Homily by Protodeacon Edward Kostraby on the Second Sunday after Pentecost

Today’s reading takes place at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and will have profound implications. Jesus is calling the first four of His twelve disciples (Andrew, Simon Peter, James and John), a small group of men to follow and learn from Him which became a life long commitment — their enduring vocation. He approaches them and says “Come, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus is not saying, “Take some time to think about it and get back to me.” His call is to leave everything and come now. Very radical and challenging for us even today.

These four men would no longer be ordinary fisher men. Now they would become fishers of men. The phrase “fishers of men” may seem odd, but we must remember that all four of the men Jesus is calling in this passage are fishermen earning a living, so He was speaking to them in terms they understood.

To use the fishing analogy, Jesus “caught” them. He can now teach them so they can learn to “catch” others by proclaiming the gospel and symbolically bring people into the boat of a different life.

With this Jesus begins to live out His Fathers plan. This simple method of learning, a calling can be a long process of following Christ, becoming more like Him, and leading others to do the same. These four disciples will learn by just being with Jesus. Jesus didn’t lay out a step by step process for disciple making. His life was the lesson and because the four men chose to leave their fishing nets and follow Him, they had a front row seat to the entire ministry of Jesus Christ.

Don’t let this short passage in scripture lead you to believe this was an overnight process. Being Jesus’ disciple for these men meant spending three years literally following Jesus everywhere He went. They learned from Jesus as He taught the crowds, and there would be times when Jesus took them aside and taught them privately. They saw firsthand how Jesus loved and met the needs of others as He healed them, consoled them and accepted them and then Jesus gave the disciples authority and sent them out to do the same. The relationship that Jesus was calling these men to was different than the relationship He had with others.

The term disciple refers to the men that Jesus called. But they were not His only followers, as several times in the New Testament we read of the crowds that followed Jesus. Many of the people were curious and followed to be cured and see miracles and eventually turned back and no longer followed Him. Yet there were others who were disciples in the background who had families, converted, supported the new community, who understood what Jesus was saying and offering them. This was a commitment to a different way of living and is necessary rather than just getting

Why does one person respond to the call and another doesn’t? Why is one person open to the message of the scriptures and the other remains deaf? Some follow and others just turn and take a different road and disappear. Why does the rich young man who also heard God — come follow me, not abandon his possessions, but went away? How are we to follow in the world today? In the bible the concept of calling goes deeper than any one aspect of life such as daily work but can lead to religious life, a very particular way to follow Jesus, then to church workers, financial donors and various volunteers who have heard the call to follow, change their lives and help spread the word.

Throughout millennia people have become followers in diverse ways. It can be sudden and unexpected as it was with the four, it can be a drawn out process by searching with doubts and disillusion. Sometimes people are caught unprepared and just get on with it, this can occur at any stage of our lives, youth, adulthood or old age — there is no one path to follow, it is diverse as there is diversity in individuals. Each person is unique and that uniqueness means that one develops a personal connection to Jesus. In our busy, crowded and noisy world with all its distractions and needs, it is still possible to hear the calling in our heart and mind.

As Christians we must remember that we were made in his image and likeness, we carry his DNA and ultimately we go back to Him.

Ultimately, this is the same invitation we have today. Come, Follow Me…it still is valid today and is available for all to do the same and as with others it is a life long challenge. The question now is ours to answer—will we answer the call to follow Jesus? And if we have already answered the call, will we be faithful lifelong and to also extend the call to others?

Praised be Jesus Christ!

See also

March 1 Homily by Protodeacon Edward Kostraby on the Cheese Fare Sunday November 30 Homily by Protodeacon Edward Kostraby on the Twenty-eighth Sunday after Pentecost March 23 Homily by Protodeacon Edward Kostraby on Palm Sunday