Amos 3:1-8
Psalm 139:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
Matthew 4: 12-23
It was a cold, winter Friday evening a long time ago. Two young boys could be observed from the street doing some kind of role playing with one another. It was almost as if they were playing "church." One boy seemed to be playing the role of the priest in the celebration of Holy Communion while the other boy seemed to be playing the role of acolyte.
In fact, as one looked closer, the boy who was acting as the priest had some "fake" vestments on him and a cup of some kind which almost seemed to resemble a chalice. Both boys knew very well what they were doing. They had the gestures and posture "down pat," and they even had actual Communion wafers. They went through an entire Communion service - word for word and from beginning to end.
It almost seemed that like Peter and Andrew in today's Gospel they had dropped their nets and were already following Jesus. When Jesus said - " Come with me and we'll catch people," he's really saying - "You know that net full of fish - well, you need to realize that not only do the fish belong to God - YOU, DO, TOO. Hop in!" We can't attract other people into the net we're supposed to catch them in, if we're not already in it ourselves. (if we're not already committed)
This is what Paul is writing to the Corinthians about in today's Epistle. He criticizes them for saying, "I belong to Apollos" or "I belong to Cephas, or "I belong to whomever baptized me." No, he says, you don't belong to the person who baptized you - you belong to God. Thank goodness I didn't do any baptizing for Christ sent me to proclaim the Gospel so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
And as Paul was sent to proclaim the Gospel, so are we all. We all belong to God and we are all symbols of the power of the Cross. No, we're more than symbols! We are sacraments of God's power. Sacraments are symbols but they and we are much, much more. As symbols, sacraments bring together two realities; as sacraments, God in us brings together "what are thought to be the separate words of the sacred and the senlor" and does so "for all who have eyes to see it."
Sacraments are also things; as sacraments we are the embodiment of the Gospel, the "Tangible presence of the power of God's coming Kingdom within the present moment." We don't need to worry if we can do this or not. We are already this embodiment by reason of our baptism and the gifts of the Holy Spirit we receive through God's action in the church.
Sacraments are also events. As a sacrament, we are "Christ's saving presence in the world." As baptized Christians, all we are asked to do is "to love kindness, do justice and to walk humbly with our God." We don't engage in good works because we think we can change the whole world but because we are called to participate in God's all effective Good work. We are a living sacrament of the crucified and that is sufficient.
Lastly, sacraments are relationships. Amos hints at this in his prophecy: each of the questions he asks in today's reading is a question about a relationship - a lion following its prey, two walking together, and a bird caught in a net. "You can't be a living sacrament on your own; sacrament has to be enacted with others. And being a sacrament offered for the life of world means being fully engaged in the life of the world not in a perpetual flip flop of identity between Sunday and Monday but in a passionate, crucifying, painful relationship that looks to find the reality that was celebrated on Sunday hidden in the affairs of Monday." Isn't that your ministry and mine as part of Total Ministry - to live in relationships with one another and to bring newcomers into that greater understanding and community of the Body of Christ?
Those two boys playing church were just acting out the rituals of a Eucharist. They were doing something sacramental. One of those boys was me, the other was Philip Bigger, my best friend in Elementary School, and here I have come full circle - wanting at the age of 10 and 11 to become a priest and now seeing that dream become a reality in October 2002. Jesus is saying to you and me today - "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Whether you're ordained or not makes no difference! When Jesus calls us, he's talking about getting into the net of all that belongs to God, living that relationship, being God's presence in the world and doing the work of salvation. We don't really do the work! That's also the nature of a sacrament; it's God working in and through the sacrament, in and through us. This is our sacramental vacation as baptized persons. This is our calling as full ministers - as part of the priesthood of all believers - in the Spirit of the Heartland. Let's do more that "just play church" every Sunday. Let's remember that sacraments are more than symbols. They are also things, events and also relationships. Let's live out our baptismal covenant in very fiber of our being and truly become better fishers of men and women instead of just walleyes and bass.
Are we all willing to follow Jesus to build up his kingdom here on earth and in the Spirit of the Heartland? What do YOU think our answer will be? Amen.