The Calling of a Priest 

song one from The Calling of a Priest

The Calling of a Priest. (Mark 2:13-14) I wrote this song (April 18, 2005) while reading the passage and thinking about what Matthew must have felt when Jesus turned up in front of his booth, what I would have felt if it was me - what I did and do feel when I realise that Jesus is here, before me, calling me to set everything aside, all that I intended for myself - to just leave it, and follow.  

I first wrote down “I am a tax collector”.  But I erased it because I am not a tax collector, I am, however, a “cheat” in many ways - cheating others, cheating God and myself on the way to attain the things I thought I wanted.  

The title of the song (and the album, in a broader sense) is multi-layered.  It refers to Jesus and His own calling as our High Priest and all He does in order to be able to fulfill that calling, part of which is to die for us, but also to live for us and call us into relationship with Him.    It refers to the moment He  calls us, the moment of being called by our High Priest.  and also it refers to the call on each of our lives to be part of His Royal Priesthood, to be priests.  (1 Peter 2:4-9) (See  Living Stones for a song on 1 Peter 2:4-9). 

As an album title, the Calling of a Priest includes all of these things in a broader way.  As the song title it is all these layers pulled into that one moment when we realize He is standing before us calling us to follow.  This song is about that moment. 

The Calling of a Priest Lyrics 

I am a cheat

I have cheated men

I have cheated You 

and I have cheated me. 

I spend my time trying to see

what I can get out of those 

who come and stand before me. 

And You're standing before me now. 

And there is something I can get from You

but it's going to cost me everything else

that I've worked to make of myself

all this time. 

 

You're standing before me now

Last one I ever expected to see here

all these years of making myself into what I am

And it all doesn't seem so much somehow

with You standing here before me now. 

 

And You say, “Come”

And I will come

I will sweep all of these other things away

And You say, “Follow”

And I will follow

I will follow You to the very end of my days

Though I don't know just where it will lead me

It won't lead me anywhere easy.  

But I know that I must have what You have to give

and I know that I'll lose everything to gain it 

But everything doesn't seem like so much anymore

With You standing here before me. 

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