Today we are talking about the life philosophy behind education and learning. I want to begin with our first contributor, Larry Olson, who was a high school history teacher for his career. This is one of the reflections he had on his time in the classroom: “As a high school teacher, I’ve always been interested in the learning process. Every person has a particular and sometimes even peculiar learning style. This is a daunting task facing over 100 students every day! How do you reach them? Is there a key? Figuring this out wasn’t a sudden enlightenment, but rather an evolutionary journey.

I want to talk a little bit about that journey that Larry went through because it’s going to set the stage for where we’re going with our sermon topic for today. For a long time, Larry taught the way that many of us experienced school growing up. The teacher lectures while the students sit and listen, taking notes on the topic of the day. What Larry realized is that his students were bored with this format and, more importantly, they weren’t really learning the information in a way that was meaningful.

Larry knew he needed to shake things up and was looking for inspiration. He thought back to when he was in college. Of all the teachers he had through his schooling, the one that stuck out was his professor from his Western Civilizations 101 class. Rather than simply recite facts and dates, his professor taught using stories. Through the stories he would pepper in details about religion, art, music, geography, politics, warfare, literature, economics and more.

Perhaps equally as important, he encouraged the students to ask probing and difficult questions along the way. This kept the students engaged, but it also gave them a sense that his knowledge could be their knowledge if they just dug a little deeper. This is something that Larry wanted to inspire in his students, so he began the process of transforming his teaching style. A key element of this shift was helping his students to understand something fundamental about history—nobody knows anything for sure. We’re all guessing and with research, your guess can be just as good as those of the experts.

Larry used the example of teaching his students about the Boston Tea Party. If you look up this event in the history books, the first piece of information you will find is that it took place in Boston on December 16, 1773. This only tells you the place and the date. What you really want to understand are some of the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party. As you research those events, you come to gain a sense of how the colonists felt about the British and their motivation for rioting on that day.

Larry says, “Knowing where and when is easy; understanding why and how, that is knowledge.” He would then push his students to investigate further—what were the British soldiers feeling who were facing this mob? What thoughts might have been going through their minds? Sure, it requires some creative thinking on your part and you can never be 100% certain your assertions are accurate, but the process of attempting to see the world through the eyes of the people who experienced the event is what brings that history to life.

Let’s perform this same exercise with the story we read this morning from Luke’s gospel, when Jesus calls his first disciples. The way the story starts is that Jesus is teaching the crowds on the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. When the crowd grows in size to the point where they are pressing in on him, he jumps into a boat. The boat happens to be owned by Simon, who is better known as Peter. Jesus tells Peter to push out from the shore so that there’s space between Jesus and the crowd.

After Jesus finishes his talk, he tells Peter to let down his nets. Peter, who is a fisherman for a living, tells Jesus there’s really not that much to catch, but he obliges Jesus’ request and ends up with so much fish that it threatens to capsize the boat. Peter calls over his business partners, James and John, who help him get all the fish inside their boat. All the men are so amazed by this miracle that they abandon their fishing business and dedicate themselves to Jesus’ ministry.

Okay, the way most people read this story is that it’s a random sequence of events. Jesus is teaching. Jesus just happens to step inside of Peter’s boat. As a means of thanking Peter for his generosity, Jesus performs the miracle of the abundance of fish. This, in turn, inspires all of these fisherman to leave their jobs and family to follow Jesus. But let’s do what Larry told us to do. Let’s research the events leading up to this moment. What was happening in Galilee at this time?

Well, as I’ve told you in the past Jesus’ movement arose at the height of a major economic crisis. People were defaulting on their debt and losing their property and businesses. A good example of this was the fishing industry around the Lake of Galilee. If you look at ancient maps of the Lake of Galilee, you will see the shoreline dotted with little coastal villages. For centuries, these little villages were home to families that fished the lake. A successful fishing business would provide a firm middle class lifestyle.

Now according to the scripture we read, Peter, James and John leave their business, families and children because they are so enamored with Jesus. Although this is a wonderful notion, you don’t just abandon all your responsibilities because this guy helped you catch a lot of fish. The only way a movement like Jesus’ would be appealing is if these fisherman believed that following Jesus was going to lead them to a better life than the one they were currently living.

If you do a little research into what it was like for fisherman living on the lake of Galilee in the late 20s of the first century, what you discover is that the lake was owned by the Herod family. You couldn’t just go out on the lake and fish whenever you wanted. You had to a sign a leasing agreement that specified how many fish you were allowed to bring to market and how many you had to give to Herod. Usually, these leases were 50/50. Half would go to you, half would go to Herod.

But, when the economy started to struggle, Herod tightened his control over the Lake of Galilee, forcing the smaller fishing enterprises to hand over more and more of their daily catch to tax collectors. By the time we get to the scene from Luke where Peter, James and John, leave everything to follow Jesus, the leases could be as high as 90/10. So for every ten fish you caught, nine went to Herod. All of a sudden, these fishing businesses that had been around for centuries were struggling to stay afloat because they were bringing so few fish to market.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that these young men, who were working so hard for so little benefit, believed that it was worth it to leave their jobs and families to follow Jesus. Moreover, Jesus likely didn’t randomly choose to get into Peter’s boat. It is likely they knew each other before this interaction, which sheds new light on the miracle catch of fish. If they’re giving away 90% of their fish to Herod, then Jesus would have known how badly Peter, James and John would be hurting financially.

Such a large catch would actually give them something to take to market to sustain their families while they are away following Jesus. In other words, they don’t leave to follow Jesus because they are so amazed by the miracle itself. They leave to follow Jesus because the miracle ensures their family will be able to survive financially during their absence.

Now isn’t that amazing! We took a story that looked one way on the surface, then we did some research, which totally transformed the way we understood the story. This is what Larry was doing in his classroom all the time. But he would take it one step further. Larry believed that his job as a teacher was not just to impart knowledge and information, but, on a much deeper level, his job was to help his students to learn how to learn.

If a student complained about learning math or being bored with history or thought writing a weekly essay was too much, he would offer the following: “Math teaches you how to think. History gives you something interesting to talk about and writing teaches you how to communicate. All learning serves a purpose, even if that purpose is not immediately apparent.”

So at the core of Larry’s philosophy of learning is the idea that “why” is the most important question you can ask. The more you ask why, the deeper your understanding of any subject you encounter. The second core element of Larry’s philosophy of learning is that humans learn best through stories and that the more you can frame learning in terms of storytelling, the more likely you are to learn. Obviously, Jesus shared Larry’s philosophy.

During Lent we did a series called Parables of Jesus where we talked about different parables that Jesus utilized during his ministry. Parables are short stories that are told with the explicit purpose of illustrating a moral or spiritual lesson. The beauty of parables is that, if they are told well, they convey deep truths to the hearer. Jesus used parables for the very reason that Larry used stories—they helped people remember the point he was trying to get across.

Take for example the parable we read this morning. This is a very simple parable with a very simple message. The parable involves a father and two sons. The father asks one son to go out and work in the vineyard. Initially, he answers no, but later, changes his mind and goes out to the vineyard. The father asks the second son to do the same, except the opposite occurs. The second son initially says yes, but then does not go out to the vineyard.

Jesus then poses a question, “Which of the sons did the will of his father?” They all say the first son because, even though initially he said no, he does eventually fulfill his father’s request. Simple story. Easy to understand. Easy to remember. But what’s the point of it? Well, let’s break down the characters and who they represent. The father represents God. The vineyard represents the kingdom and the sons represent the family of God who is working to create God’s kingdom.

The first son, who initially rejects God’s request, are the tax collectors and the prostitutes. People who do not live according to God’s laws and whose professions are not considered ethical. Likewise, the second son, who initially accepts God’s request, are pious Jews. These are people who live according to God’s laws and whose behavior is considered extraordinarily ethical.

Like many of Jesus’ parables, there’s a twist. The kicker in the story is that the first son, who represents the people who have rejected God, are the ones actually doing the work in the vineyard. Whereas the second son, those who are dedicated to God, haven’t bothered to show up. The point being, the people who you least suspect are the ones who are building God’s kingdom. Therefore, the lesson of the parable is the kingdom of God is reserved for sinners like prostitutes and tax collectors.

The question is why doesn’t Jesus tell us this directly? Why go through the effort of telling a parable where the hearer must parse out the meaning? Because, what you have to realize is this parable would have been shocking to the people in Jesus’ day and time. Everyone listening would assume that the pious Jews, who are living life the “right” way, will be first in line for God’s kingdom.

But Jesus wants everyone to understand is that the opposite is true. The first shall be last and the last shall be first, which means the sinners, the people you least expect, will be first. He tells this in the form of a parable because it forces you to really contemplate his point. It forces you to ask why? Why are the tax collectors and prostitutes ahead of me? Like Larry said when he was describing his philosophy of learning, you have to put yourself in the mindset of the tax collectors and prostitutes.

These are people who are despised by society. They are hated for the way they conduct their lives. No one really cares what happens to them because they are seen as less than human. So when the kingdom of God is offered to them, they truly appreciate the opportunity, whereas the pious Jews may feel they deserve to be allowed into God’s kingdom because they do all the right things. These sinners don’t feel they deserve anything so the fact that they are allowed in means the world to them. Therefore, in God’s kingdom, the deserving are last and the undeserving are first.

That’s a hard message to stomach, but it’s one you would never fully appreciate and carry with you if you didn’t hear it in the form of a story. Because, after understanding the message of the parable, it forces you to ask the question, “Which son am I?” Well, most of us in this church are not prostitutes and tax collectors, so we would likely be the second son in the story. We are the ones who try to live according to God’s laws. We’re trying to live ethically, which means, we would be last in line for the kingdom.

Again, that’s a hard message to stomach, but it’s an important message because it’s designed to keep us humble. In other words, don’t think because you’re doing all the right things that you are deserving of a place in God’s kingdom. The moment you think you’re deserving, you’re going to find yourself at the back of the line. And once again, like the story of Jesus calling his first disciples, the more we learn, the more we discover that our initial understanding is wrong, leading us to very different conclusions.

And that’s how I want to end my sermon this morning. When you open your mind to Larry’s philosophy of learning, you open yourself to the possibility of completely upending your understanding of everything you thought you knew. For some of you this might be a scary thing to do, but the positive potential for your faith journey is enormous. You simply have to be humble enough to admit that there’s always more to learn and that our life story is never set in stone. Amen.