Jesus wants to teach us to fish for people. . .
Once upon a time there was an inquirer desiring to be a disciple, who approached a rabbi. He said to the rabbi:
Rabbi, I can endure the heat of the day and the cold of the night. I can carry the burden of a day’s toil for miles without fainting, while eating and drinking only what the land provides. I have brought my body into subjection and am ready to be your disciple.
The Rabbi replied:
You are certainly qualified to be a jackass, but not a disciple.
The story speaks a bit of truth, doesn’t it? We sometimes do tend to think that to be called by God is going to mean that we must start acting in ways that are extraordinarily not us, and that to be called is only for people with uncommon and special gifts.
Without really intending to, the church, throughout the centuries, has managed to give the impression that the ministry that really counts is the ordained ministry. I know that there are a few churches where that notion has pretty much been debunked, but I’d like to try to put it to rest for good as of now.
This week’s appointed Gospel is once again about the notion of call that is so central to what we are about in the church:
As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me. . .’
If you’ve ever witnessed a service of the ordination of a deacon, priest, or bishop, even in the smallest of churches, then you know just how majestic a service it is. Usually, churches are packed, and there is a hush of anticipation as the service begins. It hardly resembles a simple call issued to peasant fishermen by an equally peasant itinerant preacher.
I have devoted my whole life to the ordained ministry, but it’s a fact that only about one percent of Christians hear that call. What a pathetic state the Kingdom of God would be in if this was the only call that really mattered. I’m afraid we’d be a church with far more jackasses than disciples.
If there is one thing I have learned from my auto accident, which occured a few years ago, it is that in my most fateful hour, it would not necessarily be a bishop I would want to minister and pray with me. It would be my parish family. It is important that you see yourself on that seashore dropping your net to follow Jesus when he calls. There are a few things we can say about being called that I hope will be helpful.
Firstly, everyone is called by God. In fact, I believe that call is God’s way of embracing humanity moment by moment, usually in a still, quiet voice. This is what my favorite philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, called God’s Initial Aim for creation; the church has chosen to name this God’s Call to us. It’s that persistent, gentle, and suasive nudge that can be felt in the heart, moment by moment, as we move through life.
I think Frederick Buechner’s definition of call is probably the most useful. To paraphrase Buechner’s definition, one is called to where one’s deepest joys meet the world’s deepest needs.
Try that litmus test next time you think God is calling you. Ask yourself: Does the call excite me and fulfill my deepest yearnings? Does the idea of it bring me joy? If the answer is, yes, then ask yourself, will this call bring me to help fulfill the needs of God’s people?
When I told people that my undergraduate major was in Philosophy, the most common reaction was, What are you going to do with that? Or they would ask, How are you going to cash in on that?
All that served to do was to make me wonder how many people out there are performing tasks every day that don’t touch the deepest joys of their hearts. Someone once said, quite profoundly I think, that God’s call is to that which you could NOT NOT do.
Given that those fishermen dropped their nets and followed Jesus right then and there, shows the tremendous appetite we have to follow that often small, quiet voice in our hearts.
I suspect that if someone came into our churches and truly called any one of you to a place where your deepest joys would meet the world’s deepest needs, you just might drop your bulletins right where you’re seated and follow. Further, whatever you would end up doing, it would be a true and validated ministry. You would be a priest of God, and your ordination would have taken place at your baptism.
Seminaries are necessary for that small portion of God’s people who are called to specialized ministry, but God does not look for the best educated or most learned when God decides to call you. Jesus did not come to establish a school of religion or even a body of belief. Jesus calls you to where your greatest joys meet the world’s greatest needs.
Martin Luther King once said that there are too many Christians who have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds.
An Episcopal Priest who is one of my heroes is Ed Bacon, a past rector of All Saints Church in Pasadena, California. He put it this way:
In the end, Christianity is not about what you believe but about whose values and call you follow. Isn’t it the case that all of us have known people who were regular church attendees, or who were eloquent teachers or preachers of the Gospel, and yet they made the people around them miserable? They were so unloving, or so unforgiving, or so shaming, or so anxious, or so perfectionistic, or so wounded, or so victimized that everyone around them walked in fear or on eggshells. On the other hand, there were those who didn’t know hesed from Hezekiah, but who loved everything in their path and left peace, joy, and strength in their wake. (*)
It always comes back to love, doesn’t it? That is real love where we couldn’t possibly hurt another person with our words or actions– which we know is so easy to do. To do so never brings lasting joy, and it never meets people’s greatest needs. Being called to be a disciple is to be called to a life of loving.
Jesus called ordinary fisherman to a greater joy that meets the world’s greatest needs. In a small, quiet voice, they heard what each of us can hear if we listen well:
Follow me.
* From a sermon the Rev. Ed Bacon preached on 1/26/03
Bill: You were and continue to be my light in the darkness of our journey of faith. The laity are called to be the light of Christ as much and in some cases even more so than those of us who are ordained. We certainly have a role a role to fulfill but it is the laity who carry the message into the world. They are the church. We are a spoke in the wheel and hopefully provide leadership moving forward. But, the message is we are All Called into the service of God. Together we are the Church of God. Thank you for the wonderful insight. Mike
Well said Mike. I like it when you said we are just as a spoke on a wheel. The laity oftenly think that its only those ordained who are responsible for everything in as far as spreading the gospel is concerned. The call is for everyone and God speaks to all of us and most importantly calls us in different roles.
This is calling.