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The Second Sunday after Epiphany Almighty God, the breeze of your love and grace is ever blowing; may we set our sails to capture that breeze, and may it inspire these words and those who hear them. Amen. Have you ever heard the voice of God? Speaking to you directly? Calling you to something new, something unexpected, perhaps even something unthinkable? Anyone who has aspired to ordained ministry, who has gone off to seminary, who has sought a position as clergy has had ample opportunity to tell the story of how God called them. In these narratives, God rarely speaks in a loud booming voice issuing an explicit directive; more often there is a growing awareness of God’s urging, an awakening to something that may have been long ignored. But I do have one friend who says that God tapped her on the shoulder as she was sitting quietly in the last pew, trying her best to be unobtrusive; God tapped her on the shoulder and told her exactly what she was supposed to do. (Perhaps there’s a message in that for you who think the back of the church is ‘safer’ somehow!) We sometimes perpetuate the myth in the church today that only clergy—priests, deacons, bishops—are called by God. But in truth, any of us, indeed, ALL of us can be called by God, and called to all sorts of ministry. Scripture is full of stories of God speaking, God calling, God summoning, often the most unlikely of people. Think about it—God called Moses, a refugee from Egyptian authorities, to lead his people out of bondage. God called David, a simple shepherd boy, the least imposing figure in his family, to be the great king of his people; God called Amos and Isaiah and Micah, herdsmen and farmers, to be prophets to his people; God called fishermen and tax collectors to be Jesus’ disciples; God called Paul, a persecutor of Jesus’ followers, to spread the good news of Christ throughout the world. These are, of course, all towering figures to us today, but chances are, if you had been Moses’ neighbor, or Paul’s drinking buddy, or bought fish from Simon and Andrew, you likely would’ve wondered how on earth THEY could’ve been called by God. We hear the call stories of two such unlikely figures in today’s readings. Samuel, a young boy who was dedicated to service in the temple by his mother Hannah, is a helper to the priest Eli. Samuel is not from a priestly family, he’s just a boy who assists with the sacrifices, and cleans up, and guards the Ark of the Covenant. But it is Samuel, not Eli or Eli’s sons, who God calls. And when Samuel fails to hear, fails to recognize who is calling to him, fails to respond, God persists until finally, finally Samuel says, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” And in our gospel reading, we hear how Jesus calls two more disciples to join the fishermen Andrew and Simon. Jesus summons Philip, but it is Philip who brings along his skeptical, even cynical friend Nathanael, who, when he hears where Jesus comes from, says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Despite his skepticism, Nathanael is compelled by the power of the words and witness of Jesus, sees and hears the presence of God in them, and responds to his calling. All of these call stories are different, different in their details and particularities, but at the same time, these call stories—the ones in today’s readings and the others scattered through scripture—these call stories in their essence are the same: simple people, regular everyday people called by God and responding to that call to do God’s work in the world. And in that essence there is a multilayered lesson for us. So what is it that we are to take away from these stories? First, God calls to each of us—male, female, young, old, rich, poor, well-educated, illiterate. God is no respecter of human categories, human boundaries, human ideas about who is in and who is out, who is worthy and who isn’t. God can and does speak to each and every one of us. Second, it’s easy to miss God’s call, and sometimes it takes others to help clarify just who it is that is speaking to us. Eli had to tell Samuel that it was God who was calling to him, and Eli helped him know how to respond. And Nathanael came to Jesus because Philip said to him, “Come and see.” God’s call may come to individuals or it may come to us as groups (think of God’s call to the nation of Israel, God’s call to the church) but when it comes, it is always, always worked out in community. Third, responding to God’s call is rarely easy. Moses was practically dragged kicking and screaming to Pharaoh to demand that his people be freed; Jonah spent three days in the belly of a whale before he finally did as God asked. But God is persistent, God keeps on calling, God gives us plenty of chances to respond, and when we do God is with us, supporting us and equipping us every step of the way. Finally, when we do respond to God’s calling, it is life changing. When we open our lives, our hearts, our very being to God, when we let ourselves go with God, when we truly try to discern what God wants from us and for us, things won’t be the same, they can’t be the same. God’s call is transformational. Which brings me back to the beginning: Have you ever heard the voice of God? Speaking to you directly? Calling you to something new, something unexpected, perhaps even something unthinkable? Saint Mary’s is poised at the brink of what is bound to be an eventful year. In addition to the normal comings and goings and ups and downs, Steve will leave us for his sabbatical, and at some point after that I will likely move on to a new position, not because I don’t love you and my life at Saint Mary’s (I do!), but because in the grand scheme of things, it is time. All of these changes are taking place in the context of uncertain financial times that will cause us to perhaps rethink how we do ministry. It is in times like these that, I think, we need to be especially attentive to God’s call for us, God’s call to us as individuals, and perhaps even more importantly at this juncture, God’s call to us as a community of faith. So I ask you: Where will we hear the voice of God in the next year? Are we prepared to hear that voice—whether it is a tap on the shoulder in the last pew, a loud booming command, or a still small voice in the darkness? Can we discern what it is God is calling us to do in the next year? Are we ready to step up to the challenge, all of us together as a community, as the body of Christ in the world? There is much that is uncertain about the year to come, but there is one thing that I can promise you: If we are open to hearing God’s call to us, if we work together to discern what that call means for us, if we respond to that call with joy and gratitude and love and compassion, we will be transformed, transformed by the goodness of God, and there is no limit how far that transformation can take us, no limit to the ways God’s love can be manifest in the world in us and through us. Let us therefore listen for that voice of God, and let us be empowered to go wherever it may lead us. AMEN |
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