“Then he said to them, ‘follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’. They immediately left their nets and followed him”.
Brothers and sisters in Christ here we have the two essential elements for Christian spiritual formation. The call of God, and our response to that call.
Let us consider the call of God. God constantly calls each and every one of us in a small clear voice. Unfortunately, the noise from the cares and concerns of our daily lives drowns out that voice unless we are attuned with fervour and zeal to listen. Whether we obey or not is left up to each one of us by Christ. Christ does not demand anything from us. We are not robots. We are given the right to choose between good and evil and between following and not following. If we choose not to follow then this does not stop the continuous call of the one who loved us first to enter into a union with him. This call to be at one with God continues throughout our lives and whether we respond or not is left to each one of us.
Let us for a moment consider the position of Peter, Andrew, James and John the first called. The gospel passage reading today occurs at the beginning of Christ’s ministry on earth. Christ had yet to perform any works, miracles or signs which allowed Peter in chapter 16:16 to respond to the question “who do you say I am” posed by Christ to him that “you are the Christ, the son of the living God”. There was nothing to indicate to them at the time point of time that this stranger called them he was anyone particularly special. So, why did they immediately leave everything behind and follow him? The answer can only be that they listened and received that voice which calls each and every one of us to be at one with God. In other words, they responded to the call to follow Christ, and in so doing immediately became his disciples and followed him. If we were to ask them why they had suddenly left their nets, family and home behind to follow a stranger they may not have been able to give you a sensible reason but that would not have stopped them from answering the call to be at the side of Christ.
Let us now consider what it means to “follow me”. In other words let us consider the idea of discipleship. In the Old Testament Abraham the father of the Jewish nation meets Melchizedek, a high priest who according to Paul was without genealogy, who brings out bread and wine and blesses Abraham. In return Abraham follows him by giving him a tithe or 10% of all he had (Gen 14: 17 – 20). To follow John the Baptist meant something a little bit more. The Baptist said “he who has two tunics let him give to him who has none” (Luke 3:11). In other words 50% of all that one had was required to be given by his disciples. To follow Christ meant something different yet again. As Christ said to the rich young man if you would be perfect give all and follow me. In other words perfect discipleship demands 100% whether it be material goods or of yourself. Brothers and sisters in Christ which one of us would give all – yet these poor fishermen did just that. They gave up mother, father, brother, sister and children to be by the side of this person to join him for no sensible reason other than in response to the call.
Does this demonstrate zeal? Does this demonstrate fervour? Would anyone of us today give everything and follow Christ leaving family, social status and luxury behind. Would we readily accept the humility, the derision, or the sympathetic expressions relating to the questionable state of our mental health, in the minds of well-meaning friends if we did so? I think not. So, brothers and sisters in Christ this simple phrase “follow me” is one of the simplest to say yet is the most difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish.
Indeed, how many of us are flagging in our zeal and enthusiasm to follow Christ. How many of us discuss what it is to follow Christ or indeed any questions relating to being one with him. Of course, lack of zeal has not always been the case. Writing at the end of the third century, St Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of St Basil the Great and friend of St Gregory the theologian, and who are collectively known as the Cappadocian hierarchs, wrote this about his experiences in Constantinople at the time of the Ecumenical Council held in 381 CE. He said “if you ask a man for change, he will give you a piece of philosophy concerning the begotten and the unbeggotten; if you enquire the price of a loaf he replies: the father is greater and the son is inferior; or if you ask whether the bath is ready, the answer you receive is that the son was made out of nothing.”
How many of us have in the recent past had discussions about God at the local supermarket or with our local shopkeeper or indeed members of our family? I would think not too many and perhaps if we tried to start up such conversations people would steer well clear of us. Yet, perhaps, it is time to ignore the cares and concerns of our daily lives, put aside our doubts, ignore what other people may think of us and begin listening to hear that voice calling each of us. It is only by beginning to respond to that voice that our zeal and thirst to explore our faith that our spirituality will begin to grow.
Let us now return to those poor four fishermen. Did they have doubts about answering the call? If they did it did not stop them from immediately leaving everything behind. They did not wait to pull in their nets or say goodbye to their families or do any of the many things that you or I would do to finalise their affairs but rather they immediately left the cares of this world and devoted themselves to following the master.
Brothers and sisters those four fishermen had zeal and fervour and hungered and thirst for the word of God. We can all learn from their example. If today you hear God’s voice then stop and listen. Voluntarily obeying God’s will is something that each one of us can do. Very few of us can imitate the example of the four fishermen to forsake everything and leave the future in the hands of the living God. This does not mean that all is lost. Far from it. Living the gospel means to meet the living Christ in the liturgy. It means sharing in the body and blood of communion of Christ. It means taking the liturgy away and allowing that to work within us until the next time we attend the liturgy. It means not being Sunday morning Christians. It means helping the orphan, the widow and the stranger. In short, it means to follow Christ and to allow him to make each and every one of us “fishers of men”. Amen.