January 14
Finding God in the Calling of the Disciples through Contemplation
Matt. 4:18-22 ESV
18 While walking 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.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 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.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Simon, Andrew, James and John spend their days engaged in an occupation common in that area–fishing. A boat from about the first century A.D. was found in the Sea of Galilee in 1986. Approximately 27 feet long and 8 feet wide it could hold about 15 people. It’s not hard to imagine a similar boat being the “office” for this pair of brothers. From it a circular net was cast, 20–25 feet in diameter with lead sinkers attached to the outer edge. It enveloped fish as it sank.
If a boat is their office, the “Sea of Galilee” is their high rise. Elsewhere in Matthew called simply “the sea” and in Luke called the “lake,” the Sea of Galilee was about 13 miles long and 7 miles wide. The fishing industry it fed was often prosperous.
Yet Jesus calls these four to abandon their casting-career and follow him (“follow me” is literally “come behind me” and suggests the disciples of a Rabbi who followed him around to absorb his teaching and way of life). Jesus calls his first disciples not only to listen and learn, but to take an active part as “fishers of men.” Jeremiah had spoken of fishing for men in terms of catching them for judgment (Jer. 16:16). Jesus’ “fishermen” will save people from judgment. By adding “immediately” mentioning the boat and the father of James and John, Matthew draws our attention to the unreserved nature by which these disciples answered the call.
Today we seek to find God in all things by finding him in this story through contemplation. We strive to let this story become our story and, through it, become more aware of how God may be acting and speaking into our lives.
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Find a still and quiet place where you may have limited interruptions for ten to fifteen minutes. Keep a Bible and/or journal handy.
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Begin in your usual way.
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Ask God to help you see what he’s doing in your life through this text.
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Read the text slowly and thoughtfully. Like a metal detector hovering over sand on a beach and hoping to detect a piece of metal, let your heart hover over these words in the story. Keep reading the story slowly, passing your heart over each word, until one of those words is suddenly attracted to your heart like metal to the detector. Write that word or phrase down.
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Reflect on the word or phrase that has caught your heart’s attention. Interrogate it like a detective interrogating a suspect. Trusting that this word or phrase is something God wants to share with you this day, ask “Why?” What does God know about your life at this very moment that would lead him to send you this word or phrase? Try to summarize your answer in a sentence or two.
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Respond in silent or verbal prayer to God based on what you’ve heard. Has this word or phrase given you joy? Thank God for it! Has it caused sorrow and regret? Express this to God? Has it led you to resolve some action on God’s behalf or on behalf of someone else? Make that commitment to God.
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Rest for a moment or two in silence, simply enjoying the presence of this God who has chosen to share this word/phrase with you today.
January 15
Finding God in the Calling of the Disciples through Meditation
Matt. 4:18-22 ESV
18 While walking 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.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 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.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Today we strive to pay attention to God by paying attention to what we see, hear, taste, touch and smell in the story recorded by Matthew. God made you a being with a body. Use those senses in an imaginative way to experience this text and to experience the God of this text.
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Begin in your usual way.
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Read the text slowly and silently.
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Try to imagine things such as the following:
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The sound of walking on the shore.
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The feel of the sand under your feet.
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The smell of the water.
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The sensation of the wind coming of the lake.
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The sounds of birds or other creatures.
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The sounds of fishermen at work.
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The taste of fish.
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The feel of the ropes of the fishing nets and the wood of the fishing boats.
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The sight of Jesus approaching the boats and the men within them.
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The sound of the conversation and the invitation of Jesus.
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Strive to enter into the world pictured in this story and dwell there for a few moments.
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What sight, sound, smell, taste, or touch catches your attention? Write it down. Take note of it.
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Lift it up to God. What gift is God giving you in this moment through it? What might he be trying to say to you in it? Is there a circumstance in your life today which is in need of what you are experiencing in this text?
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Spend a moment in prayer to God, talking to him about all of this. Give him thanks for the way you’ve encountered him in this story.
January 16
Finding God in the Calling of the Disciples through the Examen.
Matt. 4:18-22 ESV
18 While walking 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.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 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.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Today we seek to grow in our awareness of God’s activity in our lives by using this story to guide an Examen of the previous day. Let’s use Jesus’ invitation “follow me” as a reference point. This story is an invitation to move in Jesus’ direction, to discern the invitation of Jesus to do something or be someone. It creates a chance for us to do an Examen on the previous half day or full day regarding how well we did or did not answer Jesus’ call to “follow me.” Mark Thibodeaux, in his Reimagining the Ignatian Examen, provides a way of conducting such an Examen:
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“I begin in my usual way.
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I spend a few moments in gratitude, thanking God for one or two of the blessings, big and small, that I’ve received today.
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I ask God to reveal some decision I need to make. It could be a small decision I’ll be making shortly— for example, how to handle a tricky situation; whether to say yes or no to an invitation; or what to say to someone asking my advice. Or it could be a big decision that is more long-term: a career choice; initiating a significant change in a relationship; making an important commitment. I ask God to lay out the options before me.
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I ask God to show me how the factors related to this decision have affected my life in the recent past. I ask God to show me if leaning toward one or another direction has led to greater faith, hope, and love in my life. Has one direction led me closer to God? Has one direction seemed to lead me to a peace that could come only from God?
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I ask God to reveal how this decision might affect the people involved. Will it help them or hurt them? If it will hurt them, is there some higher good that will come from it that would make it worth the hurt?
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I ask God to show me my own emotions regarding this decision, particularly any emotions I’ve not yet acknowledged. For each strong emotion, I ask God to reveal the source of the emotion. Is it coming from a good spirit or a bad spirit within me? In other words, is this emotion coming from the part of me that is in sync with God or from the part of me that is running from or opposing God?
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I surrender this whole matter to God, saying, ‘Thy will be done, O Lord.’ I ask God to give me a sense of peace about the whole thing, right now. I ask him to take me to the place in my heart that is beyond my emotions so that I may see the situation from a more objective point of view.
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If I feel called to make a decision right now, I place that decision before God and ask him to make good of it, even if it is a mistake. If I am called to continue discerning for a while longer, I ask God for the patience to sit and wait for his call. If it is a big decision, I take note of the direction in which God seems to be leading me at this moment and I note whether or not this seems to be the way God has been nudging me for a while now.”
January 17
Finding God in the Calling of the Disciples through Letter-Writing.
Matt. 4:18-22 ESV
18 While walking 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.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 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.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
We complete our four-day journey in this story by writing a letter to God/from God. Our goal in doing this is to attend once more to the ever-present God and to invite him to use this text to reveal more of himself to us.
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In a quiet place, review any memories or notes from the previous three days you’ve spent reflecting on this story.
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In this story, Jesus takes the initiative. Invite him to do so once again. Write a letter from Jesus to yourself. Begin Jesus’ letter in this way, “Follow me ______(insert your name), and I will make you ________________ (fill in the blank).” Write a paragraph or two, a few sentences, in which you imagine Jesus writing this invitation specifically to you. What is something specific Jesus is inviting you to do today or this week?
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Now, write back to Jesus. How will you answer his invitation?
- Take a moment to thank Jesus for this time with him.
