The Carpenter Builds His Church

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 fishers. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of 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 all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Matthew 4:18–23
 

As I wrote yesterday, Jesus, on the other hand, avoided the traps earlier so-called messiahs fell into. He did not depend on gathering disciples from the countryside like randomly picking flowers for a centerpiece. Jesus carefully chose his disciples and allies from a combination of family members and those brought to him through trusted family connections.

Jesus built a network of reliable and trusted allies. John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin. Each of their ministries were foretold to their parents, so I have to believe that there was a life long bond between Jesus and John the Baptist. In addition to that, Andrew and Phillip, who were sent to Jesus by John the Baptist, brought solid, soon-to-be disciples, Andrew’s brother Simon Peter and Phillip brought along his trusted best friend Nathaniel. Peter and Andrew were starting out in the profitable business of fishing the Sea of Galilee’s bountiful supply of marine life. James and John, on the other hand, were part of a long established family fishing business and were found mending their father’s worn nets. All four men would be called to walk away from those financial and family investments.

Then there were members of Jesus’ family. James and John, the “Sons of Thunder”, were also cousins of Jesus, their mother being Mary’s sister. James the Younger, Matthew (or Levi) and Jude (alias Thaddeus, alias Lebbeus the Zealot) were all cousins too. They were among the sons of Clopas (or Alpheus), the brother of Joseph of Mary and Joseph fame.

From Jesus’ immediate family came one of his brothers, Jude (who wrote the epistle of the same name). Another of his brothers, James the Just (also affectionately know as “Old Camel Knees”), was the leader of a contingent of Jerusalem believers and the first leader of the Church. He was most likely the one who arranged for the “Triumphal Entry” donkey as well as the “Upper Room” where Jesus had “The Last Supper”. All-in-all, that made a safe and great foundation for Jesus’ ministry.

Matthew tells us that as soon as Jesus heard of John’s death, he shook the dust of Nazareth from his sandals and headed in Galilee. Why Galilee? Well, for one thing, everyone shared Nathaniel’s thought, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And we know that Jesus’ hometown folk were offended by his teachings and even ran him out of town over them. I’m guessing that Nazareth wouldn’t have been fertile ground to plant the seeds of the Kingdom. So Jesus goes to Galilee, specifically Capernaum. So what was the attraction? In my humble opinion, it was a great place to find just the kind of disciples he needed.

As you may remember from yesterday’s devotion, Galilee, the formerly “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali”, had suffered the same fate as the part of Israel that would become Samaria. But Galilee had a hero that Samaria did not.

In 164 BCE, Simon Maccabaeus, one of the Maccabee Boys, fought back against those who ruled over Israel and re-conquered Galilee. He then re-established the Law of Moses as the law of the land. He had every male circumcised thereby making everyone Jews again. And it remained so right through the time of Jesus. So Galilee avoided the fate that stained Samaria in the eyes of the Jews in Judea.

By the time of Jesus, Galilee was the “place to be” in Judea. The land was fertile and produced all manner of fruits, vegetables and trees. Every bit of land that didn’t have buildings was farmed. On top of that, the Sea of Galilee teemed with aquatic life that made fishing a prosperous business. 

Add to that Galilee’s excellent location, which boasted the intersections of major trade routes from the interior to the east and the Mediterranean to the west. It also benefited from being on the main road connecting the economic centers to the north, in what we call today Syria and Turkey, to the ancient center of the world, Egypt. That made it a multi-cultural crossroads for thought, philosophy, religion and political views. Galilee was famous for it’s “we know better” attitude and tolerance. It was the “Athens” of the Middle East. A place very open to new ideas. What better place to begin the ministry of the “New Covenant”?

It also had the advantage of being the home of four of Jesus’ core disciples…a pair of brothers, Peter and Andrew and James and John. Peter was the only disciple with a home of his own where Jesus could stay and even hide if need be. Yes! Jesus had a plan…well thought out and executed. And when he was done, he proclaimed, “It is finished!”

In the same way, I believe that God has a plan for our lives. Many of us speak of that from both faith and experience. I have found that many Christians expect the Holy Spirit to speak to us as on Pentecost, with sudden wind and fire. And certainly that would be an option. But I have found that the Holy Spirit will more often speak to us in whispers, glimpses of vision and gentle nudges than thunder and lightening.

The Holy Spirit moves through our live just as Jesus moved through the Galilean countryside. Healing our ills. Conquering our fears. Lifting our hearts. Proclaiming the presence of God’s Kingdom right smack in the middle of our lives in whispers we tend to dismiss as passing whimsey. I have to wonder how many times Jesus visited his cousins in Capernaum speaking with them in such calm and quiet ways…tempering the noise in the lives as the “Sons of Thunder” (we really do have to wonder just how they earned that title) with the Peace that “passeth all understanding.” Preparing them for the day described in Matthew when Jesus would simply say, “Follow me!” 

How many times did he also visit with the disciple sent to him by John the Baptist, Andrew, who would have lived in Peter’s house.? What thoughts and dreams would have swum in Peter’s head as he listened to Jesus talk of the New Covenant and the Kingdom of God? Jesus soon re-named Simon, Peter, which means “rock” in Greek. Jesus seemed to seen Peter as a foundational rock, but I also have to wonder if Jesus saw the humor in seeing Peter’s head as “hard as a rock”.

My prayer for each of you, my dearest brother and sisters in faith, is to not let the “thunder,” that seems to flood and surround our lives today, drown out the whispers and nudges of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I pray we do not let the part of us that God intends as a foundation for our calling to serve Christ’s Kingdom become the part of us that hardens our hearts against the the plan God has for our lives. God indeed has plans for our lives. The Holy Spirit calls us too to be “fishers of men” as carpenters for Christ as we build and nourish our corner of the vast Kingdom of God.

Amen and amen,

Rev Dr Jim McGrath