Look at things from Zebedee’s point of view. He had worked his whole life to build the fishing business. The fisherman’s life is hard – get up before dawn every day. Use years of experience to find where the fish might be biting today. Work under the blazing sun or in terrible weather because if they didn’t fish, they wouldn’t eat. After a hard day on the water the fisherman spent his evening stressing over his equipment: caulking the boat, mending the sails, drying the nets. On top of all this, a fisherman had to worry about the market. What price would his catch bring since in a time before refrigeration it was sell it today at whatever price or lose it. But Zebedee had one advantage over the other fisherman on the Sea of Galilee – he had two strapping sons. After all his years of hard work he could see a light at the end of the tunnel. His two boys would be able to take over the business. He had trained them and taught them to be good fishermen in their own right. He would be able to slow down, take things a bit easier, knowing that the family was in their capable hands. After a lifetime of labor, things were looking up. Then, one day it all went kerflooey. This Jesus shows up – and what does he know about fishing, he’s a carpenter – this Jesus shows up and all that Zebedee had worked for went out the window. His boys went traipsing after him, along side those ne-er do wells Peter and Andrew. Those two always were a bad influence on his boys. Liked the pub too much if you want my opinion. That Jesus caused them to look at things differently.
Let’s look at things from the point of view of James and John. They liked what they did. Being a fisherman was a challenge but their father and his father and his father before him had all been fisherman. That’s what this family does. So while they liked the life they wondered if there was something more, if there was life outside of boats and nets and sails and fish. This guy from Nazareth, this Jesus, looks at things in a whole new way. He talks about the kingdom of God, a place where we’re not trapped — in a world where people are compassionate toward one another, where everyone is welcomed, where rich and poor, saint and sinner all have a place at the table. Jesus describes this as good news, as the blessed assurance that each one of us is loved by God, that each one of us is precious in God’s sight, that all will be well in God’s time. So when he said, “I will make you fishers of men” it was like the best of both worlds. I will be able to use the gifts and talents I have learned as a fisherman but in a whole new way, a way that connects me with something worthwhile, something meaningful.
How should we imagine the point of view of Jesus? The spirit of the Lord was upon him. He looked at the world and saw so much suffering. People didn’t know what to do, they were unclear about where to spend their lives – they were like sheep without a shepherd. He was on a mission to bring the word of God into this hurting world. He saw such possibility, so much potential for creating a more just and peaceful place, a rich harvest. But he needed help, he needed laborers to walk with him, to companion him in his mission of proclaiming God’s love in the world. If I call them, if I challenge them, if I open up their eyes to how much more they can do for God, then together we will produce the kind of changed hearts and minds that God needs.
From our point of view, even at the remove of two thousand years, the story of Zebedee, of James and John, of Jesus himself is not a history lesson but a personal challenge. Jesus said that “This is the time of fulfillment.” Yet fulfillment can seem as far away from us as it did to Zebedee. We are no where near a world of peace and justice – in fact, things seem even more dire today than they did in Jesus’ time. We have not been able to convey how precious every human person is in the eyes of God. We demonize the other, we reject the one who looks or things or acts differently than we do. We keep doing the things we have always been doing – going out in our metaphorical fishing boat – and expect to catch something new. But you know how the saying goes, if you did what you always did, you will get what you always got. That is why the real challenge for us today is the one thrown down by Jesus: “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” The word translated as “repent” has a bigger meaning than just to express regret that you messed up. The word is sometimes translated “be converted” and that conveys a little better what Jesus was saying. But the root of the Greek word really means to “change to a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at the world.” Exchange your mind and put on the mind of Christ, as St. Paul would put it. See in the face of every person you meet – particularly the used, abused and misused, the face of Christ. Understand that it’s not really about me, it’s about “we,” about life together. Recognize that getting, having, possessing, does not satisfy the human heart but only sharing, giving and forgiving. And, as St. Paul puts it in the epistle, the world in its present form is passing away. As Jesus puts it, the kingdom is at hand. Time is running out. The alarm bell is ringing. The siren has sounded. The time for change is today.
