One need not
be on social media to have an understanding how it works. On various platforms
– whether FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, etc- a person gathers
followers; and follows groups and people of interest to them. The sites have some sort of a follow button;
once you click on it you are a follower.
Of course, there is a certain je
ne sais quoi, to having loads of followers.
In a world
were follower buttons are everywhere, how do we hear Jesus’ words, “Follow me?” Yes, Jesus would have had millions of
followers, some because they knew Jesus and liked him- watching his tweets for
words of wisdom and challenge; others would follow him on Twitter to know where
he was going to be so they could join him to either learn, debate, or be
healed; still others would be following for the rush of seeing the crazy things
the man was going to do and the trouble he was going to get into -using Jesus
as their personal entertainment. Those
of us not on social media would watch the evening news, or continual CNN or CTV
news feed, to engage with Jesus by gathering information to share with others,
or to be used as points of conversation over coffee.
To be a
follower today, takes the push of a button, from one’s phone or tablet. That’s
it. There is no requirement to actually read the posts and content created by
the person you are following. And as a
person you don’t need to add content either. You don’t even need to scroll
through your page. You are a follower until you click the follow button again –
to unfollow. There is no commitment
required. The relationship is a simple little piece of code that connects a
miniscule number of dots out of trillions in cyber space – invisible to most of
us.
Jesus calls to
Andrew and Peter, “Follow me,” and immediately they leave their boats and nets.
Jesus calls to
James and John, “Follow me,” and immediately they leave their boats, nets, and
father.
Andrew, Peter,
James, and John did more than simply push a button and let life carry on as it
was.
Everything in
that moment changed because of the decision they made.
One of my
favourite professors in university was my Hebrew professor. He was a gentleman in his early 70s who wore
thickly knit Scandinavian type sweaters and an ascot cap. Dr. Fischer was a pretty quiet teacher who
was methodical in method and more or less succeeded in getting all his students
to pass. Why he was my favourite
teacher, was that if we followed along closely, we would be given clues to Dr.
Fischer’s passions. After noting these, and making them into a question, Dr.
Fischer would regale us with a story or point of astute academia, or a tidbit
about something connected to the text we were studying.
One day, on an
aside, he had us all turn in our Bible Society Hebrew scriptures to Psalm
23. He went on about how weak English
translations are – so much so that they really miss the point. Dr. Fischer would get all worked up, excited,
talking with his hands – the whole deal; he was most passionate with verse 6, Surely your goodness and mercy will follow
me all the days of my life.
The “follow”
in the passage isn’t a word to make one necessarily feel all warm and
fuzzy. The root word translated into “follow”
is really better translated “pursue” – as in pursue, often with ill intent.
God’s goodness and mercy (better defined as God’s covenant loyalty) will stalk
you. You can’t get away no matter how
much you may not want God’s grace and mercy.
It will continually harass you.
What happens,
then, if we were to think of Jesus inviting the fishermen to pursue him? To
chase after him? That is far more dramatic, a much bigger commitment, far more
energy, than simply to follow. To pursue and give chase brings to mind a
multitude of blockbuster movies where chase scenes are full scale drama and
aggression; life and death. They involve
risk and the possibility of dying, or ending up in prison. They are not for the
weak of heart, or stomach, as the case may be.
Thesaurus.com
suggests the following as alternatives for follow:
Go after, seek,
pursue; accompany, attend; badger, bate, bug; hound, hunt; persevere, persist,
plague; shadow, stalk.
After reading
the suggestions, I was reminded of the pursue from Psalm 23 which I shared with
you a moment ago. I was curious to find
out what the original word “Follow” was in Matthew’s text. The Greek word
literally translates, to be in the same
way with – as if two people were walking together along the same road, or
travelling a similar journey. A good
English translation is: to accompany.
Jesus calls to
Andrew and Peter, “Accompany me,” and immediately they leave their boats and
nets.
Jesus calls to
James and John, “Accompany me,” and immediately they leave their boats, nets,
and father.
Andrew, Peter,
James, and John did more than simply push a button and let life carry on as it
was.
Everything in
that moment changed because of the decision they made.
Jesus calls to
you, “Accompany me,” and immediately…
I don’t know:
did you immediately tick a “yes” box and decide that following is coming here
on Sunday mornings? Perhaps dropping
what you were doing at the time of Jesus calling you, was an immediate
recognition that you would be the best person you can be – good, and caring,
and as loving as possible. For some I bet there was not an immediate action,
following has grown on you over time.
Unfortunately,
we have read a weak translation of what Jesus was asking, and calling the
disciples to. We now have to shift our understanding from “follow me” to
something far more difficult, “accompany me.”
Rachel Svenson, who works
with young adults in Global Mission projects of the ELCA. Begins her “Living
Lutheran” blog on Accompaniment with a, “quote from
Linda Crockett’s, “The Deepest Wound”: Accompaniment
goes beyond solidarity in that anyone who enters into it risks suffering the
pain of those we would accompany … . Accompaniment may include all of these
actions [protest marches, pressing for changes in law, civil disobedience] but
it does not necessarily share the assumption that we can fix, save, or change a
situation or person by what we do. It calls for us to walk with those we
accompany, forming relationships and sharing risks, joys, and lives. We enter
into the world of the one who suffers with no assurance that we can change or
fix anything … . Accompaniment is based on hope despite evidence that there is
little reason for optimism.
Picture the
news you have followed in the past few days.
In your mind translate the events of inauguration and peoples’ responses
from around the world – through the call Jesus made to the disciples and what
happened in 1st century
Galilee.
Jesus called
Andrew, Peter, James, and John into a life of accompaniment. The passage we read this morning has John the
Baptist in prison for his speaking truth to the powers of the day. Jesus and his followers, the people
accompanying him – were often protesting laws (Jesus healing on the Sabbath,
Jesus touching untouchables); the group as a whole gathered in large
numbers/sit ins to listen to Jesus (an illegal action); Jesus and those
accompanying him bated the religious leaders with near heretical blasphemies,
and insighted angst by taunting the authority of the Roman Emperor. Every moment was a risk, as Jesus entered
into relationship, with the powers of the day.
Every moment was a risk for those who would accompany him – which
included some disciples who were known rebel zealots, and another working for
the state as a tax collector. Every
moment was a risk as Jesus gave hope to the poor, the oppressed, the lame, the
leperous, the demon possessed, others who were sick; women, children.
What did
people expect? Jesus very call, “Accompany me,” was loaded. He didn’t invite people for a walk in the
park; rather, Jesus call was to risk your lives in the world through
relationship with God--- whose grace and mercy pursue you--- with the action of
walking with, of accompanying those whom we meet along the way. Reflecting on
Jesus and the disciples as accompaniers, what does that mean in the climate of
our world today? It means that Jesus’
call, “accompany me,” is life changing.
God, this
morning we say “yes.” We immediately drop our excuses and our fears, and
accompany you. We realize that:
Accompaniment goes beyond
solidarity in that anyone who enters into it risks suffering the pain of those
we would accompany … . Accompaniment may include all of these actions [protest
marches, pressing for changes in law, civil disobedience] but it does not
necessarily share the assumption that we can fix, save, or change a situation
or person by what we do. It calls for us to walk with those we accompany,
forming relationships and sharing risks, joys, and lives. We enter into the
world of the one who suffers with no assurance that we can change or fix
anything … . Accompaniment is based on hope despite evidence that there is
little reason for optimism.
God through
our lives may this be so. Amen.
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