In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
In our infancy in our faithfulness to Jesus Christ, dear brothers and sisters, we were held under guardianship—a custodian watched over us that we grow up in safety—”that we might be justified,”—which is to say, put in order—“by faith.” The guardian has brought us up that we are formed by faithfulness, taught through faithfulness that we learn faithfulness. But while under the guardian, the Apostle tells us this morning, we are children and “no better than slaves, though we are the owners of all the estate.”
And as we reach our adulthood in the Faith, the Lord says to you and he says to me, “Follow me.” “You have received,” he calls out to me, “preparation in the Faith. You have witnessed my death and Resurrection, you have received the Holy Spirit, you have seen the witness of the Apostles and all the Saints, now Follow me.”
And unlike Peter and Andrew, James and John, I protest, “I like having a guardian to take responsibility for me,” and the Lord replies, “Follow me.” “I need more time to learn while in a safe harbour,” and the Lord replies, “Follow me.” “I have not the skills and abilities which you need,” and the Lord replies, “Follow me.”
“Follow me,” says the Lord, “and I will give you all you need. Follow me and I will complete you—I will heal your soul that you may be a worker in my vineyard, that you may drink my drink, eat the Bread of Heaven, and be more perfectly joined to me.”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been baptised into Christ and put on Christ, we have grown in faithfulness. And having witnessed the Resurrection we too are called by the Lord, “Follow me.” The disciples about whom we are told today got up and immediately followed him. And we, gathered together in the Church two thousand years later in these islands in the Western Ocean, are called to do the same, immediately.
“Follow me by serving the Church, follow me by feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty, follow me by offering all—even your lives—for my sake.”
But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
Let us, not under a guardianship but in complete freedom, follow Christ that we may be inheritors of eternal Life.
That we may offer true praise and glory to our crucified and risen Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no better than a slave, though he is the owner of all the estate; but he is under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. So with us; when we were children, we were slaves to the elemental spirits of the universe. But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
— Galatians 3:23–29, 4:1–5
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