Matthew 4.12-23
“Come follow me”, Jesus said, and
they did, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. Soon to be followed by
James and his brother John.
Follow this line down and we
get you and me who have responded to the call to follow Jesus.
In this story we are told
that they left their nets, their livelihoods to follow Jesus.
That call, to give up this,
that or the other is common to this call. This is what I would name as the
external demands of responding of the call to follow Jesus.
This is something we know
about and have probably handled ourselves to a greater or lesser degree.
This morning however I would
like to invite you to consider the call to follow Jesus in the inner journey.
A journey towards the very
core of our being, down into the hidden depths of our soul.
For certain Andrew, Peter,
James and John made such a journey, such a shift in their mental furniture from
all that they thought they knew and understood about what it meant to be a good
1st century Palestinian Jew.
And I’m sure that as they
followed Jesus, spent time with him, saw what he did, heard how he spoke, and
we can be certain we have but a fraction of his teaching to his disciples, I am
sure there would have been a lot of soul searching and heart transformation
going on.
This internal following of
Jesus can be very scary. There are parts of our soul, parts of our life that we
have flung deep down into the basement, built a wall and put up a big sign, do
not disturb.
Jesus invites you and invites me to follow him down to that basement, to begin to dismantle that wall, and to face whatever monsters might be buried deep down there.
However, in making this inner
journey of following Jesus we follow in the footsteps of many others. Some of
whom have left us guides and maps and helpful hints and tips.
They have also left us images
of a life truly surrendered to God and at peace in the world despite what might
be happening in the external world.
One of those guides is ‘Teresa
of Avila’ and her little but very powerful book called ‘Interior Castle.’
Teresa of Ávila was a
prominent Spanish mystic and reformer and is celebrated for her profound
contributions to Christian spirituality and her role in the Carmelite Order in
the 16th century. Hence in its original form this book can be hard
going. Thankfully there are very helpful modern translations.
We follow Jesus’ inwards to a
place of peace where we surrender all, and eventually, even our breath and life
we hand over as we step into his arms of love.
And John Mark Comer, whom we
know from our studies on Practicing the Way has a wonderful set of podcasts
which he calls, Spiritual Cartography, that also picks up the idea of this
first and then second phase of life.
I might also mention the
Diocesan Spirituality Group that meets once a fortnight, both in person and
online, to continue this inner journey.
Put into broad terms I
suggest that the call of Jesus if it comes in the first half of life will look
mainly external, it will be about doing stuff, about going places, about a lot
of activity and energy.
Then, the call to follow
Jesus in the second half of life will be on this inward journey, increasing in
depth as we age and our physical capacities weakens.
Maybe, we can get to that
place where we declare in the words of Psalm 116. 15 ‘Precious in the sight
of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.’
I heard and responded to the
call of God in my mid-twenties and have been seeking to serve him across this
country in various ways. Now I am approaching my mid-seventies and am still
doing outward stuff, seeking to follow Jesus, but I am also laying paths inwards,
and it is scary and exciting in equal measure.
This journey is what the
Orthodox Church refers to as theosis, to become divine, (small d) until as we
read in Ephesians 4.13, ‘until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ.’
Attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ.
And this is a journey. Alan
Redpath in his book, ‘The Making of a Man of God’ (about King David) wrote,
‘The conversion of the soul is the miracle of the moment, the manufacture of a
saint is the task of a lifetime.’
‘Come follow me’ is Jesus’s call
each and every day and at each and every moment and at each and every stage of
our life.
Whether the call to ‘come and
follow me’, is a command as David suggested on Sunday, or whether it is a call
or even an invitation, the choice is ours to make whether we respond or not. We
can choose to follow Jesus and find life in all its fullness, or we can reject
this call and declare that we know better and we chose to be the captains of
our own destiny.
What is your choice going to be this morning?
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