Matthew 4: 18-22

August 2, 2026

Preached St. James UMC, Danville

J. Michael Smith

This is the first time I have ever been appointed to a church named after a saint:  St. James.  I have been appointed to four different churches named, “Grace” and four different churches named “First Church.”  I’ve been appointed to two different churches named after places in the Bible, plus a Trinity church, an Immanuel church, a John Wesley church, and a church named after a Civil War site.  But this is my first church named after a saint.  

Of course, I immediately became confused because I didn’t know which St. James we are named after.  There are, in fact, 18 different St. James throughout church history, including three or four from the Bible.  I called Randy Robinson and asked him, “Which St. James are we?”  He laughed, said, “good question,” and then never really answered my question.  He had wondered that himself, and so had looked through the church records from 1919 when the church was named.  But the founding mothers and fathers never revealed which St. James was their inspiration.  Randy thought, however, that it must have been James the fisherman, who is featured on our stained glass window. 

I’m going to join Randy and focus on James the fisherman too.  He was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus; a brother to John, the two two of them known as the Sons of Thunder.  James was the first of the 12 disciples to be executed for his beliefs.  He was known for his ambition.  And the more I have been meeting St. James in the gospel stories these past weeks, the more I am convinced that the fisherman may be just the one we need to inspire us and challenge us these days.  St. James dedicated his whole life to Jesus.  Jesus filled his heart and his soul.  I’m always looking to meet people who can help me meet the living Christ.  St. James, the fisherman, the disciple of Jesus, is very precious to our church. 

A quick summary of what we find in the Bible about James.  He was in the family business of catching fish and selling them.  His family included his father Zebedee and his mother Salome, and his brother John—and perhaps some other brothers and sisters who are not mentioned in the Bible.  Furthermore, it is plausible that James and Jesus were cousins—that their mothers were sisters.  Speculative, but quite plausible.  

We know that James was a bit of a hothead—as was his brother John.  I don’t know if there are any hotheads here in St. James Church.  Impulsive.  St. James ran a bit hot.  There’s a Bible story:  When a Samaritan village was rude to Jesus, James and John reacted by eagerly pleading with Jesus that he let them bring down fire from heaven to burn the village to the ground.  

We know that James was ambitious.  He wanted to be somebody.  He wanted to be important.  He wanted to be in charge—to have command.  He could be pushy.  I don’t know if there are any modern St. Jameses in St. James Church, but I’m keeping my eyes open.  

Another thing that needs to be said about St. James—which holds true for all of the disciples.  We like to look down our noses at these first disciples of Jesus.  We unfairly stereotype them as  lowlifes, ignorant fisherman, backwoods hicks, uneducated.  When we do that, we’re just trying to make ourselves feel superior.  James lived in Capernaum, a city at the crossroads of the ancient world.  Merchants and armies and travelers all traveled the highway that was near Capernaum. James would have sold fish to people from Europe, Africa, and Asia.  He would have interacted with people of many languages and cultures.  He would have sold smoked fish to merchants from around the world, exchanging news and opinions with them.  It is likely that James and most of the other disciples spoke several languages—fluently.  Everything we know about him suggests that he was honest, a hard worker, smart, savvy, courageous.  He took opportunities when they came to him.  He took responsibility when it came to him.  

We know James was faithful to Jesus.  And he was one of Jesus’ most trusted disciples.  He watched Jesus and listened to Jesus and learned from Jesus more than most of the other disciples.  James was one of the three disciples that Jesus frequently included in his inner circle.  When the time came for James to follow Jesus, he did so immediately, even though his family might have complained.  James left behind everything that had once been of value to him in order to follow Jesus.

There are many legends about St. James in the history of the church.  But we will save those legends for when we have some free time.  For now, it is James the fisherman, described in the gospels, who shall have our full attention.

Now…I must point out that there are at least three things about James that may make us uncomfortable. First, he was a mender of nets—and I’ll say in a moment why that may make us uncomfortable.  Second, he was known as one of the Sons of Thunder.  That one’s going to be a little tricky for us.  And third, James was power hungry.  That one is going to be downright embarrassing.

First, James was a mender of fishing nets.  He was, in fact, busy mending his fishing net at the very moment Jesus approached him and said, “Follow me.”

The task of a Palestinian fisherman is to gather fish into a net—and then follow a process that will transform that catch of fish into a blessing for hungry people.  And those who have been blessed by the catch of fish, once fed, once blessed, then become a blessing to other people.  And those become a blessing, and on  and on.  It’s like a domino effect.  It goes all the way back to the story of Abraham in the book of Gensis:  who was blessed by God in order to be a blessing for others.  

Back to St. James:  his work depended on a working net.  If the net wasn’t kept in good repair, the main thing he was about wasn’t going to happen.  He could have cast his net over a thousand fish, but if the net wasn’t functional, if the fish all swam away, what’s the point?  I think if St. James were to meet St. James, he would want to talk to us about our nets.  The size and the resources of St. James church mean that we’ve been given a humongous net—in a community that needs Christ.  I think St. James would want to talk about our nets and whether they are in good repair, whether they are getting the big job done.  Do our nets need repairing?  Are our nets helping us form community with the thousands of lives around us?  Are the nets of St. James connecting us with our neighbors—are they the context for emerging community, new friendships?  Are our own lives as blessed by our nets as they could be?

As for catching fish:  On a personal note:  for all my hobbies, I’ve never been fond of fishing.  I’ve tried it.  I’ve dug worms.  Threaded them on a hook.  Cast the line into the water. And stood there while some fish that’s smarter than me would snatch the worm off the hook and swim away, having absolutely nothing to do with me.  And I’m standing there mumbling—come on! Every time I go fishing, all I do is feed the fish.  That’s not how it’s supposed to work.  When all you do is feed the fish, and they swim away, you’re not doing it right.  Jesus called St. James to use his nets and his fishing skills to gather people—and in the gathering of the people…into community…into fellowship and friendship and relationship with one another…Jesus called St. James to gather the people—into the kind of nets that could hold everyone together.  St. James is a mender of nets.

Second, St. James is one of the “Sons of Thunder,” along with his brother John.  Known for their fierceness more than their politeness.

James and John could sense the thunder of God.  They could feel the anger of God.  The thundering righteousness of God reverberated within them, the thunder evoked by human injustice or foolishness.  St. James knew what it felt like for the thunder of God to come rolling into this world—sometimes roaring, “Wake up!” and sometime booming, “Stop it!”  The fiery  St. James would often echo God’s thunder in his speech and actions.

Is it uncomfortable that our church is named after one of the Sons of Thunder?  Most church people I’ve met prefer a role model who is more polite, more sophisticated, more refined.  St. James??? Might be a bit much.  Our church is by all accounts, one of the most sophisticated, highbrow churches in the community—by reputation.  How do you feel about having the long standing reputation of being elite?  How could we, given our reputation, transform into being known as a church of thunder?  What pivot could we insert in our story to help us be more like our namesake?  

I don’t suppose that in his thundering James was a bully, or nasty, or quarrelsome.  He did possess in himself the mind of Christ Jesus.  But he was a Son of Thunder, and sometimes in the midst of all the quarreling and ruckus, God chooses to ride into our lives with the crash of thunder.

St. James:  a mender of nets, an echo of thunder, and third—power-hungry.  

St. James was into power.  He was right in the middle of those debates over who was going to be the most powerful when Jesus came into his kingdom.  James and John, in fact, go to Jesus and ask to sit, one on his right and one on his left whenever he gains victory over his enemies.  At that moment, James and John do not yet have an understanding of power—power as Jesus defines it.  For Jesus, it was okay to be power hungry, because good power comes from God and gives us strength, insight, keeps us strong of heart so we will not be discouraged.  We need good power to do justice, to overcome our selfishness.  We need good power to loosen our grip on grievance and position ourselves to forgive.  We need good power to resist greed and violence.  It takes power to be a peacemaker.  St. James was power hungry, and Jesus loved him for it.

Good power draws on love, logic, sacrifice, and humility.  We all should be power hungry for good power, for when we possess the power that God gives and governs, it makes a profound difference in our lives, our families, our church.   

Conclusion

I’ve had an opportunity to talk with a little more than a dozen people so far.  And I always want to know, “What is it you really like about St. James Church?” And in the answers I’ve heard so far, I sense a theme threading its way through.  It seems that for many people, St. James Church is a comfort, and we need comfort in our lives.

• It comforts people to know that through our food pantry, we are doing something to help people in need—we are comforted to know that we are responding to some important  needs our neighbors have
• It seems to be a comfort to know that St. James has hired a full time youth and children’s director—it is comforting to know that someone is on the staff who will pass our faith on to the next generation. We are comforted to know we are doing that.
• It is a comfort to know that we host the MLK Day Celebration—to know that we are playing a part to help a community that struggles with racial tensions.
• Many say that it is a comfort to come here, to enjoy the excellent music—because in this troubled world and in our beleaguered lives, the music of St. James sooths our souls and stirs them upward.
• It is a comfort to come to this place, where people like us, and people are like us.
• It is a comfort to come into this glorious building, so rich in beauty and hospitality.

We all need comfort.  It’s not easy to be a little child in today’s world.  Children and their parents need the comfort of St. James.  It’s not easy to be a teenager or a young adult trying to start out in life, navigating relationships.  Young people need the comfort this place.  It’s not easy being middle aged—being sandwiched between generations that depend on the strength of strong and mature adults.  Old age isn’t for the timid.  The comfort that St. James offers is essential.  Comfort, we are told, comes from the Holy Spirit.  It is a precious blessing.  And we are a shining example of the Holy Spirit’s gift of comfort.  I am glad to be the pastor of such a church.  

And I have been the pastor of other churches rich in comfort.  

Which means—that I have seen that a church that is mostly about the comfort of its own people –we will soon start to feel uncomfortable, if we are not starting to feel that already.  No congregation can be only about comfort.  

It is uncomfortable trying to stay comfortable all the time.  It is uncomfortable to see the culture around us changing.  It is uncomfortable when we start fearing change.  It is uncomfortable when the neighbors around the church keep making us uncomfortable.  It is uncomfortable to see that others don’t seem to want the same things that comfort us.  

Perhaps it is those very things about St. James that make us uncomfortable that make it critical that we meet him, learn more about him:  his messing with the nets, his echoes of thunder, his desire for power.  Perhaps the only way to step into the future as St. James Church in Danville is to be transparent enough to name our needs for comfort at this time in our lives, while simultaneously stepping out of our comfort zones to meet St. James—who in the living spirit of Jesus, can be met more frequently than we think—in each other, in our friends and neighbors, and even in the most likely of our neighbors.  Will you be brave enough to accompany me to go forth and seek and meet this St. James, wherever his spirit is to be found?