Advent2025 Waiting With Matthew 22

Day 22: Waiting for the Call. Today we reflect on Matthew 4:19 – “And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’” Join us this Advent as we sit with the waiting in the first 5 chapters of Matthew's Gospel.

Transcript

Hello friends.

This is Mark Gladman,

Also known as Brother Frederick James,

Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks,

Welcoming you to day 22 of Advent 2025,

Waiting with Matthew.

And as we begin today,

Our focus verse will be Matthew chapter 4,

Verse 19.

And Jesus said to them,

Follow me and I will make you fish for people.

So I invite you just to stop and to still yourself,

To prepare your ears,

Your mind and your heart to hear,

Consider and receive the word that the Spirit might breathe into and through you today.

There's a moment in the Gospels that's as quiet as it is world changing,

A moment that's so ordinary you almost miss it.

And yet it's the first spark of the movement that will reshape human history.

Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee,

No crowds,

No miracles,

No preaching,

Just a shoreline,

Just the soft rush of water and just two brothers at their work,

Casting,

Mending,

Repeating the familiar rhythm of their lives.

And he says to them,

Follow me.

That's it.

No explanation,

No job description,

No promise that will be safe or comfortable or successful,

Just an invitation spoken into an ordinary day.

And this is important because the call of Jesus doesn't seem to interrupt extraordinary moments,

It interrupts the ordinary ones.

Have you noticed that?

It doesn't descend from mountaintops onto our achievements,

It arrives in the everyday,

The repetitive,

The dull,

The places where we think nothing new could possibly happen.

Advent is a season of waiting for this kind of interruption,

Not the loud and not the dramatic,

But a quiet voice,

One that emerges inside the familiar patterns from our lives and simply says,

Come,

Follow me.

Notice also the sequence.

Jesus doesn't first explain the kingdom,

He doesn't teach the Sermon on the Mount,

He doesn't reveal the cross or resurrection,

He simply calls.

The clarity comes later,

The understanding,

The transformation,

It all comes later.

The call comes first.

And Advent's a season that trains us not to demand clarity before we move,

But to trust the one who calls.

I mean,

How many times have you prayed,

I prayed,

Lord,

Show me where this is going.

But Jesus says,

Trust me and trust me enough to take the next step,

Even if the destination is still hidden.

In that sense,

Discipleship is always an Advent posture.

A posture of stepping forward before we have all the answers,

Of saying yes in the dim light of dawn,

Of allowing God to draw us into a future that we don't yet see.

When Jesus calls the first disciples,

Notice that he doesn't call them to do something.

He calls them to be with him.

Before the mission,

Before the ministry,

Before the miracles,

There is simply proximity.

Follow me.

Follow me means stay close,

Walk with me,

Learn my rhythm,

Watch how I move,

Let my life shape shape your life.

The heart of discipleship isn't the task,

But the togetherness.

This is where Advent speaks most tenderly.

Advent whispers,

You're not called primarily to perform for God,

You're called to walk with God.

And especially in Advent,

Which leading up to Christmas,

It's a season which is defined by frenzy,

But Advent dares to suggest that the true call is to draw near,

To slow down,

To listen more deeply,

And to return to the simple companionship of Christ.

Before God wants your accomplishment,

God wants your presence.

But of course,

Jesus continues,

Follow me,

He says,

And I will make you fish for people.

And notice the grammar,

It's not follow me and you will become,

Or follow me and you must become,

It's follow me and I will make you.

Friend,

The transformation is God's work,

The shaping,

The forming,

The stretching of the heart.

It's not something we engineer by effort or ambition.

We don't make ourselves disciples,

We are made into disciples by staying close to Jesus long enough that his way becomes ours.

Advent reminds us of this gentle truth,

Transformation is not accomplished,

My friend,

It is received.

The journey shapes us,

Grace shapes us,

The presence of Christ beside us shapes us,

Your job,

Your job is to follow.

God's job is to form you into the person you could never become on your own.

And when Jesus says fish for people,

He's not telling the disciples to switch careers,

He's telling them that their calling will be reoriented,

Not erased,

But redirected.

He takes the ordinary skill they already have and he gives it a kingdom purpose.

Friend,

God does not discard your past,

God retains it.

What you've learned,

What you've endured,

What you know how to do,

These become the raw materials for grace.

Advent is a season where God reshapes the familiar,

Turning the ordinary into the holy,

Turning the everyday into the doorway of purpose,

Turning your life into a vessel of blessing.

To fish for people isn't to recruit,

It's not to persuade,

It's to draw people gently towards the source of life,

The same way a fisher draws a net towards the boat,

Patiently,

Without forcing and without fear.

It's to live in such a way that others sense the presence of God through you.

Without ever being pushed or pressured.

It's the vocation of tenderness,

The vocation of openness,

The vocation of availability,

And it begins when we hear the call,

Follow me.

And that waiting for the call of God,

It's not passive waiting,

As we learn almost every Advent,

But waiting for the call of God is a way of listening.

It's quiet but not empty,

It's still but it's not stagnant.

Advent waiting is the readiness to be interrupted,

The attentiveness to notice Christ passing by the shoreline of your day and the willingness to be startled by grace in the midst of your daily routine.

And sometimes,

Sometimes the call comes as a whisper of conscience,

Sometimes it's a tug of compassion,

Sometimes as an unexpected invitation,

Sometimes a gentle unrest that says you're made for something deeper.

Sometimes the call comes through fatigue,

A holy exhaustion that's inviting you to live differently.

Sometimes the call comes through joy,

A sudden knowing that this,

This is what you were made for.

But always,

The call begins with Christ drawing near and your response begins with a simple,

Quiet,

Yes.

Holding those things,

I invite you to take a deep breath in and out.

Take a deep breath in and out.

Imagine for a moment,

Jesus walking along the shoreline of your life today.

Walking towards your work,

Your worries,

Your longing,

Your unfinished places.

Hear him say to you,

Not as a command,

But as an invitation,

Follow me.

And as you hear that voice,

What rises in you?

What stirs?

What softens?

What resists?

Hold it gently for a moment.

You are in Advent and nothing needs to be rushed.

And as you hold that,

I invite you to take another deep breath in and out.

And as we pray together,

Jesus who calls,

You walk into the ordinary hours of our days and speak words that awaken something deeper.

You call us not because we're ready,

But because you are near.

Teach us to hear your voice.

Teach us to trust the next step,

Even when the road ahead isn't clear.

Teach us to follow you with simplicity and courage.

Shape us as you will.

Form us in your company.

Let our loves become a quiet invitation for others to find their way to you.

In this Advent waiting,

Let us be ready,

Not for certainty,

But for your call.

Amen.

So my friend,

As we prepare to go into our day,

May you hear Christ's quiet invitation in the ordinary moments of your day.

May you have courage to take the next step,

Even without full clarity,

And may you be formed gently and beautifully into someone who carries the light of Christ into the world.

And may grace,

Peace and love of that Christ and the joy that resounds in that call be with you and go with you.

This day and every day.

Amen.

So until tomorrow my friends,

God's grace and peace be with you.

Bye for now.

Reviews

Thank you for this deeper look at Jesus's call. I pray to say, "yes." 🙏💝

Wonderful. Thank you and Blessings 🕊️🌟

I really enjoyed this one and would love a transcript, if possible. Thank. Grace, peace, joy, love & more to you.

I loved this reflection about listening for God’s calling me in the ordinariness of my life. Thank you 🙏🏼

I pray we are made into disciples by following and trusting our Lord🙏🏻
Thank you for bringing the scripture to life for us