When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. –Luke 5:11
I was sitting alone in the Northwestern Chapel of what was then Luther-Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul, MN. I was just past nineteen years old. As I sat there in that quiet place, my thoughts were anything but quiet. I was wrestling with my future. I was wrestling with a call to be a pastor. I was wrestling with God. And then, all of a sudden, I just knew. I knew what God wanted me to do with my life. I wish I could say that I got up from that moment and never looked back. But, I can’t. I continued to wrestle with that call through college, seminary and well into the first church I served. I still wrestle with my call sometimes! But, most of the time, I am pretty sure I am where God called me to be.
I have always been fascinated by the call stories in scripture. They always seem so clear. So decisive. So absolute. But when you look closer, there is plenty of wrestling too. I think that’s true in this week’s Gospel lesson. As I read this story, three things jump out at me. First, Simon’s willingness to let Jesus use his boat. (Did Jesus really give him a choice?) Second, his willingness to trust Jesus and cast down his nets. (What did this carpenter know about fishing anyway?) And finally, his willingness to drop everything and follow. (But, why would Jesus even want such an unworthy fellow?)
In most of the call stories I’ve heard, all three elements are usually there in the mix. At some point, we need to let the Lord use who we are and what we have to offer. We need to trust Jesus, even if he seems to be asking us to do the illogical. We need to trust his promises, even if they are sometimes hard to believe. Finally, we need to be willing to go where the Lord leads.
How that happens is going to be different for each one of us. Calls come in all shapes and sizes. Not everyone is called to be a pastor or deacon. Some are called to be chemists, or bus drivers, or farmers who steward God’s earth, factory workers, psychologists or painters who make houses bright or canvases come alive. Some are called to be mothers and fathers, grandparents, uncles and aunts. We are called to be sons and daughters, neighbors and friends. As Paul says, there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit. The point is not what we are called to. Instead, answering a call is about using our boats, trusting that the Lord will show us where to fish, and being willing to go wherever the Lord leads – whether that’s to some distant shore, or to go deep right where we are.
If you had asked me at nineteen where I wanted to go in my life, I would not have listed any of the places God has taken me. But, it has been an amazing ride! I have found blessing and challenges, and wonder and wrestling every place I’ve been. But, through it all, I can say with confidence, “God has been steadfast, and faithful and good.”
Peace,
Bishop Mike.
Thank-you for reading. My prayer is that God will use you wherever you are called.
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