“Walking by the Sea” Colchester Federated Church, January 25, 2026, Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Matthew 4:12-23)

There’s a funny story that one day in the South Pacific, a ship captain saw smoke coming from a hut on an uncharted island.  When the crew arrived on the island they were met by a shipwreck survivor.  The survivor said, “I am so glad you’re here!  I have been alone on this island for more than five years!”  The captain replied, “If you’re all alone on the island, why do I see three huts?”  The survivor said, “Oh.  Well, I live in one hut, and I go to church in another hut.” “Well, what about the third hut?” asked the captain.  “Oh, well that’s where I used to go to church.”

Church people are really something.  We can sometimes stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity to protest injustice while arguing endlessly about the color of the carpet in the sanctuary.  Don’t you wonder what Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Savior, who came to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the whole world to God’s self would think of where the Christian Church is today given how his humble movement within Judaism began on the shores of the Sea of Galilee?  After all, there are over 2 billion Christians in the world and three distinct branches of Christianity—Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant.  In some ways, this organized religion that billions of people find meaningful began with a couple of fisherfolk.

In today’s story from the Gospel according to Matthew, Peter and Andrew are casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee.  Meanwhile, James and John are mending their nets in a boat with their father Zebedee.  Along comes Jesus walking alongside the sea with his invitation: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.”[1]  And they leave everything behind to actually go do it.

Now there is some question about whether or not Jesus had met Peter, Andrew, James, and John before he called them to be his disciples.  John Rosseau and Rami Arav wrote this fabulous book called Jesus and His World: An Archeological and Cultural Dictionary combining archaeology and Middle Eastern culture to better understand the world in which Jesus lived.  We were just talking about this subject matter in our Tuesday Zoom Bible Study recently, and this information seemed worth sharing again with the whole congregation.  Because it’s important to consider Jesus’ Jewish background and environment as a source of information, to better understand his life and attitudes and the meaning of his teachings. 

Anyway, Rosseau and Arav contend that Jesus was probably used to fishing, boats, and sailing.  Jesus may have even slept through a storm on the sea when the professional fishermen were the ones who were afraid!  They relate, “Perhaps Jesus was connected with the fishing industry before his baptism by John.  There is no reason to doubt that he had been trained as a tekton (carpenter or construction worker, Matt. 13:55, Mark 6:3), so he may have worked in boat construction or repairs in a harbor of the Sea of Galilee.  Some of his acquaintances there became his disciples when he began his own ministry.”[2]

It could have been that Jesus had never met these folks before.  He simply called out to them as he walked along the shore and they came running to help him fish for people.  As soon as Peter, Andrew, James, and John saw him walking by the Sea of Galilee they may have sensed that there was something compelling about Jesus.  It is safe to say that Jesus was a remarkable person and that people felt the divine presence when in his company.  Think about the woman who had such deep faith that she came up behind Jesus and simply touched the hem of his clothes in seeking healing from her disease.  Jesus turned and truly saw her declaring, “Daughter, your faith has healed you . . . Go in peace.”[3]  Who knows!  Just being in Jesus’ presence might have been enough for the earliest disciples to drop everything and follow where Jesus would lead. 

Or maybe Jesus knew these guys because he helped build the boats they sailed or repaired their boats when something was broken.  They trusted him with their livelihood.  Maybe Jesus told them about how he wanted to teach, heal, and create God’s kingdom on earth when they had a lunch break or went for a swim to cool down on hot days.  Jesus showed them that God is love and we are called to love one another.  These fishermen began to sense that this Jesus of Nazareth was someone special.  One day he was ready to go about God’s work in the world.  As his friends cast their nets into the sea and fixed up some broken nets, he called out to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.”  And they somehow knew the time had come.  Those fisherfolk dropped everything, and left their old lives behind to walk beside Jesus.

We still have Jesus calling out to us: “follow me.”  Though we have various ideas about what it means to follow in the Way of Jesus Christ.  We won’t always agree on what that looks like.  Hence that fictional guy who felt the need to build another church for himself on that deserted island!  What makes the Church such a remarkable place is that we can find ways to come together despite our differences. 

This reminds me that in one of my worship classes in seminary, we would often start class with a hymn.  People would sometimes shout out a request and we’d leaf through our UCC New Century Hymnals and find that hymn, singing it together.  One day someone shouted out a request.  No one groaned or complained except our professor.  She said, “Oh, I can’t stand this hymn, it drives me crazy.”  The student who requested it looked totally downcast and defeated.  Though our professor quickly recovered herself.  She said something like, “It’s true that I can’t stand this hymn.  But since you love it, I’ll sing my heart out because you’re my brother in Christ.  That, my friends, is church.”  This was an incredible moment.  Our professor modeling for us singing a hymn you don’t even like with gusto because your brother in the community loves that hymn and you love him—that is church at its best.  Because it’s never just about any of us as individuals.

We come together as a Christian community knowing that we don’t all see the world exactly the same.  Yet we are united in our desire to follow Jesus like those first disciples on the shores of the Galilean Sea.  Following in the footsteps of Jesus helps orient our lives. 

Make no mistake, these are chaotic times in which we are living. Just look at what’s happening right now in Minnesota.  Though whenever events in our country or the world seem overwhelming it’s helpful to know that we can do good wherever we are.  We’re not powerless to make the world a better place.  We can let our lights shine here.  There’s this great message that’s often attributed to the Talmud that relates: “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.  Do justly, now.  Love mercy, now.  Walk humbly, now.  You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”  It’s helpful to think about the good we can do here in our community because we can do good in our community, seriously.  We’re not obligated to complete all that good work—but we sure aren’t free to abandon it either. 

The call for Christians to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God remains.  It’s who we are as followers of Jesus Christ.  It’s what God calls us to do.  And it’s up to us as a community of faith to figure out how that looks in our particular context.  Thank goodness we have each other and that we don’t have to go about this work alone. 

Never forget that Jesus began his ministry by recruiting people to be about God’s loving-kindness beside him.  He couldn’t teach about the love of God or embody that love if no one was there for him to interact with.  Jesus began his ministry by telling his friends, “Follow me and let’s go fish for some more people!” 

Jesus needed the disciples.  And the disciples needed Jesus.  The call of the disciples is the beginning of this relationship Jesus had with his followers that would develop and deepen over time.  They could look to Jesus as an example of what a life devoted to God truly looked like.  They could look to Jesus to see the embodiment of compassion.  We can look to Jesus to understand how God wants us to live too.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

[1] Matthew 4:19, NRSVUE.
[2] John Rosseau and Rami Arav, Jesus and His World: An Archaeological and Cultural Dictionary, 29.
[3] Luke 8:48, CEB.

Photo of the Sea of Galilee by Rev. Lauren Ostrout.