Take me to Bethlehem
House of bread
Where the empty are filled
The poor find riches
And the rich recognise their poverty
Where all kneel and worship
And all are fed.
Song “Will you come and follow me”
Reflection
In the season of Epiphany we have followed the wise men as they foolishly searched for a star, a star that would lead them to a new king, a new God. We have watched as the magi returned a different route having been warned in a dream to beware of Herod. And in fulfillment of that warning, Herod in rage and motivated by jealousy, killed all the children under two years old in that region. So Mary and Joseph like many since, became refugees and fled to Egypt, returning when the political situation had subsided to live in Nazareth where Mary originally came from. Lots of new beginnings.
The scene jumps some years and we encounter Jesus now at the age of about thirty on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. As the scene opens Jesus is as it were idly walking along the lake. He probably knew the disciples, Philip, Andrew, Peter, and Nathaniel before this encounter as they were local.
These men were working class fishermen, not scholars, not teachers but burly, smelly fishermen and they would not have been religious people. But in fact we find that almost exclusively it was to these people that Jesus ministered, the hamarez, the common people, and it was from such people that he chose his disciples. And they are already captivated by him. What a contrast he was to the other rabbis!
When Jesus called the fishermen he made no conditions, just come he said and they came as they were. Similarly Jesus asks us to come as we are, and he will use us as we are. We are all the same. There are no conditions to being a Christian except to want to follow Christ. You may have committed great sins, you may subsequently mess your live up but Jesus says just come. Come, follow me, warts and all. When we do this we take one step, one day at a time and just trust God.
It was an act which changed the course of human history but it began with a simple act of complete faith. Jesus calls us to leave behind our old lives and just come.
Discipleship is not about following the government wherever we are. The state and Jesus are not equal. It is about following Jesus, which may bring us into conflict politically.
The church has a similar journey to make. It has lived with ways of being and structures that served it well in a previous age, but not in this. In an age of Covid it has had to let go of buildings and focus on people. It has to let go of the past and embrace a new future, one perhaps less tidy. It has to trust God and just come. Warts and all.
This coming year we need more than ever to change, to make a difference in our own lives, to listen to our dreams and follow our hunches, foolishly following the God of truth and wisdom. It may involve upheaval, upset as people around you don’t want things to change. it may involve a change of attitudes, it may involve traveling and the giving of what is costly. But God will be with us. Amen
Blessing
When the star in the sky has gone
And the wise men have gone back to their homes
The real work of Christmas begins
To find the lost,
heal the broken,
feed the hungry
and release the prisoner. Amen
