Tough Lessons

This Sunday most churchgoers will hear more of the fifth chapter in Matthew. Two weeks ago they heard the Beatitudes and last week listened to Jesus stress the importance of keeping the Old Testament laws. The teachings that immediately follow Jesus' discourse on the O.T. law and the need to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees point out how everyone is guilty of sin and all fall short of the goal of exceeding the "righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" by giving added meaning to the laws concerning 1) murder, making anger with or between one of the brethren equally bad, 2) adultery, by making ogling a good looking woman equivalent to adultery and making divorce (except if for unfaithfulness) the equivalent of adultery, and 3) not to take an oath by anything since a simple "Yes" or "No" from one of Jesus' followers should not need additional proof of truthfulness. 

I consider these verses some of the most damning of Jesus' teachings. Every preacher giving a sermon today knows they are also guilty of the sins Jesus lists and should be feeling the weight of those sins as they mount the pulpit.

Matthew 5:21-37
‘You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not murder”; and “whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.” But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother, you will be liable to judgement; and if you insult a brother, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, “You fool”, you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister,* and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court* with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell.
‘It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
‘Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, “You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.” But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

If all of us are sinners by Jesus' definition, how then are we to enter the kingdom of God? The good news is that we have Jesus, our advocate, someone who will stand beside us on the day of judgement and place his hand on our shoulder and say, "This one is with me."

Thank you Jesus for caring for a sinner like me.

Pastors: Satan’s greatest ambassadors?

Tim Challies is a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, and blogs at Challies.com. Challies posted a piece on spotting false teachers, listing them as follows,

• The Heretic 
• The Charlatan 
• The Prophet 
• The Abuser 
• The Divider 
• The Tickler 
• The Speculator

Who is most likely to be a false teacher? Probably someone who is loved and respected, a likable, believable person who most people would trust.

That would be a good description of many of those who wind up working as priests and ministers.

Challies nails his fellow pastors,

Satan’s greatest ambassadors are not pimps, politicians, or power-brokers, but pastors. His priests do not peddle a different religion, but a deadly perversion of the true one. His troops do not make a full-out frontal assault, but work as agents, sneaking into the opposing army. Satan’s tactics are studied, clever, predictable, effective. Therefore, we must always remain vigilant. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16a).

As Matthew Henry  (1662-1714) wrote centuries ago, and as I quoted this past Sunday,

He gives it in charge to his disciples, carefully to preserve the law, and shows them the danger of the neglect and contempt of it...  

It is a dangerous thing, in doctrine or practice, to disannul the least of God’s commands... 

It is impudence enough to break the command, but is a greater degree of it to teach men so...   

Opinions that tend to the destruction of serious godliness and the vitals of religion, by corrupt glosses on the scripture, are bad when they are held, but worse when they are propagated and taught, as the word of God...  

Nothing makes ministers more contemptible and base than corrupting the law, Mal. 2:8, 11. Those who extenuate and encourage sin, and discountenance and put contempt upon strictness in religion and serious devotion, are the dregs of the church. 

 False teachers were as much of a problem in Matthew Henry's time as they are for us today. Perhaps they, like the poor, will always be with us.

The challenge is not in identifying the false teacher but in changing the hearts and minds of their followers.

Now that will take a real ambassador.

"The care of God concerning his law extends itself even to those things that seem to be of least account in it, the iotas and the tittles"

This Sunday many mainline churches continue marching through the fifth chapter of Matthew with verses 13-20 which follow the Beatitudes (see last week's post). 

In today's section, Jesus continues teaching his disciples, and he gives us the memorable "salt of the earth" quote as well as  command to "let your light shine".

"You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot."

"You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter (letter = jot/iota and one stroke of a letter = tittle), will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

It is the last section that gives revisionist rectors fits because it drags the Old Testament laws into discussion, laws that revisionists have to build up strawmen in order to tear down, scattering the importance of the O.T. laws to the wind.

I would like you to take some extra time and read what Matthew Henry (1662-1714) has to say in his Commentaries about verses 17–20 (highlights mine).

Those to whom Christ preached, and for whose use he gave these instructions to his disciples, were such as in their religion had an eye, 1. To the scriptures of the Old Testament as their rule, and therein Christ here shows them they were in the right: 2. To the scribes and the Pharisees as their example, and therein Christ here shows them they were in the wrong; for,
I. The rule which Christ came to establish exactly agreed with the scriptures of the Old Testament, here called the law and the prophets. The prophets were commentators upon the law, and both together made up that rule of faith and practice which Christ found upon the throne in the Jewish church, and here he keeps it on the throne.
1. He protests against the thought of cancelling and weakening the Old Testament; Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets. (1.) “Let not the pious Jews, who have an affection for the law and the prophets, fear that I come to destroy them.” Let them be not prejudiced against Christ and his doctrine, from a jealousy that this kingdom he came to set up, would derogate from the honour of the scriptures, which they had embraced as coming from God, and of which they had experienced the power and purity; no, let them be satisfied that Christ has no ill design upon the law and the prophets. “Let not the profane Jews, who have a disaffection to the law and the prophets, and are weary of that yoke, hope that I am come to destroy them.” Let not carnal libertines imagine that the Messiah is come to discharge them from the obligation of divine precepts and yet to secure to them divine promises, to make the happy and yet to give them leave to live as they list. Christ commands nothing now which was forbidden either by the law of nature or the moral law, nor forbids any thing which those laws had enjoined; it is a great mistake to think he does, and he here takes care to rectify the mistake; I am not come to destroy. The Saviour of souls is the destroyer of nothing but the works of the devil, of nothing that comes from God, much less of those excellent dictates which we have from Moses and the prophets. No, he came to fulfil them. That is, [1.] To obey the commands of the law, for he was made under the law, Gal. 4:4. He in all respects yielded obedience to the law, honoured his parents, sanctified the sabbath, prayed, gave alms, and did that which never any one else did, obeyed perfectly, and never broke the law in any thing. [2.] To make good the promises of the law, and the predictions of the prophets, which did all bear witness to him. The covenant of grace is, for substance, the same now that it was then, and Christ the Mediator of it. [3.] To answer the types of the law; thus (as bishop Tillotson expresses it), he did not make void, but make good, the ceremonial law, and manifested himself to be the Substance of all those shadows. [4.] To fill up the defects of it, and so to complete and perfect it. Thus the word plerosai properly signifies. If we consider the law as a vessel that had some water in it before, he did not come to pour out the water, but to fill the vessel up to the brim; or, as a picture that is first rough-drawn, displays some outlines only of the piece intended, which are afterwards filled up; so Christ made an improvement of the law and the prophets by his additions and explications. [5.] To carry on the same design; the Christian institutes are so far from thwarting and contradicting that which was the main design of the Jewish religion, that they promote it to the highest degree. The gospel is the time of reformation (Heb. 9:10), not the repeal of the law, but the amendment of it, and, consequently, its establishment.
2. He asserts the perpetuity of it; that not only he designed not the abrogation of it, but that it never should be abrogated (Matt. 5:18); “Verily I say unto you, I, the Amen, the faithful Witness, solemnly declare it, that till heaven and earth pass, when time shall be no more, and the unchangeable state of recompences shall supersede all laws, one jot, or one tittle, the least and most minute circumstance, shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled;” for what is it that God is doing in all the operations both of providence and grace, but fulfilling the scripture? Heaven and earth shall come together, and all the fulness thereof be wrapped up in ruin and confusion, rather than any word of God shall fall to the ground, or be in vain. The word of the Lord endures for ever, both that of the law, and that of the gospel. Observe, The care of God concerning his law extends itself even to those things that seem to be of least account in it, the iotas and the tittles; for whatever belongs to God, and bears his stamp, be it ever so little, shall be preserved. The laws of men are conscious to themselves of so much imperfection, that they allow it for a maxim, Apices juris non sunt jura—The extreme points of the law are not the law, but God will stand by and maintain every iota and every tittle of his law. 

3. He gives it in charge to his disciples, carefully to preserve the law, and shows them the danger of the neglect and contempt of it (Matt. 5:19); Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least commandments of the law of Moses, much more any of the greater, as the Pharisees did, who neglected the weightier matters of the law, and shall teach men so as they did, who made void the commandment of God with their traditions (Matt. 15:3), he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Though the Pharisees be cried up for such teachers as should be, they shall not be employed as teachers in Christ’s kingdom; but whosoever shall do and teach them, as Christ’s disciples would, and thereby prove themselves better friends to the Old Testament than the Pharisees were, they, though despised by men, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Note, (1.) Among the commands of God there are some less than others; none absolutely little, but comparatively so. The Jews reckon the least of the commandments of the law to be that of the bird’s nest (Deut. 22:6, 7); yet even that had a significance and an intention very great and considerable. (2.) It is a dangerous thing, in doctrine or practice, to disannul the least of God’s commands; to break them, that is, to go about either to contract the extent, or weaken the obligation of them; whoever does so, will find it is at his peril. Thus to vacate any of the ten commandments, is too bold a stroke for the jealous God to pass by. It is something more than transgressing the law, it is making void the law, Ps. 119:126. (3.) That the further such corruptions as they spread, the worse they are. It is impudence enough to break the command, but is a greater degree of it to teach men so. This plainly refers to those who at this time sat in Moses’ seat, and by their comments corrupted and perverted the text. Opinions that tend to the destruction of serious godliness and the vitals of religion, by corrupt glosses on the scripture, are bad when they are held, but worse when they are propagated and taught, as the word of God. He that does so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, in the kingdom of glory; he shall never come thither, but be eternally excluded; or, rather, in the kingdom of the gospel-church. He is so far from deserving the dignity of a teacher in it, that he shall not so much as be accounted a member of it. The prophet that teaches these lies shall be the tail in that kingdom (Isa. 9:15); when truth shall appear in its own evidence, such corrupt teachers, though cried up as the Pharisees, shall be of no account with the wise and good. Nothing makes ministers more contemptible and base than corrupting the law, Mal. 2:8, 11. Those who extenuate and encourage sin, and discountenance and put contempt upon strictness in religion and serious devotion, are the dregs of the church. But, on the other hand, Those are truly honourable, and of great account in the church of Christ, who lay out themselves by their life and doctrine to promote the purity and strictness of practical religion; who both do and teach that which is good; for those who do not as they teach, pull down with one hand what they build up with the other, and give themselves the lie, and tempt men to think that all religion is a delusion; but those who speak from experience, who live up to what they preach, are truly great; they honour God, and God will honour them (1 Sam. 2:30), and hereafter they shall shine as the stars in the kingdom of our Father.

II. The righteousness which Christ came to establish by this rule, must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, Matt. 5:20. This was strange doctrine to those who looked upon the scribes and Pharisees as having arrived at the highest pitch of religion. The scribes were the most noted teachers of the law, and the Pharisees the most celebrated professors of it, and they both sat in Moses’ chair (Matt. 23:2), and had such a reputation among the people, that they were looked upon as super-conformable to the law, and people did not think themselves obliged to be as good as they; it was therefore a great surprise to them, to hear that they must be better than they, or they should not go to heaven; and therefore Christ here avers it with solemnity; I say unto you, It is so. The scribes and Pharisees were enemies to Christ and his doctrine, and were great oppressors; and yet it must be owned, that there was something commendable in them. They were much in fasting and prayer, and giving of alms; they were punctual in observing the ceremonial appointments, and made it their business to teach others; they had such an interest in the people that they ought, if but two men went to heaven, one would be a Pharisee; and yet our Lord Jesus here tells his disciples, that the religion he came to establish, did not only exclude the badness, but excel the goodness, of the scribes and Pharisees. We must do more than they, and better than they, or we shall come short of heaven. They were partial in the law, and laid most stress upon the ritual part of it; but we must be universal, and not think it enough to give the priest his tithe, but must give God our hearts. They minded only the outside, but we must make conscience of inside godliness. They aimed at the praise and applause of men, but we must aim at acceptance with God: they were proud of what they did in religion, and trusted to it as a righteousness; but we, when we have done all, must deny ourselves, and say, We are unprofitable servants, and trust only to the righteousness of Christ; and thus we may go beyond the scribes and Pharisees.

Woe to those who minimize the importance of the law. 

Enneagrams and the Broken Center of the School of Theology at the University of the South (Sewanee)

The following invitation came to me via the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina,

Who Am I Really? Discerning Aspects of the Soul Through the Spirituality of the Enneagram
April 20 -22, 2017
Beecken Center of the School of Theology
University of the South
Sewanee, TN 

The Beecken Center of the School of Theology at the University of the South, in partnership with the Institute for Conscious Being, invites you to this intensive weekend of self-exploration and study into the ancient wisdom of the Enneagram. Through lectures, dynamic presentations, music, video, group work, and more, this weekend conference-led by Joseph B. Howell, Ph.D., author of Becoming Conscious: The Enneagram's Forgotten Passageway-will teach participants to immerse in the deeper aspects of themselves as revealed by spiritual truths. For more details and to register, visit our website.  

Who Should Attend?

• Laypersons interested in spiritual transformation;
• Clergy, pastoral counselors, lay ministers, and spiritual directors;
• Mental health professionals, LPCs, psychologists, and social workers;
• Persons seeking certification to teach the Enneagram;
• Business, government, and industry leaders interested in raising consciousness in the workplace;
• Persons wishing to gain certification in the Spirituality of the Enneagram.

What Will You Learn?

• The purpose and method of self-inquiry within the Enneagram approach;
• How to apply the Enneagram to mental health and spiritual growth in oneself and in others;
• What transforming the self means in changing the level of consciousness on this planet.

Tuition, early rates:
Jan. 1–March 30: $350
April 1 onward: full rate, $365
Lodging is not included with tuition. 

Studying "ancient wisdom". immersing in "deeper aspects" of yourself, "changing the level of consciousness on this planet", what a bunch of hooey, and what a waste of 350 bucks. I wonder how many churches are footing the bill for their spirit guides to go to this brainwashing experience?  

Back in 2012 and I blogged about Dr. Howell and his enneagram conference, but like a bad penny, it keeps coming back.

The enneagram returned as a Lenten exercise at a local Episcopal church last year, and reappeared as a series of classes in the fall of 2016.

The following picture from The Enneagram Monthly tells you what I think of this nonsense,

If this is what your "School of Theology" is teaching, then your denomination is in serious trouble.

A little history of the Beecken Center of the School of Theology reveals that it was established to promote EFM (Education for Ministry) which this pewsitter considers to be too liberal in its approach to theology, Bible study, and Church history to do anyone any good.

The Beecken Center's vision statement is a progressive gem. While it does mention God and the Holy Spirit, Jesus gets left out completely amidst the Episcobabble,

We educate faith leaders who have a vision of a church where every Christian is supported in discerning why he or she was born – what unique gifts are theirs for the healing and restoration of the world – and where we all become adept at listening for and hearing the still small voice of God in such a way that it guides our choices and actions.  We are especially mindful of the church’s call to nurture these capacities in our young people in every generation. 

Our vision is of a church where teams of the faithful are called together by God to enact His future of peace and justice, and where we have frameworks to discern in community how our gifts combine to offer powerfully of God’s promises. 

We believe that grounding in our sacred stories is the birthright of all the baptized. 

We see the church as a unique locale where the valuable life practice of theological reflection is learned and engaged by all, increasing the wisdom of the whole.   

We believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit blesses us with creativity and calls us to innovation. It is this that compels us to  teach lay leaders how to design the ministries they are called to enact using the techniques that empower some of the most advanced social innovations of our time, combined with age-old practices of the Christian contemplative tradition – good old-fashioned prayer. 

We believe that there is power in healthy teams – teaching believers how to work together, be accountable to and respectful of one another. We provide training in relationship building, asset mapping, and motivational techniques. We want to help believers get things done and do so in a way that is loving.  

Finally, we believe if we take seriously the training of all the baptized in these and other essential practices of discipleship that the church and the world will benefit and God’s holy name will be glorified.

That sounds more like a vision of developing future community organizers to me.

What have been the results of forty years of the Beecker Center and EFM? As I see it, EFM has contributed to the decline of the Episcopal organization by helping to produce the current crop of progressive (liberal) priests, deacons, and lay leaders. Forty years of failure should be enough to make them re-examine their own enneagrams and make some changes.

From henceforth, the Beecken Center of the School of Theology shall be called, "The Broken Center of the School of Theology"

Eight or Nine States of Utmost Bliss

This Sunday most churches will start reading the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It is not typical of the Sunday lectionary to progress without omissions through an entire chapter of anything over four Sundays in a row, so the next month of Sundays gives pewsitters a chance to knit things into a coherent whole (if they can remember where the readings left off the previous week).

Once, as part of an interview, I was asked to name my favorite Bible verse. I answered that I would name a passage rather than a verse, and I said, "The Beatitudes".

How many souls over the ages have been comforted by these words.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:1-12

Matthew gives us nine "blessed are's" beatitudes, but some count eight lumping "persecute you" and "revile you" together to come up with the lesser number. Luke in Chapter 6 gives us just four beatitudes.

Webster defines beatitude as,

Either a state of utmost bliss or a title for a primate especially of an Eastern church, and in Christianity it means any of the declarations made in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:3–11) beginning in the Authorized Version with “Blessed are”. 

The derivation of the word appears to have been borrowed from Latin beātitūdō, from beātus “happy, fortunate” + -tūdō (paraphrased and by me).

All of us have experienced times when we could identify with one of those groups who could count their blessings no matter how down we felt simply by remembering our Saviour's words from this part of the Sermon in the Mount.

I know they helped me through some tough times.

Thank you Lord!

Episcopal Women March on Washington for the Dignity of (not) Every Human Being

During last week's Women's March on Washington, the women below were photographed carrying an ironically labeled sign.

From Facebook

What is wrong with this picture?

Was it the pink pussy cat hats? They do not create a very dignified look. Those were worn in protest of President Donald Trump's boasting of grabbing women's privates. I doubt any of those women were marching back in 1998 when Bill Clinton was being impeached for messing with his intern.

No, the main thing wrong is the sign and the "for the dignity of every human being" slogan.

As I posted last July,

There goes that Baptismal covenant argument again. The key word here is "dignity". When the writers of the 1979 BCP created this little gem, did they know that the definition of "respect" would come to mean "accept" and that dignity would come to mean an individual's unwise choices? Roberta Green Ahmanson explained the new meaning of "dignity" in a post at Public Discourse,  "The New Dignity: Gnostic, Elitist, Self-Destructive Will-to-Power", the new dignity to be respected/accepted is an individual's freedom to do the following, 

"to remake our gender, to marry someone without regard to sex or the procreative potential of the union, to choose our time to die and enlist the medical profession in ending our lives, to not only abort a child developing in the womb but also to harvest his or her body parts for commercial gain. It also calls for new negative freedom, freedoms from—from all unwanted pain or discomfort, from limitations on what I can do to or with my body, from language or ideas that offend me or that challenge decisions I have made.Dignity is no longer so much about who or what we are; it is about what our unfettered will can do, and what it can forbid others to do."

Every time someone pulls the Baptismal covenant argument, you might as well give up because the meaning of the words "respect the dignity" has been reduced to "Don't hurt anyone's feelings by disagreeing with them".

Many of those marching on Washington last week were rabid pro-abortionists. Many women in the Episcopal organization do not believe that the unborn are human beings. Many must believe that a baby is just a collection of cells, a tissue that can be disposed of if the mother so chooses, no dignity there. Many must not believe that God plays any role in the creation of life. Many do not believe the scriptures which say,

 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

And sadly, many of those who claim to believe in God do not believe that God cares about the dignity of the unborn, and that is one step away from not believing in God himself.

Once you believe that God does not care about unwanted children, you are in serious trouble.

For a better take on respecting the dignity of every human being, read the words of the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus,

"We contend, and we contend relentlessly, for the dignity of the human person, of every human person, created in the image and likeness of God, destined from eternity for eternity—every human person, no matter how weak or how strong, no matter how young or how old, no matter how productive or how burdensome, no matter how welcome or how inconvenient. Nobody is a nobody; nobody is unwanted. All are wanted by God, and therefore to be respected, protected, and cherished by us." Fr. Richard John Neuhaus 2008, h/t James Gibson

When women worship at the altar of abortion, they wind up worshipping their own bodies and desires and set themselves up as Goddesses, with power over life and death, displacing the God that they claim to worship from His rightful position in their lives.

Would that their eyes be opened...

Drop Everything

This Sunday's Gospel reading, Matthew 4:12-23, continues with the early parts of Jesus' ministry. We hear of his second encounter with Andrew who last Sunday left John the Baptist and this Sunday leaves his family business.

"Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ‘Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,   on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people who sat in darkness   have seen a great light,and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death   light has dawned.’From that time Jesus began to proclaim, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people."

 Andrew, Peter, James, and John all left their nets and followed Jesus. A net is something that traps things, confining and holding them. The more the net catches, the heavier it gets, and the harder it is to drag it through the water. The nets that we tend are all those things in life that hold us back, all those things that keep us from following Jesus.

If only we could be more like Jesus' first disciples and drop our nets, dropping all those things that we desire more than our desire to walk with him.