Gospel: Matthew 4.12-23
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.’
17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.
4 SERMON: “Beginnings at Dawn”
Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It is a new dawn.
It is a new day.
It is a new life.
For me
And I am feeling good.
That Michael Bublé song always gets me in a good mood. In a morning mood.
Waking up to a new morning, a new dawn is a daily gift that we should never take for granted.
Getting up and into the day feeling like the birds flying high, sun in the sky, breeze drifting on…. It is a new dawn, a new day, and a new life…. And we are feeling good.
I have been trying to get you in this new dawn and new morning mood since the service began: with Here come the sun, Morning has broken, and Marjas beautiful solo In the morning when I rise.
So, you are here. It is a new dawn. A new day, a new life.
Let us stretch and breathe deeply in.
Granted some are not morning people. Some a grumpy and slowing waking up; some might be more annoyed than pleased by the birds making noise; some might think that the bright sun is too bright and the cold breeze too cold as you leave your warm danish dyne.
Granted that not every day is a good day: some mornings we dread as we know what is to come and what to expect of sadness, decisions, or disappointments.
Granted that our mornings are not always making us feel good…. But mostly they are and should. As how we greet the morning is how we greet the day and our life.
It is a new day, a new dawn, a new life…. And we are feeling good, blessed and grateful to wake up.
Just think about how many great beginnings have you had at dawn?
When the sun is rising and you are rising to a new day, a new adventure, a new task, or a new opportunity. When the rising sun calls you to get up, follow the sun and embrace the day.
I remember rising suns and new dawns giving me excitement and joy:
· That bright first day in schol , biking to school in the early morning with my mom;
· Those wonderful bright mornings of excitement when waking up on the first day of vacation in beautiful Florence, on a beach in Greece, on the street of Paris, in a Greyhound Bus driving into Buffalo or watching the sun rise on a night training reaching the destination of Madrid just as the sun is rising.
I remember rising suns and new dawns on the first day:
· I started at Aarhus University or woke up in Soren and my first apartment,
· I remember the rising suns in the early morning at the beautiful old Parsonage with the inscription over the entrance: Everything is in the Hands of God… waking up and remembering that God is indeed with us every morning and every blessed moment.
· I remember the first dawn of waking up as a new mom with excitement and anxiety.
After returning from Denmark and assisting my parents transition from their own house into a nursing home, we talked about how their first dawn and morning were in their new place and new situation. Something they have always dreaded, but now have to embrace with necessity and gratitude. It is still a new day, a new dawn, and a new life… even when you get old.
SLIDE 15 Beginnings can dawn on us just like a beautiful dawn. I wonder if that is how the first disciples felt when they met Jesus and their destiny that early morning at the shore.
Did they know instantly to follow him, to lay down their ordinary lives, their livelihood, their nets, and follow him?
Did they know that that morning was going to change the rest of their lives?
Did it dawn on them how significant a morning that was?
A new day, a new dawn, a new life…. And they were feeling good. Also, weary and anxious. But mostly filled with the Holy Spirit that was calling them to follow that voice, that man, and that faith.
These early fishermen that we read about in the gospel were all in a family business. Simon Peter and Andrew, the first set of brothers we meet, aren’t with their father, or at least he is not mentioned. But we can imagine that they are fishermen because their father was before them and his father before him, and so on. They rely on the fish they catch not only for food on the table but also for trade in the marketplace and money in their purse. They were fishermen, working the nets, in the same way we might be pastors, teachers, accountants, executives, managers, or farmers. Fishing is what they do, day in and day out. Year after year.
Until that faithful morning. Until that dawn when everything changed.
Jesus calls them to follow him. He doesn’t say he is going to make them teachers, prophets or rabbis. He doesn’t say that they will be preachers, baptizers or great evangelists. He says: Come follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
Come do the same thing that you have been doing for generations: fishing. Except no you will be fishers of people.
Come follow me and do what you have done before, just in a different way.
Jesus calls them with words they understand. They know how to fish… now this morning, this dawn, this new day is simply asking them to go somewhere else to fish and to take the fishing to another level!
The images of shepherding and fishing might not be among our everyday professions anymore, and as modern independent people we hate being compared to stupid baahing sheep following the shepherd, or being compared to a black lost sheep, or being compared to stupid fish being caught in the fisherman’s net.
We prefer making the shots, making the decisions not being led by a shepherd or caught by a net.
But to be honest: isn’t it so that we are called to do something, to go somewhere, to change our ways, to make a new beginning…. that we are caught by a voice or sensation, that we listen and follow God calling, that we are called by others to change our ways, to make amends, to try again and to believe in mornings?
So often I remember the wonderful Quote over the entrance door at the parsonage in Denmark:” Everything is in the hands of God.”
How often have I not started a new day and new dawn, praying and thinking:”Thank God, everything is in the hands of God. “
How many times has that thought given me a sense of calling, direction, peace, gratitude, and hope?
Perhaps, that is how the fishermen felt that day and that early dawn that changed their entire lives: that man, that voice, and that call strengthened their faith that everything was in the hands of God… so they could trust and jump with hope into a new life, a new day, a new dawn…. And feel good.
We are called today and every day to follow Jesus. We are called to be disciples and believers. We are called to dare believe and dare hope and dare love.
We are called to leave something behind, but Jesus’s call is less about what we leave behind of broken promises, relations, and dreams, - it is more about our eager response to follow Him and dare to follow him to uncharted waters, new shores and new dawns.
Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by
You know how I feel
It is a new dawn.
It is a new day.
It is a new life.
For me
And I am feeling good.