I had spent nearly a year working weekends as a cub reporter
in Kalamazoo when I got the call from a news director, offering me a job
working weekdays in Cincinnati.
Bigger market, better pay, better schedule – a big promotion
no matter how you looked at it. I was given an opportunity I instantly
recognized and could not resist. I turned in my resignation. Immediately.
There are just some opportunities that come our way that we
know we need to take. They’re no-brainers, slam-dunks, positive steps in our
lives.
Perhaps this is what’s happening in this Sunday’s gospel
when the first disciples got the call from Jesus. It was with great haste and
no sense of looking back as we heard how they were given an opportunity they
instantly recognized and could not resist. So they dropped everything and followed. Immediately.
Readily answering God’s call should be like that. We should
jump at the opportunity to follow Jesus with
great joy and excitement. But
that’s not how it works. For a variety of reasons we hesitate and resist,
probably not fully understanding the golden opportunity that lies before us.
So our job is not so much to drop everything and follow, but
figuring out why that would be an attractive option. What is it God is inviting
us into? What are the nets we need to drop? What does the big or small call of
God look like in our lives?
Reading
Matthew for Everyone – NT Wright
Matthew – Leon Morris
Alexander Hamilton – Ron Chernow