Richard Kuns

Jesus calls us; o’er the tumult of our life’s wild, restless sea, day by day his clear voice soundeth, saying “Christian, follow me” (The Hymnal, 1982, 549, 550) 

As I grow older and older it is a time of reckoning with a body that no longer functions as well as in years past.  But there is a gift! I can look back and notice God’s presence in my life I did not recognize or appreciate during the journey. 

One of those gifts I discovered is the memory of hymns sung in church as I grew up in a small, farming community in Indiana.  I recalled one of those hymns today as I read the appointed gospel reading (Matthew 9:9-13) that shares the brief encounter of Jesus with a Jewish tax collector employed by Rome.  His name is Matthew.  The hymn is “Jesus Calls Us”. 

I do not remember the content or text of any of the sermons preached in those early years, except I thought them excessively long and sometimes downright frightening.  The threat of hellfire and damnation is scary.  But I often remember hymns that I learned and sang as a child growing up in that small Brethren Church.  It is more than nostalgia. It is a memory of musical notes and words deeply imbedded in my heart that have the power to revive, nourish and inspire me even now.  It is the power of music when words fade from memory. 

Today the Daily Office celebrates Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.  The gospels record little about Matthew except his call by Jesus and his inclusion in the list of disciples.  Tradition associates his name with the first gospel in the New Testament, but the gospel itself leaves no trace of its authorship.

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Luke (Luke 5:27-28) records this by saying:  And he got up, left everything, and followed him. 

This calling is reminiscent of Jesus call to Peter and his brother Andrew (Matthew 4:18-20).  They were fishing and they left the boat and nets immediately to follow Jesus.  They heard the compelling voice of Jesus and they left everything behind and followed.

Both accounts remind me of the Hebrew scripture when God’s voice instructs Abram to get up and go to a land he neither knew or how to find. (Genesis 12:1). There was something in the voice that compelled him to get up and go.  Thus begins the ancient story of God’s people and salvation.  It is Israel’s story.  It is also Matthew’s story.  It is Peter and Andrew’s story.  It is Paul’s story. It is my story.  It can be your story.  There is the voice and the music but first there must be the quiet mind, heart, and soul. Otherwise, we cannot hear either the voice or the music.

If you remember the tune, quietly sing this hymn.  If not, read the words aloud and let the lyrics speak to you now.  The memory of it may just come back to you when you least expect it.

1 Jesus calls us o'er the tumult
of our life's wild, restless sea;
day by day his sweet voice soundeth,
saying "Christian, follow me."

2 As, of old, apostles heard it
by the Galilean lake,
turned from home and toil and kindred,
leaving all for his dear sake.

3 Jesus calls us from the worship
of the vain world's golden store,
from each idol that would keep us,
saying "Christian, love me more."

4 In our joys and in our sorrows,
days of toil and hours of ease,
still he calls, in cares and pleasures,
"Christian, love me more than these."

5 Jesus calls us; by thy mercies,
Savior, may we hear thy call,
give our hearts to thine obedience,
serve and love thee best of all.

(Cecil Frances Alexander in 1852)

“We sing to overcome our hesitation and our reluctance; we are led by these lyrics to the edge of readiness alongside [Abraham, Peter, Andrew, Matthew and Paul].”  (Walter Brueggemann, A Glad Obedience: Why and What We Sing, p. 110)

Shalom - Richard Kuns