As I was driving back to Hudson this morning, the highways were all snow covered and slippery. There were a surprising number of cars on the road and as usual some driving like it was clear and sunny! I tried my best to follow along as the plows and sanders made their way along. It really slows down your travel time when you follow a plow, but it’s a lot safer. When conditions are like they were this morning, you have to find something trustworthy to follow and for me that was the plow.
As I read through the scripture reading for today, I was listening to Jesus inviting Simon and Andrew, James and John to follow him. It tells us they left their fishing boats and they followed him. And I thought that certainly took trust – leaving behind all that was familiar, all that they had been used to for so long. Maybe they were bored with fishing; maybe they were ready for a change; but there still had to be a sense of trust that Jesus was offering them something more, something better.
And yet, it’s pretty clear they hadn’t met Jesus before; but there must have been something in His demeanor, in His approach, in His eyes that told them He was trustworthy and really had something to offer them. In last week’s gospel the apostles asked Jesus to tell them more about Himself and He simply answers: Come and See!!
And that’s what they do. We know that they stayed with Him for His time among us and they were transformed by His person and His message and they went on to spread the Good News after He was gone.
When Jesus calls us to follow Him, we have so much more information and knowledge about Jesus than they did. We have the scriptures and the testimony of centuries to rely on.
And yet how often do we find our trust faltering, our resolve weakening because of life’s happenings! The call of the apostles is meant for each of us too. And Jesus invites us to come and to see where he lives among us today and where he is leading us.
May we trust that what He is calling us to is so much more than what we know today.