This month our focus switches to the topic of calling. What does it mean to be called? Called to do what? Called to be what?
Today, we begin our conversation with a look at two different stories about calling in the New Testament. Paul talks a bit about what his calling looks like, and Jesus calls the Twelve and sends them out to continue the ministry he has been doing (see 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 and Mark 6:1-13). What do these stories mean for us still today?
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During the month of June, we focused on the notion of faith. In particular, I tried to walk a line between our faith and God’s faithfulness. When we think about faith or talk about faith, whose faith do we mean? I hope that it helped you think more about faith and faithfulness and all that means for us as children of God.
This month, the readings in the lectionary continue primarily through the gospel of Mark and Paul’s letters, but they begin to turn us in the direction of a different topic common in the church -- the question of calling. Calling is the idea that we are meant to do or be something, that we are being called by some other power to accomplish something in our world. Maybe you think of mythology or fantasy stories, particularly those that follow the more or less traditional hero motif -- the chosen one who is called into a quest or a fight for which they were initially unprepared. Maybe you think of religious stories about calling -- Moses, who was literally called by a burning bush; Samuel, who was literally called by the voice of God; Isaiah, who heard God calling in the night; Paul, formerly Saul, who was blinded by the power of God and called into a new role. We talk about preachers, pastors, other clergy, evangelists, and teachers in the church as those who are called. The idea of calling even finds its way into the world outside of the church, as some look on their jobs as a kind of calling.
What does it mean to be called? Called to what? Called for what?
Sometimes the idea of calling takes on a mystical cast, becoming something almost other. Calling may be something that you think someone else has, something that is special, something that you think doesn’t apply to you. When we read the Bible stories I mentioned before, we see that those people had a profound experience of God. Most of us look at our lives and don’t have anything nearly as exciting as a burning bush or a live coal being touched to our lips by angels to point to as a source of calling.
Or maybe we think that only church leaders have a calling. And to be fair, those who follow the path toward becoming a pastor or other clergy person in the church are constantly being asked about their call stories. From local church approval to seminary to conference interviews, calling is something we are pressed to think about every step of the way.
But I am here to tell you that all of us in this room today have a calling. And that calling is every bit as important and every bit as compelling as anything we might read in scripture or anything we might hear from someone we might consider holy.
Each of us is called by God. We are called into relationship, with God and with each other. We are called to live in those relationships for the betterment of the world around us. We are called to love the world around us so that God’s grace may be visible to all who would see it.
It is God’s grace that calls us, that reaches out to us; God’s ongoing faithfulness that continues to call us and lead us into something better. For those who are part of the book study right now, we might think about God’s prevenient grace here, the grace that is always reaching for us, even before we believe or understand who God is.
For each of us here today, God’s grace has called us into relationships that have led us to where we are now. There are people in our lives, perhaps family or maybe friends or others, who modeled a life devoted to God and God’s will for a better world. These relationships led us to be a part of the church, a part of something larger than ourselves. Through Baptism, we were dedicated to that calling to something more, perhaps as a child or maybe later in life. At the Table, we are continually strengthened and renewed by God’s presence and grace to continue that work to which we are called, working toward the world symbolized by the meal that we share, a meal open to all people who would come.
All of this is calling. All of this is God’s grace. As Paul reminds us, God’s grace is enough, or, as some translations have it, God’s grace is sufficient. Paul went through many trials and dangers as he spread the good news of Jesus in the world. He was constantly on the move, he was imprisoned, he was temporarily struck blind. Through it all, he could say that God’s grace was sufficient to see him through.
Perhaps some of you have had experiences like this, times in your lives when you had to rely solely on God’s grace to see you through. I know that I once went through a trying time when I was not sure how to keep moving forward. “God’s grace is sufficient” became my mantra through that time in my life.
God’s grace, the source of my calling, also became the strength to keep me going when I felt like all else was lost. Unlike Paul, I don’t look back and think that God put me through a difficult time just so the grace and power of Jesus could shine through. However, I do think that I went through a time when only that grace and power could save me.
Through our calling, we are given the power that we need to fulfill that calling. We enter into relationships; we are washed and anointed; we are nourished and strengthened. All of this that whatever corner of the world we find ourselves in, we can work to make the kingdom of God visible to others. For some of us, that may be through standing up here on a Sunday morning and helping others wrestle with the scriptures and what these texts mean for us today. For some of us, that may be through loving the people around us wherever we may find ourselves on a daily basis. For some of us, it may be through being kind to the strangers we meet along the way. For some of us, it may be through nurturing and encouraging others to see the light in a world perceived as shadowy and chaotic.
For Jesus, his calling was in speaking truth and wisdom about God’s desire for relationship. It was about healing those in need, loving them into the kingdom of God in the present, not in some far off distant future. And it was about empowering others.
But our story in Mark today offers us some caution as well. Jesus returns to his hometown. On the Sabbath, he is found teaching in the synagogue as he often does. But unlike in other places he has been, the crowd in his hometown is less receptive. These people have preconceived notions of who Jesus is. He’s a carpenter, Mary’s son. The people watched him grow up along with his brothers and sisters. To them, that is all he will ever be. They are unable to hear the good news in the words he speaks. They recognize the power and the wisdom, but they can’t accept it from him.
I think about the world we live in today. Selfishness and self-centered ambition are often seen as the norm, and so many people may not be able to recognize or understand purely altruistic acts. They may look at someone and say, “we know that guy. He’s just looking out for himself,” or “we watched her grow up. I can’t believe she wants us to believe she has changed.” We have a hard time believing in someone working for good for no other reason than for the world to be a better place. Think about all of the “feel good” stories we hear in the news or see on social media. We celebrate and laud situations when others lend a helping hand or try to support someone in need because the act is seen as rare enough to be newsworthy.
Jesus is unable to get around the disbelief and scoffing of the people who knew him before he began this particular calling. He can’t get people to accept that what he says is true and genuine. They simply cannot believe that Jesus has anything to offer them. How could he?
So Jesus moves on. He continues teaching and healing in the surrounding villages. And then he sends the Twelve out to do the same things. He calls them, granting them authority to do the work that he has been doing. And he prepares them for the possibility that they may be ignored in some places, just as he was in his hometown. Still, he calls them.
The Twelve had seen all that Jesus had done so far. They knew in a way that the people in Jesus’ hometown could not. They had heard the teaching. They had seen the healings. Jesus gave them the authority and power to do the same. And so they went.
The Twelve went out and proclaimed the things they had heard, the things they had experienced. They talked about how their lives and the lives of others had been changed for the better. They talked about the kingdom of God coming into the world and what that kingdom looked like. They cast out demons and healed the sick. The kingdom of God grew in the world because of them.
How has your life been changed by God’s call on you?
Where have you seen God’s power at work?
Where have you experienced God’s grace?
How has God’s call made a difference in the world around you, no matter how big or how small that difference may seem?
As we talked about a few weeks ago, we don’t always know how God’s grace at work in us can change the world for the better. Sometimes we only get to plant the seed without knowing all that will grow from it.
But still we work toward that better world. Still we live into God’s kingdom, a kingdom that calls us to live in loving relationship with God and others. We live as if that kingdom is already here, even when it may be hard to see the evidence of it in others.
We live in that kingdom because we have been called into it, and we have seen the power of that kingdom to change the world for the better.
In a moment, we will share in a foretaste of that kingdom. When we gather at the Table that Jesus has called us to, we catch a glimpse, at least for a moment, of what that kingdom may look like. Regardless of who we are, no matter what gender, what background, what we have done, what we have left undone; regardless of social status; regardless of all the ways in which we tend to divide ourselves -- Jesus invites us all to the Table.
At this Table, we share in Christ’s power.
At this Table, we share in God’s grace.
At this Table, we are made anew.
At this Table, we are nourished and sent forth.
At this Table, we are called to live in the kingdom of God.