Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church

1. He chooses the place                        2. He calls his co-workers          3. He shares a powerful message

My dear friends in Christ,

The world is a big place. Minnesota measures 86,943 square miles. The United States measures 3,537,441 square miles. The earth is 197,600,800 square miles. That’s a lot of space to cover. It sounds impossible when we think of Jesus’ command to “Go into the world and make disciples of all nations!” When I look out my back door, the world seems like a big place, especially in light of that command. Where do I start? To whom will I talk? What should I say? When is the best time? We have a lot of questions when it comes to sharing the gospel in this huge world. Thankfully, Jesus offers us some answers to our questions. Today, as we look at Matthew 4, Jesus teaches us how to carry out our mission. He chooses the place, he calls his co-workers, and he shares a powerful message.

Where do we start? We’ve already seen that the world is a big place! God’s plan started in a small tract of land in northern Palestine. Matthew talks about the place where Jesus would begin his ministry. "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali" (Matthew 4:12-13).

God had decided that this was the right place a long time ago. Isaiah wrote, "Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned" (Isaiah 9:1-2).

God had his reasons to choose Galilee. It was highly populated. The historian Josephus estimated that at least 3 million people lived in the province, and that its major towns had populations of 15,000 or more. A major trade route passed through Capernaum. Caravans bearing spices and silks from the east wound their way to Egypt, returning with grain, fruits and vegetables, dried fish, and fine linen. People from all over the world would have a chance to hear Jesus’ preach.

Where should we go? Well, where do we live? We live in the St. Croix Valley. We live and work in Washington County or St. Croix County, in Stillwater, Hudson, Somerset, and the surrounding areas on both sides of the river.

How can we be sure this is the right place? Isaiah didn’t say anything about Stillwater or Somerset. In fact, they aren’t mentioned at all in the Bible. We can be sure this is the right place because God put us here. The apostle Paul reminds us, "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live" (Acts 17:26). God didn’t put us in Nigeria, or Russia, or Germany, or Brazil. He put us here, in just the right place at just the right time.

Now that we’ve narrowed our focus to the right place, let’s talk about the right person for the job God has laid out for us. Take a look at this picture. This man is at the airport. Is he the one you want to fly your airplane? Why not? He’s not the right person for the job, is he?

God had the right person on the job in Galilee. Last week, we heard the Messiah say through the prophet Isaiah: "Before I was born the Lord called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name" (Isaiah 49:1). When we celebrated Jesus’ baptism we heard the Father’s voice thunder from heaven, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Jesus was the right person for the job. He is the Son of God, perfect, powerful, and willing. He is the Son of man, humble, obedient, mortal. Only Jesus could bring light into this dark world, so his Father sent him.

Jesus also called some qualified people to assist him. At first glance, his followers appear to be an unlikely group. Simon, called Peter and his brother Andrew. Another pair of brothers, James and John, also followed his call. These men were blue collar workers. They worked hard to fill their nets with fish from the Sea of Galilee every day. Their lives depended on each catch. They needed fish to feed their families, to make a profit, and to pay taxes to the Roman government. These were not university or seminary trained minds. They were simply salt of the earth, hard-working fishermen.

Jesus had other plans for these men. When he saw them fishing, he called them. "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). Jesus would use their abilities as fishermen and give them a whole new occupation. Instead of sailing on the Sea of Galilee looking for schools of fish, they would travel throughout Galilee, looking for groups of people. They left behind their nets and picked up a new net—the Word of God. Jesus described that net in one of his parables: "Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish" (Matthew 13:47). The species that they tried to snare in their nets wouldn’t have gills and fins, but arms, legs, and immortal souls that faced danger far greater than being caught and eaten for supper. They faced the danger of judgment—“When [the net] was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away." (Matthew 13:48). Jesus called these four men, along with eight others, to go fishing for souls so that God could save them forever.

What’s this? When you look in one of these, what do you see? Do you see the right person for a job as a fisher of men? When we take a first look in that mirror, we don’t. The mirror reveals all kinds of flaws and faults that come from deep within. The deepest and ugliest one is the sin that lives in our hearts. It colors everything that we do.

What else do we see when we look in that mirror? We see a lot of doubts. Are we fishers of men? We don’t look like one. We don’t always feel like one. We don’t know how to do the job or what to say. We’re afraid that when we start tossing out the net of the gospel, the people we meet won’t listen to us, or they’ll shut the door in our faces. We hesitate because someone might make fun of us. We aren’t the right people for the job!

It gets even worse. As we look at our reflection, we also see the rest of the world through the window behind us. It’s filled with people who could care less about Jesus. Other religions promote their gods, governments slowly limit Christianity’s voice, the media calls Christianity foolishness. Why would anyone want to be a fisher of men with so much opposition?

I know a fisherman. Actually, she’s a fisherwoman. Her name is Evie. She’s over 80 years old, and has been casting the gospel’s net for a long time. Until she retired, she was a nurse. Evie talks to people about Jesus all the time. It doesn’t matter if she’s sitting on an airplane, or at her water aerobics class, or in the common room at her apartment complex, or at her “job” volunteering to sit at the hospital with families who have loved ones going into surgery. She doesn’t worry about what they might think, or how they might react. Evie knows how badly they need Jesus, and she’s going to tell them. She likes to go to church and learn more about God’s Word. She looks forward to discussions on evangelism and witnessing because she can pick up little tidbits to use when she meets someone new. Evie is a fisher of men.

She didn’t choose the job. Jesus chose her. He said, “I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus gave Evie the gifts to share her faith with others. Jesus promises to make each one of us fishers of men, using our unique gifts and talents wherever he has put us. We may not cast our nets in the same way Evie does. Maybe we’ll walk from door to door in our neighborhood, asking people if they have a church home. Maybe we’ll talk about the blessings we find in our congregation and school as we sit with someone at swimming lessons. Maybe we’ll invite a friend to come and study the Bible at the kitchen table with us a few times a month. We don’t have to worry that we aren’t doing it right, or well enough. Jesus has it all covered. He promised, “Do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10:19-20). Just cast the net, and God will do the rest!

Let’s go back to this picture for a moment. We figured out earlier that we wouldn’t want him to pilot our airplane. What job does this man have? Construction. How do you know? He has all the right tools and equipment for the job.

Jesus was the right man for the job because he had all the right tools. Matthew tells us, "From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people." (Matthew 4:17,23).

Jesus’ indispensable tool was the message he shared. His message was all about change. He wasn’t talking about political change, or a change of scenery. He focused on a message that changed hearts. He called everyone to repentance, from the Pharisee in the synagogue to the beggar in the streets. He did not excuse sin. He told the people to stop their sinful lives, repent and believe that the promised Messiah had finally come.

As Jesus shared the Word, he didn’t ignore the physical needs of the people. He used his almighty power to change their lives—healing sickness and disease. He restored strength to crippled arms and legs. He made fevers go away, healed ulcers and cleft palates, changed water into wine—he showed the people with these signs and wonders that he was the Son of God. They could trust his message because he came in truth, with power.

The times and places have changed. The tool Jesus gave to his disciples have not. As Jesus’ fishers of men today, we have the same tool to carry out the same ministry. We have the responsibility and privilege to share God’s Word, both law and gospel, with everyone around us. Sometimes that means we have to point out sins. We need to confront our children when they don’t get their chores done. We need to tell our spouse that when they aren’t listening, they haven’t followed Jesus’ command to love and put our spouses first. We need to confront a fellow member who hasn’t been in worship regularly, or who is living a lifestyle that is contrary to God’s will. It’s hard, but it’s the same message Jesus brought: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”

The kingdom of heaven includes more than pointing out sins. It also includes pointing to the King who died for our sins. That’s why Jesus came. His preaching, teaching, and miracles prepared the people for the end of his ministry. It wasn’t a glorious ending. He didn’t have all kinds of books published. He didn’t build a mega-church with people coming from all across the world to experience the purpose-filled life. Jesus’ life ended in the court system, disgraced and dishonored in the eyes of his people, accused of being a charlatan who only wanted to deceive the weak and innocent. Nothing could be farther from the truth. He died, an innocent man, so that the drops of blood spattering the dust could wash away the guilt of the nations. He took his life back again, because neither the devil nor death itself has power over the Son of God. He lives. Our sins cannot.

That’s our message. That’s the power we have every time we walk out these doors. The world in which we live is a big place. Guess where it starts? Right out there. Are you ready to go fishing? Jesus has called us. He doesn’t ask us to share the gospel with the entire world. He asks us to go out into the place where we live. He has made us fishers of men, by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit through Word and sacrament. He sends us out with a powerful message of law and gospel. We can start casting the net right here in Stillwater, in Somerset, in Lake Elmo, in New Richmond, wherever our homes are, so that many more people will come, follow their Savior. Amen.