Scripture reading: Isaiah 9:1-4.

Sermon text: Matthew 4:12-23.

Warning: If you think you serve a safe God, you’d better ignore this sermon. The God of this sermon transformed ordinary fishermen into apostles who spread the gospel throughout the world. When Jesus called these men away from their ordinary lives, they had no idea their lives would involve such a monumental task but bring such magnificent rewards.

In the opening verses of today’s text, St. Matthew reminded us Galilee’s turbulent history. Isaiah prophesied about “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali” almost 800 years before today’s sermon text. The Hebrew tribes Zebulun and Naphtali had settled around the Sea of Galilee following Israel’s entry into the Promised Land in c. 1406 B.C., or roughly 600 years before Isaiah’s lifetime. Since these tribes occupied the northern borders of Israel, every major invader for centuries devastated their lands, plundering their possessions and carrying their people into slavery. In Isaiah’s time, these tribes, along with the other 8 tribes of the Northern Kingdom, suffered exile at the hands of the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Jews did not return to this area until roughly 100 years before Jesus’ birth.

After His temptation in the Judean wilderness, Jesus withdrew into northern Galilee following the arrest of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, a region east of the Jordan River. Antipas had inherited this area from his father, Herod the Great. When he and his  sister-in-law Herodias fell in love and divorced their spouses to marry one another, John the Baptist condemned them for adultery. Herodias furiously demanded John’s arrest. In spite of Antipas’ efforts, Herodias would finally succeed in engineering John’s execution.

Jesus had moved to Capernaum, one of Galilee’s largest cities. Capernaum sat on the Sea of Galilee and served as one of the chief fishing villages on the Sea. As a bustling seaport, Capernaum provided Jesus with a convenient base for beginning His ministry. He would teach in her synagogue, heal the sick in her streets and market, and call His first disciples from her residents.

One day, as He walked by the seashore, Jesus saw 4 fishermen. According to the Gospel of St. John, Jesus had already met Andrew and John when they served as disciples of John the Baptist. For a time, they had stayed with Jesus after His baptism, but they had apparently returned to Capernaum after Jesus journeyed to the wilderness for His temptation. Andrew and Simon Peter were fishing when Jesus saw them. Jesus called out to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” According to St. Matthew, “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” With Jesus’ call, these 2 brothers left all they knew behind and joined Him in His ministry.

Jesus then moved to 2 other brothers. James and John sat by the seashore mending their nets. Jesus extended the call to them. When they heard His call, James and John “left the boat and their father and followed him.”

Once the fishermen joined Him, Jesus began His ministry in Galilee. This ministry would take Him through most of Galilee’s towns and villages. Jesus would heal the sick, cast out demons, and proclaim to them His message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus backed His message with the miracles He performed. The miracles confirmed Jesus’ message of the kingdom of heaven. The people in Galilee would hear the greatest message in humanity, and 4 ordinary fishermen would see it all, from the very beginning to its end with Jesus’ ascension after His resurrection. These 4 fishermen would then see Jesus’ message spread throughout the Roman Empire in their lifetimes.

Let’s examine these fishermen. Of the 4, James and John would join Peter to form Jesus’ inner circle. These 3 would witness Jesus’ greatest miracles and witness His transfiguration before His crucifixion.

Simon — whom Jesus would call “Peter” — would become the head of the disciples and later  of the Apostles. However, Simon would first prove to have a serious problem controlling his tongue and temper. The night before Jesus’ crucifixion, Simon would betray Jesus, even going so far as to swear that he didn’t know Him at all. After Jesus’ resurrection, Simon would serve as one of the first disciples to visit the empty tomb. Simon would receive Jesus’ forgiveness and promise Jesus that he would feed Jesus’ flock on earth. Church history tells us that Simon — better known as St. Peter — would serve as the first bishop of Rome and die of crucifixion during Nero’s persecution in A.D. 67, the same persecution which would claim the life of St. Paul. Church history records that St. Peter requested that the Romans crucify him upside down rather than the manner in which his Lord had died.

St. Andrew would serve an instrumental role in Jesus’ ministry. On several occasions, people would approach St. Andrew for an audience with Jesus (see John 12:22 for one such occasion). Church history records that St. Andrew traveled throughout Asia Minor and the coast of the Black Sea, including the small village of Byzantium. Like his Lord and brother, Andrew would die of crucifixion. Church history records that St. Andrew would die on an X-shaped cross, a cross that we now call the “cross of St. Andrew.”

Like St. Peter, James and John faced a lot of maturing before they would serve Jesus as messengers of the gospel. Jesus nicknamed these 2 brothers “The Sons of Thunder” because of their tempers. On one occasion, James and John actually demanded that Jesus call fire from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village that denied them entrance (Luke 9:51-56). These 2 men also requested that Jesus allow them to sit beside Him in His kingdom.

Like St. Peter and St. Andrew, James would flee with the other disciples at Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. However, after Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, St. James served as one of the greatest leaders of the Church. St. James went on to become the first martyr of the Church. Herod Agrippa I, nephew of the king who executed John the Baptist, executed St. James in A.D. 44, only 11 years after the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost.

St. John, the youngest of the disciples, would die a natural death, the only of Jesus’ original disciples to do so. In his Gospel, St. John recorded that he alone stood with Jesus’ mother and other women at Jesus’ cross during His crucifixion. Jesus asked St. John to care for His mother after His death (John 19:26-27). Following Jesus’ resurrection, St. John would join St. Peter as one of the first disciples to witness the empty tomb of his resurrected Lord. St. John and St. Peter would perform miracles at the Temple, suffer persecution at the hands of the Sanhedrin, and carry the gospel far beyond their homes in Galilee. Church history tells us that St. John obeyed Jesus’ command to care for Mary. St. John carried Mary to Ephesus. St. John would write the last Gospel in c. A.D. 90, along with 3 general letters. St. John would also write the Bible’s greatest description of heavenly worship: The Revelation.

Who could have foreseen the lives these men found in Jesus? Can Jesus do this for us today?

First, I strongly believe Jesus continues to call ordinary people to extraordinary service. Jesus begins this call by drawing us to Himself. We must accept ourselves as we truly are: rebels against our Creator, needing His forgiveness but unwilling to ask for it or to surrender to Him. Jesus surrendered for us, dying for us on the cross and then rising again to bring us victory over sin and death. Everyone who believes in Jesus, confessing Him as Lord, follows this call to die to our old lives and accept His life within us.

When we confess Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit comes within us to live in us and guide us. Jesus begins to call us to live righteously, loving God and loving everyone as we love ourselves. Jesus also begins to shape us into messengers of His kingdom to a rebellious world.

When we confess Jesus as Lord, He rightfully demands our lives; He demands and expects our allegiance and obedience. Jesus calls some Christians to service in the Church: pastors, teachers, and evangelists. Jesus calls some people to carry the gospel as missionaries. However, Jesus calls every believer to carry the gospel in our lives, regardless of where we live or where we go.

Jesus also calls some believers to extraordinary, sacrificial service. The stories of missionaries who travel to distant, hostile lands, fill the annals of Church history. The story of Gladys Aylward serves as an excellent example.

In 1930, the house maid Gladys Aylward heard about a missionary from China, Jeannie Lawson, who needed help in her mission. With only her passport, Bible, and the equivalent of less than $5 in today’s dollars, Aylward left London and traveled to China on the Trans-Siberian Railway across the Soviet Union.

Aylward arrived at Lawson’s mission and, with Lawson, opened an inn for Chinese merchants. Only a few years after Aylward’s arrival, Lawson suffered a fall and died. In the years that followed, Aylward converted a Chinese mandarin to Christianity, opened an orphanage, served the Chinese as a spy against the Japanese during World War II, and led the children of the orphanage on a 12-day journey through the mountains and across the Yellow River to escape execution by the Japanese.

In 1958, Ingrid Bergman starred in a movie about Aylward called The Inn of the Sixth Happiness. One person read a review of the movie in Newsweek and wrote the magazine to say, “In order for a movie to be good, the story should be believable!” (Source, “Gladys Aylward,” James Kiefer’s Hagiographies)

I think we sometimes read the stories of the Gladys Aylwards of the Church and think, “God couldn’t do that to me.” I assure you He can. I also assure you that the Jesus who called 4 common fishermen in Capernaum continues to call people to serve Him today. I’ve noticed that people expect God to accomplish great things in dangerous callings, but we overlook the calling He places on us in our common lives. We need to return to what Martin Luther called “vocation:” the fact that all our lives, including our family life, our careers, schooling, and whatever we do, serves as our calling from God to proclaim the gospel: Jesus crucified, risen, and coming again.

Now, you know. You know that God can, and will, call you to repent of your sins and rebellion. You know that God then insists on calling us to proclaim His kingdom, in our lives and with words. The ordinary Carpenter who called ordinary fishermen now lives as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, calling us to follow Him in the greatest mission of eternity: Proclaiming the kingdom of God has come.