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Scripture Reading:
NRS Mark 1:13 He was in the
wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and
the angels waited on him. 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came
to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying,
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and
believe in the good news." 16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of
Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea-- for
they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and
I will make you fish for people." 18 And immediately they left
their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw
James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the
nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father
Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
In Sunday school,
they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little
Johnny seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of
one of Adam's ribs. Later in the week, his mother noticed him lying down as
though he were ill, and said, 'Johnny what is the matter?' Little Johnny
responded, 'I have a pain in my side. I think I'm going to have a wife.'
On a sunny
morning, William's mother came into her son's room and said, "William,
it's Sunday. Time to get up! Time to get up and go to church! Get
up!" From under the covers came mumbles, "I don't want to
go!" "What do you mean?" she said. "That's silly! Now
get up and get dressed and go to church!" "No!" he shot back.
"I'll give you two reasons. I don't like them and they don't like
me!" "Nonsense," she told him. "I'll give YOU two reasons
to go. First, you are 42 years old, and second, you are the PASTOR!"
This morning
we come to the call scripture. Imagine for a moment that a stranger walks up to
you while you are busy doing what you do. This stranger stands there for a
moment and then says to you, come with me and I will make a carpenter or a
teacher or a salesman for human beings. The Kingdom of God is near! What would
you do? If you are like most people you would probably laugh and scoff at the
stranger and then go on about your work. But I wonder if that person where
Jesus if you might feel differently. I wonder if God were physically present in
front of you if you might not feel a strange tug at your heart to listen and
respond? Simon Peter, Andrew, John and James all do. They drop what they are
doing and the respond.
Many years
ago I felt a calling to ministry. It was in high school and Ed and I went and
talked to Dr. Dietrich about ministry. I was in the 12th grade and
felt this awesome call to become a preacher. But the truth was that I wanted to
do something else in life so I left that call to pursue other adventures. I
might mention that the call never went away, it just became dormant. Ed on the
other hand pursued it and became a minister long before I did. We are still
friends today. Then in 1981 an industrial accident blew an eight foot grate through
a control room and into my head. It is why most of you recognize that I am not
always right in my head. From that I suffered a moderate concussion and lost
all of my short term memory for a while. Men, it is the greatest excuse when
talking with your spouse, having a short term memory loss. You really don’t
remember what conversation just took place and you have a medical condition to
justify it. All humor aside it took years to regain what I lost. But what I had
is a second chance at life. Again I remember this time sitting with Reverend
Sweat and talking about the call. But again I bolted back into the secular
world because I could not see myself as a preacher. Now you need to know that
when I was small my grandmother on my dad’s side said that I would be a
preacher with a deep voice. Well one outa two ain’t bad. But then in the late
90’s I again felt that call, deeper and stronger than the first two times. I
remember traveling as part of my job and either lying awake at night with the
rich young man story on my heart or waking from deep sleep having dreamed that
I was the rich young man and that I walked away from God. So I began to explore
ministry as a lifestyle and the more I explored, the more I felt the call. I
remember having a prayerful discussion with God about the need for school and
how I could not become a minister if God didn’t open a door. Within that week
an e-mail arrived from the Methodist Board of Education outlining a path in
front of me to do just that.
I would love
to sit here this morning and tell you that the road to ministry has been easy.
But it has not been. There have been pitfalls and struggles, most of them
brought about because I messed up, and yet, all along the way God has been
faithful. So I am here this morning to witness to you that Simon Peter, Andrew,
John and James took the more difficult road. They could have stayed and lived
out their lives doing what they had always done. But they chose to follow
Jesus. Their lives were markedly changed forever and each would come to an
untimely death for the faith, with the exception of John who would live out his
life in exile to bring us an even greater vision of God. But they chose to go.
That is what it means to be a disciple, to choose to go, wherever and whenever
and however God calls you to do that. It no longer is your choice, rather you
submit yourself to the will of God and go. Jesus told us that when He said to
us, Go therefore, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of Father, Son and
Holy Spirit, and teach them all that I have commanded of you. He commanded us
to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors in the same way. That
is our mission.
So whether
you answer that call to be a preacher, or a teacher, or a carpenter, or a
business owner or whatever God calls you to do, you answer. And when you do,
you begin to realize that God’s call is greater than anything the world has to
offer. But you go! Today we come to this place and this hour with the question
of call on each of us. What does it mean? Where God do you want me to go and
what do you want me to do? Maybe it is as simple as showing up for a Habitat or
Ramp project and lifting a hand to assist. Maybe it means providing healthcare
to those less fortunate and sometimes doing it without expecting anything in
return. Sometimes it means letting go of the past and reaching out into the
future with no expectations except to do the will of the one who will send you.
But whatever it is, it means that you are willing to learn from Jesus and
become more like Him.
David and
Goliath, Noah and his ark, Ruth and Naomi, Daniel in prison, Philip and the
Eunuch….nearly every Bible story is the history of God providing an opportunity
to the followers to use their skill set, combined with the desires that God put
in their hearts to bring glory to God in their calling. Recognize that
Daniel in prison did not necessarily realize that he was in the midst of
fulfilling God’s calling, but he was using his skills (dream interpretation),
he had a desire to serve and he somehow trusted that God would give him that
opportunity. And when we open our hearts to do the will of God, there will be
affirmation and confirmation of that call. If we are called to preach, then our
preaching will be well received, if we are called to teach, others will lift up
our teaching, this is the way of things when you are called and accept that
call.
As a church
we need to work at identifying ways of witnessing to the call within our
congregations. We need to say to people, answer the invitation of God and
become the person God wants you to be. It starts by entering into the
conversation in prayer, asking God for direction and listening to the voice of
God that will come from prayer, the Word, and others who also feel you call.
Jay Carey, a good friend and pastor at the church I attended in the 90’s one
night said to me, you know, if you would listen and obey, God has a place for
you. I remember that it came during a time when I had been deceived in my
business world and had lost more money than I even knew I had. But I was
praying for direction and it came from a friend. So listen to the voices around
you but only after spending time in prayer.
Today we
enter into a forty day period of intentional prayer for our General Conference
and the delegates. We enter asking that God’s will be done and then a
willingness on the other end to accept that will. We enter into a time of
intentional prayer for the church as well. The path in front of us is full of
uncertainty and tribulation. But each of us, as part of the Body of Christ, can
bring to this table skills, wisdom and energy to face that future and move into
it rather than shying away from it. We must become the people God called us to
be. We must go where God calls us to go and do what God asks us to do. The path
in front of us has Jesus standing there saying to each of us, follow me.
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