Matthew 4:12-23; Isaiah 9:1-4;Ps 27:1, 5-13; 1Cor 1:10-18; Epiphany 3
Jesus’ call to His first disciples, those names now famous (Peter, Andrew, James, John) was a call to ordinary people going about their ordinary lives. Fishermen who lived near the water in families spanning generations, they left their families, their tools and provisions, and their practical livelihoods. They walked away to follow Jesus. What Presence they must have been able to discern in our Lord, and what faith they must have had to follow so completely when God called them!
Following Jesus changed the lives of Peter, Andrew, James, John, and all of those men and women who followed Him almost two thousand years ago. They found themselves doing tasks they never dreamed of doing (sitting at the feet of someone instead of fishing or mending nets or doing something to earn their living!?), encountering people they never would have chosen to meet (lepers, Gentiles, and more!?), receiving power beyond their expectations (a fisherman healing someone!?), and probably most amazingly having their simple YES to God being something that God would use to change the world. Isaiah predicted the Light that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would bring into the world would shine on those who lived in darkness, and as it multiplied throughout the world it would bring joy. Joy! Following Jesus gives us work to do for God’s Mission but also brings us a joy beyond anything the world can give.
Jesus is calling each of us. Every single person is called by God. H Richard Niebuhr describes four kinds of call: a call to Christian discipleship, an external call (such as by the Church), a secret and internal call that is usually experienced as a mysterious revelation from God directly to the believer about a particular ministry, and a providential call that augments a secret call with skills and talents to accomplish God’s call. These different ways of being called by God all draw us into closer relationship with God and into active engagement with God’s Mission.
Our YES! response to God’s call will change us and the world forever.
Questions for Reflection
§ How do we prepare ourselves to hear God’s call?
§ How do we trust that we can do whatever it is that God might ask us to do?
§ How do we nurture a call once we believe that we have discerned it?
§ How do we know when a call has changed or ended?