Fishers of People

January 26, 2008
3rd Sunday After Epiphany, Year A

Readings:
Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27:1,5-13
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23

Reflection:
Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.

I used to think that I knew what this command meant. I thought it had something to do with missionaries and evangelism. I thought that Jesus was telling Simon Peter and Andrew that if they followed Jesus, they would bring others to the Christ, they would save souls from eternal damnation by telling them about the Savior. I no longer think that this is what is meant, and I'll tell you how this happened.

The City of Seattle has an art collection that is hung throughout City offices and in the public areas of City buildings. In the third floor lobby of Seattle Municipal Tower there is a gallery where the collection of paintings rotates every few months. I worked in that building once and was passing through this gallery space when a particular painting caught my eye. It was done in beautiful blues and greens. It was a scene of water and a small boat. As I approached it to get a better look I saw that there was something in the water. What was it? It was dead bodies floating in the water! The men in the boat were pulling them into it. The tranquil colors suddenly became menacing and the pastoral picture deeply disturbing.

Next to each picture was the name of the artist (which I’ve forgotten – sorry) and a brief artist’s statement about the work. The artist explained that this picture was painted after the Balkan "ethnic cleansing" and at the time of the Rwandan genocide. He went on to state, In a world of constant shipwrecks, all men are fishers of men.

Just as I was shocked by the realization that the beautiful, pastoral scene was actually one of mass slaughter, so the use of this biblical reference also shocked me. I had to reexamine the meaning of the phrase fish for people.

I now believe that fishing for people means rescuing them from the sea. Physically saving lives not metaphorically saving souls. I believe that it was this work that Jesus was calling the disciples to. He intended that they help turn the world upside down, that they dismantle systems of privilege that kept the majority of the population near death while the few lived in luxury.

We still live in a world of constant shipwrecks. There are people who are starving, children who die needlessly from lack of clean water or a malaria preventing net to sleep under. There are teenagers shooting teenagers on our streets. There are homeless and mentally ill people that we pass on the streets every day. I agree with the artist that in this world we must all be fishers of men. This is not a special Christian call but a human one. Jesus, help me to have the courage to accept this call and to act on it.

I'd welcome your comments on this.

Carol

I see

This is my first blog. Please excuse the fact that the nonsense test-blog that Karen used to show me how to do this has burdened the COTA blog with a nonsense entry. It is my intention to try to do a blog a week that is a brief reflection on the scriptures appointed for the following Saturday. I know this sounds rather weak, but I hope that you find some of my meandering thoughts provoke some of your own thoughts and that you'd respond to me. The optimum outcome would be to get a dialogue going.

Scripture appointed for the
Second Sunday After Epiphany
Year A
Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-12
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

Reflections

Words are my medium. I choose them carefully. I try to clearly communicate my ideas and express even my inmost thoughts. I write poetry and prayers. But there are some things you just can't explain in words. You have to see to believe.


John the Baptist says that he "saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove." He goes on to state "I myself have seen ... that this is the Son of God." [I have come to regard John the Baptist as primarily one who "sees" the truth about Jesus. So I've written a poem that I'll include at the end of this blog.] And when John's disciples want to know more about Jesus, Jesus himself tells them to "Come and see."


When I try to explain to friends what happens at COTA, I know that I don't even come close to capturing reality. It frequently sounds pretty lame. I talk about the music. I talk about eating bread and drinking wine. I talk about feeds and conversations. I talk about all the really special people I've met. But I don't really capture the essence of what is going on.
Perhaps this is because what happens is different for each of us here. Perhaps it is because God shows us each what we need to see in quiet prayers, in the words of a friend, or in the glorious music. I find myself saying over and over again, "You just have to come and see what this is like. This is different. This is good." But most people I say that to don't come. Some do. I wish I could say it better. But really, they do just have to "Come and see."



The Eyes of John the Baptizer

I see.

Even in the womb I saw
the God-child yet unborn
and lept with joy
at promises fulfilled.

I see the black hearts
behind the sumptuous robes
so I proclaim to power,
"Turn! Repent!"

In the poor and dispossessed
I see the kingdom already theirs.
In penitents I see forgiveness,
redemption, and new life.

And once, when baptizing,
I saw the heavens open
and the Spirit-dove descend
upon the God-man.

"Listen to him!"

They say I am the Voice
crying in the wilderness,
but, in truth, I am the Eyes
that see the worlds colliding,
the end approaching,
the victory.

I see!

carol's test post

tedst post from carol.

COTA choir candid

thanks to COTAN david doughty (pronounced "COTUN" . a COTAN is what we call a COTA person. + the plural of COTAN is "COTAS" anyway, thanks david for sending in this picture of the COTA choir. props to the COTAS in the choir for an excellent debute! and props to gwen and lacey as rad directors. sing on! - i can't wait for the next choir gig! love p(k) (= pastor karen)

ryan's blog

hey ryan,

it is time for you to start a blog (i think). i posted about you and a blog on my blog, so my post will come true, once you do!

Church Candles

Yahoo! News - Diabolical news: church candles, incense may cause lung damage

Hmmm, good thing for us we don't burn candles for 9 hours a day.

we're overdue for a politcal post...

I think one of the biggest risks we run in letting young people vote is that sometimes we are so stubborn and arrogant in thinking we are right that even in the face of evidence we won't consider changing our "views." However, I definitely believe that a bigger risk which is more specifically common among us younger voters is that we can be so apathetic. Surely neither of these attitudes can be helpful.

As you may or may not know, politics have, in the past, reeeeally bothered me. A lot. For years (ever since some bad elementary school "play election day" activities) I have felt in every ounce of my being that I would just rather ignore political issues and let someone who cares make the decisions for me. My reaction to being asked to pick who I want to be president or governor has been like a kid who's parents want him to eat his vegetables, but who knows he's getting dessert no matter what. Has this been anyone else's experience? The mentality has been- "Well, there's going to be president no matter what I say or do, so why bother getting too involved in the process?"

Well, here's just a few words about a recent change of heart I've had. This is how it came about:

-----scene opens with Gwen sitting on the couch watching the vice presidential debate----
Gwen's brain: "2 people I have to choose from for president- Kerry and Bush. Great. I get two choices. And I don't like either of them.    Well, personally I kind of can't help but think 4 years really isn't enough time to get the hang of being president. Maybe we owe it to Bush to give him 4 more years so that he can prove the last 4 weren't a waste. On the other hand, what if he misuses the next 4 years 'proving' to some people that he wasted a whole 8?! Let's see, let's see. What should I do? Who will it be? ....

(*a week later*) "WAIT A MINUTE. Why, in a so-called 'DEMOCRACY' am I being pressured to pick between two people who represent two parties neither of which I really feel confident in?"
(*I pull out my voter's guide*) "Woah, who are all these people running for president? Libertarian, Green, Social Workers party... wow, there are a lot more options than I have been informed about. But...
ARRRGH!!
I feel I can't vote for them because I know my vote will be more likely to 'harm' the election-possibility for Bush than it would be to 'help' the election-possibility of this third-party candidate. And if I think Bush is the 'lesser-of-two-evils' than Kerry is (which- I don't really think either of them are 'evil' so-to-speak, in the first place), and a vote for a third party is pretty simply a vote for Kerry, then I guess I'd better just vote for Bush.
-----end scene----

Okay. It takes a LOT of guts to admit to your Seattleite friends that you will probably wind up voting for Bush so please don't hate me for being honest. My intention here is absoLUTEly not to convince anyone to vote for him over Kerry (in fact, I probably could still be convinced to vote in another way). Rather, it is to say simply- THIS SUCKS. The pressure is on all of us to just pick one or the other, Democrat or Republican, and the looming doubt that your vote could ever really count unless it's for Bush or Kerry hangs over us like a dark (smelly) cloud. Well, I'm pretty sure this is the feeling thrown at us by these major parties. Is it true, or merely an illusion? What do you think? If I vote for a third party this year, am I throwing away my vote? At some point, you have to get your democracy back, right? It's not a democracy if you are "wasting" your vote when you vote on a third party candidate. I really want to encourage everyone to please, PLEASE consider other parties as you vote this year. READ through their policy statements. Be educated! Don't throw your vote away on Kerry and Bush if you don't agree with the Democrat and Republican views!! At the end of this post I have placed links to official sites for other parties. PLEASE explore them!


BUT AS WE GO into elections now, I want to encourage everyone of you who is a Christian and a voter, in addition to grappling with whether or not Kerry or Bush really deserves your vote any more than a third party candidate would, please consider the following things:
- What does it mean to be an American?
- If liberty is what we are promised as Americans, what kind of government is going to provide for this?
- Does the Republican or Democrat party truly represent you and your picture of what our country should look like?
- As Christians there are many issues that are heavy on our hearts, ranging from war to abortion, from drugs to foreign policiy, and other types of social and world concerns. No matter where on the spectrum you lie, as a Christian you probably have felt strongly about one thing or another. As a believer, do you think the government can be trusted to deal with the making of laws that address these issues from the same moral stance as the Christian faith? Do you believe that is the government's real job?
- What /is/ the government's job, anyways?! Is it more important for the government to be concerned with protecting our liberties? or our economy? or to be primarily concerned with intervening for other countries and peoples? or making judgements on what is and is not morally correct/appropriate for all people? (I'm sure that sounds extreme, but you have to consider all the things American government has tried to be throughout history.)
This is the biggest questions I will leave you with, if you don't want to think about any of the above, at least please think about this:
- Which issues are ours to address as /Christians/ in the world, and which are ours to address as /Americans/ in the world? How much (if any amount at all) should these two roles overlap? Do we want the government to, or believe the government should, attempt to handle these things we as Christians believe to be /our/ duty? How will your vote this year reflect your answer to this question?

Please, if you want to talk about any of this with me, I'd love to hear more perspectives. I just wanted to open the conversation and get us all thinking about it, I know it can be sticky and heated, and I am certainly new to the club of "those with political views of any kind" so I am not claiming to have all the answers by any means- but I AM interested in exploring our role as Christians and as voters this year. I'm excited to have begun thinking about all this. We don't have much time before election day. Let's not be afraid to talk about this stuff!!

Thank you for taking to heart something that is very important to me.
We belong to God.

Love,
Gwen

PARTY WEBSITES:
Constitution Party- http://www.constitutionparty.com
Democratic Party- http://www.democrats.org
Green Party- http://www.gp.org
Libertarian Party- http://www.lp.org
Republican Party- http://www.gop.org
Socialist Equality Party- http://www.socialequality.com
Workers World Party- http://www.vote4workers.org