Across the Pastor’s Desk by Josh Enderson

 

I’ve recently started watching the PBS show “A Chef’s Life.” I’m always up for a good cooking show, especially one that has a good story that goes along with it. Along with some recipes, this show also tells the story of chef Vivian Howard, who had been working in some of the top restaurants in New York City.

However, she decided to move back to her hometown in eastern North Carolina and open up a restaurant. The show documents the ups and downs of this journey.

This story resonated with me, both as someone who enjoys cooking and as someone who has made a similar journey. I grew up here in Albert Lea but left when I went to Luther Seminary in St. Paul. After serving as a pastor in southwestern Minnesota, I returned back to Albert Lea, my hometown. My journey as a pastor has led me back to my home area, which is unusual for most pastors.

In the gospels, we read about Jesus calling his first disciples along the Sea of Galilee. It’s a story with which most of us are familiar: Jesus shows up at the sea, calls out to some fishermen, they drop everything and leave their hometown, going off to exotic places to do God’s work in the world. This is powerful image, and it has led some to do amazing things in the world.

But I think that many people read this text and think to themselves, “I could never do that. I could never sell everything and go halfway across the world to be a disciple of Jesus.”

The danger of this story is that we start to equate being a disciple of Jesus with going to extreme limits, when most of the time, we’re just called to be a disciple in our hometown, in our everyday lives.

Being a disciple is being Christ-like in our lives. It’s helping out a friend in need. It’s listening when someone just needs to talk. It’s building up loving and caring relationships wherever God has placed you and leaving that place a little better than it was before you got there.

As I’ve been watching “A Chef’s Life,” I’ve noticed a subtle theme throughout the show.

Beyond the show’s star, Vivian Howard, it also celebrates local farmers and growers, the small town in which her restaurant is located, the community and family that surrounds her. Vivian could have opened a restaurant in New York and shipped up the produce from North Carolina.

It would have been the same restaurant and the same food, but it wouldn’t have been the same place. By going where she felt called, she’s building community and relationships along with her menu.

Discipleship works the same way. Some are called to pick up everything and go halfway around the world. That’s great! Some are called to move to a neighboring state. That’s amazing! Some are called back home. That’s wonderful! And some are called to stay right where they are. That’s fantastic!

All are disciples, and all are following Jesus into the world. No matter where you are called, know that God has a place for you in God’s work. Even if you’ve never crossed the border into Iowa, you are a disciple of Christ! You are God’s beloved child.

Joshua Enderson is a pastor at Hayward and Trondhjem Lutheran churches.