Keeping the Season

"Mint Green Calls" by JoyHey, on Flickr

Jonah 3:1–5, 10
The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you. So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Mark 1:14–20
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near, repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

---

Tim sat across the table from me, sipping his coffee slowly as I talked in one, big, run-on sentence about this new opportunity that God had laid before me, to leave the familiarity of the Chicago suburbs, to leave my family, to leave a church that I had served for nearly four years, to pack up everything and move to Iowa and take a call at this pretty fabulous church called "First Lutheran."

Tim was my last hope. A fellow pastor, a dear friend, someone I trusted to speak truth into any situation. I'd made all of pro and con lists. I'd wrestled in prayer. I'd talked to Matt, my parents, my sisters...I'd even gone so far as to talk to friends who had lived in Iowa - and survived! And I was stuck. Ahead of me, the possibility of a REALLY. GREAT. THING. Behind me, the fear of saying goodbye and the guilt over leaving my family and the anxiety of having to pack and move and find a house and change my license plates.

My inner Jonah was winning the battle. "Ninevah is a big city, God, and there's good work to be done there, but I'm pretty sure that it's going to be a rough go of things for me, and so maybe I should think about doing something closer to home."

"I think it's a fantastic opportunity," I said to Tim, "and on paper, it's exactly what I think I am being called to. But saying 'yes' would mean giving up too much. It's too hard to actually do it."

I thought that my decision had been made.

Tim took another sip of his coffee and looked back at me. "Is this a church that you feel called to serve?" Yes. "And do you feel excited when you think about all of the new possibilities there?" Yes. "And you keep saying yes when they ask you for interviews, because you can't bring yourself to say no?" Yes... "But you don't want to accept the call because it would be...hard to leave?" Yes...

Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee. He called out to Simon and Andrew and they dropped everything and followed him. James and John were in the boat with their father, and Jesus called out to them, too, and they jumped out of the boat and left their father and left behind everything and followed Jesus.

I looked at Tim. I wanted to say, “I hate you,” but instead I said, “I guess I know what I need to do.” And I walked out to my car and called my husband at work. “ I think we're moving to Iowa..."

(Sidenote, in case you hadn't figured it out: God knows what he's doing. And Tim knows what he's doing. And there is no question that my call here was a call from God. I love this place and am lucky to serve here.)

Today's gospel is one of a few different times that Jesus tells people that following him means giving up. Later, Jesus sends out the disciples into the villages, telling them to bring nothing for their journey. And in another episode, a few would-be disciples tell Jesus that they want to follow him, but only after they take care of various important tasks at home, and Jesus tells them that following him means being willing to give up mother and father and home and even life itself. And in another place, Jesus tells his disciples that "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.”

For the disciples, the call to follow Jesus meant keeping their eyes open for Christ's work in the world - healing, teaching, compassion, forgiveness. Following Jesus mean that they, too, were challenged to show forgiveness and to enact healing and to welcome children and widows and lepers and sinners and the unclean.

It might sound sort of obvious, but following Jesus means that we, too, are called to these same tasks.

For most of us, we are pretty okay with the idea that God loves us, and that Christ died for us, and that God's grace covers us and forgives us, and that we are lovely, beloved children of God. But our faith gets stretched in different directions when we remember that our relationship with God also comes with a calling. Many callings, actually.

Sometimes, he calls us to do something different - to change careers or to take up a new volunteer project, or to talk to different people or to take a risk on acting with justice or compassion when we otherwise might just have kept our mouths shut. Sometimes, he calls us to be something different - to be more patient or hospitable or gracious or generous, to turn our hearts away from our own desires and priorities in order to focus on the needs of others.

And whenever Jesus calls us to live out God’s hopes and dreams in the world, he calls us to say “yes” to God and “no” to something else. Saying “yes” to God’s values means saying “no” to our own pride. Saying “yes” to generosity means saying “no” to selfishness. Saying “yes” to God’s power working in us means saying “no” to our own illusions of control.

Sometimes we hear God's call and respond like Jonah, kicking and screaming and defiantly waiting until God throws us in the belly of a fish, just to prove that he’s serious. Sometimes we hear God's call and respond like Peter and Andrew and James and John, dropping everything and immediately taking up our new charge.

I love that word “immediately.” Not only does it evoke an image of James and John throwing themselves over the side of the boat and running in slow motion through the water to get to Jesus, but it also gives us a little shove forward in our own walk with Jesus. Because living out God’s call is an immediate thing. There are opportunities to live as Christ’s chosen ones right here, right now.

So that is the question before us right now - as individuals and as a congregation: Right here, right now, what is Christ calling us to do or to be?

Think about that for a moment. What is God calling you toward in this very moment in your life?

As you think about this calling, what is your gut reaction? To run away like Jonah? To jump at the opportunity like the disciples? Something in-between?

What is it that is standing in the way of you saying “yes” to this call? What do you have to give up?

Figuring out and answering God's calling is hard work. As you wrestle with God's call for you, by all means seek out friends and trusted advisors. Make lists of pros and cons. Write out your thoughts, crunch the numbers, drink some strong coffee, think deeply, and pray. All of this stuff is the work of discernment: the ongoing process of listening for Jesus' voice and then trying to answer and obey it.

Friends, I don't know what you're going through right now, and I don't know the exact ways in which Jesus is saying to you, "Drop everything and follow me." But I do know that I can pray for you as you work things through.

I invite you to pull out that yellow Connection Card from your bulletin, and in the prayer request box, to share a little or a lot about what God is calling you to, that we might lift you up in prayer. Maybe it's a word or two, keeping things cryptic. Maybe it's a paragraph. It's up to you.

Take a few minutes between now and the offering to think deeply about where God is leading you. Write down some areas that we can lift you up in prayer. By all means check the box for "I would like to talk to a pastor" if you want to talk some things through.

And remember, in everything that God is calling you to do and to be, that in Christ, God has already said “no” to death and “yes” to life. God has already said “no” to sin and “yes” to forgiveness. God has said “no” to all of your fears and insecurities, and has said “yes” to loving you. All of you. He has said “yes” to empowering you to live like Christ and to live for Christ.

I close with a prayer from the Sisters of Notre Dame, a pray for discernment and inspiration. May it be the prayer on your lips and mine, as we seek this day and always to hear and answer God’s callings in our lives.

Let us pray.

Walk with me, good and loving God, as I journey through life.
May I take Your hand and be led by Your Holy Spirit.
Fill me, inspire me, free me to respond generously to Your call.
For I believe You desire my deepest joy,
And it is only in Your company
That my soul will be satisfied
And my life will find its meaning and purpose.    
Amen.

"Disciples fishing" by renzo dionigi, on Flickr

Mark 1:14-20
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near, repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

“Think of the many, many stories about God choosing people. There are Moses, Abraham, and Sarah; there are David, Jeremiah, Gideon, Samuel, Jonah, and Isaiah. There is Israel itself. Much later there are Peter and Paul, and, most especially, Mary.

God is always choosing people. First impressions aside, God is not primarily choosing them for a role or a task, although it might appear that way. God is really choosing them to be God’s self in this world, each in a unique situation. If they allow themselves to experience being chosen, being a beloved, being somehow God’s presence in the world, they invariably communicate that same chosenness to others. And thus the Mystery passes on from age to age. Yes, we do have roles and tasks in this world, but finally they are all the same—to uniquely be divine love in a way that no one else can or will.”

― Richard Rohr, Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality

"Calling Disciples" He Qi, 1997

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

"Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles —
the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned."

From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea — for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

--Matthew 4:12-23

"All Saints' Day" by Lady Nessa, on Flickr

A Litany for All Saints Day
by Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB

O Cosmic Christ,
in you
and through you
and for you,
all things were created;
in you
all things hold together
and have their being.

Through Teilhard de Chardin,
scientist of the cosmos,
you imagined a new heaven and a new earth.
Through Teresa of Avila,
charismatic leader,
you inspired a church of courage and wisdom.
Through Mahatma Gandhi,
great soul,
you became nonviolent in the struggle for justice.
Through Catherine of Siena,
fearless visionary,
you forged a new path for women.
Through Meister Eckhart,
creative mystic,
you refused to abandon the inner light.
Through Hildegard of Bingen,
greenness of God,
you poured out juicy, rich grace on all creation.
Through Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
drum major of freedom,
you shattered racial barriers
and freed dreamers to dream.
Through Anne Frank,
writer and witness,
you preserved goodness in the midst of great evil.
Through Cesar Chavez,
noble farmworker,
you transformed the dignity of human labor.
Through Harriet Tubman,
prophet and pilgrim,
you led the captives into freedom.
Through Vincent Van Gogh,
artist of light,
you revealed the sacredness
in sunflowers
and in starry nights.
Through Thea Bowman,
healer songbird,
you danced the African-American culture
into the Church.
Through Pope John XXIII,
window to the world,
you awakened awareness to the signs of the times.
Through Mother Teresa of Calcutta,
guardian of the unwanted,
you enfleshed a reverence for all life.
Through Thomas Merton,
universal monk,
you explored the sanctity of every human search.
Through Mary Magdalene,
apostle to the apostles,
you ordained women to proclaim the good news.
Through Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
musician of Holy Mystery,
you bathed the world in beauty.
Through Julian of Norwich,
anchoress and seer,
you showed the Mother image of God.
Through Dom Bede Griffiths,
marriage of East and West,
you unveiled the divine face
at the heart of the world.
Through Joan of Arc,
defender and protector,
you remained true to personal conscience
over institutional law.
Through Rumi,
poet in ecstasy,
you illuminated friendship as mystical union.
Through Maura Clarke and Companions,
martyrs of El Salvador,
you rise again in the hopes of the dispossessed.
Through Rabbi Abraham Heschel,
Hasidic sage,
you answered our search for meaning
with wonder, pathos for the poor, and Sabbath rest.
Through Dorothy Day,
pillar of the poor,
you recognized holiness as bread for the hungry.

O Cosmic Christ,
in your heart
all history finds meaning and purpose.
In the new millennium,
in the celebration of jubilee
help us find that which we all seek:
a communion of love
with each other
and with you, the Alpha and Omega,
the first and last,
the yesterday, today, and tomorrow,
the beginning without end.
Amen.

This is, in some ways, a complete antithesis to "For All the Saints" or other grand hymns remembering the saints. I learned it back in seminary, and it's been stuck in my head all day. Instead of lauding the saints that have gone before us, it reminds us that we are all saints, and that there are saints walking this earth, living out God's love in their ordinary lives. Simple and charming, and draws us close to the face of God in our neighbor.



I sing a song of the saints of God
by Lesbia Scott

I sing a song of the saints of God,
Patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
For the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
And one was a shepherdess on the green;
They were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
And his love made them strong;
And they followed the right for Jesus' sake
The whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
And one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
And there's not any reason, no, not the least,
Why I shouldn't be one too.

They lived not only in ages past,
There are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
Who love to do Jesus' will.
You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,
In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea;
For the saints of God are just folk like me,
And I mean to be one too.

"Mulberry Tree" by kamcollam, on Flickr

Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive."

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'" (Luke 17:1-10)

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'ye were bought at a price,' and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God."

--The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

To choose God
is to realize that you are known and loved
in a way surpassing anything one can imagine,
loved before anyone had thought of you
or spoken your name.
…
And so,
don’t talk too much about God
but live
in the certainty that God has written your name
on the palm of God’s hand.
Live your human task
in the liberating certainty
that nothing in the world can separate you
from God’s love for you.

(Anonymous)

Source: Rule for a New Brother, seen in Inward/Outward, Church of the Saviour, via RevGalBlogPals

"Vote for Peace" by Svadilfari, on Flickr

Happy Election Day!  Remember to vote today, and remember that at the end of the day, Jesus (and not any of our candidates!) is still Lord.  Below are some wise words about faith and politics.  I hope you find them helpful and edifying!

First, some thoughtful words from Election Day Communion (which St. Timothy Lutheran Church celebrates at 7am, noon, and 6pm today):

On November 6, 2012, Election Day, we will exercise our right to choose.
Some of us will choose to vote for Barack Obama.
Some of us will choose to vote for Mitt Romney.
Some of us will choose to vote for another candidate.
Some of us will choose not to vote.

During the day of November 6, 2012, we will make different choices for different reasons, hoping for different results.

But that evening while our nation turns its attention to the outcome of the presidential election, let’s again choose differently. But this time, let’s do it together.

Let’s meet at the same table,
with the same host,
to remember the same things.

We’ll remember that real power in this world — the power to save, to transform, to change — ultimately rests not in political parties or presidents or protests but in the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus.

We’ll remember that, through the Holy Spirit, this power dwells within otherwise ordinary people who as one body continue the mission of Jesus: preaching good news to the poor, freeing the captives, giving sight to the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:16-21).

We’ll remember that freedom — true freedom — is given by God and is indeed not free. It comes with a cost and it looks like a cross.

We’ll remember our sin and our need to repent.

We’ll remember that the only Christian nation in this world is the Church, a holy nation that crosses all human-made boundaries and borders.

We’ll remember that our passions are best placed within the passion of Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

We’ll remember that we do not conform to the patterns of this world, but we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

We’ll remember that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

And we’ll re-member the body of Christ as the body of Christ, confessing the ways in which partisan politics has separated us from one another and from God.

And then here's a prayer for our leaders, from the front pages of the Lutheran hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship:

Lord God, you call your people to honor those in authority. Help us elect trustworthy leaders, participate in wise decisions for our common life, and serve our neighbors in local communities. Bless the leaders of our land, that we may be at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Blessings to you today, and don't say up too late watching election returns! :)

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to [Jesus] and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

--Mark 10:35-45

"Soba time" by TruShu, on Flickr

"Space Bush" by Saad Alafaliq on flickr

"When you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. Don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are."

--Martin Luther King, Jr., from a 1967 address to students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia entitled, "What is your Life's Blueprint?"