Many people warn about answering phone calls from unknown numbers. Everybody is a little skeptical about the person on the other end of the line, and probably for good reason. It seems like somebody’s always trying to trick us or sell us something or waste our time. But how do we know when to answer, when to listen and when to follow instructions?
We hear in the readings for the second Sunday in Ordinary Time that it is important to pay attention, listen and then discern whether or not to follow. As Samuel is going through his training, he hears the voice calling him, but he thinks it’s Eli. I’m not sure how you enjoy being awakened out of a sound sleep, but it seems like Eli didn’t like it at all. He kept telling Samuel to go back to sleep, but the voice that Samuel was hearing wouldn’t give up. Eli becomes the source of wisdom for Samuel and directed him into a conversation with God.
Sometimes we are led to others through the testimony or good word of someone we trust. When Andrew finds his brother Simon and tells him that they have found the Messiah, Simon follows him to meet Jesus. Jesus continued to use the same style of calling and inviting that He did with those first disciples throughout His ministry. He allows someone to encounter Him, and then He counts on the fact that they will pass that word on to others. Isn’t that how spreading the good news has always happened?
We will spend a very short amount of time in what the Church calls Ordinary Time; only until Lent begins on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 14 this year). During that Ordinary Time, we’re given the challenge of carrying the Christmas message into our ordinary lives. Even though most of the Christmas decorations are put away and we have moved past the holidays, we are meant to carry the mystery of the Incarnation with our actions. Does it make a difference to us, day by day, that Jesus was born, lived and died as a human being and was raised up into glory? Have you let that truth impact how you live your daily life?
The Scriptures this weekend are telling us that our attentiveness is crucial if we are going to let the birth of Jesus affect our lives. Just like Samuel and Andrew, we need to discern the voices that we’re hearing and the invitation that we receive. Will these invitations lead us to deeper and more holy lives? If they will, then we should certainly follow them. Do we trust the testimony of the person who is inviting us to follow them? If we do, then we should follow.
Calls to discipleship and a closer walk with Jesus are seldom about convenience and predictability. If that is what we’re looking for, we are probably following the wrong Messiah. Jesus’ invitations will probably be somewhat scary, which demand a lot of trust and have a certain aspect of sacrifice for the sake of another connected to it. Do you notice those are the invitations we usually run away from as fast as we can? Most of us prefer predictability and convenience and steer away from anything or anyone who asks anything of us, unless we’re getting something out of it.
Ordinary Time is our time for growing daily and choosing to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The short amount of time that we have before Lent can be the path that leads us into a clear direction toward Easter. What will we choose to do with these ordinary days ahead of us?
Father Wester is pastor of All Saints Parish in St. Peters.