NO ORDINARY CALL January 22, 2006 Vespers Communion Service Alice M. Trowbridge Associate Pastor, Fred Chisolm, Member Fourth Presbyterian Church Psalm 62:5–12 Mark 1:14–20 Part 1: Ordinary Calls Who calls us, for what, and how do we respond? We all get calls. We get calls from friends and from family. We get calls to catch up on how things are going. We get calls to say that everything is OK, that I got home safely, or even that I was just thinking about you. Many of us look forward to these calls as a time to reconnect, even if only briefly, with loved ones. For some of us, those calls don’t come often enough. For some of us, those calls don’t get made often enough. For some, those calls don’t come at all. We also get calls from people asking us to buy this or to help with that. In fact, we get so many of these calls that here in America we have a do-not-call list. And it might be the only list that Americans are eager to have their names on. There are the other kinds of calls. In the age of the cell phone, e-mail, and the Blackberry, it seems that we can be reached anytime, anywhere. In fact, we are so used to being able to reach people that we are sometimes surprised when people don’t answer or take too long to return our calls. The truth is that sometimes I’m not taking any calls. Some days, I am just not in the mood. So what do we do when God calls? One day, two thousand years ago, a man walks by, sees two fishermen and says to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” And immediately, they left their nets and followed him. He walks a little further and sees two more men that seem to be the right kind of people and, “He called to them and immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Mark 1:14–20) Part 2: Extra-ordinary Calls: Questions: What makes this particular call extra-ordinary? What makes this call extraordinary is that a man they had never seen walked up to them and said if you follow me, I will make you fishers of people—and they went. They felt so deeply moved by God’s presence in Jesus Christ that they went. No introductions, no references, no “Your friend Joe said I should talk with you.” They just went. What also makes this call extraordinary is whom Jesus called. The first people he called were people who gather for a living. People who tend for a living. People who work and wait and work some more—for a living. People who by their labor probably fed other people—for a living. Of all the people he could have called—poets, priests, and politicians, governors, rulers, and officials—he called ordinary people. People like you and me. Our instruction here is that God does not care about your credentials or your status; God cares about your willingness and your availability. Isaiah 6:8: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am, Lord. Send me!” So where did they go? What and where were they called to? They went where Jesus went. They listened and learned and questioned and they did what he did. They were called to live a different kind of life in the very same world where Jesus found them. They were called to follow Christ as he moved through the world. To move through the world and live as if everyone matters. To heal the sick. To give sight to the blind. To feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty. To take time away to pray and listen for God’s will for them. And then to go back out into the world and do what has been asked of them. Micah 6:8: What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. To live as if everyone matters. Matthew 25:37–40: Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes, clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you? “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” And so what about us in this day and age? Are we called, and if so, to what? Affirmation of Faith: We are called to be the church, to celebrate God’s presence, to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil; to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen, our judge and our hope. I believe that means that we too are called to go out into the world and live. To live as if God loves us. To live as if God hears us. To live as if God’s loving us and hearing us matters. We are also called to live in community, which can be challenging, because to live in community with those around us as Jesus lived requires us to live as if everyone matters. John 15:12: My command to you is this: Love one another as I have loved you. Not just the people we like but the people we don’t like. Not just the well-healed but also the downtrodden. Not just the stars but the struggling. Not just the fed but the hungry. Not just this one or that one but everyone. The person on your left and the person on your right. The usher who will greet you on your way out and the man you will see sitting outside with his dog. The secret in all of this is that you matter, too. You matter to God. And how you move through the world matters to God. God loves you. God hears you. God has a plan for you. Jeremiah 29:11–14: For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to grow you and prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Then when you call upon me and come pray with me, I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you. Go out. Live as if everyone matters. Go out. Live as if you matter. All to God’s glory and honor and praise. Amen.