3rd Sunday of Epiphany (Year A) – Sunday, 25th January 2026 – St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe – Parish Eucharist
Isaiah 9:1-4 | Matthew 4:12-23 | 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
My sisters and brother…
On this third Sunday of Epiphany, we are challenged, not for the first time, with what it means to follow Jesus.
In a passage that we often associate with Advent, Isaiah prophesies about Galilee of the nations – Zebulun and Naphtali – which were mainly Gentile, and seen as lands of ‘deep darkness’. Isaiah says that on them the light will shine. And here is Jesus, ‘the light’, beginning his ministry in Capernaum, by the sea.
Matthew is telling us, very deliberately, that what Isaiah promised — light breaking into forgotten places — is now happening in the person of Jesus.
Matthew then picks up the message of John the Baptist: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ God’s reign of justice and peace is upon you. Wow!
Those little towns around the lake were not the epicentre of anywhere or anything. They were regarded as a backwater. No one of any note begun anything here, apparently. And yet, something new was happening – right there, right then!
Ok, bear with me…
Let’s try a little story telling of our own…
Imagine, if you will, just for a moment…
You are on the shore of Lake Galilee.
The water is lapping around your feet…
There are fishing boats gently bobbing nearby, and a bustle of people doing things with fish and nets and all sorts of other sea-based activities.
It is hot and the sun is strong…
Oh wait, I’ve blown it haven’t I?
I have asked you to visualise something far too complicated and impossible for January:
A hot sunny day… oh well.
OK then…
Reframe the picture you started to build, and make it in… I don’t know…
A seaside harbour of your choice, maybe in Yorkshire or Cornwall or wherever.
Perhaps not on the shore-line though, but on the bustling quay side.
You are sat on a bench, with an ice-cream or some chips, and despite the seagulls, you are listening in to the various fishing boat workers…
[Pause]
Voice 1: “Well, it’s all very well us catching fish all day long, but I feel there is more to life, don’t you? There is something missing…”
Voice 2: “What do you mean…missing? Fishing is our lives…our income!”
Voice 1: “Yes but…. I don’t know… I need to change, find something different, something real – a mission!”
Voice 2: “What? What is more real than spending half your life on a boat at sea, in all weather, trying to catch fish that don’t want to be caught! And what would our families say if we stopped everything and went off on some mission or other? Tch!”
Voice 1: “Hmm? Sorry, what was that? Have you seen that bloke over there? He’s that preacher fella that’s been healing and teaching…talking about God in ways I’ve never heard before… something about a Kingdom being near, whatever that means…There is something about him that feels hopeful… I’m going to see where he leads me….why not come with me….”
We have two sets of brothers – all fishermen. Not deeply spiritual, not scripture scholars, priests or scribes – just skilled fishermen. They probably knew nothing about Him really. Nothing about the stable, the Magi, or even that moment in the River Jordan at His baptism. They were not with Him in the wilderness, but they might have seen Jesus around the places they inhabit – maybe heard Him talking to people – Jesus the local carpenter, a friend and neighbour.
For people to leave everything and to begin something new, is usually a big deal. It’s often considered with suspicion and doubt, by others. And the ‘something new’ doesn’t stay that way for long. There has to be a more long-lasting quality – hopefully one that is life-affirming – to make it worthwhile.
Whatever it was that “clicked” for them, whatever revealed to them the nature of Jesus, was something they too could work with, in revealing the Kingdom.
Paul is writing to his team in Corinth – a multi-cultural, multi-deity kind of a place into which those early Christian missionaries boldly stepped. We know from various sources that Paul himself faired quite well in Corinth, staying there for eighteen months, forming relationships and then, remaining in contact with those who followed in his footsteps. Perhaps the task of building unity was underestimated. Perhaps there were many voices – sounding similar, but all vying for the attention of the passer-by.
There is nothing new under the sun. For as in Corinth, so in any city and town.
What is universal about Christianity? What unites us a disciples of Jesus, that will appear sufficiently “attractive” – for want of a better word – that others will sense the hope, the grace and the integrity behind it, that they want it too?
What can someone, asking questions about God, find hopeful in you and me? Why would anyone in the early 21st century want to give up a Sunday morning, and come here? Why follow Jesus at all?
These days, more than ever, there is an extra focus on the way that christians behave. For many, Christianity does not look like Jesus. For many, the christian church – in all its varieties, shapes, colours and doctrines – gives so many mixed messages that it is near impossible to hear the voice of Christ saying “Follow Me”.
At the end of the week of prayer for Christian Unity, you have to ask… what does it say about us that we need to pray for our own Unity? There is often such a disparity between how we live and what we say we believe in, that projecting an integrity is most of the battle. Two thousand years of ‘church’ hasn’t necessarily fostered a clear message, has it?
Instead, we have made it about which books of the bible mean the most; or whether sacraments have more value than scripture; whether men or women should lead our homes and churches; about moral certainty and physical purity instead of radical grace; and when someone asks “are you a christian or a catholic”, responding with “I am an anglican” isn’t the win you might think it to be!
And yet all is not lost! We are united in the cross of Christ. Let us step back from our differences and consider the deeper truths that we hold in common. It is possible that our differences speak of the wideness of God’s love and Christ’s call rather than the divisions.
We are called by Jesus, often, and in many ways.
We are not asked to give up all that we know, of the world and of each other, to be able to follow Him. We might be called to go places that are difficult and uncomfortable or we may stay in the same place but look at it differently.
Following Jesus, wherever that might be, is more than saying “I am a Christian”. It is more than a label or doctrine, or denomination. There are no inducements, no deals, no offer of fame and fortune, and no coercion or scam. It isn’t a flag or policy and it will never ever give anyone the right to cause harm in His name. The stuff that invites humanity to change its direction on a daily basis, or keep doing the same old stuff, is not present in that moment of truly saying ‘yes’ to Jesus.
In a few moments we will say our Mission Prayer. There is a line that asks God to increase our numbers…
How? What is it you are asking God to do there?
All the work of building the Kingdom is through prayer… and through our efforts, great and small, by God’s grace.
Jesus calls his disciples to follow and he calls us to follow, and to imitate Him in calling others. You may be thinking: ‘I can’t do that – I can’t bring anyone into the kingdom.’ You can – we all can (and you have) – as the Holy Spirit will direct us. Begin with prayer.
If through prayer, you believe that opening the church doors to the community is the right way to go, then the Holy Spirit is present and that is a way to show others what it means to follow Jesus.
If, through prayer, you find yourself sitting with someone in distress, or dying, or grieving, and you give them a chance to speak, to weep and be known and loved, then the Holy Spirit is present, and again, the joy of following the Christ is revealed.
If through prayer, you wrestle with scripture, struggle with the news of the day, reflect on what you encounter in the world around you, leading you again and again to prayer, then yes – the Holy Spirit is there too… and in every place where you are present as a disciple, ready for God – seen or unseen.
Remember, much of that disciple-work is about mending nets. Helping to heal the divisions of this world is a full-time job in itself! Any community has rifts and difficulties and often that is magnified amongst those drawn together in faith. It is often pointed out by those who don’t think much of religion!
God does amazing work through our weakness, failure, our fear and the small ways in which we offer ourselves. We have to let go of our foolish desires for power and separateness, to triumph in not being like other people! God makes us unique, but not in competition, to the detriment of our neighbours.
Yes, together with the Holy Spirit, through prayer, service and love – our relationships build strong, faith-filled nets that will draw people together into something that looks, feels, sounds and is – the Way of Jesus.
Richard Rohr, the Franciscan theologian, describes the call of Christ – he says:
But it is not an enviable position, this Christian thing.
Following Jesus is a vocation to share the fate of God for the life of the world.
To allow what, for some reason, God allows—and uses.
And to suffer ever so slightly what God suffers eternally.
Often, this has little to do with believing the right things about God—beyond the fact that God is love itself.
(Rohr, R. 2021, P 152-153)
Jesus says “follow me…”. Yet before He says that, he says “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”. Jesus call us to change, to be transformed. Always. We are invited and encouraged into the light, away from all the aspects of life that weigh us down, yet not in spite of that which has intrinsic value.
We are not all destined to become manifest as the new, Bonhoeffer, Romero, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and many more! There are countless vocations that are clearly Christian – yes.
When we speak about vocations, we often think of people being called to the priesthood or a life set aside in a religious community. But it can mean so much more than that. There are probably more ways of living as a Christian that might not be so obvious. Just living your life as you do now, is where you begin.
When Jesus says “I’m going to teach you how to fish in a new way, to fish for people”, He is saying, take all of your skills and experience, bring your brokenness and failure, your compassion and zeal, your patience and resilience as fishermen, your connections in the community, and your hopes for something more….and come and do something new with it all – helping others to hear about the kingdom of heaven.
That’s us too. We are all called to help Jesus fish for people, and we are called to help mend nets and foster unity; we are also called to let go of the nets that bind us and prevent the dynamic movement of the Spirit. Disciples will always be ready… to see where God is acting, where the Spirit is present and where Jesus is walking by.
We do not earn the love and radical grace of God. Its’a free gift. We are only asked to trust in God, to take us forward into the light of Christ. We seek the Kingdom of Heaven that is now, in our lifetime. That searching becomes the change God wants in all of us.
God still calls women and men through Jesus – through His words, through the cross and beyond, and through the example of all who have followed Him since. All of that is within our gift to pass on.
In all things, you are not alone.
Be prayerful and watchful.
Be the light by which others mights see the Way.
Be the one that says “follow me”.
God be with you.
Amen.
Image: SB Mevagissey 051022
References:
Rohr, R. (2021) The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope for, and Believe, Convergent Books