And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a new into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed him.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What does it mean, brethren, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? Is it enough to call oneself “a Christian”? Is it enough to call a local parish home—to be on the membership roll? Does being a disciple of Jesus equate to owning a Bible or saying a prayer before a meal? None of these things are insignificant. They are just that—signs of Christian discipleship. But discipleship is more than this. I am sure that we know family members or friends whose discipleship is largely superficial—a pair of cross earrings; the provincial “God bless!” or “Amen!” on the occasional Facebook post. Maybe you and I have gone through seasons in which our Christian discipleship amounts to little more than this. But having a Christian cultural awareness, that is, being in close proximity to authentic Christian discipleship, is not the same thing as being disciples ourselves. Rather, to be a disciple is to follow Jesus in every aspect of our lives. It is to learn from Jesus and to apply his teachings to our lives.
In Greek, the word for “disciple” is mathÄ“tÄ“s. It shares a linguistic root with mathematics, “that which is learned.” To be a disciple is to be a “learner.” To be a learner one necessarily needs a teacher. The Teacher of our Faith is our Lord Jesus Christ. He instructs us in words and in deeds. He has given us moral directives, and he has shown us the way to eternal glory—a life lived in communion with God, a willingness to suffer and to be humiliated, a peaceful death, a victorious resurrection, a glorious ascension. To be a Christian disciple is to follow Christ—in life, in death, in glory.
In today’s Gospel Reading from St. Matthew, we read,
“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fisherman. Then [Jesus] said to them, ‘[Deute opisŨ mou] Come after me [we usually say, ‘Follow me’], and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed him” (Matt 4:18-20).
“[Deute opisŨ mou] Come after me / follow me.” This is a central theme of the Gospels, although we might not be aware of it. Christ is repeatedly encouraging his disciples to “come to him,” to “come after him,” to “follow him.”
John 1:37-39, “When two [of John’s disciples] heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want? … Come, and you will see.’”
Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 22:4, “Then he sent more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited [to the feast] that I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”
John 21:18-19, “[Jesus said to Peter,] ‘Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’”
That imperative word that Christ uses in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Deute, “Come!” is a cognate of deuteros, “second.” Christ is calling his disciples to “come after him,” to “fall in line behind him.” Two comes after one. Christ is first; we are second. The Apostle also reminds us of this,
“And he [Christ] is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence” (Col 1:18).
In becoming his disciples, Christ is asking us to subordinate ourselves to him. He is asking us to subordinate our time, our energy, our finances, our desires, our wills to him. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to prioritize Christ. It is to give privilege of order (pri - ority) to Christ.
This is easy enough to say, brethren. If asked, “Do you prioritize Christ in your life?” we would surely be quick to answer, “Of course! I pray! I go to Church sometimes! I give to the Church on occasion!” But to be Christ’s disciple, to follow him, we must follow him in all things, at all times. We must be ready to follow him with the same immediacy and fervor that the Apostles did. No, the Apostles were not perfect. We realize this when reading through the Gospel narratives (“You of little faith, why are you so afraid!” [Matt 8:26]). The disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit of God. They were “juvenile apostles.” At times, they were selfish and stupid—just as we are. But we cannot fault their immediacy in following the Lord. They followed him clumsily, sometimes with doubt, sometimes with reservation and fear, but nonetheless, they followed him.
On this day, brethren, when we celebrate the Feast of All Saints of North America, we have so many good examples to look to for what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Save St. Sebastian Dabovich (a native born American of Serbian immigrants), and Ss. Olga of Kwethluk, Peter the Aleut, and Jacob Netsvetov, all of our American saints followed Jesus at least out of their native homelands. They followed Jesus to distant lands. They followed Jesus to places where they did not speak the language, where they had no familial connections, “they were foreigners and strangers on the earth,” to quote St. Paul (Heb 11:13b). St. Herman followed Jesus from Valaam on Lake Ladoga to Kodiak Island. St. Innocent followed Jesus from Angiskoye in Irkutsk to Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands, and then back again (to Russia!) to become the Metropolitan of Moscow. St. Raphael of Brooklyn followed Jesus … really … all over the place! He was born in Damascus, educated in Halki on the Aegean, returned to Damascus, received graduate education in Kiev, then went to Moscow as the Antiochian Patriarchate’s representative. In 1895, burning with a desire to minister to his countrymen abroad, St. Raphael finally came to New York and established an Antiochian chapel in Manhattan. St. Vasily Martysz, a portion of whose relics reside within our cornerstone, followed Jesus from Poland to New York to Alaska, and finally, to our own Osceola Mills, PA. St. John Maximovitch followed Jesus from Serbia, to Yugoslavia, to China, to the Philippines, to France, to Belgium, to California, finally reposing in Seattle, WA.
It would be enough to praise these saints for their geographical escapades. Like St. Paul, they took their apostolic call (apostolein, “to send”) quite literally. They took the call of Christ “to follow him” (wherever he would lead them) quite literally. They were called; they came. They were sent; they went. It would be easy enough to praise these saints for their willingness to go. But in their “going,” they were following. They did not go alone. They went deuteros. They went “second.” They went with the blessing and instruction of their Lord. They went not of their own, cocksure volition (some of them, very much like Moses, protested their being sent! “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” [Exod 3:11]). But in every instance, they were reassured, as our Lord also reassured Moses, “I will be with you” (Exod 3:12). And more than this: not only did God go with them in their discipleship, but also he led them, as the Prophet Isaiah wrote,
“I will go before you [repeat: I will go before you] and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron” (Isa 45:2, emphasis mine).
Brethren, … what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? It means, simply, to follow Christ, wherever he may lead us. And we know where he will lead us: he calls us to prayer; he calls us to fasting; he calls us to service and sacrifice. He calls us to charity and compassion. He calls us to quietude, repentance, and forgiveness. Ultimately, in the words of the Lutheran pastor-theologian, Dietrich Bonehoeffer, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (The Cost of Discipleship; emphasis mine).
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but it if dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!