"Follow Me," says Christ

There's no such thing as meeting Jesus halfway. Look at Matthew 4:18-25.

In my childhood I used to play with a kid down at the other end of the street. I would stay for a long time, sometimes disturbingly late. And then I heard the shout:

"DOUG!!!"

It was either my mom or dad yelling from the front porch. They knew where I was, but instead of walking to the other end of the street they would just shout my name and I would come running home for either dinner or a tongue lashing. Sometimes both. I guess it was easier for my parents to yell my name within earshot of the general public than to come and grab me by the scruff of my neck. Admittedly, I do the same thing to my kids.

I guess it would have been easier for Jesus to call his first disciples by yelling from a hilltop down to Peter and Andrew as they were fishing. But Jesus was not a shouter. He was a pursuer. He walked along the Sea and saw the two brothers and said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of me." He did the same with James and John. All of them stopped what they were doing and followed Jesus.

Notice that Jesus never once in this whole episode shouted or raised his voice. He didn't have to. He walked down by the Sea. It was a personal encounter, unmistakeably real. With an actual human voice Jesus spoke into their ears. He didn't send smoke signals or beckon them by telepathy or semaphor. "Follow me!" says Christ the Lord.

Jesus never demanded that they meet him halfway. He was on the spot. They would either follow or go right back to fishing. I'm greatly amused when I hear people talking about finding Jesus, as if Jesus is playing hide-and-seek with us and we have to go looking for him. Jesus is present everywhere! But just because he's present doesn't necessarily mean he's visible. Is he ever visible? If so, where? Let's let Jesus tell us himself from what he revealed to us:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.-- Matthew 26:26-28 (emphasis mine)

I was hungry... I was thirsty... I was a stranger... I was naked... I was sick... I was in prison... Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.-- Matthew 25:35-40 (emphasis mine)

All of these passages talk about the presence of Christ. None of them talk about his presence being in our thoughts or musings or spiritual adventures, but in visible and tangible means (bread, wine, broken humanity). The Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us, wrote John. He doesn't watch from a distance or shout out names to the winds. He comes to us and calls us to be his own. How?

The calling of Christ comes through what we call The Means of Grace, that is, Word and Sacrament. There's no speculating or guesswork involved here. These are the ways and means that God chose to spread His Spirit into our hearts and lives.