In these early chapters of all four gospels, we see Jesus putting together his team, his community of trainees. These are the men (and beyond the Twelve, also women) through whom his message will be proclaimed and demonstrated. I’m struck by how little Jesus had to say to get them to come along: “Follow me.” That’s pretty much it.
Why did they go, without plans or itineraries, curricula or policy papers, without any instructions about what they were to do, where, and with whom? I think it is because Jesus was not inviting them into a project. He was inviting them into relationship, a relationship that required a commitment and a releasing of all other activity. They didn’t need to know what they would be doing – more than a few might have turned back had they known. They only needed to know they would become friends and followers of a profoundly holy man, whom some suspected was the long-awaited Messiah and Son of God.
Maybe in our productivity-driven culture we don’t see more people choosing to follow Jesus because there is no to-do list. I live in my to-do list 24/7 – and though many of the items on that list are things I think I’m doing “for” Jesus, I’m not sure they interest him all that much. I suspect he’s much more interested in our interaction, in spending time in conversation and contemplation, knowing and being known.
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 head 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 also a “doing” dimension – Jesus had his disciples healing and proclaiming and feeding and all kinds of things. But these were things they did with him, in his power, 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 embark not on projects as much as showings, demonstrations of God’s love.
Do you feel you are a follower of Christ? It means more than following his example – it means traveling with him, discerning where the 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 with whom.
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