When faced with the invitation by Christ to drop everything and following Him, the disciples immediately left everything and follow Him. As humans it is natural to wonder about the future. Will we have what we need? What will the future look like? Unknowns can create anxiety, but when we learn to trust Christ, even the unknowns are blessed. When we trust God, He will always have our back. Learn to trust God and leave anxiety behind.
At that time, as Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed him. And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.
Matthew 4.18-23
I don’t think I could have asked for a better gospel reading today, considering the news of my impending departure and the interactions that I’ve had all this past week. Our community is in the midst of a transition, and I want you to know that I understand there is a lot of anxiousness, there’s a lot of anxiety in the community not knowing what the future holds, and today is the best gospel lesson to put our minds at rest. But before I want to get to the gospel, I want to share a story with you. Many years ago, as I was working as an administrator for the cathedral in Denver, Harry was just one year old. We were on vacation enjoying a family time, and I came home from vacation to work, and I didn’t have a job.
While I was on vacation, the parish council, because of lack of funds in the church, decided that they could no longer afford my position. Now, I didn’t know that, so I came back to work, went to my office, sat down, and the phone rang. “Why are you still there? I thought they got rid of you.” “My key worked in the office this morning, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” About an hour later, another phone call. “What are you doing there?” “I don’t know. My password worked on the computer, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Finally, later that afternoon, the priest says, “Come see me.” And the parish council president is there, and I said, “Look, I’m not an idiot, I’ve got several phone calls today.” And the parish council president explained that the church was running out of money, but they were going to pay me for the rest of the year.
But you see, my brothers and sisters, someone on the parish council let the cat out of the bag too early, they weren’t going to tell me for another couple of months yet. So, that day, the end of July, we found out that we were not going to be working anymore. We were in the middle of building this beautiful house, and I went home to Presvytera… Now keep in mind, those of you who know me, you know that since I was eight years old, I wanted to become a priest, but I kept putting it off. Instead of going to Helena College, I went to the regular university. Then I got married, and Presvytera says, “You’re going to be a priest, when do you want to be a priest?” “Ah, maybe five more years.” I kept putting it off. And then the day came and Presvytera said, “Well…” Two weeks later, we were in Boston.
My brothers and sisters, I was terrified. I had no idea how we were going to make it work. We had no money, a one-year-old child, our house was up for sale, and George and Melissa were heading there the next year, we became friends in Boston. But my brothers and sisters, I share this story with you because God took care of us. I was the one terrified, not God. And by the way, not Presvytera. Presvytera was the one who had moved, I don’t know how many times in her life, she had already been to seminary. So, in these two weeks, our entire life was turned upside down, and God blessed every moment of it. We arrived on campus, my brothers and sisters, not even having a place to live. And by the end of the day, we had an apartment. We spent many times in our last $100 and then something would come, a scholarship, or this or that. God has always taken care of us, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get anxious.
Ten years ago, I received a phone call from the metropolitan, “You are moving to Tarpon Springs.” I was ready to spend my entire life in South Carolina, but the bishop had a need. And the bishop said, “You’re going to Tarpon Springs, you’re going to be there next month.” And then we arrived. And my brothers and sisters, you’ve welcomed us from the very first day. Doesn’t mean we didn’t have our arguments, we’re still having our arguments. But from the moment I arrived 10 years ago, my brothers and sisters, we have become a family, and God always has our back. Five hurricanes. I’ll never forget my first hurricane. I had no idea what to expect. Irma, watching the news. What does the hurricane do? Right around Tarpon Springs, like it has done for over 100 years.
And now today, in just a few weeks, we’re going to be moving on. And I am anxious. Not because I don’t think God is going to take care of us. Anxiety, my brothers and sisters can come in two different ways, and this is what the gospel shows us. When Christ called the disciples, the gospel says they immediately dropped everything and followed him. They were fishermen, they must have thought, well, we’re going to follow him, but how are we going to eat if we’re leaving our boats behind? You see my brothers and sisters, anxiety doesn’t have to cripple us, it’s okay to worry about the future. It’s not okay to panic about the future. When we trust God, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to give us all the answers upfront, it means that when we walk with him, united with him, following him as the disciples did in this morning’s gospel, what does it say?
He went through the cities and healed everyone of their afflictions, all of their illnesses, and that includes our anxiety and our discomfort and our worry. Lately, people have been asking me if we’re happy about the move. My answer my brothers and sisters is this, when you serve God, there is only joy and blessings. So, put your faith in God, follow him. And when the new priest comes, follow him. He may be here one year, 10 years, 100 years, but while together grow in Christ, following our Lord, listening to the teachings of the church, and trust that God has your back. He’s always had mine. And there’s no reason to think that that will end tomorrow or the next day, but it’s up to faith.
Have the faith and trust of the apostles. They left everything immediately and followed Christ in their vulnerability, and in their fear, and in their unknown for the future, and we know just how blessed they were from the moment they followed Christ. This is our calling my brothers and sisters, to trust God and to follow him, and when we follow him, it all makes sense, and it is always blessed. Glory to God for all things.
