Sermon and Conversation
“Follow –
not because of fear but because of faith & light.”
Follow me, Jesus said to the young fishermen at the Sea of Galilee.
Follow me, Jesus said to the two brothers Simon and Andrew as they were casting their nets and getting ready for a day’s work.
Follow me, Jesus said to two other brothers, James and John as they were getting in their boat and mending their nets.
Follow me, Jesus said… and I will make you fishers of men…. Or ask Eugene Petersons said … ““Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.”
Follow me, Jesus said – and they did follow, leaving everything they knew behind them, taking the first step into a new life, a new calling, a new uncertain future with faith. The first disciples did not follow Jesus because they feared him or feared God. They followed because they believed, they hoped, they saw light instead of darkness.
Follow me and light poured into the world.
That was the message of the beautiful new Danish hymn that Mette sang earlier: Lyset vaelder ind in Verden, light pours into the world…
The light pours into the world, chases away the darkness of the night, summons forth the warm colors where there used to be gray and black.
The light penetrates the mind, loosens the tight bonds of pain, makes us forget the sorrow, grasp the warm hand of a friend.
You are the light, you come to us when we only see night, so that we are surprised to understand that we are never forsaken. Let us shine as you shine: God make the earth new again!
This is how the disciples must have felt when they heard Jesus call them, when the world opened with new possibilities, new hope, new ways and light.
This is how we should feel when we listen to the call of Jesus this morning in January. A call to newness, openness, change, transformation and faith.
A call that should chase away all darkness and warm our outlook with colors and hope, let us believe that we are indeed never forsaken but always loved.
I need that renewed call of Jesus.
I need that renewed call of hope, light and faith as we began a new year where so much disruption, division and uncertainty color our days and outlook.
I was just in Denmark and everyone I talked to from family members to flight attendees, from caregivers at my dad’s nursing home to strangers on walking trails in the brisk winter landscape of Denmark, was concerned questions about the state of the time that is ours. Greenland, Nato, EU, Ukraine, Gaza, Tariffs and Democracy.
Concerned questions and deep bewilderment about the world and world order, which seems to be changing rapidly. Who would have thought about the Sale Prize of Greenland last year?
There is indeed so much to be concerned about, troubled over and fearful for. Worldwide and Nationwide. And we might feel like the people walking in darkness, as the old Prophet Isaiah talked about. We too long to see the light.
And then Jesus comes and says: “Follow me.”
And we do. We have been following him as Christians. We were baptized, we were confirmed, were have been attending services, we have recited the Creed and received the communion in his name. We have been and we are following Jesus as a Danish Lutheran Church in all its complexity, diversity and history.
We follow the call of Jesus out of faith and hope, not out of fear. And it matters how we are as private citizens in society and the world.
In a wonderful thought-provoking essay called “Ice Age Brains in a Doomscroll World.” Lutheran pastor and debater Nadia Bolz-Weber wrote:
I am not a new year’s resolution kind of gal, but I got up this new year’s morning and thought maybe it IS time for a resolution, but the kind that is collective, not personal.
A Collective Resolution for the year of our Lord 2026.
Therefore,
Be it resolved that:
We, the people of 2026, will look for beauty.
We will write down the good things about each other.
We will call our friends just to tell them what we love about them.
When it is we who suck, we will admit it and move on.
We will refuse to be manipulated into believing that we do not need each other.
We choose attention as an act of love—and of resistance.
We choose hope, light and attention.
How we listen to the call of Christ is personal, but it is also communal. When the Church council met for our January meeting, I shared another little write up by Nadia Weber Bolz – asking about our word for 2026. In the light of this, I asked the council members to consider their word for 2026 and share it. So, I will share Nadia’s word with you today and ask you to consider what your word would be for 2026. And then intentionally get up to move and greet each other… share your word and listen to the others. Let the words move us today!
My word for 2026 is SLOW.
So, this year, I am working on slowing down.
Slow means leaving my Christmas tree up days, maybe even weeks, after the holiday because I am not ready to part with its light.
Slow means not avoiding friction and resisting the simplicity of AI. It reminds us that life is not about discovery, not always finding the fastest and easiest ways from point A to point B.
Slow means choosing books over internet.
Slow means deeper breaths, more pauses.
Slow means walking to pay attention, to notice, to feel the joy and privilege of movement, not to beat a record set by the watch on my wrist.
Slow means savoring food instead of scarfing it down.
Slow means listening more, harder. It is attempting to understand someone else before I jump to my own conclusions or share my own thoughts.
Slow means feeling the pain of the world. It is allowing the news to break my heart rather than turning brittle or apathetic.
Slow means intentionally. Considering how my time is best spent, not in a legalistic way, but in leaning away from instant gratification to something more sustaining.
Slow means grace. For myself. For others.
What might be your word of the year?
So, please consider your word of 2026. A word that can be your light for the year. And now please move around to greet each other and share your words. Let the