I
was lucky enough to be raised in the church, and a thoughtful loving
church at that.  I liked church, I liked Sunday School, I loved
church camp.  Nevertheless, feeling a call to ordained ministry felt
like it came out of no where.  The call came during a worship service
at camp, when the leadership of Jesus was being described.  The camp
director compared the characteristics of a worldly leader with the
way that Jesus led, and invited us into the second kind of
leadership.  She talked about worldly being “important,” and
having people serve and take care of them so they can do “important”
things.  She compared it to the leadership of Jesus, as seen in
foot-washing, where leaders lead by serving others.

I
immediately, viscerally, wanted to be a part of that.  The inversion
of what was important.  The service.  The care of people.  The values
of the Jesus movement.  My desire to be a part of THAT was strong
enough to change my life plans – from a desire to be an
environmental scientist to a desire to be a minister.

Whenever
I read the story of the call of the disciples, I can’t help but
wonder, “What did they see?”  What was it about Jesus that was so
compelling that they changed not only their life PLANS like I did,
but their LIVES?  Why did they go?  

I
bring a lot of skepticism to Biblical texts, but I do tend to think
that a lot of people left their lives behind to follow Jesus.  Thus,
this story contains some big T Truth, whether or not it happened
exactly this way.  

So,
what was it that made Jesus and his message so attractive?  Why did
people walk away from lives they knew just to follow him?  Why was he
so popular it began to threaten the Roman Empire?  

There
are a few pieces that may come into play.  One option is that
people’s lives were really awful, so any alternative was better than
the status quo.  This may have come into play, but most people are
still hesitant to leave what they know, so it isn’t SUFFICIENT.

Rev. Rob Bell has a
video series called NOOMA, and in one of them he points out that in
the time of Jesus, all Jewish boys got some basic education, and the
brightest and the best got to have more.  There was continued
education and continued weeding until the point when Teachers
(Rabbis) would pick a few students to teach, and the rest settled
into other lives.  Thus, the very best Jewish scholars got to spend
their lives working on questions of faith, Biblical interpretation,
and things of God.  The rest …. didn’t.  Rob Bell suggests that
when Jesus called the fisherman, and invited them to follow him – a
teacher – a rabbi, he was inverting that system and inviting those
who’d been weeded out first into the best sort of education.

That is, perhaps the
disciples followed because Jesus called – and no one else had.
They were welcomed to be students of Jesus, but no one else had
wanted them.

I haven’t heard this
theory elsewhere, so I’m not sure if it is true, but it also seems to
contain some big T True.  

Even so, even if
life was hard and even if Jesus was the first one to invite them into
a life of Spiritual goodness, there had to be something about Jesus
himself that was simply attractive enough to follow.  Based on how
stories are told of him, it seems most likely that what was amazing
and attractive in Jesus was his connection to God.  

Now, it is important
to remember that connections to the Divine are not a Jesus-only
thing, nor a Jesus-movement-only thing.  Today’s Psalm, which comes
from Christianity’s Jewish roots, speaks profoundly about connection
to the Divine.

The Psalmist says,
“For God alone my soul waits in silence, my hope is from God” –
and then goes on to name all the ways that God is the source of
dependable goodness that allows for life to be lived well.  The
Psalmist compares the inconsistencies of life with the constancy of
God, the un-importance of wealth and measures of power with the
importance of steadfast love.  

That sort of
mystical connection to God, that trust, that wisdom – seems much
like what the disciples may have seen in Jesus.  Embodied love and
grace are profoundly attractive.  (If Im totally honest, I prefer the
sort of “evangelism” that is being such a happy, kind, and loving
person that people want to know how you became like that.)

I wonder if the
choice of the disciples to follow Jesus had some of each of the
components we’ve talked about – and one more.  I wonder if those
who followed Jesus had always been looking for something, that is
that they’d always been nudged by God towards more, and when Jesus
came they had “ah ha moments” and recognized that this was what
they’d been waiting and looking for.

That way of God
working in lives fits what I’ve lived and what I’ve seen in people’s
lives.  I wonder if it fits in yours?  Have you felt God nudging you
along the way?  Has God pushed and prodded you towards something?
Have you found it?  Are you still looking?  

I think that God is
always calling us, prodding us, nudging us — that is, guiding us.
Calls aren’t one time events that can be answered and then
disregarded.  Rather, calls are continual guidance on the next steps
of our lives.  Sometimes God’s calls are rather small, urges to be
“good” or “kind.”  Sometimes they’re huge – reminders to
build the kindom – to take on the issues of injustice and change
the world.

But  I think there
are also particular asks for particular people (at particular times).
Jobs or volunteer positions to take (or not).  Relationships to
build or let go of.  

In what way are you
being called right now?

Is it just to offer
care in and love in the world – a call that might be met with one
of the Lenten projects coming up?  Is it something bigger?  Or
something different?

Are you listening?

Will you be ready to
respond?

I suspect many
factors were involved in the way the disciples choose to follow
Jesus.  They were disenchanted with their lives, they were yearning
for something more, someone finally invited them, they could SEE
God’s hand in the life of Jesus, and God had long been at work
preparing them for that moment.  I suspect many of those factors are
alive and well among us as well.  May we be ready to answer, when God
calls.  Amen

January 24, 2021

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she/her/hers
http://fumcschenectady.org/
https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady