, and from the ‘other coast’ saints of the Northern California Nevada Conference.  I bring hundreds of their prayers into this place this morning, adding them to, and honoring your prayers.  The Jesus in all of us greets the Jesus in you.  We are now the Church together.

Our message this morning comes from Jesus’ address as He sends out the disciples early in Matthew’s Gospel.  For over four chapters now, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus has been laying out the disciple’s mission.  These fishermen and common folk had no experience at being disciples, but Jesus chose them anyway, because their spirits and hearts were with him.  Here, Jesus gives them—and now us!-- an advance preview of his ministry, while simultaneously challenging us to shape our lives in new ways together.

Will you join me please in prayer?  Loving God who receives us just as we are, teach us to shape our lives fully into your compassion, justice and grace.  Teach us to follow Jesus in love and in all we do.  Amen.

Two weeks ago, I was in the little Sierra mountain town of Shaver Lake at their annual Youth Fishing Derby.  I walked down to the lakeshore to see what was going on.  All of a sudden, this little tyke came running down the sandy beach—really he was stumbling, because the net he was carrying was much bigger than he was.  And in this seemingly huge net, a 4 inch sunfish was still wriggling and flopping.  The little boy ran up to his friends, breathlessly saying, “I found where the fish are, come fish with me!” “Follow me,” he yelled, and they were off in a tangled cloud of excited yelling, dreaming of the ones that wouldn’t get away. 

Fisherkids.  Imagine if this had been an adult fishing derby.  A discovery of ‘lots of fish’ would have been kept secret, only to be disclosed at the competitive end.  A ‘little’ fish would not have been celebrated and then shared.  Community would not have been built.  And there would have been one winner instead of everyone winning.  Ah yes…

But this little tyke welcomed whoever would listen, encouraging them to share in his abundance, the abundance of the one who sent the fish to everyone.  Follow me, he yelled over the excited din of new possibilities.  And they all ran off, excited to seek the reward of fishing well together.

As we all remember, Matthew starts the story of Jesus’ ministry with the disciples with a similar fishing story.  Calling Peter and Andrew, Jesus lets us know early on that this will be a story of the good news of a great fishing trip together, fishing for people’s very lives and souls.  Jesus says to them: follow me and be fishers of people.  Our scripture today is the final verses of Jesus’ instructions to the disciples.  In the aural tradition of the ancient world, we pay close attention to the first and last narrative events of a story, because they outline the important lessons of the underlying story for us.

Throughout his instruction to the disciples, Jesus says the good news about our fishing trip together is that we have a fishing partner who always walks with us, accompanying us in good times and bad.  A personal God who loves us beyond our ability to understand, who takes us just as we are and dreams for us to be sparks of evermore divine light.  So when we share our message of God’s extravagant welcome and love, and folks welcome us, they are welcoming the message and the one who sends us.  Jesus sends us, and is fishing with us!  This is amazing news- our fishing partner, just like our little tyke, knows where the fish are!  Jesus sends out the disciples with this final message: you are going out in my name, and if you are received in my name, you will be rewarded in my name.  Folks, we fish together with Jesus.

Next in our passage, Jesus transforms the concept of the old prophets into new prophets, old Jonahs and Noahs become new fisher-prophets—us!  Just as Noah’s Chapel is where the children are introduced to the Fishing Derby of our faith, Jesus invites us to tell the story of the Good News to the world.  And the Good News-story is this: God loves us and wants us to be honest justice-loving people who compassionately engage our world and share the abundance of God’s love.  So share the good news of where the best fishing is!  Why, right over here at Spring Glen Church!  Follow me! 

But there is more here!  Jesus goes on to say that if we are received as righteous people—and the Greek word ‘dikaioo’ here means justice-loving people—if we live just lives, our lives are rewarded with justice- this is the Golden Rule reframed.  Jesus says that God rewards our justice-loving lives with the just-reward of peace!   This is not the passive peace of circum-stance and lack of conflict, but the active peace of our lives well-lived in justice, love and compassion.  The Jewish tradition names this Peace Shalom.  Our Muslim friends the Peace of Salaam.  This is Buddha’s Peace that comes from within, not from without.  We name this The Peace that passes understanding.

Well, how just do we have to become to receive this reward of peace?  How prophetic or eloquent or learned must we become, you ask?  How much studying and preparing is needed?  Jesus has a very quick answer in verse 42.  Just start with a cup of cold water.  Nothing fancy.  No training needed.  Remember, Jesus teaches this at the beginning to the disciples.  Where there is thirst, simply offer a little cold water.  The gospel does not have to be complicated or difficult, filled with creeds or rules.  Just offer a cup of cold water and tell the world, “God loves you, no matter what.”  No ifs or buts, conditions or rules.  God loves you.  And your reward for telling this Good News?  When received by someone, you will have gained a friend who is no longer thirsty along the Way, a fellow Christ-follower who can share the joys and triumphs and burdens and cares of life.  A fellowship of companions of spirit, a Spring Glen Church full of justice-loving fisher-folk.

I am always amazed at how counter-cultural Matthew’s Gospel is.  It was written in about 70 CE, right after the Roman Empire had destroyed the Temple in 66 CE, and then leveled Jerusalem.  The cult of the Roman Caesars and Imperial power was now supreme.  In the face of this overwhelming cultural and military rule, Matthew asserts that this is God’s world, not Rome’s, and that Jesus and love are the center of history, not the Empire.  Matthew’s Jesus teaches the connective power of the universe is love, not the Roman Legion.  The true measure of a human being is not their relationship to Imperial power, but instead, their justice-loving compassion for the least of these with a cold cup of water. 

I hear echoes of our current time in Matthew’s teachings, don’t you?  Except now, money, not Caesar, is the god of our culture.  Now we are enslaved to economic injustice instead of the Roman Empire.  This means that we, as followers of Jesus today, are called to live just as counter-culturally as Matthew and Jesus’ new disciples were.  This passage reminds us that it is not money that ultimately rules the world, but instead, welcoming hospitality, prophetic justice, and compassionate sharing.  What matters most to God is not who has the biggest bank account or largest nuclear arsenal, but instead, the reward of Gods’ peace goes to the one who lovingly shares a cup of cold water with the little ones.  So Jesus says to all of us, Follow me!  Jesus will teach all of us to be fishers of people in the greatest fishing derby of all.  And may it be so, here at Spring Glen Church.  Amen.