In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus calls four of His disciples. Songs and poems have been written about this story, for perhaps we all intuitively know that we stand on the shores of our own lives, and perhaps we wonder what our response may be should Jesus call us.

The story line is simple. By this time Jesus is surely not a dark horse. He has been baptized by John, and people witnessed that. Perhaps they remember the voice and the dove. So when He goes to Galilee preaching people know who He is. One day He passes along the Sea of Galilee. There He finds Simon and Andrew, brothers. They are fishermen; they’re tending their nets. Jesus calls them to be fishers of men, and they just leave their nets and follow Him. Then a little further down the beach He finds James and John with Zebedee, their father and the hired help. He calls them, and they leave their nets, their father and the help and follow Him. The scene is puzzling in many ways: Why did He promise Simon and Andrew they would be fishers of men, but not James and John? Why did these men leave their livelihoods and family to follow Jesus? What does it mean when Jesus calls someone?

I first heard "the call" when I was 8 years old. I lay in my bed one night while the tropical rain dumped inches of rain per hour on our little house. I considered whether all this that my parents taught, that they lived for, was true or not. Something deep within me recognized it's truth, and I committed my life to it. I next heard the call in High School. I was part of a Friday noon Prayer Group. I was considering what I would do with my life after graduation. I had fallen in love with birds, and assumed I would go into ornithology. But as I considered this and prayed about it, a voice spoke in my heart. “Birds will always be an avocation for you,” it said, “I want you to serve Me full time in My church.” And I said, "Yes, as long as I don't have to preach every Sunday!"

I heard the call again when I was a young adult. I had been considering whether or not the priesthood was for me. I had spent the last year and more praying, reading and talking with priests I knew. One said he knew I would be a priest, and left me feeling miffed that God had told him and not me. But still, I wondered, thought and prayed. Then suddenly, a week before we left for Ecuador, In October of 1986, while I was packing a suitcase, I heard it clearly: “You will be a priest if you are faithful to the path I have laid out for you.” And here I am. And though I did not know it in High School, I love preaching every Sunday. I love what I do. I am still an avid bird watcher, but I know that if I suddenly became independently wealthy so that I did not have to work for a living, I would not—I could not give up the pulpit and the Altar. This is my destiny, this is my call.

We usually speak of “The Call” in terms of full time Christian service, and you may say that you have not “heard the call.” After all, you say, I have not had the experience that Fr. Paul had. Indeed, all of what I have just shared is very specific to me, not to all of you. But God has nonetheless issued you a call. In baptism Jesus has said to you, personally, "Come, follow me." To some He says, I will make you fish for people.” To others He says, "I will make you fix boats and mend nets. To others He says, I will make you accountants and bankers, lawyers and judges, car mechanics and school teachers, home-makers and child-rearers. Just like Jesus tailored the call to Simon and Andrew, James and John, so He tailors your call to who you are, and most importantly, who He knows you can become.

God's call to you is a personal act of love. What God calls you to become is rooted in who He has made you to be. He who alone knows you from beginning to end, from inside to outside, from whom no corners of your heart are hid, knows where best you fit in the world. To that He calls you, because He loves you, and wants you to become all that He has created you to be.

The world calls this "finding your destiny," or as Joseph Campbell says, "Following your bliss." For the Christian, however, your destiny as a person is not simply something in the ether that descends upon you in a glorious shower of light and inspiration. Your destiny finds its meaning, its purpose and its highest fulfillment in God's call to you. Finding your destiny is a loving and exciting act of obedience. God's call to you is to find your best place in life, to exercise the gifts He has given you for the highest common good, and to do that which brings you your deepest and most holy sense of satisfaction. Your destiny and God's call to you are one and the same thing.

So what does it mean to live as one called by God? It is to look at your own life with wonder and admiration for the God who made you. Your gifts, your station in life, your possessions, your relationships, your deepest desires and your talents are all stars in the constellation that is you, and every one of them is a loving gift of God. Each of them has a bearing on your call.

It is to respond joyfully and thankfully to the call He has made to you. Daily you stand on the shores of your own life. Around you lay the nets of your life. Jesus calls you from them to recognize that they are His, not yours, He has given them to you for purposes greater than merely to feed you and yours. Once you know what those greater purposes are, He calls you back to them in the context of your call. Daily He speaks in your heart: “Come, follow Me,” and joyfully you go about your tasks: Do it for the highest possible ideals. Do it in the most excellent way you know how. Do it out of compassion for all His creatures. Do it to work His justice in the world. Do it as a fulfillment of your Baptismal Covenant. Do it to honor Him.

Finally, it is to understand that your highest expression in life is an act of loving worship to the God who made you. Reach, then, beyond your grasp, let the wonder of God’s call overwhelm you, and worship Him in daily living, in spirit and in truth.

Fr. Paul Moore+