“Jesus Begins His Work”
The reading for today is titled, “Jesus begins his work.” He is walking along the shore of Lake Galilee and sees Peter and Andrew throwing their nets into the sea and he calls to them, “Follow me,” Jesus said, “I will teach you how to fish in the ocean of life.” Immediately they leave their nets and follow him. That’s a pretty good description of discipleship. We are followers of Jesus. The three of them continue walking and Jesus sees James and John mending their nets and he calls to them, “Follow me.” Immediately they leave their nets and follow him. He takes them to the places where Jews are teaching and learning, and he goes into the cities and villages and into the country. And he heals the people from every kind of sickness and disease. He turns the world into a classroom for discipleship.
On Tuesday of this week, many of us went to the Metroplex for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day event. Roland Martin was the keynote speaker. He reminded us that the world is our classroom. He spoke of the three problems Dr. King talked about the last four years of his life. Those were the problems of poverty, militarism and racism. Dr. King said all these problems have a common denominator. There are all rooted in the economic structure of our society. We cannot solve the problems until we get to the root of the problem, which is the economy. Then Mr. Martin told us that we are either working to solve the problem, or we are the problem. He did not say that we are part of the problem. He said, “we are the problem.” Either we are working to solve the problem, or we are the problem. There is not middle ground. There is not neutral zone.
When Jesus went into the countryside, he told the people: “the love of God is here, it is upon you, it is within you, it is among you.” You either believe that, or you don’t. Either you love neighbor as yourself, or you don’t. And he healed people from every sort of disease and sickness. He turned the world into a laboratory for love. Are you feeling depressed? Love your neighbor. Are you disillusioned? Love your neighbor. And you lonely? Love your neighbor. Everywhere he went, Jesus is teaching this same message. You are either working to expand love for God and neighbor, or you aren’t.
Then skip over to chapter nine, verse nine. He sees Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s table. Matthew is a reverse Robin Hood, stealing from the poor and giving to the rich and keeping a little for himself as he does so. He is living in a no-man’s land. He is not Roman, and but he is not welcome in the Jewish community. He is just sitting at the table making money. Jesus calls to him, “Follow me, I will cloth you in your right mind.” Jesus gives him the opportunity to get connected to his heritage and his community. He can have his life back. Matthew is giddy. He is so happy that Jesus doesn’t have to ask him twice. He hears the news and jumps up, ready to follow. To celebrate the event, Matthew invites Jesus and the boys over for dinner. He runs home, kills the fatted calf and sweeps the floor. He gets out the best china and stemware. Everything is ready. Perfect. Then he hears the knock on the door. When he opens the door, Jesus is standing there and Judas is standing next to him.
Judas. Matthew is thinking “knock me over with a feather, Judas, in my house? At my table? Eating my food? Because Judas is a Zealot and to become a Zealot you have to win colors, and you to win your colors you have to kill a no-good tax collector, and maybe Judas has killed more than one, and now he is standing at the door. Jesus sees the look on Matthew’s face and says, “Oh yeah, did I mention that Judas is coming with me?” I imagine the dinner conversation that night was intense. Jesus talked about loving your neighbor. He turned life into a classroom.
Jesus did not go to the easy places. He did not knock on the doors in gated communities and ask for permission. He did not petition for a permission. He went to places where people needed to hear the good news of God’s love.
Now, I have to tell you about something that happened just a few days ago. Someone, an anonymous person, slipped a card through the mail slot. The card read, “Church Security: training and consulting.” For a $25 fee this company will teach the biblical foundations for security teams, discuss legal considerations, and if you bring fifty rounds of ammunition and gun and a holster, they will give you ear plugs and access to the shooting range. I’m reading the card and thinking to myself just this morning in the Kansas Reporter, I read that there were 44 members of the Proud Boys living in Wichita. My impression is that many of the members of this organization are active or retired police or military and they are preparing for the next civil war. Now, it appears that they are casting their nets, recruiting in churches. Nobody signed the card, so it is hard to say that there is a connection between one thing and the other, but it certainly seems possible. I know some faith communities will spend the money and get the training. They believe the world is a dangerous place and everyone needs to be armed. The more guns the safer we will be.
My Jesus never told me that. I hope before we start turning churches into military encampments people will go and visit Greenwood. It is north Tulsa. It is the scene of the worst race riot in US history. Greenwood was once called “Black Wall Street.” Then in 1921, white people rioted and took their religion and their guns and killed Black people in Greenwood. Nobody knows for sure how many people were murdered, maybe 200 but it might have been 300 or even more. Nobody knows. You can read about it. You can watch a documentary. But that is not the same as going there and remembering what happened.
Then on your way home go north through Picher, Oklahoma. After 1830 the federal government forced the Miami nation and other Indian nations to relocate to this area. When World War I began the government needed to mine the lead and heavy metals buried in the ground there. So, they built underground roads big enough for two trucks to pass each other, and they hollowed out the ground, and they piled the chat and the contaminated dirt up on the ground. Today if you drive through the area, you can see mountains of contaminated land piled higher than the trees, but you won’t find any people there. The government condemned the land. It is too toxic. You can watch the movie, “The River Runs Red,” and you can read about it books, but it isn’t the same as going there and seeing what has happened. Now we have a toxic sight next door. The government says you only need to worry if you drink well water, but the ground water and the soil are contaminated and toxic. When we put profits over people, people get sick.
Jesus went into the world preaching the good news of God’s redeeming love. He turned the world into a classroom for love. Roland Martin said if we are not working to solve the problems, we are the problem. I have to tell you the story of our Kansas School Board. They met last week. Our neighbor Betty Arnold is a member of the board, but she was not at the meeting because of a death in her family. The board had to decide, would Kansas continue to receive federal funding for meal and nutrition programs in our public schools? That was the question. It takes six votes to approve an action. Three members of the board said no—don’t continue the program. Five members voted yes—continue the program. One member abstained. The motion died. The program died. Then the person who abstained asked for a reconsideration and changed her vote. Six yes, three no.
Every vote counts. Every person counts. Your vote and your presence count. The world is our classroom. It’s where we are learning about love. Jesus said, “Follow me.” May it be so. Amen.