April Newsletter

And Jesus said, “Oh, come and follow me.
Oh, leave behind your nets, I call you.
Oh, come and fish with me,
and your life will never be the same again.”
(Refrain of More Voices #113 “Jesus Saw them Fishing”, written by Ken Canedo in 2002)

Jesus invites us into relationship. Jesus invites us into a way of life. Jesus does not ask us to believe certain things, Jesus asks us to follow him and The Way. Jesus challenges us to leave behind the world as we have known it and walk into a brave new world. And indeed our lives may never be the same again.

This edition of the Newsletter invites us to reflect on what it means to be Called by God, as Disciples of Jesus. To me this means that we are called to follow. It means we are called to open ourselves to being transformed. It means that we are called to be changed by our encounter with God made known in Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh. Because we have been changed, transformed, by this encounter we make specific changes in how we live. Our priorities are reshaped, our understanding of how the world works (or perhaps how the world should work) is different.

Following the Way laid out by Jesus, taking to heart Jesus’ teachings about what the Kingdom of God is like, pushes us to advocate for a better world. It pushes us to question what things in this world build up and what things tear down. It pushes us to ponder what needs to be built up, what needs to be renovated, and what simply needs to be done away with. The Way of Jesus is a path that requires us to give special consideration to those on the margins. It requires us to provide for each other, with special concern for those who have less. Earlier this week I shared this post on Facebook that partially captures what it means to answer the call to be a disciple of Jesus:

“If you want to follow me, deny your very self.
Take up your cross and walk the walk with me.
This might seem a hardship, an impossibility,
but nothing is impossible with God.”
(Verse 3 of More Voices #113 “Jesus Saw them Fishing”)

As we approach Easter it seems important to remember the wisdom found in this verse of the hymn. The path that Jesus walks led to a cross on a hilltop, to his arrest and torture and execution. Following the Way of Jesus leads to a conflict between worldviews. It requires us to be ready to challenge the conventional wisdom of the world. When what is often called the “powers and principalities” of the world are challenged, when they are told they have to give up power and privilege, when they are told they need to change how the world works, they tend to push back.

When Jesus tells his friends and followers (which hopefully includes us) that they must be willing to take up their cross and walk the walk with him he is being pretty scary. Taking up your cross is not about putting up with a mild annoyance or an illness. In Jesus’ world, taking up your cross is being willing to be executed. Jesus asks us what we are willing to risk for the sake of God’s Kin-dom. As we push for a new world, as we push for justice, as we fight for the most vulnerable and marginalized members of our global societies, what might we have to give up?

But of course the cross, the sacrifice, the risk, is not the end of the story. Jesus had such passion for God’s Reign that Jesus was willing (not necessarily happy about it but willing) to die. It does seem impossible that we might be asked for that level of commitment. But God has another ace. When the Empire struck back at Jesus they thought they had won. Then some women found a rock rolled away, and an empty tomb, and heard words of new life. Resurrection is possible. Life wins. The Reign of God will win in the end.

Are we willing to walk the sometimes challenging path? Are we willing to risk it all? Are we ready to experience death that leads to life? Are we ready to leave behind our nets, our understanding of how life is, to follow a hope of what life could be? Is this what it means to be Called by God, as Disciples of Jesus? And our lives will never be the same again....