Follow me

Passing along by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon, and Andrew the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me."

Pretty simple huh?

Whenever I hear this line, "Follow me," I think of the old television program THE ADAMS FAMILY and their larger than life butler Lurch. When Lurch greeted visitors at the door and said to them "Follow me," I would bet that most of them were pretty scared. That's the way it is for many of us today when we set out to follow our Lord.

It all began pretty simply though. It must have seemed so uncomplicated back when Jesus said it to Simon and Andrew. When it all began, there was no real understanding of what was to come, what would be involved, what would be asked of them, what would be required. There could not have been much accurate foreknowing of the both the hurt and the pain, the hope and the promise, the suffering and sorrow and the glory and the grandeur that were all to come, all be part of it, all a part of being called by that man, that man on the beach, who just comes by, comes into those ordinary lives.

Simon and Andrew were casting a net into the Sea, as they had countless times before. Going about their business, a business as unremarkable as our own business usually is - just the things we do to make a living, to fill our days, to take care of family and friends, just the "regular stuff" of life. In their case they were casting a net into the sea, going about their lives as best they could. And a man appears in those lives. In their hardworking, probably honest, presumably decent lives, and asks them to leave their lives behind and to follow him. And oddly enough, to my way of thinking anyway, they do.

Let me be very clear about something here. I have told you all that I am discerning my ministry - my "call." I am not questioning that I should do SOMETHING and I am not saying that I don't want to follow Jesus. As the fishermen were called, so was I, but to what? What is my ministry? How can I spread the Good News? To start, I need to let people know about Jesus and how he came and said two simple words. "Follow me."