Many of you have come to know me as a pretty driven person. I’m a planner, and in a situation of disorganization, I’m prone to create some semblance of structure. That’s the way I’m wired.
Which, makes it challenging when I hear stories in the Bible of Jesus interrupting people’s plans, jobs, and directions. And yet, that’s exactly what we heard in our Gospel reading this past Sunday. Jesus interrupts Matthew’s job – calling him to discipleship while he’s on the clock. It’s not like Matthew didn’t have anything to do with his life. But when Matthew was presented with something different, something new, something life-giving and liberating in a way that he hadn’t known before, Matthew chose to follow.
When we hear Jesus call the disciples in Scripture, it’s easy to write these stories off as something that couldn’t possibly pertain to us. “It was ‘easier’ for those guys to just up and follow Jesus back then,” we might think. But even for those guys, their lives, their lifestyle, and their perception of their world was interrupted when Jesus called to them.
So what happens when God calls to us and interrupts our lives? The call God gives us may not be to move somewhere new, to pursue an occupational change, or to start a new mission project. It may be. But often, God’s call to us is to live and serve right where we find ourselves…just perhaps with a different intention, and perhaps with an openness to how God is directing us to live.
So this week, as you’re willing, ask God to interrupt your schedule. And if you do, be prepared. Because God will show up, and God will provide opportunities for you to serve in Christ’s name and offer the love of Jesus. Each day, we may be striving to live out our call to discipleship in a multiplicity of ways. But having invited God to come into our midst, and allowing God to direct us according to God’s will? We just might find ourselves responding to a call, and to a fullness of life, that we never knew was there.