July 12, 2015
Follow Me
I had a dog named Kentucky. I rescued him from a shelter in a hollow in the
hills of Western Kentucky. When, I drove him back to Cincinnati that day, it was
with a skinny Border Collie pressing up against my side tighter than the bark on
the tree. He was a pitiful sight, having broken most his teeth trying to chew out of
a chain-linked fence. But now, he’d won the jackpot: a ride inside the pickup with
a guy that smelled like horse manure and was missing a tooth just like him.
Kentucky was a good companion and we lived in lots of different places:
Cincinnati, Versailles, Georgetown, Quitaque, Childress and Amarillo. I should
have named him Vagabond. It’s no wonder he never knew where his home was.
This could explain Kentucky’s bad habit of never came when called. That dog was
always running off! So I was relieved when we moved to Texas. Here on the plains,
if he ran off, I’d be able to spot him no matter how far he ran, for at least two
weeks.
Now, mind you, Kentucky loved his home. He had no reason to escape. It’s
just that he tended to get overly excited. When he’d run off and I’d take off
running after him, he’d stop a moment, look back over his shoulder and wag his
tail as if to say, “Golly, you’re coming along! That’s great! Let’s go!” And he’d turn
and run even faster.
I think of Kentucky’s enthusiasm when I read the stories of Jesus calling his
apostles. “Come, follow me,” he said. And they did. Leaving fishing nets tangled on
the docks and boats tied to the moorings. In the early days, they must have been
excited as young pups at the sight of the crowds and the healings and the all the
places they traveled.
But there would soon there would come a second call and the second one
came with a leash. For Peter, it took place after the Resurrection, on the shore of
the lake where it all began. Jesus turns to Peter and says, “When you are old, they
tie a belt around you and lead you where you’d rather not go.”
The gospel writer adds that this was to indicate the martyrdom by which
Peter would glorify God. “Follow me,” said the Lord.
And Peter did.
We admire the apostles for responding to the Lord’s call at the beginning of
the story. And we admire them all the more when they respond Yes at the end.