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Sermon May 16, 2021
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers,
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Seventh Sunday of Easter
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Easter/BEaster7_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__May_16__2021
Video: https://youtu.be/r67Uf7gRsKg
Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship…. Acts 1:24-25
This morning we are going to do something a little different. Our reading from Acts tells us the process that the followers of Jesus used to discern who should be in leadership with them. There was a leadership position open because Judas was no longer with them. There was a group of 120 believers. Who should be chosen amongst those believers? As a leadership group, the Apostles were discerning who was called to join them in leading the believers and followers of Jesus Christ.
Today we are fortunate to have one of our own, Miguel Gonzales, with us. As you all know, Miguel is in a formal, intentional discernment process towards ordination to the priesthood. I thought his experience would be helpful and interesting, so we are going to do a little back and forth this morning.
Each of us has a call from God. Each of us needs to stay in constant discernment regarding our call. This is what is required of us as followers of Jesus Christ.
As part of my discernment process for the priesthood, I was fortunate to be in a weekend workshop with Marjory Zoet Bankson. She wrote a book about God’s call, The Call to the Soul: Six stages of Spiritual Development.
One of the things she stresses is that our call shifts and changes over time. We experience life; things happen to us. It’s not like we figure it out once and we’re done.
In her book, Marjory Bankson describes six stages to the call cycle. In the first stage, we begin to feel God’s pull in our life, that “God wants me to do something.” Just like most of the prophets and Moses, our response is to resist. We question what we’re being called to. Our response is often, “Not me; I can’t do that!” Sometimes we’re afraid.
Miguel, did you experience this in your call?
Miguel: I had two separate callings to service in my life. The first was when I was a teenager and the second was when I was a 30-something adult. Both times I ignored the calling, dismissing it as something crazy.
Now the thing is, God keeps calling us, so often we move to the next stage – reclaim. In the reclaim stage, we begin to open up to the possibility of what God is calling us to. Sometimes we ask God for a sign.
Miguel, what has been your experience?
Miguel: Well the first time I dismissed my calling, I just prayed not to be a “crazy person”. I can hear my godmother telling me “Are you crazy or did you eat hot dogs?”. We served in ways we understood, but a life of service or ministry was not something my family entertained, and so I dismissed it.
Stage three according to Bankson is Revelation. We see a glimpse of what it looks like when we respond and embrace our call.
Miguel, did you have revelations?
Miguel: It wasn’t until I was an adult living here in Newport that I understood what a life of service meant. Adam had just started a job and we were in a position to lead by example. I first came across the Landis House and met Roger Smith and asked if there was anything I could do to get involved. We chatted about my background and we came up with the idea for Broadway My Way. I got to use my gifts and share them with young people. This was how I learned that our gifts should be shared and that service to others is a blessing.
The fourth stage is Risk. Our call is becoming clearer and now we must take action. We can’t keep the call to ourselves any longer. When we take the risk to share our call with others, we also risk getting their support and encouragement, which are absolutely necessary any time we are doing God’s work.
The fifth stage is Relate. Bankson describes it like this, “Our task in Stage Five is to connect with a larger community who can share in our sense of purpose, find a common language, common symbols, and a common story.” (p. 131) We must begin to live out our call in a community that supports us, celebrates with us, corrects us, and provides a place for the impact of our call.
This is the stage where we truly live out our call…embody our call. We have answered God and are doing what God has asked of us. And we must have that community surrounding us. It’s not something we do in a vacuum.
Miguel, it seems like the fourth stage, risk, and the fifth state, relate, run together or happened somewhat simultaneously. How did you know it was time to take action? I think there was an actual phone call from the Bishop, who knew you from a short time you served on a Diocesan Committee?
Miguel: Yes there was a call from Bishop Scanlan. After Adam and I travelled to California last fall, she reached out to me one Saturday morning. We chatted for a bit about my trip and her family and then she informed me that while she was in her kitchen, the Holy Spirit moved her to reach out to me about ministry. The first thing I said was “Did you talk to Rebecca?” and she responded “No. The Holy Spirit moved me.”. I realized then that we can’t ignore these callings. And if we do, God will find a way to work through others. During my first term in Stevenson School For Ministry and my Discernment Committee process, it became clear that my calling to the Diaconate was not for me. Through a professor, the discernment committee and a conversation with a friend, it became clear that my calling was to the Priesthood. I was opening my heart to a calling, but I was not fully listening.
I know you called me pretty quickly and we looked at the requirements and steps involved. I made suggestions of people you could talk to. I wrote a letter to the Bishop.
What happened next?
Miguel: Yes, the process moved fast. After our conversation, I met with the Dean of the Stevenson School, Robyn Szoke, and we chatted about the different tracks for formation. Everything moved fast and I felt like I was being triaged for immediate surgery. I opened my heart and mind and allowed these unknown processes to happen in my life because like Adam said after Bishop Scanlan reached out “When the Bishop calls, you don’t ignore the call anymore!”.
I asked Vestry for the church to financially support you in taking the classes required and you started taking classes. You met with the Commission on Ministry, too. Eventually, a parish discernment committee was formed and they met with you nearly weekly for a couple of months. We prayed and pray for you weekly. Hopefully we are part of a community that supports you, celebrates with you, corrects you and provides a place for the impact of your call, at least at this stage.
And when you first started out, you were interested in the vocational diaconate, but then your call changed to the priesthood. What happened?
Miguel: My professor, Shawn Strout, gave me a good mark on a Sermon I wrote. He also teaches Homiletics, which I have not yet taken. But I reached out to him on social media and thanked him for the perfect score. He asked me what ministry I was discerning and when I advised the diaconate, his words were “hmmmmm…I think you need to pray about the priesthood. You have some gifts here that are priestly”. The previous week in my Discernment Committee, Anne Chappelka asked a point blank question “Why not the priesthood?” I had a very scripted response with reasons why my life wasn’t ready. But then I had a third conversation with a friend who advised that the things which I feel called to do are priestly. Feeding people spiritually, the eucharist.
So, Miguel, you are continuing in intentional and very scripted discernment. In doing so, you witness to us about our own calls. We are blessed to be in this process with you. As it is clarifying your call, it is also provoking and encouraging us in our call.
Yet, even when we are living in our call, God’s not done. Answering God’s call changes us and changes the world we live in. The sixth stage is Release. We step back and take a look. We listen for God’s leading again. Things are changed, both with us and with our community. We may be called to let go and to move on to a new call. We start the cycle all over again.
Dear friends, we are not all in a call process like Miguel’s and yet we all need to be in continual discernment about what is God’s call to us today and at this stage in our lives.
May we pray like the Apostles, “Lord, you know our hearts. Show us what you have chosen for us to do.”
Amen
https://www.amazon.com/Call-Soul-Marjory-Zoet-Bankson/dp/0806690356
