i always have thoughts...doesn't everybody?

I have a confession-I journal during sermons. I'm an active listener, ok? ha...but really, it is the time that I get a whole lot of my thoughts out and onto a concrete piece of paper. And most of the time, I go back and read and think, "wow, i really do believe that." So...here is one of my excerpts from a Sunday morning sermon series on being fishers of men.

James and John-Sons of Zebedee (great name)
"They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind."

The service that we have come to attend each week is not the act of following Jesus. To follow Jesus is a continuous sacrificial way of living. It is a community of exposure, honesty, and love that takes hard acts of self-sacrifice. It is leaving whatever we hold dear to find out what God holds dear. It is learning the art of compassion, the humility of mercy, and the embodiment of love and grace. When we truly follow, we do not necessarily need programs or tracts or church services because we change and realize that it is in the living out of who Jesus was and wants us to be that the true following begins. To follow, we must leave--that may be a physical leaving, an emotional leaving, even a spiritual leaving. When Jesus called James and John to follow, they were ready and willing. They may not have been ready for everything ahead--who is? But, something deep within them responded to the mystery they felt calling them to something greater than what was behind and in front of them. Jesus did not ordain them or speak to others about their accomplishments. He accepted them, knew them, loved them, empowered them, and helped them see who they were in the grand scheme of things. Jesus does the same for us, if we allow it.

A fisherman's job is hard and full of long days. Sometimes it takes a long time to catch one fish--sometimes you don't catch any at all. Fishing is dirty work--you have to be willing to get dirty and smell when it's done. Fishing requires silence and patience--two things I have not yet fully attained (and may never). We must listen and wait while following--that is movement that shows us and others that we have truly been caught.