Answering The Call

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. – Matthew 9:9.

So this guy you’ve never known tells you to drop everything and join his group. That just doesn’t happen in the real world we tell ourselves. People standing on the street corner telling us to “follow them” tend to make us walk a little faster to get out of their sight.

But Jesus was not an ordinary man on the street corner. And somehow, Matthew knew that, or at least sensed that. He dropped what he was doing and immediately began to follow Jesus.

I’m afraid my walk with Jesus does not have such a clear-cut start.

I’ve been remembering the story of my call, as I prepare for an interview with the Mid Texas Conference Board of Ministry. I’ve completed 30 mostly online courses over the past few years, and now I am a candidate for Ordination as an Elder in the Global Methodist Church.

It’s a humbling experience. While I believe I am called to this position, it still has given me cause to review how I got here.

The first time someone told me I was “called” was after a three-day spiritual retreat about 25 years ago. At that point I wasn’t ready to become a pastor, but I did grow further in my faith by serving the church and serving God in other capacity.

Seven years ago it wasn’t a direct call from Jesus that said God needs you. But it was, I believe, a call the Holy Spirit placed in the heart of my pastor at the time, the Rev. Tom Robbins.

So, I prayed, I talked for days with my wife, and I talked with other Christian people whom I respected, and this time I said, “yes.”

It set off a series of events that, excuse the cliched words: changed my life forever.

Back then the alternative route to being a Methodist pastor was through something called Local Pastor School. (Alternative to completing a Masters in Divinity). In that School I met another amazing pastor who has since become a friend, Mike Kerzee. Mike’s first job at Local Pastor School was to scare the pants off uncertain candidates who weren’t there for the right reasons.

While Mike has since denied that it was true that he was impressive to the point of being intimidating, but I didn’t listen.

Mike has now generously agreed to be my mentor through the final steps of my journey to ordination.

Another gracious and kind leader/teacher is Rankin Koch. A retired pastor, Rankin walked along side me for more than two years and was with me when I was ordained Deacon in 2024,

When I was first called pastor I explained to folks that I was not a real pastor. Coming out of a healthcare career I used the analogy of a Physician Assistant and not a Neurosurgeon.

But now I am truly aware that my life, my job, and yes, my call, is to follow Jesus. He’s sent lots of folks into my life for years telling me to “follow” and so, I have taken up that obligation with great joy.

There’s no easy way to explain how hard it is to be a pastor. But if you think about it, Jesus never promised us an easy route, he promised us that in the end we will be with him forever.

The apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11.)

But, my advice is a bit different. Don’t follow me. My route to faith, belief and trust in God has been a lifelong journey. So, I follow Jesus every day, and I urge you to follow him too.