Have you ever reached a crossroads in life? I am sure you all have. Where you can metaphorically choose one path or another path in life. I think life presents many crossroads. And this is exactly what is placed before the disciples and the prophet Isaiah. The Triune God calls for them to follow in God’s footsteps with their whole being. An angel places a coal on the prophet Isaiah’s lips sending him out to be a prophet to proclaim God’s will to a nation whose ears had grown deaf. And Jesus miraculously places months (or maybe even years worth) of the product these working class laborers Peter, James, and John sell. He then tells them you will no longer seek this, you will seek people. And remarkably, as the text says, they leave it all and they follow Jesus.
The Spirit of the Risen Christ still calls to all people saying, “follow me” and after this initial call one hears whispers throughout a lifetime saying, “follow me.” Especially in these times where the systems of power in our country use Christianity for personal power, where these systems of power teach that domineering and greed are chief ends of human flourishing, and where these systems of power devalue more and more of the people that Jesus says he most strongly identifies with–the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger/immigrant, the unclothed, the sick, and the prisoner (Matt 25:25-46)–we must again listen closely and follow in Jesus’ footsteps. All of us in this church young, old, and anywhere in between are called as individuals with our particularities, our gifts, and our life to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.
Interestingly, in Luke’s gospel, Peter, James, and John are the first of millions of people after them who have sought to follow Jesus, including us. When I was contemplating this text I was reminded of a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his popular book (that is often misunderstood), Discipleship. Bonhoeffer says, “Wherever Christ calls us, his call leads us to death (51).” In these heavy words, Bonhoeffer is describing that it is a death of self that sparks discipleship. What Bonhoeffer describes is exactly what happens to these disciples and the prophet with their calling: they die to one way of life at the crossroad and enter into a new way of life and a new work. For Peter, James, and John this death is an entrance into the new economy of Jesus’ kingdom, a new way of seeing value and devalue and dying to the old way. “You will no longer seek fish, you will seek people.” Leave the fish, leave your boat, and leave everything to do work that is centered on true treasure: people. It was a work that Jesus already embodied in his life through calling these disciples–working class people who are just another pawn in Rome’s economy. They are just fishers, but not to Jesus.
On one hand, Jesus is teaching that the economy of his kingdom sees something greater than what is on the surface. It applies value to what is undervalued in the world. On the other hand, Jesus is teaching about the nature of the work of his kingdom. This miracle just like all the miracles in the ministry of Jesus is not about displaying Jesus’ divinity or glory, it is for the good of the other. All the miracles are acts of pure divine compassion. The nature of the work of Jesus’ kingdom centers on Jesus’ teaching in response to the religious leaders of his time asking him why he is associating with “bad” people. Jesus says: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice (Matt. 9:13).” In other words, above all what Jesus seeks is compassion, not rituals or religious ingroup/outgroup-ing. This is the work that Jesus calls all disciples into. It causes us to leave certain things behind and to center life on true treasure: people.
Within the narrative of Luke’s gospel another divine calling story lies in the background of this text: the rich ruler in Luke 18:18-30. My guess is you know the story, but here is an abridged version. A rich ruler comes to Jesus asking him what must I do to have eternal life? The ruler boasts about his character before Jesus and Jesus then responds, “you still lack one thing, sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” The text then says, “When the rich ruler heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich.” In short, the rich ruler with grief takes the other path at the crossroad. Jesus then teaches that it is hard for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. Then Peter, the disciple who did take Jesus’ call to follow him at the crossroad, says, “Look we have left our homes and followed you.”
Then Jesus says something remarkable: “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not get back very much more in this age and in the age to come eternal life (Lk 18:29-30).”
In this age… in your life you will have more than what you had before when you live out Jesus’ call to follow. This defies logic and it doesn’t seem to make sense if you just think of earthly possessions. If you think of these disciples’ lives, like Peter, Peter died an early death as a martyr and he didn’t have many possessions. He didn’t gain any more possessions in this life than what he had before. In fact, he shared all his possessions with the church, as Luke tells us in Acts 4. So what did he have in this life that even lasted beyond death that was more than months and months of his wage for fish? Peter at least had a relaxing leave of absence from work if he didn’t follow Jesus. I will tell you what he had: Discipleship to the living God and work that truly mattered–work that truly lasted. In the economy of Jesus, these disciples are richer than the rich ruler, for they possessed true treasure. What I think Jesus is teaching after his call to the rich ruler who walked away with deep sadness is that true wealth is to have work that truly matters and lasts and true wealth is intimacy with the living God.
As Jesus teaches in Matthew: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Matt 6:19-21).”
Returning to Bonhoeffer, he explains that the death of discipleship is not
“suicide [self-harm], because even suicide [self-harm] could be the expression of the human person’s own will. Self-denial means knowing only Christ, no longer knowing oneself. It means no longer seeing oneself, only him who is going ahead, no longer seeing the way which is too difficult for us. Self-denial says only: he is going ahead; hold fast to him (51).”
Discipleship is not a message of self-harm. Discipleship brings joy not despair. In fact, Any discipleship that causes self-harm is a distortion of Jesus’ call. Discipleship is a deep intimacy with Christ, an intimacy of the heart. It is an intimacy that makes the unworthy feel called, like Isaiah and Peter. They both became beautiful instruments of the work of Jesus’ kingdom in the world in their self doubt and faults. This intimacy gives the courage to proclaim like the prophet Isaiah did that the Triune God is the ultimate ruler of history, not empires and their figureheads. In the scope of Jesus’ work, the state and its policies are only penultimate, not ultimate. The kingdom of Jesus and its work is a deeper law that Christ calls us to embody and live now. We with the prophet are called to be exegetes of our culture–or interpreters of culture in light of Jesus’ kingdom. This intimacy gives eyes to see and ears to hear God’s redeeming nonviolent presence and where it calls you to be. Christ calls you–as you are–with your gifts, your being, and your life to join this work that matters more than all else. Especially in these times when so many vulnerable and suffering people are being devalued more and more, may we with these first disciples hold fast to Christ and become fishers of people or workers for people. For this work is true treasure in this life and beyond. Amen.