And Jesus said to them, "Follow me"

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 and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

When reading this Sunday’s Gospel passage, I tend to think about the hard decision to follow Jesus: What it means to respond to his call, for if one follows Jesus, there is no telling where it might lead. It is no small thing to leave behind one’s [safety] nets – to leave behind the familiar, the secure, the tried, the tested, and the true. It is no small thing to follow another into a life that centers on the will of an invisible God, caring more for others’ needs than one’s own, and ending up, for all we know, on a Roman cross. Assuming that one is not hopelessly self-destructive, the only explanation for leaving one’s nets to follow Jesus is an overwhelmingly powerful hope – the hope that in doing so, we may fulfill our deepest, inner longings.

But this year, when reading this Sunday’s Gospel, I’m acutely aware of something I usually don’t think about. Because we are right now immersed in the discernment process for calling an associate priest, I’m seeing the story of call and response from the other side. And this year it occurs to me that as hard as it was for Andrew and Simon to leave behind their nets to follow Jesus, it must have been even harder for Jesus to decide who to call.

It’s not just that "it’s tough to find good help.” It’s the realization that each one of the twelve apostles would uniquely affect the whole group in different ways. Each would bring their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses to the whole. Each call was a decision about the future direction of the group. If person A becomes part of the group, the group would be affected this way, but if person B becomes part , the group would be affected in a different way. Each call is more than just finding someone well-qualified for the task: Each call is about how the whole group will be affected by this newcomer. It’s about the future direction and personality of the group as a whole.

This Christianity stuff is fraught with risk. We risk everything by leaving our nets. We risk everything to follow Jesus into an uncharted future. Jesus risked everything by calling Andrew and Peter... and today he risks the future of the church by calling us.

We even risk everything simply by stating publicly, “the Episcopal Church welcomes you,” -- for each person we welcome, whether new member or new staff, impacts and changes us in a different ways. Yet we take these risks because, as great as the risk, our hopes for the Kingdom of God are greater still. We do have an overwhelmingly powerful hope – the hope that in risking all, in Jesus, we may fulfill our deepest, inner longings.

The Lord be with you!