Loading...
Sermon January 19, 2020
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Second Sunday after the Epiphany: Year A
http://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpi2_RCL.html
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. John 1:37
Please be seated.
On Tuesday I attended a high school swim meet between my grandson’s team – Northeast Bobcats – and the Dallastown Wildcats. The meet was in Dallastown.
Before the meet started, the seniors on the Dallastown team honored a teacher who had affected their life. It was wonderful to see these swimmers walk into the pool area escorting the teacher they had chosen to honor. Something was read about the teacher and in addition to the teacher’s subject area and what grade the student had them in, qualities the student found helpful were listed. Things like, compassionate, listens, is fun. Most of the teachers were from high school, but one young woman chose her first grade teacher.
Again, I thought it was such a wonderful idea and fun to watch. I thought about the teacher I might have chosen had such a question been posed to me and I just couldn’t choose. I’ve learned from so many wonderful teachers. How about you?
In today’s readings, we focus on being called for God’s work. The Isaiah reading says God called us before we were born! It goes on to speak about how the writer was shaped for the call of God and how the writer is a light to all of the nations.
Paul reminds us that as we live our faith, we are strengthened, given speech and knowledge so that we “are not lacking in any spiritual gift.” We have what we need to do God’s work.
Our Gospel teaches us that Jesus is the one we are to follow and we hear an amazing story about how people heard John say Jesus was the Lamb of God and they dropped everything to follow Jesus. This was the beginning of Jesus ministry and his message was compelling enough for people to change the direction and work of their lives.
What has been your call? The teachers I saw on Tuesday seemed to have been called to their profession of teaching. It is certainly wonderful when our employment uses our God-given talents and skills in the service of the work of God.
That doesn’t always happen and yet hopefully in whatever situation we find ourselves in, we can hopefully be a light and beacon of God’s love to others. That is certainly what all of us are called to do – be a light and beacon of God’s love.
How we understand the work God is calling us to do and how we do that work definitely changes over time. I know many of you know that.
Just because you’ve retired from your employment, there’s still work God calls you to do. It just looks different than it once did.
Our lives change. Our circumstances change. Yet God still calls us. God calls us to be compassionate, welcoming, and loving. God calls us to work for justice
Living into the work God is calling us to do is challenging at times. Particularly on this weekend, we look at the life and example of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Last May on the Ambassadors of Healing Pilgrimage, I visited the parsonage in Montgomery where Dr. King and his family lived when he was pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Dr. King had a pivotal moment in his life at that home. I found this great telling of the event:
"Well before the March on Washington. Or his “I have a Dream” speech. There was a defining moment for Martin Luther King, Jr. And it came past midnight, in a kitchen, at 309 South Jackson Street, in Montgomery, Alabama.
King was 27 years old, two years into his role as pastor of nearby Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. Over the past month, King had been leading the Montgomery bus boycott, a decision that set off a series of death threats delivered via mail and phone to his residence — as many as 30 to 40 calls daily, often at night. Normally, King could put the phone down and go back to sleep. But one call, on the night of January 27, 1956, stood out.
As King’s wife, Coretta, and 10-week-old daughter, Yolanda, slept in the master bedroom nearby, the voice on the other end of the line said: “N, we’re tired of your mess. And if you aren’t out of this town in three days, we’re going to blow up your house and blow your brains out.” Shaken, King went to the kitchen, made himself a cup of coffee, but soon buried his face in his hands. He began to pray aloud: “Lord, I’m down here trying to do what’s right … But … I must confess … I’m losing my courage.”
King later explained what happened next: “I could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘Martin Luther, stand up for truth. Stand up for justice. Stand up for righteousness.’”
The fears ceased. But not the threats. Several days later, around 9 p.m., a bomb exploded on the front steps of the house. No one inside was hurt. All these years later, though, traces of the bomb — gnashes in concrete — are still visible."
Dr. King clearly heard his call from God that evening. While there were certainly challenges throughout the rest of his short life, that experience strengthened him and gave him courage to continue with the call from God.
I’m not sure many of us have that dramatic of a story about the work God is calling us to; however, we all have a call from God. Today, think about what God is calling you to do right here and right now. May you respond like the disciples and follow the call.
Amen
