Jesus' compelling call

This year, I had the incredible privilege to travel to the Holy Land with some of the greatest humans I get to know. Every single moment of it was precious and will forever be treasured deep in my heart, but one of my favorite stops was at the Sea of Galilee, the setting of this week’s sermon and scripture.

Having grown up in the church, I’ve read the gospels many times. I’ve read this specific Scripture many times. Often, I read it without giving it a lot of thought. I likely thought, “Good job, guys. Right choice.” Like it was easy, like it was a small thing.

This trip wholly changed me. When I left for this trip, I was broken, lost, and desperate for Jesus. Walking in the footsteps of Jesus, and so many others who were such an integral part of this Great Story, breathed new life into my weary soul and began to piece me back together. As I’ve worked to re-construct, I have found that I have always tended to define myself by my work and the things that I do. I orient myself around work and doing. I think Simon, Andrew, James, and John were likely similar. They were fishermen and this is how both Matthew and Mark described them: “As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen.” Being a fisherman is one of the hardest, most physical jobs there is. It takes all that you have and it’s likely all these men knew. Their lives were oriented around the sea. Can you imagine being asked to just simply drop all of that and walk away? To reorient around a man you don’t yet know? To trust someone so fully? It seems ridiculous.

Work is good and we are called to work. However, when we allow work to define who we are as humans, we are missing out on the unimaginable magnitude of all that God made us to be. As I walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee and the roads of Jerusalem and the trails of Mount Arbel and the hills of the Judean Wilderness, I felt God calling me to soften. I felt Him calling to drop my definitions and my to do lists and follow Him. I felt Him calling me to let Him and others in. And I felt Him telling me that I am worth knowing—all the parts. This was terrifying as it felt like being asked to drop everything and to drop the armor of protection and control I had in knowing exactly who I was and what I was doing. Since then, though, I’ve gotten to know Jesus even better and have grown to trust him more than I could have imagined. He has shown me who I can be and the joy that he has put inside and all around me.

You are made up of a million little sparkles, each one intentionally placed in you to make you who you are, and you are called to follow Jesus. In that, you can use those sparkles to do great things for and with him. Let others see all the sparkles and call out others’ sparkle. Together, we can shine a bright light in the darkness and it is always worth the risk.