We bring what we have to Him.
A few days ago, Ellen and I were walking our dog Leilani when a car with a rather loud exhaust system came speeding past. “Why do people want their cars to be so loud?” my wife asked, to which I responded, “Because they like the attention it brings to them and the world revolves around them.” In other words, it works for them, and they really don’t care if others may not like it. That might seem a bit judgmental on my part, but it does reflect our sinful human nature.
Christianity challenges that with its focus on Jesus and what He thinks, which is why many dismiss Christianity as something for weaklings who need a psychological crutch to help them through life. The whole idea of miracles, the power of (or need for) prayer, reading the Bible, outdated traditions, and spending an unreasonable amount of time in boring worship services, let alone giving money to support organized religion, seems ridiculous… until they notice a person’s life has been dramatically changed since he or she began to follow Jesus, or a family that for generations has followed Jesus and, despite going through great struggles and challenges through the years, still seems to “have their act together” in a way others don’t.
This weekend, one of our readings will be about Saul’s conversion. One wonders if Saul, who approved of stoning Stephen to death and then went on a tirade against followers of Jesus, kept thinking back to how Stephen died and how he prayed that the Lord would not hold this sin against those who were killing him, and how he had peace through it all, even saying that he saw Jesus in heaven. Stephen had something Saul lacked. Yet in anger he refused to investigate any further but insisted that the followers of Jesus needed to be done away with. The world revolved around him and what he thought to be truth instead of around the Lord, even though Saul thought he was doing the Lord’s work in persecuting Christians.
But the Lord’s work is to save sinners. Jesus came to Saul, just like He continues to come to you and me. But then what? In this weekend’s Gospel reading, we’ll hear about the disciples having a miraculous catch of fish and Jesus telling them to bring the fish to Him. When it comes down to it, that’s what He wants from you and me – that we bring what we have to Him, surrendering any pretensions and heartily praying, “I’m Yours.” And what a marvelous Lord who doesn’t leave us where we are but changes us so that we can truly know the joy of His salvation and the wonder of following Him through this life as we look forward to the joy of the Father’s House.