A few weeks ago the junior high Sunday School class I help teach had a lesson on the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. And out of all the stories that we read, it was the story of Jesus calling his first disciples that stuck out to most of us. How could Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John just get up and leave everything behind to follow Jesus? Did they even know anything about him? Stranger danger is something that is taught to us from little on up—“never talk to strangers,” “don’t accept candy from a stranger,” “never get a ride from a stranger,” and so forth. We wondered how we might react today if a stranger came up to us and told us to leave everything behind and come follow him or her? Would we leave everything behind and follow them, or would we just give them a strange look and say “thanks, but no thanks,” while slowly backing away?

Trust is a big issue in our society today. It seems hardly a day goes by now without there being some news report about how people don’t know if they can trust the police force any more. The police are supposed to be the ones protecting us, and yet they seem to be the ones killing us. Cases like Michael Ferguson aren’t supposed to happen. Yet these types of cases seem to be happening more frequently now, at least if you listen to the way the media portrays it. Within the Mennonite Church, we are struggling to know how to approach the theology of John Howard Yoder, a man once held in high esteem, but whose inappropriate conduct with women was hidden from the light by officials for many years. Is his theology still something to be trusted if he himself wasn’t very trustworthy? Can we trust our church leaders, if they’re willing to hide the misconduct of one person just because he’s written several books on Mennonite theology? And if we can’t trust our church leaders, and we can’t trust the police, then who can we trust? Just ourselves?

What a lonely and frightening existence we would lead if we thought that we could only trust ourselves!

Walter Emerson once said, “We’re never so vulnerable than when we trust someone—but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, than neither can we find love or joy.”

Perhaps the question we should be asking isn’t “Who can we trust?” but rather, “Why do we choose to trust some people and not others? What is it about them that makes us believe that they are trustworthy?”

In the story of Jonah, the Ninevites choose to trust the warnings of this random stranger who has come to their city. They repent of their evil ways, trusting that God will not destroy them if they make an honest effort to turn their lives around. Jonah was only with the Ninevites for a few days, but there must have been something about him that made the people feel like they could trust him, and, ultimately, trust God.

And in the story of Jesus calling his first disciples, Jesus could have chosen to trust no one other than himself and God, but he didn’t. Instead, when he calls his first, and then later subsequent disciples, he extends an invitation of trust. “Come and follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men.” I believe you are honest, reliable people who will be effective teachers and preachers with some training.

Perhaps Simon Peter and Andrew, and then James and John saw or sensed something in Jesus when he called out to them. Something that made them feel like they could trust him. Maybe they felt they could trust him because he trusted them. Or perhaps they were curious, having heard the stories about a man baptized by John the Baptist who was proclaiming throughout Galilee that the kingdom of God had come. But whatever the reason was, those four men put their trust in Jesus. They did the unthinkable, leaving their families and livelihoods behind, trusting that what they were giving up was worth what they would gain by following Jesus. For disloyalty to one’s family in those days was a capital offense, most often resulting in expulsion from one’s community.

One of the most remarkable things about this story, though, isn’t simply the fact that Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John all left everything behind to follow a man they hardly knew, but the speed with which these events took place. It took days, possibly even weeks, for God to convince Jonah to go to Ninevah and preach, but according to Mark’s gospel, it took only moments for the disciples to decide to follow Jesus. “And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” “And immediately he called to them… and they got out of the boat and followed him.” Immediately. No indication of any inner debates or hesitation. They just get up and go as soon as Jesus calls them.

What is it about Jesus that makes those first disciples trust him so much that they just get up and leave everything behind without so much as a moment of hesitation? Upon closer study of the disciples’ life stories, we find that, despite what it may seem like initially when we read Mark’s account, John indicates that at least two of the first disciples had encountered Jesus previously. Listen to this story from John 1: 35 – 42, which takes place sometime during the year before Jesus calls his disciples. “³⁵ The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?”³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹ He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). ⁴² He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).”

So Andrew had been told by someone he trusted, John the Baptist, that Jesus was the Christ. Andrew in turn told his brother Simon Peter, who trusted that what he said was true. We don’t know as much about James and John, but maybe they knew Andrew and Simon Peter, and thought them to be trustworthy people, or maybe they had heard Jesus preaching during the time leading up their being called. Whatever the case was, though, one of the most amazing parts of the story remains the same: These four men immediately left everything and everyone behind in order to follow Jesus.

The other amazing part of this story is that Jesus could have had a solo ministry. But instead he chose to put his trust in a chosen few, so that he wouldn’t have to go on his journey alone. And when he extended his trust to those he called, they responded by putting their trust in him. The journey they went on wasn’t easy by any means, but it was made easier because Jesus and his disciples had a community that helped share each other’s burdens as well as each other’s joys.

In Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality, author Michael Spencer says that “Jesus-shaped spirituality hears Jesus say ‘believe and repent,’ but the call that resonates most closely in the heart of a disciple is ‘follow me.’ The command to follow requires that we take a daily journey in the company of other students. It demands that we be lifelong learners and that we commit to constant growth in spiritual maturity. Discipleship is a call to me, but it is a journey of ‘we.’”

“Discipleship is a call to me, but it is a journey of ‘we.’” If discipleship is a journey of we, then we also must realize that discipleship is a journey that requires trust. Trust in God, trust in others, and trust in ourselves. Our faith communities must be safe places where we know we can trust each other. It’s simultaneously sad and relieving to know that we live in a day and age where most churches now require background checks for those who work with children and youth. Sad, because it means that there have been people in the past who haven’t been trustworthy, and now we have to verify how trustworthy everyone else is. But it’s also relieving, knowing that we care about the safety of the youngest members of our communities. I have heard many accounts of adults who were abused by members of their faith communities, and how this deeply impacted their faith. Some may still believe in God, but they struggle to connect with other people within their churches, if they go to church at all. It’s enlivening and encouraging to know that by taking steps to ensure that our children grow up knowing their faith communities are safe spaces/places, they will be more likely to connect with and trust members of faith communities in whatever area they may end up in.

I can’t say definitively why the Ninevites chose to trust Jonah, or why Andrew, Simon Peter, James, and John chose to trust Jesus, but I think maybe it was because they could sense God in them. The Ninevites may have been a little skeptical of Jonah at first, but it only took a few days for them to trust him and change their behavior. The disciples may have been a little apprehensive about leaving everyone and everything behind, but they trusted Jesus enough to leave when he called them. If God is the one who sent Jonah and Jesus, then it seems to me that God’s presence could somehow be sensed by others around them.

So in all this, we are left with several questions: Can others sense God in us? Do we trust God enough to immediately leave everyone and everything behind if and when God asks us to?