Matthew 4:12-23
Last weekend I watched a film with members of our session – a documentary about churches. There was one conversation that struck me as funny. One of the pastors interviewed described what his congregation was like whenever he suggested something new. He said if it wasn’t really different from what they were used to, they were usually willing to give it a try. And if it was different, well, then they would usually be willing to call a committee together to study it further, for a period of time. He seemed to think that was pretty good.
This was not a Presbyterian church, but it could have been, because Presbyterians are also fond of forming committees. We rely on committees to make decisions and get work done. Committees are a very “churchy” thing. Church people love committees. Presbyterians, in particular, love committees.
In fact, I have heard that when Presbyterians die and go to heaven, there we find a whole host of committees. We are given our assignments and then we get to work. Presbyterian heaven is full of committees. At least that’s what I’ve been told.
But looking at this passage from Matthew, where Jesus calls his disciples to come and follow him, do you notice what they don’t do?
They don’t form committees. They don’t hold any meetings.
They don’t make up an agenda. No one checks the Book of Order to see if there are any rules pertaining to this matter. No one makes a motion, or seconds one, and of course there are no votes. There is none of that good, decent, orderly stuff that gives us comfort and a sense of purpose. These guys don’t do committees. They just go.
I find it a bit alarming, don’t you? The way they seem to be willing to just drop everything and follow Jesus.
It’s something that all the disciples seem to have in common when Jesus calls. They drop their nets. They leave their fathers sitting in the boat. They walk away from their tax business, walk away from their home and family, walk away from the teacher they have been following. They don’t need to think about it. They don’t need to talk it over with one another. They don’t need to get to know Jesus better over a cup of coffee. They don’t need to sleep on it, pray over it, hear what the experts think, or put it to a vote. They just go.
It seems irrational – even irresponsible – to make a huge life-altering decision with such little deliberation. Yet, somehow, it seems to be essential that they do this very thing. Later in his ministry, we meet others who say they want to follow Jesus, but first they want to go home and take care of a few things. But that won’t cut it. Jesus doesn’t accept any excuses. You are either with him or you aren’t. Come now or don’t come at all.
There is no time for, “I’ll go follow Jesus next week.” There is no time for, “We need to research this before making a decision.” There is no time for anything else. Now is the time, and that’s it.
I wonder how they knew, in the moment, what was the right thing to do.
It was a tumultuous time in their world – a difficult time. This business of “follow me and I will make you fish for people” was not something they were familiar with. It wasn’t a common religious ritual of the day. And yet when they heard it they knew.
It was a difficult time; not too different from this time. Big changes in our world are leaving us wondering what it is we should be doing if we are faithfully following Jesus. These are times that leave us wondering where and how Jesus will lead us in this time and place.
And, most of all, wondering if we will be able, and willing, to follow.
Churches tend to be much like that one in the film – the one who approaches any new thing with suspicion, cautiously, slowly. We want to be good stewards, and that often means we want to be sure we don’t make a mistake. So we plan carefully. We don’t rush into things. And sometimes, we are so not-rushed, we appear to be stuck in place.
Over the past few months, I have been working with two congregations in our presbytery who are participating in a project called The Unglued Church. The project name comes from the observation that many churches these days seem to be stuck – unable to make the adaptations they need to make in order to be the church Jesus is calling them to be.
In this project, congregations are encouraged to first look at what they have and then what they can do. They take inventory of all their resources – monetary resources, material resources, human resources. And they take a look around at their neighborhood to see who their neighbors are, and what they need. They look at what they have and they look at what needs doing.
And then they try something.
The churches are encouraged to just try something, to “just do it” as Nike says. It doesn’t have to be the best idea, but just a good idea and a do-able idea.
Now, this is uncomfortable and uncharted territory for most congregations, because generally speaking, before we do something new we spend a lot of time planning. We form a committee. We schedule meetings. We discuss it. We gather information, and we discuss it some more. But in the Unglued Church Project they say, just do it. Don’t spend a lot of time planning it. Because then when you are finally ready to put your plan in action, the whole problem will have changed. When you’re finally ready to follow Jesus – well, the moment has passed. Do it now, or don’t do it at all.
I share this with you as someone who finds it all very challenging. I don’t rush into things – I never have. My comfort zone is “let’s make a committee and discuss it.” But rather than patting us on the back for being careful planners, here it seems like Jesus is telling us “don’t think – do.”
You have to be nimble, the Unglued Church Project says. So how do we do that – be nimble? How do we know what new thing to do? How do we know when to say yes and just go for it – and not look back?
How do we drop our nets and follow Jesus when he calls?
Matthew doesn’t tell us what was going on in the heads of those disciples who followed Jesus, and I wish he did. I would like to know what they thought. I would like to know what their lives were like before Jesus, what they were like before they dropped their nets and followed Jesus. But Matthew doesn’t tell us any of that, and so I don’t know. But here is something I do know.
If we are going to be able to follow Jesus when he calls us, we ought to be in the habit of listening. And not only that, but we ought to be expecting him to call us. Listening. Expecting. Anticipating the call that says, “Come and follow me.” And to not be so attached to our nets – or anything else we have, or are doing now – that we can’t let it go.
Listen for the call. And when it comes, follow.
