Read Matthew 4:18-22
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. –Matthew 4:18-20
Ted Lasso is one of the most popular TV shows of recent years. If you’ve never seen the show, it centers on a British football club (aka soccer), whose owner wants the team to fail. It’s kind of a modern take on the old classic movie Major League, except in reverse. In Major League, the owner assembles the most incompetent, washed-up, and inexperienced roster of misfits available. The manager has to figure out how to make all those spare parts fit together. In Ted Lasso, it’s not the players who are incompetent, but the coach. Ted has been a successful football coach in America, but he knows absolutely nothing about the sport of soccer.
Ted does have a singular gift, though. He is able to bring out the best in those around him. He spots gifts in others that they didn’t know they have, and he encourages his team to work together to honor each other's gifts. When Ted first meets his team, he boils his message down to a single word: Believe. He writes that single word on a piece of paper and tapes it over his door, literally above the threshold. (Not unlike the way other teams place important messages over the threshold when they take the field, like Notre Dame’s “Play like a champion today.”) The whole journey of Ted Lasso is about people learning to believe in themselves and in each other.
When Jesus first met his disciples along the Sea of Galilee, they were not particularly impressive. In fact, they were common fishermen. Future disciples would be just as misfit and unexpected. He invited a tax collector and a Zealot. He was followed by women who had been bound by evil spirits. Jesus saw potential in each of these individuals. He knew that they had the capacity to turn the world upside down. The trick was, they had to believe.
Throughout their time together, Jesus often rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. When they were afraid for their lives in the midst of the storm on Galilee. When they despaired that they’d never have enough food to feed the masses who followed Jesus into the wilderness. When they argued about who was greatest, when they shooed children away from him, when they grumbled about the woman who anointed Jesus. The disciples had a lot to learn; they were nowhere near ready to fish for people when Jesus found them. However, Jesus promised them that if they would follow, he would teach them what they needed to know.
Even though their faith was not perfect, it was sincere. When Jesus called them, they believed in him enough to drop everything else. They “immediately” dropped their nets and left their homes, their families, their livelihood. They left behind a life that was familiar, in order to pursue a life that would be more challenging and rewarding than they could ever imagine. They believed enough to take the all-important first step.
Martin Luther King is sometimes paraphrased as saying, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” Guidance often comes as just enough light for the next step rather than a panoramic view of the future. Sometimes we don’t need to know where the whole journey will lead. We just need enough faith to believe in Jesus and to keep following him. After all, he has placed great faith in us in calling us to become his disciples, which tells us that He sees something within us even greater than we can imagine.
My faith is not perfect, O God; I often struggle to believe. Please make clear for me the next step that I must take on my journey with You, and give me courage to give myself fully to Your call. I trust You to lead the way. Amen.
**If you want to try something new, make your own “Believe” sign and place it over the threshold of a doorway in your home or office. Pay attention to how that consistent message encourages you over the coming week!