1-12-24 - Following In Relationship

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

In the early chapters of all four gospels, we see Jesus putting together his team, his community of trainees. These are the men (and probably some women) through whom his message would be proclaimed and demonstrated. I’m struck by how little Jesus had to say to get them to come along: “Follow me,” “Come and see.” That’s pretty much it.

Why did they go, without plans or itineraries, curricula or policy papers, with no instructions about what they were to do, where, and with whom? Perhaps it was because Jesus was not inviting them into a project. He was inviting them into relationship, one that required them to commit and release their other commitments. They didn’t need to know what they would be doing – more than a few would likely have turned back had they known. They only needed to know they were going to become friends and followers of a profoundly holy man, whom some suspected was the long-awaited Messiah.

Maybe in our productivity-driven culture fewer people choose to follow Jesus because there is no to-do list. I can live in my to-do list 24/7. And though many of the things on that list are things I think I’m doing “for” Jesus, I don't know that he's all that interested. I suspect he'd much prefer me to spend time with him in conversation and contemplation, knowing and being known. And I believe he is very interested in being close to you.

Can we enter into relationship with someone we can’t see and can only connect with spiritually in prayer, someone whose words we “hear” as they appear in our mind and don’t seem like our own? Sometimes we begin just by learning to be still and centered and open to feeling God’s presence.

Of course, there is a “doing” dimension – Jesus had his disciples heal and proclaim and feed and all kinds of things. But these were things they did with him, not just for him. As we allow our spirits to open to relationship with the Living Christ, we find his power and his priorities take hold in us. So we might engage less in projects and more in showings, demonstrations of God’s love.

Do you feel you are a follower of Christ? That means more than following his example. It means traveling with him, discerning where his Spirit is taking you for the next adventure. And it means sitting down to dinner with him after a long day, and letting his agenda be your agenda.

Every day, Jesus comes by somewhere we are and says, “Come on. Follow me.” We don’t have to know where we’re going, only who we’re going with.

© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.

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