Matthew 4.12-23

+ Well, here we are on this Annual Meeting Sunday once again.

And I have to say, sometimes Annual Meeting Sunday is a time to rejoiceand sometimes it can be a time to despair.

That simply is the way parishes work sometimes.

Well, this morning, as we gather for Annual Meeting, we do sorejoicing.

It has been a truly great year.

And we had a great Stewardship campaign.

I thank Laura Nylander especially for her hard work on Stewardshipthis year.

But what I especially want to thank her for is helping us do aspiritual reappraisal of pledging of our time, our talent and our financialmeans.

She has helped us truly see our resources here for what theyare—gifts from God.

Manna from heaven.

Part of the offering we make to God for all that God has done forus.

Thank you, Laura, for that and all you do.

We gather for our Annual Meeting in a very good place.

St. Stephen’s is a vital, healthy congregation.

And we should rejoice in that fact today.

And we are a place in which we are truly committed to ourfollowing of Jesus.

In our Gospel reading for today, we hear this call to “follow”Jesus.

Now, if you’re anything like me, following is not an easy thing todo.

I know I preach a lot about following Jesus and how a Christian isa follower.

But, deep down, sometimes such talk really grates on me at times.

I am not a natural follower.

I’m not the kind of person who falls in line very well.

I’ve always kind of done my own thing.

As many of you know.

And so when we come across this talk of Jesus telling us to followhim, I will do it.

I get it.

I understand it.

And I try hard to do it.

But it has not been easy for me at times.

And I can imagine if I had lived in his time, I would’ve been theone who would have done so a bit reluctantly.

I would have been the disciple standing off to the side, with myarms crossed.

I’d be there.

I’d be listening.

And I would follow.

But I’d do so with a bit of a drag in my feet as I did it.

And you know what?

That’s all right.

The fact is, we don’t all have to follow Jesus in the same way.

Some of us might be enthusiastic.

Some of us might…not.

Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean being a stereotype.

It doesn’t mean I have to follow him the same way you follow him.

We can follow in our own particular way.

The key isn’t how wefollow him.

The key is that we simply dofollow in whatever way we can.

This is our rallying cry on this Annual Meeting Sunday.

Today it is a time for us to stop and to think about the uniqueand eclectic ways in which we can follow Jesus in this coming year as acongregation and as individuals.

But, as I say that, I want to stress one very important thing:

Following—and this is real point for me in all of this—doesn’tmean conforming.

Which is what makes us, especially here at St. Stephen’s, so…howshall I say it...eclectic.

Notice that I didn’t say eccentric.

Though we are definitely that as well.

Following means doing what Jesus did.

Following means striving to be what Jesus was to those heencountered.

Following Jesus means embodying Jesus.

Being his presence in a world that needs his presence. 

Being a loved child of God just as Jesus was himself a loved Childof God.

And that means standing up, like Jesus to the authorities of thisworld that demean and fracture us.

It means standing up and speaking out against those forces thattreat people like trash, like less-than.

Or just murder people in the streets of Minneapolis like dogs

It means being a presence for those children of God who seen byothers as refuse, as something to be marginalized and arrested and discarded.

And murdered.

As followers of Jesus we are called to stand up—strongly, surely,and without fear—to proclaim our equality before God.

I stress that---without fear.

We have all been called by Jesus, just as he called the disciplesin today’s Gospel, to be fishers of people.

And doing so means following him in all that we do in the name ofjustice and equality.

In our collect for today, we prayed

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our SaviorJesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that weand the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works…

I think that is pretty good summary of what following Jesusentails.

We are compelled us to answer the call of Jesus and to proclaim toall people the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

And that Good News is that we are all God’s children.

We are loved by our God.

And in God’s eyes, we are all equal.

In today’s Gospel, when we find Jesus and his first followersgoing through Galilee, “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom,” we realizethat call to us to be “fishers of people” is not necessarily a call toholier-than-thou.

It is not a call to be exactly like everyone else in ourproclamation.

Proclaiming the good news and being fishers of people might simplyinvolve us communicating the truth of that reality in our own unique way

It means being a followers of Jesus and a loved child of God  through our demeanor, through the choices wemake in our lives and the very way we live our lives.

It means standing up for what is right in our own way.

And it means doing so without fear.

If we do so in such a way, our whole life then becomes a kind ofwalking sermon, even if we personally don’t say a word.

“Follow me and I will make you fishers for people,” Jesus said tothose first followers.

 And he continues to saythat to each of us this morning, and in our year ahead.

So, today, on this Annual Meeting Sunday, let us follow him.

Let us follow him to whatever place he leads us in our lives.

Let us stand up for truth.

Let us stand up for justice.

Let us stand up for equality.

Let us stand up and pray aloud the name Renee Good.

Let us stand up and pray aloud the name Alex Pretti.

Let us stand up.

Let us speak out.

Let us give essentially give a strong—though whollyChristian—equivalent of a middle finger to ICE and all the forces of injusticeand violence that not only back ICE but that give ICE the authority and powerit has to do the evil it does.

Let us do so.

Without fear.

Let us not let fear win out in our lives and in this world.

We are the ones who can stand up and fight against fear andinjustice and inequality by simply being who we are.

We have nothing to fear.

How can I say that?

Because, I know this:

The forces of violence and injustice WILL be brought down.

Those who promote what we are witnessing will be brought tojustice.

History shows us that.

God promises that.

The saints proclaim that again and again.

Let us go out and proclaim this amazing message of God’s all-powerfullove  in our own unique and eclectic way.

Let us fish for people and let us bring in a hearty harvest.

This is what it is all about.

This is how we truly follow Jesus where he leads.

And knowing this—truly knowing this—we can follow him—even when weare tired and broken and exhausted—with true joy and gladness singing in ourhearts.

I close to day with yet another item Annette Morrow sent me justas I was leaving the house this morning for church.

Annette has an uncanny ability to do this, since she just did it afew weeks ago. 

This a prayer by Prairie Rose.

HolyMystery, God of breath and body,

Godwho walks streets in cold air and feels pavement under wounded feet,

Wecome to you shattered and furious, our hearts pounding with grief anddisbelief. Again, a life has been taken in the open air, on streets meant forneighbors, not executions.

Wename this violence.

WENAME THIS VIOLENCE. Terror.

We donot soften it. We will not soften it.

Werefuse to call it anything but what it is.

Holyone, they’re gathering the martyrs. Minnesota martyrs, we pray for the martyrs,those whose lives have been stolen by the machinery of the state. Witnesses,martyrs, hold them in your mercy. Wrap their families, their loved ones, theircommunities in a care so strong it does not erase their rage, and steadies themto survive.

Wepray for the observers, for those who stand in yellow vests and plain clothes,for those who step forward when fear says step back, those who put their bodiesbetween weapons and breath. Those who now know they could be sacrificed to thismachine of hate, terrorizing our streets, putting fear into our children andfamilies.

Holyholy, bless the witnesses. Protect those who choose presence over safety, truthand solidarity over silence. Hold those who stand now as shields, who carrycameras, notebooks, radios, prayers, who know they may be targeted and goanyway. As they patrol, alert and stand up, hedge them with protection.

Wepray for those who understand that witness itself has become an act ofresistance, that seeing and being seen is now a risk, that some are called tolay down their bodies not because they seek sacrifice, but because they refuseabandonment.

Wewill not abandon our neighbor.

Wewill not abandon our community.

Wewill not abandon the martyrs.

Wewill not abandon justice.

Guardthem, Holy One. Sharpen their clarity without hardening their hearts. Keep themalive.

Letthem all come home.

Wepray for the vulnerable those without protection, with and withoutdocumentation, without power, without rest.

Forchildren who learn fear too young.

Forelders who have seen this before

andare tired of this fight.

Weask not for calm, but for courage.

Teachus to pray with our feet, to pray with our schedules, to pray with our money,our voices, our bodies. Let our love show up in the streets, in courtrooms, inshelters, in policy rooms and holding cells.

Whenwe are too exhausted to hope, hold hope for us. When we are too angry to speakgently,

holdus anyway. When the weight of this all feels unbearable, remind us that we arenot carrying it alone.

Bewith Minnesota

Bewith those who mourn.

Bewith those who witness.

Bewith those who resist.

Moveus.

Sendus.

Donot let us look away.

HolyOne. hear our prayers.

Amen