A Lack of Hurdles--January 15, 2024

A Lack of Hurdles--January 15, 2024

"The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’" [John 1:43]

How's that for an elevator speech?

As John our narrator tells it, this is all Jesus says to Philip to get him on board as a disciple: the two-word invitation, "Follow me."

We could surely consider all the reasons that somebody might have jumped at that chance, and we will, in due time.  But first, let's consider what's not there in Jesus' summons, because Jesus doesn't include a lot of stuff that modern-day church folk might deem essential.  And maybe we need to revise our own way of "doing church" if consider all the additional religious baggage that Jesus doesn't bring along.

For starters, there is no morality clause.  That is to say, Jesus doesn't interview Philip and make sure there are no skeletons in his closet or scandalous sins.  There's no pledge to sign, committing ol' Phil only to associate with the "right" crowd and not to be caught in the company of unsavory people (in fact, Jesus will see to it that all of his followers will be in precisely that company!).  Neither is there a test of theological orthodoxy or biblical literacy as a precondition for following Jesus. He doesn't ask Greek-speaking Philip (his name is a Greek one, suggesting that his Jewish background was also immersed in Greek culture and language) for evidence of his Hebrew-translation skills, nor does Jesus grill him with rabbinical questions about the greatest commandment, or the resurrection of the dead, or how far one should be allowed to walk on the sabbath.  None of these things are set up as obstacles or hoops to jump through as preconditions for following Jesus: there is only the call, clear and simple, "Follow me."

As I think again about these words, which many of us heard read in worship just yesterday for Sunday services, I wonder: do we realize how much more complicated we church folk often make following Jesus, compared with what Jesus himself says?  Respectable Religious folk have a way of deputizing themselves as gatekeepers, controlling access to Jesus and weeding out the ones they deem unworthy or unacceptable, but Jesus' actual call to discipleship comes with a startling lack of hurdles.  He doesn't insist on Philip's adherence to some talking head's take on a culture war issue of the day.  Jesus doesn't mandate membership in a political party, or ask which cable network Philip gets his evening news from. Jesus doesn't require the recitation of a creed or the utterance of a "sinner's prayer."  He doesn't demand a baptism on the spot as a prerequisite for signing with Team Jesus, and neither does he say, "Now, Phil, I need you to declare me to be your Lord and Savior, and remember the date, because you'll be asked about it at the gates of heaven... it's a paperwork thing."  Only the words "Follow me," the calling which creates the response like lightning that generates thunder, come from Jesus.  Answering that call will take Philip the rest of his life--after all, Jesus hasn't come to get our mere verbal agreement but to reorient our very lives.  But in terms of preconditions of piety or spiritual stipulations, there's nothing else.  "Follow me," is apparently enough, without any fine print, without any catches, and without any tests of worthiness or virtue.  And the following, even when it is slow and wayward, is enough for a response to that call.

In a time like ours when many feel like the Respectable Religious Voices around them have been co-opted by pundits, demagogues, and political partisanship, not to mention attitudes of "we don't want THOSE kinds of people attending OUR church..." it's worth listening again to Jesus' actual invitations to people like Philip, because his calling is so utterly simple.  There in the words, "Follow me," is all Jesus asks for, knowing that just those two words will up-end all of our lives forever after.  "Follow me," from Jesus' lips, will re-orient our politics around his concern for the least, the last, and the left-behind.  "Follow me," coming from Jesus, will shake our plans for success, wealth, and status to their core.  "Follow me," when Jesus is the one who says it, will rearrange our priorities and turn bent hearts back outward in concern for the other, in love for the neighbor, and in trust toward God.  Answering Jesus' call, "Follow me," will take us all our lives, but it doesn't come with any other obstacles to get in our way first.

What would happen in our churches if we spent less energy on putting up gates and barriers to limit access to "who gets in" to Jesus' presence, and more on our own lifelong calling to follow where Jesus is leading us?

I bet the watching world would sit up and take notice.

Lord Jesus, give us all that we need to answer your call, simple and clear as it is, "Follow me."