having never been to the sea of galilee in the 1st century, i have no idea just how many people would have been at work along its northern shores on a given day. i don’t know who, besides fisherman and merchants might have been actively moving up and down its shorelines, plying their trades and trying their best to scrape out a living. i have never pictured them as a wealthy looking bunch. no bright colored clothing, no haughty attitudes, just a bunch of regular workmen going about their business. laughing here, complaining about taxes and the emperor’s cronies there, telling stories about how old ishmael tipped his boat over last summer and lost his catch…that sort of thing.

nothing you wouldn’t expect to see in a movie where Jesus has a british accent.

so, in my mind’s eye, nothing spectacular or strange is going on. and then He came walking by…

that teacher from nazareth, the one who had pulled the zebedee boys from their dad’s business, and had also grabbed peter and andrew, too. He walked down the shore, in the midst of commerce and the regular work day. He taught, but not like the leaders of the day. He taught with an authority that made you stop whatever it was you were doing, just to listen. and you didn’t mind the down time form work just to hear what He had to say. He was different. He seemed to genuinely care about everyone, almost like He knew them before they knew Him. He was a welcome relief to the work day.

He had passed by his booth many times already. but today, He he stops by the booth of levi, that traitorous tax collector. exacting his pound of flesh for the emperor out of his own people. why would He talk to him? He was a jew, He knew what those traitors were like. this one, this levi, had a gentile father and he was a tax collector. he may as well have pushed down the old women who walked by and finished his reputation completely off.

but then He came walking by…

when He called out to levi, and told him to come along, i have never seen a face look confused, relieved, happy and sad all at once like that.

this turncoat was being called into the company of a man that we were already a little perplexed by. why would He want to spend time with him? and then levi completely leaves everything behind. not a mite was slipped into his belt before he left. he simply walked away from it all.

that made me stop, really stop what i was doing and listen to Him. all He said was ‘follow me’ and something in my heart wished that He had spoken those words to me, too.

so now, levi was walking with Him. he had a spring in his step that he never had before. he either walked with a smug, strong step, or with his eyes down and dragging his feet. usually the former in the morning and the latter at the end of the day. maybe we did give him a hard time. maybe we shouldn’t have been so hard on him when we were kids…but he did have a gentile father, and his name was almost like his mother was trying to make up for that fact. he was named after the preistly tribe, but was nowhere close to priestly. he could never have served in the temple even if he was from their family.

and then He came walking by, pulled levi out of his stuffy little booth where he stole from us all just to get back at us. if those soldiers hadn’t been there with him every day, he would have never made a coin off of us. but he walked away from all of that like he couldn’t wait to get away from it. like he had been chained up in that booth every day of his life until today. and today he flew from there like a stone from a sling. all because of those two words ‘follow me.’

spoken so simply, as a gentle plea, but bearing a weight greater than a direct command from caesar himself. i don’t think any force on earth could have kept levi in that booth. i doubt any of us would have done any different in his shoes. it was the first time anyone had shown him kindness (that wasn’t his own mother) in years.

i had been wondering about the Teacher, and what He had to say, but now i knew there was something definitely different about Him. something deeper was going on beneath those waters. and if levi could find acceptance with Him, maybe the next time He comes walking by, i may find the same.

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like i said, i cannot say with any authority what the north shore of galilee’s work day would have looked like. i have a general idea, and my imagination…but my guess is that the calling of levi was something that was definitely out of the norm.

Father, forgive me when i mistreat others. forgive me when i form ideas about their worth or presume to know what goes on inside their hearts. i am enough of a mess on my own without trying to figure out others lives as well.

guide me into greater compassion. guide me into Your wisdom and discernment so that i can help those who are chained in their booths.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Spirit, have mercy.

amen.