Scripture can be found here…
Once again, this morning, we encounter Jesus and Peter and Andrew, but this is a very different story from the one we read last week.
Last week, in John’s gospel, we witnessed first, Andrew, and then, Simon Peter, as a seeker. Andrew’s seeking led him to follow John, and then, to find Jesus, and he brought Simon along with him. In John’s gospel, the disciples were the seekers.
But not in Matthew’s. In the passage we have just read, Jesus comes to both brothers. He finds them where they are, finds them at work. And upon hearing those famous words of invitation—Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men, or people, they literally drop their work—the nets they are holding in their hands. They drop them into the Sea of Galilee, and they follow him.
There was definitely something about Jesus.
But what, exactly?
John’s story feels more plausible to me. Andrew went and listened, and was convinced, and brought his brother along.
But Matthew’s account? It sounds like something out of a Broadway Musical—“Some Enchanted Evening.” Except here, it’s an enchanted morning, and the brothers see the stranger by the sea of Capernaum, instead of across a crowded room.
And somehow, they know.
What was it?
I’m inclined to think Jesus saw something in the brothers he needed. Think about it.
They were casting their nets into the sea. If Jesus stood there for any length of time, he probably saw Andrew and Peter watching and taking note of the tides, and the wind, and all the things that affect how the fish are running. He’d have watched how they coordinated their movements, how together they cast out a net that was too big for one person to cast alone. He’d have probably witnessed some amount of patience—how often do you get a huge catch on the first try? And maybe he noticed how they communicated together. How they talked, and how they listened… maybe how they didn’t even need to talk.
Maybe Jesus looked at Andrew and Simon Peter, and assessed that they had some of the qualities he was looking for in his followers.
In the passage from 1 Corinthians, Paul is greeting a church that he no doubt planted, their first pastor. He writes something extraordinary to them. He says,
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind…so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Cor. 1:4-5, 7
Did you hear that? Paul writes, You are not lacking in any spiritual gift.
That is an amazing thing to say. This little congregation—which Paul spends the rest of the letter criticizing and correcting for all the ways they’re getting it wrong, in terms of how they live in community—this small group is nevertheless complete, whole, in terms of the spiritual gifts they need for their lives together and their outreach to the community. Sure, they have their issues. But they also have been given every gift they need to overcome them.
Now, take note. This is not a letter to an individual. It’s a letter to a community. You, plural. You, plural are not lacking in any spiritual gift.
I think Jesus sees gifts for community and for ministry in Andrew and Simon Peter. But they’re just two people. He will be looking for other gifts in the other disciples he calls to follow.
What if we believed that? That we have every spiritual gift we need—not as individuals, but as a community? What if we believed that God has equipped each of us with the gifts we need to serve, right here, where we are? That Perry and Gretchen and Richard became members today, at least in part, because they have spiritual gifts to share that are unique to them? That Rich and Mitch and Mark, who are about to be installed, have answered the call to serve because, together with the other deacons and elders, they have the mix of what our church needs, right now?
Now, I haven’t answered my own question—what was it about Jesus that compelled, not two, but four individuals in our story leave their work—leave everything—and follow Jesus?
Presbyterian curmudgeon Frederick Buechner famously said that “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” In addition to their specific skillsets, I think Jesus saw in these men a deep hunger for something beyond themselves. It is a powerful thing to be seen, truly seen and known for who you are. If I were to guess why they left their nets and never looked back? That’s it. The experience of being seen, being known, being understood. That’s where everyone’s capacity for gladness begins.
And thanks be to God, we are called to do God’s work both individually, and together. Thanks be to God, none of us is in this alone. Thanks be to God, that together, we have everything we need to follow where God is leading us.
Thanks be to God. Amen.