What are we waiting for? That, I
think, is the question we need to ask ourselves.
Last week, if you remember, I discussed
how the image of seeing was so prevalent in the gospel and in this
season of Epiphany.
John saw the Holy Spirit. He saw the
Lamb of God. Andrew saw the Messiah. Jesus asked him what he was
looking for. Jesus saw Peter. And so forth.
That sermon touched on Martin Luther
King, Jr., the movie, “Hidden Figures,” and a few other things.
I concluded by asking, “Where do you see the kingdom of God in the
world, in this church, and in your life?”
Seeing was an important theme; it still
is today. But I want to focus on something else today, and that
something else is the word, “Immediately.”
Jesus is beginning his ministry by
proclaiming the exact same message that John the Baptist was
proclaiming: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
After he makes this initial proclamation he begins walking along the
shore collecting his first four disciples.
Jesus sees Simon Peter and Andrew while
they are fishing and says, “Follow me.” And immediately they
left their nets and followed. A little farther on he sees James and
John in a boat with their father. He tells them to follow him and
immediately they left the boat, their dad, and the family business,
to follow Jesus.
There have been, and will continue to
be, a lot of people who have trouble with this account. After all,
who in their right mind leaves their career, their family, their LIFE
after hearing some guy they have never met and follow him to
God-only-knows-where? And again, when they left, they left
immediately. Who does this?
Well . . . me, for one.
I was happily living my life, minding
my own business, when one day someone suggested this priest thing.
There was some dancing around the issue, trying to avoid it, but once
I actually heard God calling me into this vocation, I wanted to get
on with it . . . immediately.
The difference between me and any of
those four guys in today's gospel is that back then there were no
discernment committees or Commissions on Ministry. There were no
ember day letters to bishops giving them an update of your growth and
challenges. There were no psychological evaluations or spiritual
inventories to write and defend. There were no General Ordination
Exams. But what was the same was an intense desire to get going, to
step out in faith and follow Jesus immediately. And I believe that
sense of immediately leaving everything behind can be attested to by
everyone who has experienced a call of any kind.
That space in between the issuance of
the call and its acceptance, or maybe I should say “it's
fulfillment,” may take some time. Jesus told Peter and Andrew that
they would fish for people; but it was at least another three years
before that happened. The time between my accepting the call to
become a priest and my ordination was eight years. We can probably
all look back over our lives to times we felt a call and wanted to
give an immediate response; sometimes doing so, other times needing a
period of adjustment before fulfilling it. But I will bet that in
those call stories there's always a sense of the immediate, a sense
of, “Let's get going.”
Upon reflection, then, following Jesus
immediately isn't all that surprising.
Have you ever been told, or have you
ever noticed, that traditional churches are built like upside down
ships or boats? If you look, we are in the hull, and the pews are
the crossbeam supports. And it's no coincidence that this area of
the church is called the nave, as in, “Naval,” or, “Navy.”
Like Peter, Andrew, James, and John, we
are sitting in a boat minding our own business. And like those four
men we are being called to follow Jesus.
In just a little while we will be
engaged in our annual meeting. We will hear reports on what has been
and what we hope to be. We will hear about and from the many
representatives of the many commissions of this church. Groups like
Fabric & Grounds, Outreach, St. John's Shelter, the Choir, the
Altar Guild, Greeters, the Community Cafe, and so many others.
All of these commissions were one of
the reasons I was attracted to the St. John's profile. There is a
lot going on here. I remember telling Joelene and other friends,
“These people get it – it's not just about Sunday, but it's about
Monday – Saturday as well.” And among this large list of
everything we do and participate in, almost all of them are run by
you.
That said, there is also room for
growth. There is room to welcome and include new people. There is a
need to let some of our older parishioners rest from their labors
while equipping our younger members with the tools and resources to
carry on.
So here we are in the boat. And while
we sit in the S.S. St. John, Jesus is walking by calling us to
follow him. He is calling us to get out of our comfort zone of the
familiar. He is calling us to take a risk. He is calling us to get
out and follow. Immediately.
Jesus is calling us. What are we
waiting for?
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