Fishing
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’” — Matthew 4:19.
My good friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Susan Polizzi, formerly of the First Baptist Church here in Norwich, dodged a dilemma this week. You see, both the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots had made it to the football playoffs.
Susan, having spent over twenty years serving churches in Wisconsin, had become an avowed cheese-head, a fan of the Green Bay Packers. But she now serves a church in Lowell, Massachusetts, a mere 26 miles from where the New England Patriots play their games. And both teams made it to the playoffs. Had both teams made it into the Super Bowl, she would have had a hard time with loyalties.
As it happens and much to the surprise of the experts, the Patriots lost to the New York Jets and that possibility was and is gone. So, perhaps, the dilemma dodged Susan, rather than Susan dodged the dilemma— right?
Whichever teams are involved— something which will be determined later today— on February 6th, two weeks from now, the country will, literally, be watching the Super Bowl. Why? The phenomena of our ability to be entertained by sports is what sociologists and academics have started to label as “whooshing up.” Whooshing— that’s w-o-o-s-h-i-n-g— whooshing up.
Whooshing up is defined as the sensation we enjoy at a sporting event when the crowd rises to its feet as one to register a communal sense of awe and admiration. Whooshing up is communal. It is public. It is shared. (Slight pause.)
This is quote often attributed to G. K. Chesterton: ‘When a person stops believing in God it doesn’t then mean believing in nothing. It means that person believes in everything.’ [1] In a recent article, theologian Martin Marty used that saying to illustrate the modern world may have come full circle and is now just like the ancient world. Just like the ancients, we do not, any longer, believe in one God. We believe in many gods: polytheism.
God #1 for our race today probably remains Mars, a god of conflict, still much beloved in a lot of churches. God #2— Venus, a god of desire, one who clearly rules pop culture but does maintain a presence within houses of worship. And, of course, there is god #3, Mammon, the god of consumerism, a god found in the gospel of prosperity so often heard these days. Then there is god #4, Hermes, the God of athletic contests.
Do notice, all these are not just modern gods. These are ancient gods. There are more, but naming those four will suffice to establish the thesis: polytheism lives.
Marty says ‘there is probably not much point trying to deny the human hunger for a good whoosh. When memories of parting the Red Sea were fading and the Israelites worried about losing their direction, they sought a quick fix, an artificial whoosh. They pressed Aaron into fashioning a golden calf.’
In fact, says Martin Marty, ‘scripture records some of the greatest whooshes of history. Creation— the big whoosh instead of the big bang— flood, fire, brimstone, the plagues, the Red Sea, and bread from heaven.’
‘We get a boy who conquers a giant, angels conquer invaders, and a prophet who rises to the sky in a chariot of fire. Talk about whooshes!’
‘A really big whoosh came with the resurrection. And we still pursue ‘whooshes today.’ [2] But should we? (Slight pause.)
We find these words in the Gospel we commonly call Matthew: “And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’” (Slight pause.)
I think this was true in ancient times. I think this is still true today. We like whooshes. We seek out whooshes. We create whooshes even when they are not there.
After all, why else would a stadium full of people start a wave at a football game when the score is forty-eight to nothing. Nothing interesting or whoosh worthy is happening on the field. Let’s create a whoosh.
Indeed, this passage just read from Matthew may seem like it is whoosh after whoosh after whoosh. But is it? Are whooshes the intent of the passage or do we read that sensibility into this series of events? Is the intent of Scripture an effort to create a series of whooshes or is there something else going on? (Slight pause.)
As stated earlier, there is an immediate rush, a shot of adrenaline, a sense excitement with a whoosh. But we need to remember it is also a very short term experience. (Slight pause.)
So, what life is about— the short term? Is that what life with God is about— the short term? (Slight pause.)
I want to suggest there are two key phrases in this passage. The first one is (quote): “...the dominion of heaven has come near.” This is, in fact, one of the central messages Jesus offers.
Indeed, the very advent of the Christ, the presence of the Messiah, the reason we celebrate the Season of Epiphany is the reality of Jesus, the immanence of Jesus, the existence of the Jesus is a sign to us that God is with us not just in the moment, but now and forever. In short, we believe the Spirit of God lives among us.
The second key phrase is (quote): “...I will make you fish for people.” So, what is fishing for people? Surely it’s not anything like a game. Surely it’s not something you do in order to get an adrenaline rush. (Slight pause.)
Fishing for people is simply this: getting to know someone well enough that you can share your innermost thoughts. Fishing for people is getting to know someone well enough that you feel safe when you tell them not what you think but what you feel, how you feel. Fishing for people means that among the things you might share is your love for God.
Why? A relationship with God, you see, is not about what or how you think. A relationship with God is about how you love— how you love God and how you love neighbor— about how you feel. (Slight pause.)
Author, pastor and theologian Andrea La Sonde Anastos has said this (quote): “I suspect most of us wake up with a self-referenced agenda, a list of tasks that may further our personal desires but that has almost nothing to do with spending our life on behalf of God. When I look at my own date book I am startled by how few hours are given to work on behalf of the dominion of God and how many are spent spinning my wheels. Do I live wildly and abundantly as if I am truly ‘enriched in Christ,’ or as if I am simply marking time until my death? How do I hold myself accountable to a deeper discipleship? How do I help the community …[of which I am a member] develop ways to reflect on ‘deep living’ and engage in accountability to God?” [3] (Slight pause.)
Fishing for people is not a game, though some treat it that way. Fishing for people means striving to live one’s life in the community of the people of God to its fullest potential. Fishing for people is not something that’s flash in the pan, here and gone.
Fishing for people means a life-long commitment to walk side by side with one’s brothers and sisters in Christ, recognizing that we are all flawed, recognizing that life is not a game, recognizing that life is a journey. Is that hard? Yes.
Will you get an adrenaline rush by embarking on this journey? (Slight pause.) Well, maybe once in a while— each time you hold the hand of a friend or neighbor when they are in need and a comforting word is a necessary, each time you encourage a child who needs help, each time you offer support and love simply with silent presence— just a little bit of adrenaline rush.
And that kind of work, my friends, takes not moments filled with enthusiasm. It takes a lifetime filled with caring. And that... that is what is meant by fishing for people. Amen.
01/23/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I hope I did not give you an inaccurate impression: there is nothing wrong with a whoosh. It is simply not central. Indeed, in the article I mentioned Martin Marty expresses concern that too many churches concentrate on offering whooshes in a service of worship rather than a place for our relationship with God to be expressed and deepened. Whooshes are most certainly a small part of that.”
[1] This is attributed to Chesterton, but it is unlikely to really be his. The source is unclear.
[2] The Christian Century; Thinking Critically. Living Faithfully; On the Shelf; Still whooshing; 01/20/2011; by Martin E. Marty;
http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2011-01/still-whooshing
Marty was, in turn, picking up on this article: NY Times ~ 12/30/2010 ~ The Arena Culture ~ by David Brooks
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/opinion/31brooks.html?ref=davidbrooks
And this one:
The Wall Street Journal - Books & Ideas - The Gods Return; A solution to the 'lostness' of the modern world— and a guide to reading literature; By ERIC ORMSBY; 12/31/2010.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704278404576038040647824156.html?KEYWORDS=ERIC+ORMSBY
[3] Andrea La Sonde Anastos, Awaken: The Art of Imaginative Preaching, ACE 2010-2011, January 16, 2001 (Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota: Logos Productions, Inc.) 2010, p. 38.
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