god calls us TO things: 2nd after epiphany

the other scripture, which i referenced, for today is:

the first reading is 1 samuel 3:1-20

the psalm is psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

the second reading is 1 corinthians 6:12-20

the holy gospel according to john (1:43-51)

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.

       He found Philip and said to him,

              “Follow me.”

                     ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida,

                            the city of Andrew and Peter.

       ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him,

              “We have found him about whom Moses

                     in the law and also the prophets

                            wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

       ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him,

              “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

       Philip said to him,

              “Come and see.”

       ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him,

              he said of him,

                     “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”

              ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him,

                     “Where did you get to know me?”

              Jesus answered,

                     “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

              ⁴⁹Nathanael replied,

                     “Rabbi, you are the Son of God!

                            You are the King of Israel!”

              ⁵⁰Jesus answered,

                     “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?

                            You will see greater things than these.”

                     ⁵¹And he said to him,

                            “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened

                                   and the angels of God ascending and descending

                                          upon the Son of Man.”

the gospel of the lord.

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last week for baptism of our lord sunday we talked together about our baptisms.  we shared stories of god claiming us as beloved, of being dunked, or fully immersed, in tubs of water, and of having water poured, or sprinkled, on our foreheads.

this week we hear of god’s call to samuel and jesus’ call to his first disciples in john.  we hear of a god who creates our inmost parts, who knows us profoundly.  and yet we live in a time where we resonate with samuel as “the word of the lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” 

in fact, i think back to harold camping, who predicted the end of the world a few times a couple of years ago, and wonder if we would even recognize god calling us or if we too would run to answer someone else.  would we perceive god calling someone else as eli eventually does with samuel or would we call the person crazy and suggest a good therapist for them?

many times, our discussions even revolve around who god can or cannot call rather than the more relevant question of to what does god call?  what is god calling us to?  when god claims us in baptism, god also calls us.  god makes a covenant with us, promising to love us unconditionally as we, or those sponsoring us, promise to “live among god’s faithful people, to hear the word of god and share in the lord’s supper, to proclaim the good news of god in christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.”  god claims us as beloved and calls us into the world.

it is not an easy call, which is why when we commit to it we say “i do and i ask god to help and guide me.”  and we promise to support and pray for each other as we go.  god calls us in our baptism.  god calls us into the world, to be a force of love in the world.  god gives us the gift of vocation—ways to live god’s love out in service to others.

in seminary i took a class called the theology of martin luther king, jr.  one of dr. king’s sermons that we read was “why jesus called a man a fool.”  in it king recalls one of his moments of call and commitment to god’s work.  he had been receiving threats and nasty phone calls from white folks who were upset that they were trying to desegregate the buses in montgomery.   

usually he would let the insults and phone calls just roll off his back, but this one night around midnight he received a nasty phone call threatening himself and his family that stuck with him.  after the call, like samuel upon hearing the news of what god was planning to do to eli’s household, king just couldn’t get back to sleep.  so he went down to the kitchen for some coffee.

while waiting for the coffee to heat up, king got to thinking, which led to worrying.  he began to worry about the danger his family was in with these threats over the montgomery bus boycott.  as he was worrying, king recalls, “something said to me, you can’t call on daddy now, he’s up in atlanta a hundred and seventy-five miles away. you can’t even call on mama now. you’ve got to call on that something in that person that your daddy used to tell you about. that power that can make a way out of no way. and i discovered then that religion had to become real to me and i had to know god for myself.”  so king began to pray.  he prayed and he confessed his insecurities, his doubts, and his worries to god.  he confessed his struggles.

and then, king says of that experience, “and it seemed at that moment that i could hear an inner voice saying to me, ‘martin luther, stand up for righteousness, stand up for justice, stand up for truth. and lo i will be with you, even until the end of the world.’”  king continues, “and i’ll tell you, i’ve seen the lightning flash. i’ve heard the thunder roll. i felt sin- breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul. but i heard the voice of jesus saying still to fight on. he promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. no, never alone. ”[1]

in the time of dr. king, when the word of the lord was rare, a woman named rosa and a man named martin listened in their struggle to the voice of god.  the voice of the almighty telling them to stay put, to persevere, that our god is a god of justice.  the voice of god did not say it would be easy and did not say they’d make it out with their lives, but jesus did promise to be with them.  telling them that the beloved community is not just a dream, but it is the reign of god and jesus promises to be with them, enacting the reign of god, until the end of the world.

just as in king’s day, when people were judged by where they’re from or the color of their skin, as is too often true even today, nathanael voices his concern in john, his prejudice about jesus being a nazarene, asking “can anything good come from nazareth?”  he is honest with his doubts and feelings and in his honesty, jesus finds a disciple.  jesus calls philip, nathanael, andrew, and peter.  he even announces nathanael as “truly an israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 

nathanael’s prejudice doesn’t stop nathanael from becoming a disciple.  instead, because of his honesty about this sin, inherited by a culture that discriminated against nazarenes, jesus recognizes him and calls him.  jesus truly knows nathanael before he calls him, just as the psalmist tells us that god “formed our inward parts; god knit us together in our mothers’ wombs.”  god knew us and dr. king, samuel and nathanael, before we were born and god calls us to:         discipleship.

god claims us in baptism and calls us into service.  god unites us to christ in baptism; making us one spirit with him and giving our bodies, our beings, purpose.

god was calling martin luther king, jr.’s body and the body of christ at dexter avenue baptist church during the civil rights movement.  martin luther king, jr. found the purpose to which god was calling those members of the body of christ and he worked towards that purpose, even risking his own life.  and god is calling our bodies to the work of ministry; to the work of healing as health care professionals, to service as social workers and colleagues, to ministry through words and presence, to compassion, care, and generosity. 

in our baptism we join the priesthood of all believers.  as part of the body of christ, god gives us all a vocation—a place and way to be a force for love and for good in the world.  god calls us to use our passion, our skills, our time, energy, and resources in love for the sake of the world.

god is calling the body of christ here at christ the king into the world, into our community, to feed the hungry and care for those in need.

in lent this year we will be exploring together how god is calling us into the community.  at our midweek services we will be learning about and helping community organizations as we discern how we might partner with them.  together we will discern where and how god is calling us, the body of christ at christ the king, into the world.

god’s work, our hands is not just the elca’s motto, it’s how god works in the world.  it’s how god worked through samuel, through nathanael and the other disciples, through martin luther king, jr. and the civil rights movement, and through us today.  god claims us in baptism and calls us into the world in service and love.

thanks be to god.

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[1] These quotes are from http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/why_jesus_called_a_man_a_fool/