Follow Me
 
Throughout the Gospels, we read of Jesus saying, “Follow Me.” This is an invitation that Jesus offered to many. Several of His closest friends, including some His disciples, were fishermen. How Jesus “hooked” them into following Him was inviting them to join Him and to “fish for people.” Yet, whether it was to fishermen on the banks of the Sea of Galilee or to a tax collector sitting in his booth, Jesus invited these people to join Him by saying, “Follow Me.”
 
As we continue reading more deeply into the Gospels, that invitation begins to have an “edge” to it. One of Jesus’ followers told Him that he needed to go bury his father, and Jesus’ response was, “‘Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’” (Matthew 8:22) When the rich young man approached Jesus and asked what he should do to gain eternal life, Jesus said, “‘Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’” (Mark 10:21) As Jesus began to turn toward Jerusalem, He began to warn the disciples of what was ahead. They never seemed to quite understand, even as He ramped up His rhetoric by telling them, “‘If any want to become My followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.’” (Luke 9:23) It was not until after Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross and His rising to new life that His disciples truly understood the implications of His invitation, “Follow Me.”
 
I recently read, and I cannot remember the source, where someone wrote, “Jesus never said, ‘Worship Me;’ Jesus said, ‘Follow Me.’” There is a significant difference between “worshipping” and “following.” Worshipping requires so little of us. Yes, there are faith traditions who have more embodied worship; in fact, the Episcopal Church used to be teased about its “Episco-aerobics” of standing, kneeling, sitting, kneeling, standing, etc.
 
Yet “following,” well that is another matter. Following Jesus requires us to set aside our personal agendas, schedules and plans. Following Jesus demands that we place following Him as our top priority. Following Jesus means we must put “skin in the game,” meaning there is risk involved. Following Jesus requires us to “lose our lives” to follow Him, it requires our very selves.
 
I am still trying to grasp the full implications of what Jesus means when He asks me to follow Him. I know it is not just the decision alone to give my life to God, and so I embrace life as a process of ongoing conversion.
 
How about you? How do you respond to Jesus’ invitation to “follow Me?”
The Rev. Sharron L. Cox
Associate for Outreach, Pastoral Care and Women's Ministries
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