Starting with the scripture:
John 1:35-49 (NIV)
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter[b]).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
In the gospel of John, Jesus calls several fishermen to drop what they are doing and follow him. He offers no explanation of where they are going, or what they will do. He simply says “follow me”.
The call to join Brethren Volunteer Service is not so different from the call Jesus gave to the disciples. Stop what you are doing and follow me. Leave everything behind and come.
I think the disciples probably liked what they were doing before Jesus showed up. They may have been content with their lives. They may have had a background a little like mine. I grew up in Virginia on a beautiful1200 acre farm at the bottom of the Shenandoah Valley. Before I joined BVS I spent the summer working on our farm. The hay blew gently in the breeze, summer thunder storms crept over the mountains from the south and rocked the sky with booms of thunder and the splendor of lightning. At night, the sky is black opening to a vast array of trillions of stars. If it sounds serene and glorious, that’s because it is. Nevertheless, as content as I was with my lifestyle at home, like the disciples, I too got the call.
My call sounded something like this, “Hey Clara, I think it’s time for you to follow me. That’s right, leave your farm, leave your family, even leave your beloved Hokies, and follow me” Although I had been planning for a while to join BVS, I had not yet figured out which project I would be doing. God called me to Elgin, to work in the workcamp office in a very literal sense. His call came on a hot afternoon in early June in the form of a phone call from Becky. Now early June is hay season in Virginia, and the only reason I was able to answer this call was because God had stopped me, helping me to successfully get the tractor and round baler stuck in about a foot of mud, in the middle of the hay field. As I waited for my Dad to come pull me out, I sat on the tractor chatting with Becky and contemplating this calling.
At that point I knew the road might not be glamorous. It’s a bit warmer in Virginia, there are a few more stars in the valley sky. I miss my family and friends, and last night my Hokies played basketball at home in Cassell Coliseum, while I watched on the internet. However, I did indeed stop what I was doing to follow. So Here I am. I have met some new people, made lots of new friends, and learned how the Church of the Brethren runs. Last Sunday I even got to experience worship Puerto Rican style at La Iglesia de Los Hermanos de Castañer. And this afternoon, I even think I may cheer for the Bears!
So what was it that made the disciples leave and follow Jesus? What makes young adults stop what they are doing and join BVS? I think the reason lies at a core of a deep belief in Christ. A belief in the Messiah, the Son of God, and what he has done, and is still doing for the world. It is a belief strong enough to make you give up life, as you know it. To move from the farm to the city, to leave the home and family you so dearly love.
In BVS, as the name entails, we live a life of service… but this service without faith is just good works. Belief in God and his son is what makes BVS relevant and effective. The reason for being in BVS is about service based out of a love of Christ. Later in his gospel, John reveals “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son”. A son that would grow up in this very world. A son who loved us enough to die in our world and leave it forever changed. It is this love we believe in and cherish. It is this love that calls us to live a life of service. A service that allows us to share God’s love and be the face, and the hands, and the feet out in the world.
Like several Church of the Brethren projects before it, the very center of BVS is faith. Dan West knew this when he began Heifer Project. He called his brothers to have Faith, and while he meant Faith the cow in a literal sense, it took a strong belief to embark on a ship filled with cattle and cross the ocean, and to start a project that is still growing. It takes this kind of faith for each of the 85 current BVSers to wake up every day for a year and know that they are doing volunteer service. Unlike most of our peers, we aren’t getting real jobs and making money. We aren’t currently continuing our formal education. Like Jesus’ disciples, we are breaking the societal norm, leaving what we know and serving Christ at the center of everything else. Having faith in Christ allowed the disciples to preach, and heal, and even walk on water. Today it allows us to leave behind what we know and live a year of simplicity and service.
It was faith and love that led the disciples to follow Jesus. It is faith and love that lie at the very core of service. It is faith and love that lie at the very core of being in BVS. And it is the same faith and love that lie at the very core of BEING.
Peace y'all,
Clara
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