Matthew 4.12-25 & 1 Corinthians 1.10-18– 3rd Sunday after Epiphany (Paul Mundy 22 Jan 2017) StM B.

Church is an imperfect institution, filled with imperfect people seeking the perefection of Christ

I remember hearing The Reverend Richard Coles say this one Saturday morning and it’s stuck in my mind ever since.

It had been a particularly tough week - a rather devisive PCC meeting, the Church of England was in the press for all the wrong reasons; safeguarding, division women bishops, same sex marriage and threats of break away churches.

If Jesus had been interviewed he would have cried “ unity, unity where is my unity”

So I liked Rev Richard Coles comment: I liked the fact that church IS imperfect – it made us feel real I liked the fact that we are imperfect – it took away my pride

And I liked the fact that we are seeking the perfection made complete in Jesus Christ – because it gave me purpose, something to work for , a goal , a vision.

Jesus called imperfect people to follow him and they left what they were doing behind. Their lives were changed for ever as they listened to his teaching and decided that what he said made sense.

They weren’t suddenly made perfect – far from it - but they could see the potential of knowing God and following Jesus.

Today Jesus still calls people and they respond to his message.

They too find that in the midst of a chaotic and confused world, Jesus gives to them peace and joy, focus and vision.

Jesus offers timeless truth and as we listen to his words we are drawn into the love of God.

It really does make sense to take time in the midst of our busyness to listen afresh to Jesus.

This is one thing that really does deserve our attention as those first followers quickly realised. in the reading, Matthew introduces us to a reference from , The verses about the birth of the Davidic king are dropped at the end, but the reading starts with the reference to

"the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali" and " of the Gentiles.

Read on Christmas night, it relates to the nativity of Christ; it was then that light dawned in the darkness.

Read now, it refers to the beginning of Jesus' Galilean ministry.

His nativity and His ministry are intertwined; both are aspects of the single Christ-event, the coming of light into the darkness of the world.

It is with His coming to Galilee and the launching of His proclamation that people began to become aware of the light .

As He went throughout Galilee, that light touched every aspect of people’s lives and every aspect of society,

He went through the region, ‘teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people’. One of the aspects of the Bishop’s initiative, ‘Know – Love – Follow – Jesus ’, is about making disciples. As Jesus starts out in His ministry, He calls His disciples.

From what we can tell, it would appear that there was not a great flurry of activity or multiple signs or miracles to attract attention to Himself or prove His credentials before Jesus called His disciples to follow Him.

They did not seem to chose to follow Jesus because they were ‘wowed’ by witnessing acts of His supernatural activity or power, they followed Jesus merely because He called them and there was something in that call which was deeply attractive, attractive enough for men who had regular jobs and employment to drop everything and follow Him.

At the most, all the disciples would have experienced of Jesus would be to have heard Him preach a few times.

And yet, they chose to follow Him and become a group of people who would be united with Him in spreading the good news.

People such as Andrew, Simon-Peter, James and John.

Fishermen, not individuals known as great speakers or charismatic leaders, but everyday people who heard the call of Jesus and responded. At this early stage of ministry they were probably very unclear what following Jesus would mean, but they stepped out in faith, left their security behind and followed Him.

And throughout his ministry we know that the disciples often talked to each other, trying to work out what a particular parable or action of Jesus signified.

Frequently this is portrayed by commentators as a negative thing, as if the disciples were grumbling about what they had got themselves into, wondering why people didn’t see things the way they did, and even questioning the concept of Jesus as the Messiah and His authority.

Often they were more concerned with understanding the significance of something Jesus had said, trying to work out the implications of some of His actions and radical approach and access to His Father God.

In contrast with the high energy newborn church in Matthews Gospel

When we turn to Corinthians we see how quickly the rot can set in.

The divisions in the church at Corinth were mainly personality clashes and divided loyalties, towards different teachers.

As the Church’s former Chief antagonist, nobody knew better than Paul what a fragile structure it was

So it must have been exhasperating to hear of infighting, squabbling and dissent, it was then and it still is now!

There is as the saying goes “nothing new under the Sun”

Although we are talking about the Church as a body of people, it is also a collection of imperfect individuals .

And it is individuals, after all, who give each individual church its unique identity within the wider Christian Church.

Because the church is a collection of indiduals it is also organic in nature – one which changes from day to day – from Sunday to Sunday. And nobody – not even the minister – owns it! So each impercet individual, including the priest, the pcc member, the committed churchgoer , the vistor and the occasional attender have a vital and vibrant role to play.

We bring our personal joys to church – when we marry, baptise or confirm We bring our sorrows to church when we attend funerals and memorial services

It is in church that all our imperfections are exposed , when we confess our sins, When we pray – sing – kneel in humility – before a greater power.

With so many personal emotions and anxieties are stirred up – Its easy to see how a church can become inward looking and divided. When we are following Christ, God does not mind if we have questions, if we approach him broken and hurting If we get it wrong more than we get it right

He does not mind if we don’t always understand what is happening and why things are the way they are in the world.

He wants us, as spiritual descendants of those first disciples, to follow in their footsteps, faithfully following Him as best as we are able with our imperfect understanding of Him and His ways.

The uniqueness of the Christian faith is that it is dependent on the uniqueness of the perfection made new in Jesus Christ, not on a perfect knowledge or understanding of God.

And in that uniqueness there is absolute unity, based on the unshakable truths of the gospel message.

A unity that Paul was keen to stress to the Corinthian Church.

We may express our Christian faith in different ways, but as Christians we are all perfectly united in Christ.

Our challenge is to live out that unity every day

What is God's call on your life?

The Lord takes what ordinary people, like us, can offer and uses it for greatness in his kingdom.

How can we make our imperfections an offering to the Lord and allow Him to use us as an example his perfect way ?

THOUGHTS (AND QUESTIONS) TO PONDER:

1. What should be our response to the coming of heaven’s rule? How do you envision “heaven’s rule”? Is it something that occurs in the future, after death, or in the present? (Surprisingly, it is not worship or praise, but .)

2. If we are to fish for people, what kind of bait should we use to attract people? The fishermen of the first century didn’t use bait – they used nets and dragged their catch to shore. Perhaps it isn’t so bad for parents to “drag” their children to church. Should we try to “drag” more people into the church, whether they want to come or not? Put up roadblocks in the street and force people into the parking lot?

3. Our task is to share a faith that is exciting enough to be contagious. Does your faith approach that degree of excitement?

4. What motivates you to change? Fear? Discomfort? Desire? Attractiveness? A prerequisite for change is an awareness of what it is that we fear, feel uncomfortable about, or desire and are attracted to.