“THE KINGDOM IN ACTION!”
Have you guys ever heard of Tim Hawkins? He's a Christian comedian who loves to use humor to draw attention to some of our foibles as believers... In one routine, he asks the leading question:
“Ever see a car with a Darwin fish on the back? Oooh! Then you see the Jesus people with a Jesus fish on the back of their car! Uh - Oh! Let's get ready to Rumble! (pantamine boxing...)
The other day I saw a car with a Jesus fish devouring a Darwin fish. There's some good solid biblical teaching for ya! Somebody disagrees with you, you just eat them! (munch, munch, munch!)
I mean, is that what Jesus would do? 'And Jesus sat down and ate twenty Pharisees!' “
That must be in the Amplified translation! Sorry Ann Louise!
I don't think that's what Jesus meant when he invited Peter and Andrew to fish for people. I saw one cartoon with a couple of men fishing, as one pulls up a dripping wet young woman. (indicate hook) The one says to the other: “Gotta throw her back, man. We're fishers of men here!”
There seems to be some confusion here. So what did Jesus mean? As always, consider the context. A couple of observations. Matthew transitions from last week's story of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness to his informing us that upon the arrest of his cousin, John the Baptist, Jesus left home.
“Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee.” (Matthew 4:13)
For me, that raises a question: Why? Why does Jesus find it necessary to leave home and why now? Was he tired of the life of a carpenter? Was there trouble at home? He did have several brothers and who knows how many sisters. I only have four siblings and at one point I was outta there!
But Matthew doesn't mention his family here but instead points to other factors involved in Jesus deciding to leave his home in Nazareth. One, he connects Jesus' decision with the arrest of John. “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee.” (Matthew 4:12)
In other words, Jesus realizes that this is the end of John's prophetic, baptizing ministry. The time has come for Jesus' ministry to begin. The proverbial baton has been passed.
So one, Jesus moves in order to step up to the plate, to initiate his calling. Two, he moves to Galilee in order to fulfill the messianic prophecies of the prophets. Matthew makes sure we don't miss that so he informs his readers that Capernaum is in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali, two ancient cities mentioned in Isaiah 9:1. Jesus wants people to connect the dots. He comes to fulfill God's promises, articulated most clearly just four verses later: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom...forever.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
So one, Jesus moves in order to initiate his ministry; two, he moves to Galilee in order to fulfill the messianic prophecies; and three he moves near the Sea of Galilee to pick up where John left off, as highlighted by the fact that his and John's message are one and the same: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17)
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Jesus and John's location, audience and message were virtually identical. John sets the table and Jesus provides the meal. John points the spotlight and Jesus cast the vision and part of that vision will be training his followers to imitate him and to invite others to join in.
So it is that we find Jesus walking where John the Baptist walked, beside the Sea of Galilee calling for Galileans, those the religious community considered to be living in spiritual darkness, to follow him for the purpose of becoming fishers for people. “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.'” (Matthew 4:18-19)
The fact that his preaching that “the Kingdom of Heaven heaven has come near” has already been quoted back in verse seventeen suggests that they are already familiar with his message, as does as well Matthew's note that “immediately they left their nets and followed him”. (Matthew 4:20)
In this way, Matthew makes clear that from the outset, this Kingdom Jesus proclaimed and embodied, was a Kingdom In Action! This is revealed in five ways. First, in Jesus' proclamation to “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven heaven has come near!” (Matthew 4:17)
The word, 'repent', means literally to turn around. Like a turnabout on a mountain trail, it's the act of turning and going the other direction. It's getting out of your way to go Jesus' way, a way that is not focused on what you want so much as what God wants for you. I Did It My Way – wrong song!
A beautiful dramatization of it might be Bill Nighy's film, “Living”. In it, Rodney Williams, a bureeaucrat in the a London public works department, diagnosed with a terminal illness. In his job he shares little interest or compassion for those seeking federal help, living for himself as it were, but following his diagnosis he comes to realize how empty and meaningless his life has been. Inspired by a woman he meets who's life is full of joy and giving, Rodney rallies his complacent collegues into responding to a request to build a children's playground in a run down part of the city.
Knowing that his time is short, he does a turnabout and invests his time and resources in making a difference in his neighbors lives. Such is the nature of Jesus call for repentance, a call to true living!
A second call for Kingdom action comes as Jesus approaches the four friends fishing along the sea bank. “Come, follow me!” he beckons. (Matthew 4:19) It was an invitation to become his disciples, his students as it were. An old Rabbi saying talked about how a disciple is covered in his teacher's dust, meaning that one was to follow so closely, that they would wind up being covered in the dust that his walking through the dirty, muddy streets of the day would kick up.
It's a bit more involved than following someone on Facebook or Twitter. It's more than clicking on the quotes you like, it's learning to put yourself out there the way he did and does, like the way he loved on people who's world view differed from his own, and by seeking to do the things that he did.
Robby Dawkins puts it this way: “Have you ever noticed that Jesus never gives his disciples any clue what will happen next? He starts with a simple invitation: 'Follow me.' They might have wondered, 'Follow you to do what – for how long?' But Jesus didn't say. They just knew that he was on to something that they lacked. They just knew that where He was, they wanted to be.
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It's not about accomplishing what we want to see or about our version of success; it's about saying,'I'm willing to be used by God in this moment, and the results are up to Him, not me.' One way to think about it is that we are meant to be nickels in God's pocket, like loose change He can spend any which way He chooses. He can spend you on big things or small things.” (Robby Dawkins)
That was so Ann Louise! She was all about making herself available to be used by God any where, at any time. I remember the first few times she dropped by my office in the early years and before leaving would ask how she could pray for me. Then, once I'd replied, her hands were instantly on my shoulders and she was praying for me. No one I knew at the time did that. She was more a dollar in God's pocket! In fact, she even carried wads of money in her pockets to further bless people!
A third way we see the Kingdom in Action in Matthew 4 is in the Apostolic call found there. Having invited them, Jesus promises them, “And I will send you out to fish for people!” (Matt. 4:19)
Apostle means sent one and in this respect all of us who consider ourselves Christian, which means literally Christ follower, are also called to be apostles. We're those Jesus sends out to engage in the work of fishing for people. Yes, I know, sounds kind of fishy – and it is. Alot of those we are being sent to may not smell well to our sensitive senses, but God loves them as they are, as should we.
In John's gospel we're told one way they did that. When Jesus invited Phillip to follow him, he in turn went to his sceptic friend, Nathaniel, who couldn't believe anything or anyone good could come from the seedy town of Nazareth, Phillip threw out his net, saying: “Come and See!” (John 1:46)
We don't need to seal the deal, we can just tell them what has moved our heart, what our experience has been, and invite them to come and see for themselves. The more of us tossing out such invitations to those we know or meet to come and see why we're so excited about Alpha or worship, the more chances folks have to respond to Jesus' invitation to them to follow him as well.
The fourth glimpse of the Kingdom in action is the nature in which these four friends respond. “Immediately they left their boat and their father and followed Jesus.” (Matthew 4:22) They caught the urgency in Jesus' invitation. They took action then and there. That's part of what I like about that movie. Rod's imminent death gave his life urgency. Fact is, all of us have an incredibly limited time. The clock is ticking for those swimming and for those fishing! There's no time like now!
Finally, we see the Kingdom in Action through the show and tell ministry of Jesus himself, a ministry that he'll later pass on to his disciples in training. “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of thee Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. And news spread about him (everywhere)...!” (Matthew 4:23-24)
He taught it, he preached it, and he embodied it! He articulated it and then demonstrated it! He put it into action and then he equipped his followers to do the same thing. So when he said he would be sending them out to fish for people, he didn't mean to hook them, he meant to love on them the way he did, meeting their physical, emotional and spiritual needs and them pointing them to God!
For some of us, the breakthrough revelation of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus articulated and demonstrated is that God loves others so much that He's even willing to use the likes of hurting, flawed and deeply longing people like you and me to reach them! And that's where it really gets exciting! You don't need to have all your questions answered nor all your doubts resolved or even all your woundedness healed before Jesus wants to use you to help bring transformation to others!
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That's the Kingdom of Heaven in Action! Dawkins tells of a youth night in which one of the boys brought his friend Jim, who he describes as a Jewish atheist. I didn't know that was a thing!
Anyway, Jim sat in the back and mocked and laughed at the youth as they worshipped. At one point a couple of the boys asked Jim if they could pray for him. 'I'm an atheist. Don't waste your time.'
'Well, then you've got nothing to lose, right?' they replied. So, Jim agreed. They prayed that he would be blessed and feel God's love. Jim, looked started and said, 'I hear you.' They thought he was being funny so they responded, 'Yeah, man, we hear you too.'
'No,' Jim stammered, 'you don't get it! I've been deaf in this ear all my life. I've had five surgeries and nothing's every worked, but when you guys prayed, it popped and opened up instantly!'
God healed Jim's ear and all his doubts vanished in one 'pop'. Whereas before he used Jesus name as a swear word and mocked his friends' faith, after that he couldn't hear enough, walking three miles to and fro church to worship Jesus. He went on to throw his fishing net far and wide.
In the words of another apostle: “Give yourselves completely to God – every part of you...and you will become tools in the hands of God, to be used for His good and exciting purposes!”
(Romans 6:13)
This is the Kingdom of Heaven in Action! It's Jesus making life truly worth Living!