Wellspring UMC; Second
Sunday after Epiphany; January 20, 2008: “Come and See”:
-I
Corinthians 1: 1-9; John 1: 35-42
Today
I would for us to reflect upon what it means to be called by God, and what it
means to respond to that call. A few
minutes ago we heard Paul’s voice saying,“I Paul, am called to be an apostle of Christ by the will of God, write
to the church...those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, those who are called
to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of
Jesus.” I, Paul, called to Christ’s
service, write to those, called to Christ’s service.
Then
we hear these words from John’s Gospel recounting the call of Jesus’ first
disciples. This story of how two of
John’s disciples left him for Jesus. How
Jesus asked them, “What are you looking for?” and they responded, “Where are
you staying?” This story that leads
THESE disciples to call another into the fold.
Today
is a day to reflect upon the call of God and what it means to respond, however,
before we get into it, I have to ask, what does it mean to be called? [Take responses]
To be called, means to be invited to
be a part of a God thing, to hear a voice or feel a nudge, or experience the
proverbial two by four across the head.
Sometimes that call is subtle, sometimes it is obvious, but always it is
something that seems beyond possibility, much less rational, which in reality
is good, because if it’s a true call, it’s going to take God and God’s power to
make it happen.
Some
of you have heard my the story of my call, but I’m going to give you the
reader’s digest version. I grew up a
preacher’s kid, and as a preacher’s kid, I discovered quite early on that
churches, well they can be downright evil, and to the preacher, I might
add. I watched the way some folks
treated my father, and I felt them trying to pigeon hole me as either being a
goody-goody or a bad seed, neither of which I’d accept, both of which moved me
to say often, “I’ll never be a preacher!”
Well,
despite my never, despite my friends and some strangers telling me I was going
to be preacher, I found myself in church on Pentecost Sunday 1992, listening to
a horribly sappy cantata, only to look at the pulpit and see myself preaching
then look to the table and see myself lifting bread and cup. I ran, my friends, and yet when it was all
said and done, I followed. In truth,
when I finally let go and let God work, chose to let God be God, all fell into
place.
For
me, and probably for you, mine is a dramatic call story. It was not what I expected, nor what I
wanted, and yet God made a way.
Contrast my story, however, with
that of many of my colleagues in ministry.
Many of whom knew from a very young age that they would become pastors,
some despite others looking at them a bit oddly when they stated this
truth. But there were many people in my
seminary classes, and many in neighboring churches who simply knew, that they
loved the Lord and wanted to follow.
That knowledge, that truth, that confidence kept them going, and led
them to ask Jesus to lead them where He would to shepherd the church. They chose to follow, and God made it happen.
The
call of God. It is something that is
perceived, received, and fulfilled in countless ways, and it is different for
every person. But there is one common
factor, one necessary truth, and that is, that once the call comes, we have to
be willing to choose, then follow.
Today’s Gospel reading is a
fascinating one, and when we dig deep into it, we can discover many insights
into the way God works. What jumped out
at me was that there is more than one way to experience a call to service in
the name of Christ. Specifically, John
illustrates two very different, but important, ways to be called.
If you noticed, the first part of
this passage reveals that there is one kind of call where one chooses for
themselves then follow the Christ. These
two disciples of John heard that he was the One, and without a beat stepped on
the road behind Jesus. They recognized
the possibilities, listened to the Spirit’s voice, then went for it. These would be more like my friends’ response
to the call, than my own.
The second way to be called is to be
chosen by others. That is, to be
recognized as one whom God needs to be in service. This is seen when Andrew realized that God
needed Simon to be a part of the movement, so he drops by Simon’s house and
says, “You’re coming with me.” Simon
does, and everything changes. We have no
indication from Simon that he had a clue that God wanted him on board, and in
fact, there is no indication that Simon was even clued into what was happening
enough to resist! But through
circumstance and God’s servants hearing God’s will, Simon was brought into the
fold.
Two ways to get to the call, but the
key to both, is that both responded to Christ’s invitation to “Come and See.”
Of
course, John reveals no earth shattering Truths here, because for millennia,
God has used such methods to transform the world. After all, Isaac, Joseph, and Ruth all
understood from early in their lives that they were to be God’s servants, while
Jacob, Moses, and even Paul resisted God’s call at first, but in each of these
cases and more, they eventually said, “Yes,” and followed, much like my own
call.
Such
stories pervade the Bible, but in all of these stories, the first and often
most important point of the story is that they heard the call and
followed. The gift for their obedience,
the blessing from their response, was that they had revealed to them a whole
new world...they caught glimpses of the Kingdom, and ultimately, with God, they
helped transform the world.
I asked the question before, “What does it mean to be called?” But now I ask, “Have any of you been
called? Are any of you being
called? Are any of you seeing that God
needs you, or someone else, to be in service to the Lord?” And just to make it clear what I’m getting
at, the call of God does not have to be of Biblical proportions, and if we look
at the proportion of clergy versus laity, you might notice that few are called
to ordained ministry. However, I would
venture to say that all of us, everyone baptized, everyone led to this place,
is called for service in the name of Christ.
The question is, are you open to hear Christ say, “Come and see.” Are you willing to surrender, to choose and
follow?
On
Tuesday I was driving to work, and my radio was tuned to a station I normally
don’t listen to. I didn’t pay much
attention to it, until I heard the voice of Garrison Keillor, one of my
favorite story tellers, begin to go down a list of those with birthdays. It was the radio show, The Writer’s Almanac,
and in it Keillor always goes through a birthday list of famous people, then
ends with a poem.
Tuesday
was January 15th, which was Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Keillor mentioned the name, then he described
how he was chosen to lead the
They
discussed who would be best suited for the task, and what it would entail, and
at the end of the discussion they looked to a young, 26 year old pastor who was
serving his first pastorate, Martin Luther King, Jr. And yes, he showed promise. Yes, he was a leader, but most important for
the rest of the group was that he was the youngest, and if the whole thing went
sour and failed, he would have better opportunity to get another
appointment. The others feared they were
too old to take the risk.
Of
course, you know the rest of the story.
Look at how God used Rosa Parks and bunch of old preachers to transform
Martin Luther King’s life, which in turn transformed society, our lives, and
the world. Much like Simon Peter, the
call was placed on him, and once he said “Yes,” God did the rest.
Jesus said to those disciples, “Come
and See,” and they did. They listened,
they followed with their eyes and lives opened. Andrew went to Simon and said, “Come and
See” then he took Simon to the Master, and Simon’s life was changed. He followed, and he became a great servant
for Christ.
But what is so amazing? Jesus says the same to us. Whether it’s directly from Him or through the
actions or encouragement of others, Jesus says to us, “COME and See, Come and
SEE, COME and SEE...” and when we listen, when we follow, our eyes and hearts
are opened, and we enter a whole new world, the Kingdom of God. But even more powerfully, God uses us to
usher in that Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.
John’s
disciples were probably pretty comfortable with John’s ways, but when they saw
Lamb of God and took the initiative to seek Him out and follow, look at what
happened. How comfortable are we in
following the Lamb, and are we willing to step out and follow?
On
the flip side, think about Simon. He was
probably pretty comfortable with where he was and who he was, but he saw a
change in his brother. And he willingly
followed him...to the Lamb. How
comfortable are we in others possibly leading us to X? And are we willing to be changed, given an
extreme makeover if you will, in order for Christ’s will to be done?
John
cried out, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”
What do we do when the evidence points to the Lamb in our midst?
Jesus
said to the disciples, “Come and See.”
What do we do when we hear the same?
Andrew
led his brother to the deepest well, the water of life. What do we do when someone does the same for
us?
This is beginning of year. We read from the beginning of the Gospel. We
heard the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. This is the beginning of Christ’s ministry,
and the beginning of the disciples’ ministry, who laid the foundation for the
beginning of the Church. There are beginnings all around. And one of the things about beginnings, is
that they include choices. As we begin
and live into this year, Who will we choose?
How boldly will we follow? What
might God be calling us to do, communally and individually, to follow the call
to transform the world?
I do not know the answer, and maybe you don’t either, but one thing I do know. The voice of our Lord is saying, “Come and see. Follow Me. Heed the call.”