Homily for January 27, 2008. Third Sunday of the Year
In Matthew's Gospel today there's an implied answer to a question: How do you become a follower of Christ? If you had a large group of people and asked that question, you would hear a variety of answers. Sometimes people describe becoming a follower as the end of a long search. They're searching for something and finally they come across it. Sometimes it's the result of a struggle with an addiction, or a traumatic experience in their life. They will frequently tell a story of alienation from the religion of their upbringing and a search through other traditions. Sometimes the end of their journey will be to return to the religion of their upbringing. Other times it won’t. And some people just can't remember a time when they didn't have faith, and they would say they've been here all along.
One of the most popular forms of religious writing today is the memoir. How many of you have read do you know what I mean by the memoir? People who write the story of their journey and their search for faith how many of you have read one of those? [response from the congregation: I’m writing one!] What? You're writing one? Okay. How many of you think you could write one?
One of the difficulties of reading memoirs is that they are all about me. They tend to make becoming a follower of Christ all about me and my search; me and my questions; me and all of the things that I have gone through. And I think the literature out there is full of stories that are very self absorbed and all about me.
Matthew, in the Gospel today, has a very simple answer to how you become a follower of Christ: You hear the word. And the word grabs you, and you can't let go of it. Or it won't let go of you, and you follow, and you follow, not knowing where you're going. You take the first step, and you don't have the map in front of you. But you follow.
Peter and Andrew, James and John I think they were quite content. I mean, I'm imagining this. I don't know what their history was before Jesus walked by. But I'm imagining them as quite content in what they're doing. They're not looking for anything. They're perfectly happy to be fishermen, and their life is complete. And all of a sudden this man walks by, and he says, "Follow me."
What questions would come to your mind? If someone walked by and said, "Follow me,” what questions might you ask? “Who are you? Why should I follow you? What are the risks involved? Where are we going? How much does it cost? What's in it for me?”
Very good questions, aren't they? Does he answer them? Just imagine he says, "Follow me," and they have no idea where he's going, they don't even know who he is.
Well, I'd like to think maybe they had some prior association. Maybe they heard the testimony of John. Maybe, but we don't know. Later on they will ask, "What's in it for me?" Later on they will argue about who will sit at his right hand and left hand when he comes into his Kingdom. Later on many of them will walk away, and Peter will say, "We're staying with you, because we have nowhere else to go."
Later on Jesus will ask, "Who do people say that I am?" And they will answer. And then he will say, "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter will answer for him. But for right now, they're grabbed by the word, and they follow.
I was talking with somebody recently who quoted Martin Luther King as saying you don't have to see the top of the staircase to take the first step. You don't have to see the end of the journey to take the first step. The person applied it to his own hesitance to take some steps he new he had to take without a guarantee of the outcome. But some sense of what was the right thing to do was grabbing him. It had hold of him and wouldn’t let go of him.
I just invite you today to be in touch with that something of faith within you, whatever it might be, that grabs you and won't let go of you. Whatever says, "Follow me." And reflect on your response.
You know, I think so often we think of faith as having all the answers, or we think of faith as a feeling of certitude that we have, or we think of faith as moments of clarity. I invite you today just to think of faith as taking that first step without knowing where it's going to lead you, without asking, "What's in it for me," without even asking, "Who are you?" But let your heart be freed to follow that faith that grabs hold of you.
One of the most popular forms of religious writing today is the memoir. How many of you have read do you know what I mean by the memoir? People who write the story of their journey and their search for faith how many of you have read one of those? [response from the congregation: I’m writing one!] What? You're writing one? Okay. How many of you think you could write one?
One of the difficulties of reading memoirs is that they are all about me. They tend to make becoming a follower of Christ all about me and my search; me and my questions; me and all of the things that I have gone through. And I think the literature out there is full of stories that are very self absorbed and all about me.
Matthew, in the Gospel today, has a very simple answer to how you become a follower of Christ: You hear the word. And the word grabs you, and you can't let go of it. Or it won't let go of you, and you follow, and you follow, not knowing where you're going. You take the first step, and you don't have the map in front of you. But you follow.
Peter and Andrew, James and John I think they were quite content. I mean, I'm imagining this. I don't know what their history was before Jesus walked by. But I'm imagining them as quite content in what they're doing. They're not looking for anything. They're perfectly happy to be fishermen, and their life is complete. And all of a sudden this man walks by, and he says, "Follow me."
What questions would come to your mind? If someone walked by and said, "Follow me,” what questions might you ask? “Who are you? Why should I follow you? What are the risks involved? Where are we going? How much does it cost? What's in it for me?”
Very good questions, aren't they? Does he answer them? Just imagine he says, "Follow me," and they have no idea where he's going, they don't even know who he is.
Well, I'd like to think maybe they had some prior association. Maybe they heard the testimony of John. Maybe, but we don't know. Later on they will ask, "What's in it for me?" Later on they will argue about who will sit at his right hand and left hand when he comes into his Kingdom. Later on many of them will walk away, and Peter will say, "We're staying with you, because we have nowhere else to go."
Later on Jesus will ask, "Who do people say that I am?" And they will answer. And then he will say, "Who do you say that I am?" And Peter will answer for him. But for right now, they're grabbed by the word, and they follow.
I was talking with somebody recently who quoted Martin Luther King as saying you don't have to see the top of the staircase to take the first step. You don't have to see the end of the journey to take the first step. The person applied it to his own hesitance to take some steps he new he had to take without a guarantee of the outcome. But some sense of what was the right thing to do was grabbing him. It had hold of him and wouldn’t let go of him.
I just invite you today to be in touch with that something of faith within you, whatever it might be, that grabs you and won't let go of you. Whatever says, "Follow me." And reflect on your response.
You know, I think so often we think of faith as having all the answers, or we think of faith as a feeling of certitude that we have, or we think of faith as moments of clarity. I invite you today just to think of faith as taking that first step without knowing where it's going to lead you, without asking, "What's in it for me," without even asking, "Who are you?" But let your heart be freed to follow that faith that grabs hold of you.
Labels: Homilies
posted by Fr. Larry Voelker at
6:06 AM
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