†
Imagine Jesus choosing disciples as if he was forming his cabinet.
“Paul … you used to say nasty things about me, but you wised up and changed your mind. I’ll make you vice president!
“Peter, Andrew, James, John … you’re fishermen. You know how to stretch the truth. Come and join my administration!
“Matthew … you’re a tax collector, right? You can game the system and cheat regular folks. You’re in, too!
“Simon the Zealot … you can help me whip up my supporters into an angry mob. Have I got a job for you!
“Judas … something tells me you’re not absolutely loyal. But a turn-coat will make me into a martyr.
“Let’s see … The last thing we need is a deficiency expert … where’s that really rich guy I love who’s too greedy to get into heaven.”
It turns out that Jesus did call just such people to follow him – a hater, four fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, a turn coat, and a really rich guy who wanted to have it all.
Jesus called them not because of who they were, but despite of who they were. Jesus saw within them, their professions and their personalities, the possibility of conversion; that these would-be disciples would be useful, not for amassing and consolidating political power – the kingdom of a despot; but rather for inaugurating the Kingdom of God through the spreading of the subversive message of the gospel: God’s good news of justice and inclusion and mercy and compassion and forgiveness and peace and love.
To do this, these disciples would have to listen to Jesus, to learn from him, and to test out the increasing opportunities that he gave them to become leaders.
To be sure, it took them some time. Paul could be arrogant to a fault. Peter often stuck his foot in his mouth. Power-hungry James and John conspired for a promotion. Judas did turn traitor and didn’t give Jesus the chance to forgive him and welcome him back.
The only one who didn’t join Jesus was the really rich guy who wanted to inherit heaven: yet one more acquisition to his already overstuffed portfolio.
Jesus chose this odd lot, knowing that the work of spreading his gospel would often be hard. The Lord said to Isaiah, a far earlier disciple, that the people entrusted to him would be dull-minded, hard-of-hearing, short-sighted, and resistant to conversion – they would follow the fake promises of their false gods, even as their nation was falling apart all around them.
It was no different in Jesus’s day, and it has been the story of the past two thousand years – and often even the Church went astray and sought to amass and exercise power in the manner of the earthly governments, choosing to emulate rather than to stand against.
When this happened, the Lord raised up reforming disciples: men and women who renewed the Church in her mission.
Sadly, it is no different in our day. We can be reluctant to listen, slow to learn, and unready to lead. Like the really rich guy whom Jesus loved, we struggle to sacrifice for the good of the gospel.
And yet … Jesus still calls us; Jesus chooses us, this odd lot to listen, to learn, and to lead in these rocky times.
Jesus calls and chooses us, you and me, because he sees something in us that he can work with, if we will but accept his offer of conversion of heart and of life and follow.
My beloved in Christ, trust that Jesus sees something useful in you. What is it?
If his answer doesn’t readily come to mind, take time in prayer and ask him. And be patient and observant as you wait for his reply. He is building a kingdom, not a cabinet, and he loves you and wants to use you for the good. Let him.
†
Fr. Daniel S.J. Scheid, SCP
Fifth after the Epiphany – February 9, 2025
All Saints’ Episcopal Church, San Francisco
“Building a Kingdom, not a Cabinet”
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