St. Mary Orthodox Church

On the Path from Galilee to Antioch

 

Sermon preached by Dn. Jeff Smith on Sunday, June 14, 2026 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Good morning!

Today, I would like to draw a line connecting the gospel that we just heard to our epistle (or rather, the reading that we heard from the Acts of the Apostles). A line between the calling of the first disciples and the time when they first called Christians.

Today’s readings from Acts and Matthew invite us to reflect on a simple but profound question: What happens when ordinary people say "yes" to God's call? When we say “yes,” something extraordinary can happen. In today’s Gospel, Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee and encounters fishermen engaged in ordinary work. Simon Peter and Andrew are casting their nets. James and John are mending them. There’s nothing outwardly extraordinary about the moment. Yet with a few words—just two, actually: "Follow me" and “I will make you fishers of men"—and we go on to say, “And you will fish the universe.” Their lives are changed forever. Immediately they leave, and I love that they left immediately. They could have stayed where they were. They had good reason to stay; they had good jobs and security, but they chose to follow Jesus.

The Fathers of the Church marvel at the power of Christ's call. St. John Chrysostom points out that these men were not scholars, rulers, or people of influence. They were fishermen. Yet Christ chose them precisely so that the growth of the Church could be attributed to divine power, not to human wisdom. The Lord did not seek the most qualified people. He sought hearts willing to trust Him.

There’s a lesson here. Many of us spend years waiting for the perfect moment to serve. We imagine that we need more knowledge, more confidence, or more certainty before we can respond to God’s call. But Jesus does not ask Peter and Andrew to become something before they follow Him. He asks them to follow first, and then their transformation comes later. "I will make you fishers of men," he says. The making is the work of Christ; the following is ours.

The reading from Acts shows us what happened because those first disciples said yes. The Gospel spread beyond the familiar boundaries of Jerusalem and Judea. Following the persecution that arose after the martyrdom of Stephen, the believers scattered throughout the region. They had to get out of Jerusalem. But what appeared to be a tragedy became an opportunity. And the Church learned an important lesson: God used their suffering and disruption for His purposes.

When the believers arrived in Antioch (and today we celebrate and commemorate the saints of Antioch), they began to preach to the Greeks, and again, something remarkable happened. The Gospel crossed cultural and ethnic boundaries. Jesus modeled this crossing by healing the Roman centurion’s servant, by calling the foreign Samaritan woman at the well, and by calling his disciples to spread the gospel throughout the world before the Ascension. So the good news is revealed as the salvation of all humanity. When Barnabas arrived from Jerusalem and saw what God was doing, he rejoiced, because Barnabas recognized the grace of God at work.

Now Barnabas, I think, is a beautiful example of faith. St. Luke describes him as "a good man, full of the Holy Spirit." His name means "encouragement." His first response to the work was joy. He saw God's grace and he was glad. That’s not easy, because more often, we notice faults and problems before blessings. Yet Barnabas teaches that we can learn to recognize the work of God wherever it happens.

Then Barnabas seeks out Saul. He knew Saul, later known as Paul, back in Damascus. Saul was back in his home town in Tarsus at this point, so he called him. Barnabas could have remained the central figure in Antioch. Instead, he brought another gifted servant into his ministry because his spiritual leadership was not threatened by another person’s gifts. So we can rejoice when other people flourish. And Barnabas showed by example that the Church grows through cooperation, not competition.

St. Luke then tells us that in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. That’s significant. The surrounding community saw something distinctive about their lives. Their faith was visible. Their worship, their fellowship, their charity, and their love formed a new kind of community that the world could not ignore. They belonged to Christ.

That challenges us to ask ourselves a question: if our neighbors were unaware of the word "Christian," would they invent that word for us? Would they see enough of Christ in our priorities and our relationships to recognize that we too belong to Him?

The final portion of our Acts reading today provides an answer to that question. A prophet named Agabos foretells a coming famine. The disciples respond not with fear but with generosity. "Everyone according to his ability" sends relief to the believers in Judea. And here we see the true mark of Christian identity. They cared for each other. Their faith became tangible through their giving.

So the connection between the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles becomes clear. Jesus called fishermen to leave their nets, and years later, their spiritual descendants in Antioch are still leaving their nets—by letting go of selfishness and fear.

The call to leave our nets remains just as urgent today: nets of resentment, nets of anxiety, ambition, and nets of desire to control an outcome. Whatever prevents us from following Christ can become a net that entangles us. But the Lord stands on the shore of our lives and calls us as surely as He called Peter and Andrew.

What is striking is that He does not wait until we are ready. He calls us in the midst of our work, our responsibilities, our uncertainties, and our weakness. The disciples were not perfect. Barnabas was not perfect. Saul was certainly not perfect. And the Christians in Antioch were not perfect. Yet God's grace transformed them because they responded with faith.

Perhaps the practical question is this: What net is Christ asking me to leave behind? What acts of generosity is He inviting me to undertake? Where is He calling me to recognize His grace?

The same Lord who called the fishermen beside the Sea of Galilee continues to walk among His people today. He still calls us, ordinary men and women. He still gathers communities to bear His name. He still transforms fear into mission and possessions into generosity. And He still promises that if we follow Him, He will make us instruments of His Kingdom.

So may we have the courage of the apostles to leave our nets, the generosity of the Christians in Antioch to care for each other, and the joy of Barnabas to recognize and rejoice in the grace of God wherever it appears. We are being woven into his body. God placed us in this zip code, in this city, in this parish. The people around you may sometimes irritate you, but this is for our salvation. Our job is to show up and participate. And then, just like the first believers, we too may grow into the name, "Christian." 

Thanks be to God.