Caught up

Sermon by Pr. Craig Mueller on the Third Sunday after Epiphany + Sunday, January 25, 2026

I was completely caught up in the Bears game last Sunday night. A frickin’ unbelievable touchdown in the last minute tied the game. And took it into overtime! How many of you were watching live at that moment?

The last time I was caught up in a football game was the when the Cubs won the World Series. Am I kidding? Of course! Your pastor knows more about football than you may think!

What are you caught up in these days? What is keeping you up at night? And what is keeping you going?

It’s hard not to get caught up in the ever-changing political, economic, and global landscape. Just this past week has been a whirlwind. It’s hard to keep up.

Some are saying: in 2026 we are seeing a complete dismantling of our government and the world order. Consider what is happening in Greenland, Venezuela, and Ukraine. Statements of grave concern have been issued by high-ranking Roman Catholic cardinals and Lutheran bishops. In a strongly worded, non-partisan statement, the Catholic clerics lament that America’s “moral role in confronting evil around the world” is in question for the first time in decades. Military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy.”

And then this past week thousands of protesters showed up in Minneapolis to protest the ICE crackdown in the state. It was 23 degrees below zero on Friday. And 100 clergy, many from out of state, were arrested. And if that weren’t enough, another death by federal agents yesterday. So many of us are being caught up in fear and anger, anxiety and frustration, and overwhelming sadness. We join in solidarity with our siblings in Minnesota.

The people in Jesus’ day are caught up in the violent reigns of Herod and Caesar. There is an affordability crisis going on. Because of the Roman empire, folks are dealing with an unprecedented farming and fishing crisis. The Romans are demanding new taxes, fees, and rents. Enforcers are watching everything. Oppression is rampant.

Remember: fishermen are in the lowest caste. A few of them are so caught up with Jesus that they drop their nets. They leave everything behind and follow. Is it because he is charismatic or his message so irresistible?

Repent, Jesus says. Which means, change direction. Follow me. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus’ invitation is to a new social and economic order. It’s about liberation from oppression, the same message as prophets before. The reign of God is breaking into the here and now. Lay down your fishing nets and get caught up in the net of God’s unfathomable mercy.

Why fishermen? Wasn’t Jesus a carpenter? Why not leave your woodworking tools behind and follow? Wasn’t Jesus the good shepherd? Why not leave the sheep behind and follow? Weren’t farmers in many of Jesus’ parables. Why not leave your plow behind and follow?

One on hand, the fishermen will use the tools of their trade to fish for—to seek—people yearning for hope and healing. Fishing, though, is unpredictable. You may or may not catch anything. You have to be patient. You have to adapt. The big catch may come when you least expect it. Fishing and the spiritual life have a lot in common.

On the other hand, in baptism, we now follow Jesus by finding our purpose, by serving with the tools of our trade. By employing our gifts, our time, our resources, our passion. By our words and by our deeds, we now invite others to be part of this life-changing movement: announcing that the reign of God is at hand.

What or who do you follow? Sports and the upcoming Super Bowl? It’s on February 8 and my home-state Broncos are still in contention, though without their star quarterback, due to an injury. I digress, sorry. 

Do you follow the stock market? Do you follow your friends on social media? Do you follow podcasters, pundits, or late-night comedians? How do you follow the news? So many are trying to make sense of the craziness of these days.

Here is one insight that I was caught up in this past week. One recent book, The Matter of Things, has some profound insights on what is going on in our brains. The right brain sees whole pictures. It is the source of imagination, intuition, creativity in all disciplines, including math and science. It is the realm of poetry, ritual, metaphor. Ultimately, what we’re doing here this morning!

The left brain, in contrast, loves systems and analyzes things. It is more literal. Which can lead to absolutist thinking. The certainty that we or our views are right. The thing is: we need both parts of the brain. And they work together. But the right brain is dominant, and the left its emissary.

But in a provocative essay, writer Christian Wiman, says we have reversed things. And the first decades of this century have been caught up in a massive attack on the world’s brain. We are totally caught up in the brain’s left side. We stare catatonically at screens. We’re inept at forming attachments. We slice time into ever smaller increments for efficiency, yet things feel out of control. An imbalanced left brain leads to dogmatism, tribalism, extremism, cancel culture, identity politics, speech codes—the world in which we live.

Paul appeals for unity in our second reading. Some are following Chloe. Others Apollos. Other Cephas. Human divisions, even among religious communities, is nothing new. Be knit together in the same mind and the same purpose, Paul implores. What unites us as human beings? we must ask.

Last Sunday many of us were moved as we sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. Maybe you find yourself being caught up with phrases in scripture and hymns that were there all along. And now stand out. “We have come over a way that with tears have been watered; we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered. . . Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee; lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget thee.”

It is a time for resistance and protest. We stand against all forms of hatred and violence.

And more than ever, we need to be together. Here. In this place. In community. Gathered around font and table. Fed by scripture, sacrament, silence, ritual, music. Attending to our right brain, for a change.

Follow me, is the invitation. Get caught up in the message of Jesus and the prophets. Rather than retribution, get caught up in peace and justice. Rather than resignation, get caught up in the march toward hope and freedom. Rather than despair, get caught up in good news. The reign of God is at hand!

SOURCES

Reign of God. Salt commentary for Epiphany 3.

Weekly Lectionary Essay. The Way of the Sea.

Christian Wiman, “The Tune of Things? Is Consciousness God?”. Wiman refers to Iain McGilchrist’s The Matter with Things by Iain McGilchrist.