Rev. Bill's Sermons

WHEN GOD CALLS JOHN 1:43-51 JANUARY 15, 2006

In times such as they are -- when unemployment is high and its burdens experienced by many – many people think about matters of job and career. Finding a job – “making ends meet” – reaching out to those who have been laid off their jobs or who are unemployed for other reasons – these things seem receive more attention than usual in times of – as the financial folks like to say – ‘economic downturn”. Indeed, even when the economy is less troubled, we tend to be preoccupied with matters of career and job. And we think we know what these things mean. A job, we think, involves paid employment -- or maybe any significant responsibility we take on. A career, we reason, is what happens as a person undertakes a series of jobs over time. Career carries with it a sense of increasing experience, and often-greater responsibility and reward. But a third term – or a third reality – has to be joined to fill out this picture. That third term is “calling”. A job might describe as paid employment. A career might be described as a series of jobs or experiences in one job that lead to greater responsibility and greater reward. A calling can be a job – and it can be a career. But it is different. It is more than a job – and more than a career. The celebrated sociologist Robert Bellah sees it this way: A calling links what we do to a larger community wherein we contribute to the common good. Let me repeat that: A calling links what we do to a larger community wherein we contribute to the common good. A calling links the person to the world. Another way to look at it is that someone would still follow a calling even if he or she has no need for the money or position that accompanies it. Even if we do not need a job – even if we do not need a career – we would still follow a calling. We would follow a calling because we would believe it is right for us to do so. The work may be hard for us and not particularly successful, but we would find it rich with meaning and significance. Here again, Robert Bellah is helpful. In his book Economics And The Theology Of Work he writes: "The notion of calling is an effort to make real the reign of God in the realm of work." Again: "The notion of calling is an effort to make real the reign of God in the realm of work." He then writes that when we have a calling, we realize "that we all need each other, and that our real reward is our sense of contribution to the common good.” We all need each other – and our real reward is our sense of contribution to the common good. We can have a job – we can even have a career – but once we come to that realization – we have a calling. The Presbyterian minister and author Frederick Buechner makes a similar point when he asserts that "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. Where your need for fulfillment and satisfaction and the world’s need for what you have to offer meet. Where the gifts God gives you to give and the world’s need for the gifts God gives you meet. Where what you can do and what God and the world need you to do meet. That’s more than a job. That’s more than a career. That’s a calling. A job is temporary. A career won’t last all your life. A calling can span through a job – a career – and beyond. You see – you can have a calling – even when you when you don't have a job. You can have a calling even when you've never had a career. You can have a calling when you've never had paid employment or – even if you have been laid off from paid employment – or even after you've retired from paid employment. You have a calling because God calls you, and keeps calling you, so that that “phone” in your heart rings incessantly. Jobs and careers can be offered to us by people. The pay for jobs and careers can come from people. A calling, however, comes from God. It is God who calls us, calls each one of us by name. The one who sustains us in existence also calls to us, so that we may enter into fuller and more authentic life. This is all well and good -- but for many people, the notion of calling does not “jive” with their experiences. Their work experience has been unhappy, and though they may make a living, it drains them of their life. Or if they have known success and satisfaction, they still have difficulty talking about it being a “calling”. But – you know what? God keeps knocking on their door – God keeps calling – God keeps asking them to do what they can do – God keeps asking them to somehow be partners with Him in working in the world so that it more closely resembles His divine will. Indeed, there is something about a calling that almost guarantees we will find it hard to recognize. God is mysterious. The divine voice speaks with power, but often softly. We must entertain possibilities, and be open to surprise. Think about Nathanael in our Gospel passage for today. One day Philip shows up, waving his arms and exclaiming that he's just met the one long promised in the law and the prophets. Nathanael's answer is a sneer. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" He must have been thinking something like: “When the messiah arrives, certainly it won’t be in a crossroads too small to have its own McDonald's.” But his own encounter with Jesus spins Nathanael around fast and pushes him in the right direction. From his conversation with Jesus we get the feeling that Nathaniel had felt God present one time while sitting under a fig tree. Maybe he had told no one about it, yet Jesus mentions the incident right away. Nathanael becomes a disciple. Jesus calls him -- invites him to follow, and that is what he does. Nathanael is surprised. It was not easy – but he recognized his calling. The purpose of his life comes to light. This means – among other things – that there's hope for the rest of us. There’s hope that we can start to understand our calling. There’s hope that we can discover that place where – as Buechner writes – “our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” There’s hope that we can discover that place where our need for fulfillment and satisfaction and the world’s need for what we have to offer meet. There’s hope that we can discover where the gifts God gives us to give and the world’s need for the gifts God gives us meet. There’s hope that we can discover where what we can do and what God and the world need us to do meet. There’s hope that we can discover that particular thing that for us is more than a job -- more than a career -- but – is a calling. Maybe you’ve begun to recognize it. If so, I pray that you can continue to recognize it. But – be aware that -- almost certainly -- it will involve surprise. The reason for the surprise is that God has better things in mind for us than we can ask or imagine. Better things than our society says to us. Better things than our family says to us. Better things than we say to ourselves. Notice I did not say that these things would be profitable or glamorous or respectable. I said they would be better. Again, as Buechner puts it, there exists that place where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. God wants to lead us there, and calls each of us by name. Maybe you know people who have responded to God’s call – and seem to be aware of that place where – for them – their deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet. Maybe you are such a person yourself. Maybe you’ve discovered that place where your gifts seem to match a need perfectly. The job may not pay well, and the career may not be anything to write home about. But God keeps returning you there where you do something significant to meet the meet a need in the world. You realize you are doing something that meets a hunger in the world – and in the process you are experiencing a gladness deeper than you think you deserve. You realize may not be there because it’s prestigious to be there – but because you have been called by God to be there. But – like I said – the path may be littered with surprises. Albert Schweitzer was a theologian and scripture scholar whose work was bold and innovative. He was an organist of exceptional ability whose recitals drew enthusiastic audiences. You'd think somebody of this sort would figure he had found his calling, and that would be that. But Schweitzer didn't stop listening, and God didn't stop calling, and the surprises kept coming. In his late thirties he abandoned his promising academic career and headed off to equatorial Africa to serve as a medical missionary. He went to a place where there were no great universities where he could teach, no great organs for him to play, but plenty of sick people for him to help. Later his hospital was destroyed, but that did not end his commitment to Africa. He recognized his call to build it a second time. The world’s deep hunger and his deep gladness met repeatedly through the decades of his life. We can look at how others were called, and learn from their example. We can profit from the stories of Nathanael and Albert Schweitzer. We can be inspired by the stories of those who led our nation to greater freedom and justice: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Rosa Parks. We do well to take courage from how they responded to God's voice speaking to each of them. Finally we must hear and heed our own call. Each of us can listen intently, for God speaks to us, perhaps through a still, small voice; perhaps through the turmoil of daily events. To hear our call is always an instance of grace. Listen for God’s call. You have gifts that God has given you – and is calling on you to use. There are needs in this Church where God may be inviting you to use your gifts and abilities to make a difference. At the very least God is calling you to evaluate your commitment to the Church – and how you respond to the needs in the Church with your time, your abilities – and yes – your financial commitment. You all know the financial straits of the Church – you’ve read it in the newsletters and others places and have heard it discussed. I would invite you to consider how God might be calling you to respond to that need. Listen. Listen for God’s call. Listen. There are needs in the community where God may be calling on you to use your gifts and abilities to make a difference. The poverty level is high – organizations like the Outreach Center, Salvation Army, Red Cross and others need volunteers and also need donations of food and money. Other organizations such as Hospice need volunteers and donations. Or you can just look around and see those in need around you. Listen. Listen for God’s call. Listen. There are needs in the world where God may be calling on you to use your gifts and abilities to make a difference. The Friendship Group is making a difference in the world through it’s afghans that are sent to Warm Up American and the Red Cross. Look around you and see what you can do to make a difference. Listen. Listen for God’s call. Listen. Listen again to how Frederick Buechner defines a call: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." There is a place like that for you. God has given you a calling – whether you realize it or not. Listen. And when you hear God’s call – respond. Amen.