What IF?

I have been reading a book by Nick Baines, who is the Bishop of Leeds, in which he reflects on this season of Advent and Christmas, and I was struck by a passage in the book in which he reflects on the importance and contribution that is made in responding to God’s call.

Baines writes:

“Abram was called to pack up his family and his things and embark on a journey to an unknown destination: he could have declined. Noah could have said ‘no’ to building a big boat during very good inland weather. Moses could have continued to resist God’s call to stand up to Pharaoh – and who would have blamed him? Jeremiah could have refused to speak truth to power and Ruth could have stayed put in her familiar territory. Zacchaeus could have stayed up his tree, Simon could have opted for his fishing career, Zebedee could have refused to let his sons abandon the family business to go walkabout with the Galilean carpenter-turned-preacher, and the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak could have stayed silent and anonymous. Bartimaeus didn’t have to take heart, get up and come to Jesus who was calling him.  Paul might have weighed up the cost and decided to be an academic theologian, leaving church planting among the Gentiles to someone else.” 

And, of course, the stories of people responding to God’s call don’t stop there. Baines cites, just as one example, that of Oscar Romero. “Archbishop Oscar Romero was warned many times to stop challenging the military regime, whose behaviour and policies he thought to be godless and inhumane. But he kept on at it – in the name of Christ, not out of some heroic narcissism – to the point where he was shot dead while celebrating mass on 24 March 1980.”

There are many points at which we might ask ‘what if’? What if – things had been different? And that can be a question with either a positive or a negative bias. But God doesn’t call us to speculate. God calls us to respond. God calls us to discipleship.