“When the king heard the charge, he was very much distressed. He was determined to save Daniel, and until the sun went down he made every effort to rescue him. Then the conspirators came to the king and said to him, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!” A stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, so that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no food was brought to him, and sleep fled from him.” Daniel 6:14-18

“To journey for the sake of saving our own lives is little by little to cease to live in any sense that really matters, even to ourselves, because it is only by journeying for the world’s sake—even when the world bores and sickens and scares you half to death—that little by little we start to come alive. It was not a conclusion that I came to in time. It was a conclusion from beyond time that came to me. God knows I have never been any good at following the road it pointed me to, but at least, by grace, I glimpsed the road and saw that it is the only one worth traveling.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Frederick Buechner says: “God knows I have never been any good at following the road it pointed me to, but at least, by grace, I glimpsed the road and saw that it is the only one worth traveling.” Buechner is speaking about the struggle we all encounter inside our very selves – the struggle to live only for ourselves or to live for the world.

This is partly the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. The satraps had determined to convince the king, King Darius, that he: “should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being…except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.” (Daniel 6:7) If Daniel had sought to live only for himself, he would have bowed to the king and saved his life for sure. But Daniel did not only live for himself, he lived first and foremost for the Lord, and his trust saved his life.

Now, we could surmise that lesson we should learn from Daniel is thus: trust in G-d will solve all our problems. But that is not the lesson we should learn.

The chief lesson we should learn comes from the confession of King Darius: “For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end” (Daniel 6:26). In other words, our faith in G-d is a faith in a sovereign, omnipotent presence whose will takes precedence over our own. G-d’s ways are not our ways, and G-d’s thoughts are not our thoughts. And following G-d’s will, you know, to love G-d with our whole being and to love our neighbor as ourselves should and will be the “only road worth traveling.”

Our faith does not guarantee us a rose garden – it only confirms that G-d is the source of all blessings, and challenges, and that the Holy Spirit will follow us and guide us along every road we travel.

Pastor Dave

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.” Mark 1:14-20

“There are any number of distinct ways that we can follow Jesus. And, indeed, follow him immediately – here and now, in the world and time in which we live. What seems at the heart of the matter is that we can follow Jesus in all of these different situations and circumstances precisely by trying to imitate him – by trying, that is, to treat others with the same regard, love and patience that he did, including all manner of people but especially those who were overlooked by society. This, I think, is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian: to try to live and treat others as Jesus did, embracing the values of inclusiveness, love, forgiveness, and healing that he radiated in word and deed.

…we are invited into and promised a secure place in the Christian community only (by) the grace of God, apart from any effort or merit on our own. And yet at the same time I think the day-to-day benefit we experience from being included in the Christian community is affected dramatically by whether or not we try to live into the identity we have been given. God will always treat us a beloved child, yet whether we act like a beloved child of God – and receive the joy of acting like one – depends greatly on whether we try to follow Jesus and live into the gift of that identity.” David Lose, “…in the meantime”, January 19, 2015, Following Jesus Today)

Jesus says “Follow me” and we think to ourselves “I AM” – we think our lives are models of faith and devotion. And still we hear these words “Follow Me” and we have to wonder: “Is Jesus calling me?  What is he calling me to do?”

Do you find it hard NOT to answer a ringing phone? Even with call blocking apps and automatic caller ID, it is still hard to NOT answer my phone when it rings. There is something about that sound that it compels us to answer that call. Now, are we just as compelled to answer Jesus when he calls? When it comes to being disciples of Jesus, and when it comes to seeking out people to join us in worship and service, we often find ourselves scratching our heads trying to find ways to bring people into our midst. In our gospel lesson my friends, Jesus is calling us – calling us to go fishing with him – to go fishing FOR him. My friends, are we answering that call?

Anyone who fishes knows that fishing takes time and patience, fishing takes knowing the territory and knowing the conditions. The same is true for fishing for people. The radical nature of this text is that Jesus took ordinary fisherman and told them that everything was about to change – everything they knew or thought they knew about fishing, about family relationships, and about life would have to change. They would have to rethink how to fish – and not just for the perfect catch – but for all kinds of people: the imperfect as well as the perfect, the smelly as well as the well-groomed, the colorful and the plain. Jesus wants to teach us, and then to have us teach others how to catch people in the net of G-d’s love, mercy and grace. 

Pastor Dave