Sermon written for Sunday Feb 9th, 2025.
Beloved in Christ, we gather today to reflect on Luke this familiar story where Jesus calls His first disciples. I cannot continue forward reflecting in this Gospel without addressing some of the pain and anxieties that had plagued our country and society with the advent of the current federal administration. Our Gospel today, this passage is not merely a story of fishermen, or new disciples. I want you to see it as a profound metaphor for our calling to embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Kingdom of God. Not as an ideal, not because we are radical in our beliefs, it is because of our calling to be the same disciples that our Gospel values compels us to embrace radical, diversity, equity, inclusion those values compel us to radical mercy, love, compassion.
Just as Jesus invited the fishermen to become “fishers of men,” He calls us to cast our nets wide, embracing all people regardless of background. This was a radical act in Jesus’ time. The society of first-century Palestine was deeply divided—by ethnicity, class, religion, and even geography. The Jewish people lived under Roman occupation, facing oppression and economic hardship. Within their own community, divisions existed between the religious elite and those deemed unworthy—tax collectors, sinners, the poor, the sick, and foreigners. Yet, Jesus deliberately chose His disciples from among fishermen, men of humble means who worked tirelessly yet were often overlooked by the religious establishment. He did not call the learned scholars or the powerful rulers; He didn’t call the rich, He didn’t call the well connected, He didn’t call the politicians. He called ordinary people, inviting them to a mission that would transcend societal divisions.
In calling them to be “fishers of men,” Jesus was commissioning them—and by extension, us—to reach beyond cultural and societal boundaries. Thankfully for us, our prophetic call goes beyond society and its political intricacies. It is actually quite reassuring that our christian values are not being mirrored in society, it sets our task more to our faces, it makes us recognize more and more that we can be prophets in today’s world and enshrined in convictions that raising our Gospel values beyond our church walls and doors is our most urgent call today. The Gospel is not meant for a select few but for all people. Diversity and inclusion are not merely optional add-ons but are intrinsic to our identity as Christians. To think otherwise is to ignore the very essence of Christ’s teachings. Throughout His ministry, Jesus consistently broke barriers: He dined with tax collectors, spoke with Samaritans, healed the unclean, and welcomed women into His inner circle of disciples. He did not seek uniformity, or conformity with the political and religious forces of its time, but unity in the love of God.
When we create barriers—whether based on race, nationality, gender, economic status, immigration status, or any other factor—we work against the very heart of the Gospel. The Kingdom of God is expansive, not restrictive, merciful, not vindictive, consoling, not antagonizing. Like the fishermen who cast their nets wide, we must extend our embrace to those who are marginalized, recognizing that the love of Christ is for all.
The disciples, simple fishermen, were transformed by their willingness to follow Jesus, fishermen ordinary workers, often marginalized and overlooked. By calling them, Jesus demonstrated that the Kingdom of God is open to all, especially those on the margins. Today, this call extends to embracing those who are marginalized in our society — the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the persecuted — and recognizing their invaluable contributions to the Body of Christ.
Casting our nets into the deep requires faith and courage, much like standing up for justice and equity today. We are called to take bold steps in faith, trusting in God’s promise of an abundant catch. And just like overflowing nets of the Gospel today, we can see the blessings that come from an inclusive community. Catch that knows no boundary, love that knows no restrictions, mercy that knows no wall. Let us go forth, casting our nets wide, and living out the true Gospel of inclusion and love.