This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, to which the reading we have just heard is particularly pertinent. I hope you will agree with me that one of the strengths, as well as points of tension of our Church is that we come from so many different Church backgrounds, but that we recognise each other as Christian sisters & brothers. We have to learn here to disagree in love about certain aspects of Christian practise & belief, whilst still loving and accepting one another. We cannot say, to paraphrase St Paul in today's reading, "I am an Anglican" or "a Catholic" or "a Pentecostal" or "an Independent" or whatever, and make that the point of our identity - we must learn to be Christians simply. We must not define ourselves as Christians either as, "for or against evolution" or "Baptism in the Spirit" or "baptising children". We can and should prayerfully decide what we believe about such matters, but they must not be the definition of who we are as Christians. Paul calls the Corinthians to recognise each other in Christ and to make him alone the definition of their identity as Christians. This is the challenge to us at St Marc's in particular as well as to Christians everywhere as we respond to Jesus prayer for the unity of his followers. We must pursue unity in Jesus and respect the different views of our fellow Christians on the issues which are not fundamental to our identity in him. This is what the first disciples of Jesus had to learn also..... Read Bible:Matthew+4:12-22
So what do we learn from this reading to be fundamental to being a Christian?

1. Jesus is the Centre. This is what defines us a Christians, and this alone. The New Testament, the Good News, is all about Jesus, who he is and what he has done, and it's implications for our lives. So much so that the first disciples of Jesus learned to read their Old Testament afresh in the light of him, and find him there too. Matthew here quotes Isaiah 9v1-2, which look beyond disaster for the nation of Judah, to God bringing new hope, light and prosperity. This is fulfilled in Jesus, who brings light to the world, good news and healing (v.23).

Is this true of our lives & our experience too? I know many of you have been through or still face difficult circumstances in your lives, which could be described as like being in the dark, particularly perhaps in understanding why. Jesus offers to be the light who comes to dispel that darkness. He does not give us all the answers to our questions, nor take away all our problems, but he gives us a new ability to cope with them, he truly does transform our lives by his healing presence, as I and millions down the ages have discovered. That's what Jesus' first disciples discovered, and it can be our experience too.

2. Repentance is the key. In order to find this kind of relationship with Jesus, and through him with God, we need to let him turn our lives around. That's what Jesus meant by calling people to repent. We have to recognise that centring our lives on anything other than God is wrong, and so turn around to him. We have to be willing to let go of the wrong things in our lives and make it our goal to live as Jesus teaches us. His kingdom of peace, love, joy and so on is at hand, awaiting us as individuals and as a community, but in order to enjoy it we must turn to God in Jesus, allowing his Holy Spirit to redirect our lives. How do we stand on this? We cannot get right with God or be Christians by our own efforts. We need God's forgiveness and his new life within us. Whilst this is a free gift of his undeserved favour, it is conditional on our repentance.

Have we turned in this way to Jesus for a fundamental redirection of our lives towards God? Or are we secretly holding onto things we know are wrong? If the light of Christ is to illumine our lives we must open every door of the house of our life to him, not keep some shut up where darkness remains. And repentance must be an ongoing experience in our lives, because we all turn off God's path at times. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1John 1v8-9) Let us learn to be quick to ask forgiveness because we repent of all turning away from God.

3. Jesus calls us to follow him. Because Jesus is the centre he is the only one to follow. From John's gospel we learn that the first disciples met Jesus and spent time with him before the decisive moment of Jesus call to decide for him came, but it is clear that a moment came when they had to make up their minds to follow him. Jesus issues that call to you and me also. We can think over carefully the claims of Christ, see whether it is reasonable to trust him, seek answers to questions and doubts we have, but at some point we must respond to his absolute call on our lives if we are to call ourselves Christians. We cannot mess Jesus around! Of course in one sense whatever we do or don't do is a decision of sorts to live in one way or another. If we drift through life or are half-hearted Christians we are living a certain way. Jesus asks us to follow him without reservation. A Christian woman asked a minister, "Would you please tell me what your idea of consecration is?" Holding out a blank sheet of paper, the pastor replied, "It is to sign your name at the bottom of this blank sheet, and let God fill it in as he wills." (Castle 1, p392) To be a Christian we must decide to follow Jesus, how much better to be wholehearted about it!! Here's a challenge for each of to think about where we are in this.

4. Jesus asks us to share him with others. Jesus gave the first disciples a special calling to become his ambassadors - "I will make you fishers of men" (v.19). Few of us are, like them, called to give up everything else and become apostles & evangelists. But we are each asked to be witnesses for Christ. Jesus said, "Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:26 ) I suppose you can be a Christian without admitting it to anyone, but you would be a strange sort of Christian according to Jesus & the first disciples. For them sharing Jesus with others was part of being a follower of Christ. Will we pray for and be open to opportunities to speak on his behalf?

I hope that as we think today about this passage and Jesus encounter with the first disciples we can hear his message through it to us, to make Jesus the centre of our lives, turning to him in repentance, following him wholeheartedly, and being ready to share him with others. That is to be a Christian.