The Message, January 25, 2026: "Pick Up Your Tools," Matthew 4:12-23

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
January 30, 2026

 

“Pick Up your Tools”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Matthew 4:12-23

            It is very difficult to know what to say with that gigantic elephant in the room. We cannot deny its presence. My guess is that half of you know what I am referring to.

            Friday afternoon I met with our friend Makengo. He came here to the church to ask us for assistance. Last Sunday, we prayed for Makengo and his family, and they celebrated the birth of their fourth child. Of course, that celebration was muted by the fact that there were complications with the pregnancy and the baby was delivered by emergency C-Section. Makengo told me that his wife was home recovering, but baby was still in the NICU. His employer told him that he could have time off to help take care of the family, but … he would not be paid. Makengo came to ask if the church could possibly help with their bills next month. I told him that we could absolutely do that.

            Then I asked Makengo, “Are you afraid?” And he said, “Yes. We are very frightened.” He told me that they did everything right. They have all of their paperwork in order, but they are still afraid. As he left the church, I said to him, “Be safe.”

            Three hours later I received word that Makengo had been picked up by ICE.

            I spent most of the evening emailing, texting and messaging. Makengo is in custody, but we do not know where. His attorney is working to get him released on bond, but as of Friday evening, did not know where he was being held.

            Members of our church family began calling, and texting and messaging. “What can we do? What can we do to help? How can we support them?”

            We are rattled by this, unnerved by this. We are both heartbroken and enraged by this. People being swept up and disappeared by ICE was something that we watched on the news. It was something that was happening somewhere else. But now it is intimate. Now it is personal. Makengo is one of us. His family is our family. His children are our children.

            To those who have commented on sermons that have tiptoed too close to the political line … I am sorry. This is personal. This is our family. This is us.

            But, having said that, let me turn to our Gospel lesson for this morning. Jesus, fresh out of the waters of baptism, began his ministry by recruiting those who would work with him. He began by recruiting those whom he could teach the Way of God so that they could minister with him. And as we heard, he did not head to the city to recruit the top students at the rabbinical school. Instead, he went to the beach; he went to the docks.

            We do not know how much time passed between this encounter today and the day of Jesus’ baptism. We do know that after he was baptized, Jesus went into the wilderness where he was tempted … or tested … by the Adversary. We do not know how well Matthew’s timeline of events line up with the timeline in John’s Gospel. Last week we heard that John the Baptist pointed out Jesus, the Lamb of God, to Andrew and another one of his followers. And then we heard the Andrew then introduced his brother, Simon, to Jesus. So, it is possible that when Jesus encountered Simon and Andrew on the beach, they would have known who he was. They could have already been aware that John had pointed him out as the One who would come with power, the One who is the Lamb of God.

            If we assume that those two timelines do line up in this way, Andrew and Simon met the One, they met the Lamb, they spent time with Jesus when he invited them to “Come and see,” but they had not yet decided to follow him.

            One commentary author that I read this week described the event that happened on the beach that morning as Jesus’ first miracle. Whether or not Andrew and Simon had previously spent time with Jesus, what happened when Jesus said, “Follow me,” was miraculous. Because they did it. Jesus said, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people,” and they dropped their nets and followed him.

            They did not ask for clarification. They did not ask for more information. They did not ask how long they would be gone. They did not try to bargain or negotiate. They dropped their nets and followed him.

            They left everything that they knew. They left the profession that had supported their families. They left the certainty and security of the life they knew and followed someone that had invited them to become “fishers of people.” James and John, the sons of Zebedee did likewise. As did the others that Jesus called. They dropped everything, left everything and followed the One who came with the power to transform lives.

            Of course, we jumped to the second half of the passage before considering the first half.

            As we heard, after Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been arrested and imprisoned by Herod, he moved to Capernaum (on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee) in Galilee of the Gentiles and began preaching. From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17)

            His message was powerful. It was compelling. His message was revolutionary. His message was one that might have gotten him scooped up and thrown in prison … like his cousin, John. The kingdom on the earth was Herod’s kingdom; it was the kingdom of the Romans. We know that Jesus was not implying that HE was the new king, but Herod and others like him would not have understood that.

            Those who did know, would understand that what Jesus was saying was, “The rule and reign of God is at hand. The rule of God has come near. So repent … turn your lives around, change your way of thinking, turn toward God.”

            “Turn your lives around, the Way of Love has come near. The Way of compassion has come near. The Way of caring for one another has come near. The Way of caring for the widow and the orphan has come near. We are going to build something beautiful. We are going to build the community that God intends. Out of the darkness a new day will dawn. Out of the ruins and the rubble will come forth life.”

            Just like Andrew and Simon, James and John, the other disciples were ordinary folk. There may have been a couple more fisherman (Philip, Thomas, and Nathanael), a tax collector (Matthew), a political activist (yes … Simon the Zealot), and Judas may have been an accountant or a treasurer. Again, not a single seminary student in the bunch. Those first disciples, those first followers of the Way of Christ, were a diverse cross-section of the community. They were the people in our neighborhood. They were the people that said, “Yes! I want to be a part of that. Yes! I believe that the way of compassionate justice is the way that God intended. Yes! I will follow so that I too can carry the Light.”

            And you have heard it too. You have heard the invitation … the Call of Jesus Christ. You have also heard the promise of Christ, “You will fish for people.”

            Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon you have reached out, “What can I do? How can I help?” You have been willing to lay aside what you have on your very full calendars, to move things around in your very busy lives so that you can offer love and compassion and help to a family within our family.

            I did not even have to ask you for help. Your hearts spoke first, “What can we do? How can we help?”

            What a blessing you are.
            In the midst of their darkness … you are light.
            In the midst of their fear … you are their comfort.
            In the midst of their despair … you are hope.

            You heard the call of Christ, and you answered. Thank you.
            Amen.

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