Matthew 4:12-23
January 25. 2026
When I was a kid, I went
to a Catholic church
and we would read most of the
same readings
that we do now, and I remember hearing
this
and being very jealous of the
disciples.
I remember the hearing
about those fishermen
who immediately left everything behind and followed Jesus.
I thought that they were so lucky to have
Jesus come to them personally and ask them to follow.
The original disciples had it easy.
I thought that if Jesus
himself walked up to me
and looked at me and said,
“Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”
I wouldn’t have had any second guess
about leaving everything behind.
I would even have left all my stuffed animals right then.
But we didn’t have Jesus.
All we had was Father O’Hearn.
He was an elderly priest –
although I realize
now he probably not much older
than I am.
He would hold his sermon up in front of him and read it,
“Follow me, Jesus says.
And we can still follow
today.
Join the Offering
Committee.
See Alma Rodriguez at the
back of the narthex
After Mass is over.”
Not really a compelling call to
discipleship.
And as a 9 year old, I was not joining
the offering committee whatever it was.
Yes, I think the disciples had it made.
They had the compelling leadership of Jesus himself.
And besides that, they had a clear call.
Jesus said, “Follow Me”
and they could follow him and
do what he did and what he told them to do.
But today, we don’t have that luxury.
We don’t have Jesus here with us
to explain and interpret, even in those
vague and sometimes infuriating parables.
We just have each other and
and our own conscience and reason,
and this nebulous Spirit to guide us.
And we also have some smart people
who’s words resonate with us.
So what are we called to, as disciples
in the
tradition of Peter and Andrew and James and John
and all those who have come after them?
What does it mean to be called in
this very time and place that
we’re being called in?
One of those smart people that I look to
often
is Martin Luther King Jr.
He was a brilliant mind and had a solid theology,
and he was able to apply it directly to the
situation he was living in.
He was also such a prolific writer that
we know
at most junctures what he was thinking.
And since we celebrated his birthday
this week, I was thinking about him.
I think he is more relevant now than ever.
I think these are very dark times that
we’re living in.
And I think that there are lots of similarities
with the times that Dr. King was living in.
Not completely the same, but very similar.
And he is a good guide for us through this time.
Right now, the people of Minnesota
feel they are under siege.
 |
| Minneapolis Protests 1-24-26 |
but from our own government.
ICE agents are going door to door
and in and through neighborhoods.
These new, untrained,
bounty hunters are
making
law enforcement, military, and even
more established and trained ICE agents look very bad.
They’ve killed two observers and protesters
and detained countless others in
many neighborhoods.
A pastor in a suburb outside of
Minnesota described it like this:
No community is safe from ICE.
Worried parents are keeping kids at
home,
especially any who are (or appear to be)
immigrants,
regardless of immigration status.
Another pastor wrote:
I echo the earlier comments about the
pain of ICE presence here.
Many of our immigrant businesses are shutting their doors.
restaurants if they stay open are transitioning to take
out
only so that non-employees cannot easily
enter the building,
people are trying to hide out in their
homes
and skipping medical appointments.
Non-immigrant members of the community
have been maced for just standing by
and observing. It is a lot and it is
exhausting.
And another pastor:
Our small rural towns are experiencing
extreme pain from ICE abductions:
children are being orphaned;
immigrant businesses are closed;
people are in hiding.
My heart is breaking now more than it
did
during the dark days of the pandemic.
It is all JUST. SO. MUCH.
It's frightening and sad and horrifying.
It should not be happening in this country.
But it’s really
unclear what our response
as people of faith should be.
We might feel here like it’s none of our
business
it’s happening over there so it doesn’t
really affect us here in Hilton Head.
But as Martin Luther King wrote
in A Letter From a Birmingham Jail
when he was basically told by pastors,
that what happened in Birmingham was none of his business.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network
of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly, affects
all indirectly.”
We are all tied in a single
garment of destiny.
And we are all affected indirectly.
Doubly so as Lutherans.
Minnesota is the epicenter of Lutheranism in the US.
These are ELCA pastors and congregants who are
experiencing these things.
Many of the immigrants in Minnesota have been resettled
through Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.
We are close in that network of mutuality.
So in the least, we are called not
to
turn away and ignore the cries of the people.
And more than that, we are called to
have compassion for those who are hurting.
I think when things like this happen,
the initial instinct of nice middle-class church people
is to get kind of sentimental and quickly call for peace
and unity,
and say, “can’t we all just get along?” I understand that.
It’s wrenching and painful and we want it to stop.
But I don’t think that these times are
calling
us to do that. Not right at this time.
I think we do pray that the situation would
alleviate so
peace can be possible, I think we should pray that
ICE would leave Minnesota.
But we shouldn’t just pray for peace and unity
when part of the people are still under threat.
The chaplain on the Minnesota
Timberwolves
prophetically said this weekend :
“Peace isn’t what you ask for
when the boot is already on someone’s
neck.
Peace is what the powerful ask for
when they don’t want to be interrupted.”
So I don’t think we’re called to ask
or pray for cheap peace and unity.
We should be asking for justice to be done
and for the threat to be removed.
As Martin Luther King wrote
"True peace is not merely the
absence of tension.
it is the presence of justice."
So I believe the church is called right
now
to ask for Justice before it calls for peace.
So we’re called not to be
indifferent,
and not to just ask for unity and peace.
But what is the church called to do?
In his book, A Knock at Midnight,
Martin Luther King writes:
“The church must be reminded that it is
not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the
state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If
the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant
social club without moral or spiritual authority.”
We are not called to take control of the
government like Christian Nationalists want to.
And neither are we supposed to just fall in line
with the mandates of the government,
like other people, and count everything they’re doing as
righteous.
And we are not supposed to avoid what’s
happening,
and flippantly say, “Separation of Church and State”
so we can ignore what’s happening in the world.
We are called to be the guide and critic to the state.
This week, many pastors and congregants
from many different churches and religions
went into the streets to protest this week.
They were among more than 50,000 people there.
My friend, who is a pastor in New
Hampshire,
went to Minnesota just to protest and to be a clergy
witness.
He was out in the negative 20 degrees weather.
This was a call he felt to follow Jesus and live out his
faith.
Some people are following that call by
protesting here and in their own cities.
Some are doing it here today, 4-5:30 in front of Parkers.
Some people are putting themselves
in harms way to protect their immigrant neighbors.
And some have paid a great sacrifice for that,
like Renee Good who was murdered two
weeks ago and Alex Pretti yesterday.
Protests are a perfectly acceptable way of effecting social change.
It’s a method that is protected by our constitution by the first amendment.
Tyrants and dictators hate protests because it does effect change in our world.
It’s the voice of the people.
The purposely non-violent protests and
walks
that were part of the civil rights movement in the 60’s
are now heralded as moving and stellar moments
in our country’s history.
But in Martin Luther King’s time,
Those same peaceful marches were called riots.
He wasn’t seen by the majority of the public
as a hero and the cultural icon he is now.
He was blamed for stirring people up.
he was called a “rebel-rouser” and an “outside agitator”
and a “radical”. He
was harassed repeatedly by
law enforcement. He was arrested 29 times.
Once for going 30 in a 25 mile and hour zone.
Protests make people feel uncomfortable.
That’s what they’re supposed to do.
It is one way that normal people can make a difference.
And some of us are called to do that.
And some people that aren’t called to
protest in
Minnesota are feeling called to deliver food to
immigrants and Latino people so they don’t
have to leave their homes and risk being detained.
They’re being told not to put addresses
of
the people they’re delivering to in phones because
ICE agents can take their phones and look up immigrants
location.
They’re being told to write it on a
piece of paper
and if they’re stopped by ICE, they should swallow the
paper.
Regular church people are called to do this.
Martin Luther King believed in service
In his book “The Strength to Love”
he wrote “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,
'What are you doing for others?”
At all times, but especially in difficult
times
we are called to serve our community with
and at this dark time in our nation’s history,
just giving poor people food seems to be a controversial subject.
I’m glad that we can offer our neighbors
a safe place to come and get food.
We all have different roles and
different callings
like Paul said, we’re members of
the whole body, but we have different
duties and responsibilities.
Some are called to protest, some are
called to write letters,
some are called to run for office, some are called to
preach, some are called to feed people, and give medical
care
“What are you doing for others?”
We are all called to pray,
And I’m called to preach to you, and I feel called today to
tell you
what I’m hearing from my colleagues in Minnesota.
That’s why I’m telling you this now.
But we’re all part of the same body.
And as Pastor Mary said last week,
that body as a whole, as the church, is called
to be the ones pointing to Christ.
Revealing Christ to the world
And our call as the body of Christ is
very vital in our current situation.
Because some segments of Christianity are using
Jesus name for the power it brings,
but not using his words or teachings.
Actually they use the opposite of his
teachings.
They say the name of Jesus and then
try to use that as a basis for their
authoritarianism, and hate, and cruelty,
they try to use Jesus as a justification for their
condemnation of other people.
That’s why our clear witness to the
real Jesus that we find in scripture
is so important right now.
We’re all called to point to the Jesus
that fed the hungry, and ate with the outcast.
The one who urged us to love one another,
and to serve others.
The one that challenged the authorities
and
The one that reminded us that God so loved
this world that he gave his life for everyone.
Each one of us is called to bear witness to
that Jesus that we know.
And we are all called to act on that and
be try to see everyone as a child of God.
Our neighbor and our friend of course,
but every stranger too.
And we’re called to see people of
every color and race and religion, gender,
and immigration status, and sexuality
and gender identity as a child of God.
Everyone. As disciples, we’re all called
to embrace diversity. I don’t think this is optional.
We all have our shortcomings and judgmental thoughts.
But let me be clear, there is no place in Jesus’
church for white supremacy, or bigotry,
or intolerance, or segregation, or hatred.
We are called to see everyone as a child
of God.
And that includes those who are doing wrong.
Jesus we know calls us to love our enemy
As Martin Luther King reminded the his congregation at the
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church,
“it’s significant that Jesus does not
say, “Like your enemy.”
We are not called to like everyone
or approve of what everyone does, or coddle them,
or ignore what their doing, and forgive them instantly
because we’re being good Christians.
But we are called to love every
one.
That is to see the humanity in each person,
as misled and wrong as we might think they are.
As Jesus followers, we are called to even see the
humanity of ICE agents and those the deploy them.
And this really is the crux of our call.
Whatever we are called to do,
we are called to do it in Christ’s way.
We’re not supposed to shy away from
difficult subjects and pointing out injustice,
but whatever we do, we are called to do it like Jesus would
do it.
In the process of dealing with the hate in this world,
we should not become hateful ourselves.
As Martin Luther King said,
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love
can do that”
We should be always pointing to Christ
and Christ’s way in everything we do.
And finally, even though these days are
dark,
we are called not give into fatalism.
Good people cannot give up
just because things look dark right now.
As Martin Luther King said,
“only when it is dark enough, can you
see the stars.”
We have one distinct advantage over
those disciples that Jesus called away from
their fishing boats that day:
We know how Jesus’ story ends.
Andrew and Peter and James and John,
they all thought that Friday was the end
of their ministry and their efforts.
They had no idea what Sunday
had in store for them. But we do.
King said in order to do the what Jesus
calls us to:
“the answer lies in developing the
capacity
to accept the finite disappointment
and yet cling to the infinite hope.”
Clinging to infinite hope.
That is what the disciples were called to then.
That’s what made them drop their nets.
And that’s what we’re called to now.
We are called to follow Jesus to ventures
of which we cannot see the ending,
by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.
Jesus, give us faith to follow your call
and take that first step
even when we can’t see the whole staircase.
