A New Calling

Last Sunday’s gospel lectionary reading was the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John. These two pairs of brothers already had a profession of fishing, but Jesus invited them to answer a new calling - to be His followers and to help bring about God’s rescue plan for humanity.

I think about them and how Jesus was wise to invite these first disciples in pairs. They had perhaps seen or heard Jesus teach somewhere, but they were given the security of literally jumping ship with a sibling. James and John have the audacity to accept Jesus’ invitation in front of their father, who was also their boss. The four drop everything to go. What was familiar is left behind for the unknown. For some reason, Jesus is worth it to them.

This story invites us to re-connect with our own first call stories. Perhaps it wasn’t a single focused moment where we knew we wanted to follow. Maybe the invitation had to be made in a variety of ways to us before we accepted. Maybe a number of people had to get us intrigued by the idea, modeling what discipleship is like. But here we are, for some of us our initial invitation a distant memory, and we are part of God’s family and have brothers and sisters to travel with on the journey so that we are not alone.

Even as we follow, our calling may change. We may end up moving, we may be asked to take on a new area of ministry, we may find our stage of life shifts bringing new challenges. As I said goodbye to a congregation I’ve loved serving I was very aware of leaving behind the familiar and comfortable to venture into a new place, a place not unknown to me but very different since I was there regularly. It’s a new adventure and I’m leaving behind people who have become family.

Someone asked me Sunday how you know when your call has changed. What a wonderful question! And because I’m not ordained, this was pretty much a solo decision - no courts of the church to verify it or have input, it was just me deciding it was time after prayer and conversation with a few trusted people. I tried to articulate that we need to be paying attention to how our souls are feeling - are they restless? are we getting too comfortable and stagnating? are we losing a sense of vision for the place we are? are we finding we’ve come to the end of what we can offer? It’s definitely easier to stay. You know the norms and you’re in routine, any challenges are often easy to handle because you’re so settled in with the people and context. And yet, if we ignore the Spirit’s nudging we can cause those we serve to stagnate along with us.

Jumping ship, even for something right, brings along with it anxieties. I’m still having moments of second-guessing myself even as I prepare for this new adventure. And yet God keeps providing for me. I happened on a live video yesterday from the Flourish Writers Conference which I took part in last week online (I recommend it for any aspiring Christian writers!). In it the presenter spoke about overcoming our concern of getting it wrong in terms of our writing journey by remembering two scriptures - Deuteronomy 28:14 and Psalm 18:36. These verses remind us that we need to stay focused on where God is leading us and what God asks of us, but also remembering that God gives us a wide path so that we won’t twist our ankles. If we keep ourselves rooted in God we will be carried through whatever comes on our journey.

For anyone entering a new season of ministry or another significant change in life, I pray that you find peace in knowing that God is with you. God sees all that is happening and knows how hard it is to let go of the familiar in order to step out in faith. Whatever challenges will come your way are not insurmountable. God will provide a way through it all.