ATTRACTION

January 23, 2011
Epiphany 3
Isaiah 9:1-4
Matthew 4:12-23
(prayer)
As a preacher I like the discipline of using a lectionary set of readings to give a frame to regular Sunday worship. The revised common lectionary, which is used pretty commonly in a number of United Churches (along with Anglican, Lutheran, Catholic and other) is a collection of suggested readings based on a three year cycle. Each Sunday, there is usually a Hebrew Bible reading, a Psalm, a Gospel reading and one from a New Testament letter (epistle). If you been to church here before in the past ten years, you may have noticed that my most common pattern has been to pick two of the day’s readings for a particular Sunday.
The discipline that I most appreciate is that a lectionary moves me around the Bible, so that in many ways over the cycle of the three years, we get to focus on a good portion of the biblical record. Now, the RCL doesn’t cover absolutely every verse of every book, and there are some passages (particularly around Christmas and Easter) that are the same in each year, but for the most part, but if we are patient, it does give us a good overview of the Biblical record. For example, because we are in the first year of the cycle (year A), most of the gospel readings come from the book of Matthew. In year B, it’s Mark, in C, it’ll be Luke (John doesn’t get its own year, but is interspersed here and there throughout the cycle).
As you heard earlier, the reading from the Hebrew Bible was from the beginning of chapter nine of the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Wait a minute; that sounds familiar.
2 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.
We read those exact words just 30 days ago … on Christmas Eve. Isaiah 9, verses 2 to 7 was the Hebrew Bible reading for that day. It seems odd that almost the same passage comes up again so soon.
When something like that happens, there are really only three possible reasons:
1. it’s a coincidence;
2. it’s a mistake;
3. or must be significant or important.
I’m going to go with option three.
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You may have noticed that the author of Matthew’s gospel quoted Isaiah 9 in our other reading from Matthew, chapter four. In that part of the Matthew’s narrative Jesus is beginning his active ministry. He has moved away from Nazareth, his hometown, to the lakeside fishing town of Capernaum. This journey would have taken Jesus through the traditional lands of the ancient Hebrew tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali. For Matthew, using Isaiah’s imagery, Jesus was this beacon of light that was now entering these lands. And this was a good and wonderful thing – the fuller text of Isaiah speaks of a release from gloom and anguish and oppression. To use these ancient words to help explain Jesus’ ministry, the early church wanted the gospel readers to hear that Jesus was a source of guidance and liberation.
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As many of you know, I spent a lot of years as a teenager and young adult working at summer camp. It was camp where I learned to play guitar. It was easy to practice, because, it was very common in my years there to have a campfire sing-song every night.
I have no idea how many campfires I lit over those years, but it was a lot. It was always even more special later in the summer, when the sun went down a little sooner and the campfire would begin as the dusk and dark became to encircle the camp.
A lot of times, the daily camp schedule included some whole camp game or activity or game in the evening and then a bit of free time before campfire (that time allowed we leaders to get ready for the campfire).
It was very common, as I (or someone else) was getting the fire going that people would begin to congregate around the fire, before the bell rang, calling people to the fire pit. It was especially common, in the darker evening later in the summer. The orange firelight could be seen through the trees. Even if the path was getting dark, you could see where you were going because the light showed you.
I remember saying to a new staff person one time, that simply lighting the campfire, would bring the kids down to the fire pit. He said to me, kind of like moths to a street light.
That’s not a bad comparison to some degree. Exactly why moths circle around lights is uncertain: navigation? it’s contrast to the camouflage of darkness?
//
Light has a way of attracting attention. What a powerful metaphor: light allows knowledge and understanding to grow; light can also mean warmth and safety; and light is a necessary guide in the dark.
It is significant that we return to Isaiah nine, as Jesus begins his ministry – as the light that he is in the world catches the attention of his first followers.
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Matthew and Mark’s gospels are so brief in their telling of the calling Jesus fishermen disciples that we can be left wondering: what was it that attracted them to Jesus. Luke tells a story of a miraculous catch of fish that seems to have been an obvious motivation for the fishermen to follow. John’s gospel is the only other place to have this story, but he places it at the end, after Jesus has been resurrected.
I like the ambiguity of the Matthew and Mark. The only hint we have is that Jesus has been in the region, preaching a “gospel of repentance and the nearness of the kingdom of God.” It is not always the obviously miraculous that draws people to Jesus.
Jesus is compelling. Something attracts people to him. And a following emerges: a following that continues today. In some way or another, we are part of that.
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So, why are you here?
There are certainly some parts of the world, where, where the social culture is so tied with the religious culture that being religiously active would almost be expected. That may even have been the case culturally in North America 60, 70 years ago. They may not have used the language then, but the thrust of the peer pressure was to go to church – it was the culturally acceptable and expected thing to do.
Now, in our part of the world, the cultural expectation that a person be religiously active has waned almost to nothing. In fact, the cultural pendulum has swung the other way: it is counter-cultural to be religiously active. The peer pressure asks: why would you go to church?
A lot of people who have been involved in the church for a long time lament this change. I’m not one of them. Now, I imagine that my life as a minister might be easier, if more people felt they had to come to church (even if it was purely for appearances sake).
Theologically, I am unable to see ‘faith’ as something that can be forced. A cultural rule or expectation cannot force a person to believe or have faith.
In fact, I believe that we are living in a wonderful time, spiritually. People who are feeling the call to engage in some act of religious expression are doing do, not because of any pressure from outside themselves, but because of an inner sense that they want more to life.
When we feel inwardly compelled to do something counter-cultural when it comes to our spirits, I think amazing things are happening.
I can’t say for sure ‘why’ any one of you is here today. But you are – and in that very act, something wonderful is happening.
Simon and Andrew, James and John broke with the expectations of culture, when they left their nets and followed Jesus. Something beyond the life they knew was attracting them.
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On the St. David’s United Church website, the first thing a cyber-visitor sees is three questions:
• Does your spirit need a boost?
• Are you looking to explore spirituality and faith in an open-minded church?
• Do you want a church where you will feel welcome even if you haven't been to church in a while (if ever)?
I put these on the site because I think there are three common things that attract people to church in this day and age.
People have this innate need to be connected; to not feel alone; to feel like they ‘belong’. My hope and goal for this congregation is that we are a place of welcome [slide]. Come as you are. Be who you are. And know that you are welcome. Any expectation that might be added on top of that is running against the basic idea of what it means to be a congregation: we come together, we congregate. We bring our hopes and dreams and fears and worries and skills and needs and lay them out there for the community to embrace. The Bible has a word for that: Grace. Many people have a spiritual longing to belong.
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Secondly, people can be attracted to a shared religious experience because they desire to be enlivened in some way: to be boosted into a new way of being. It my hope and goal for this congregation that we are a place of nurture [slide].
We seek times and places to learn and grow; to challenge our assumptions and discover what we believe. And so, we worship together: reading and reflecting on ancient words of past faith to discover how they are relevant to the faith emerging in us. We meet to study and practice prayer: to connect to that mystery beyond us and in us and all throughout everything we call “god”.
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And ... I believe that people are drawn to see themselves as part of something greater than one person. While it is almost universally true that our initial attraction can be based on our needs, we often quickly identify that one person’s needs and desires for contentment and fulfillment are woven into the needs and desires of others. We are not alone. It is my hope and goal for this congregation that we are a place of inspiration [slide].
It is a wonderful word, inspiration: to be in-spirited – to be filled with spirit; so full, that we are moved to action. To be inspired is to be moved by the Spirit. Even though churches have lost much of our past cultural clout, we are sources of valuable and tangible actions of public good.
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What is attracting you to this faith-searching time of your life: a need for welcome; the desire to grow and be nurtured; the opportunity to live out your inspiration? Maybe, it’s a combination. Maybe these words don’t quite say it right for you. That’s okay.
It is good to listen to the call of the Spirit. It is a recognition that we are more than flesh and bone – we are body, mind and soul. We are physical, mental and mystery.
I suspect that Jesus was able to tap into these basic realities of who Simon, Andrew, James and John were. He invited and they followed.
The invitation is still before us. The next step is ours.
Let us pray:
Be with us God, as we need you to be. Fill us with your spirit. Amen.
#602VU “Blest Be the Tie that Binds”