Called

 

Worship at Eastern Parkway UMC

Sunday, July 26, 2020

 

The theme of this week’s worship service is “callings”. I invite you to read the lyrics of “The Summons” by John Bell:

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown?
Will you let my name be known?
Will you let my life be grown in you,
and you in me?
Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare,
should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you
and you in me?
Will you let the blinded man see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
and do such as this unseen?
And admit to what I mean in you,
and you in me?
Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell that fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you've found
to reshape the world around
through my sight and touch and sound in you,
and you in me?
Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I'll go,
where your love and footsteps show,
thus I'll move and live and grow in you,
and you in me.

A Word of Prayer

As I adventure with you today
be the compass that guides me,
the light that shines on my path,
the only one I follow.
As I adventure with you today
be the word that encourages,
the hand that reaches out,
each time I stumble
As I adventure with you today
let me glimpse our destination,
and appreciate the places
through which you lead me.
As I adventure with you today,
be the strength I need to follow,
and as the day draws to a close
let me rest in your embrace.

Our Hebrew Bible lesson comes from 1 Samuel 3: 1-10

Samuel’s First Prophecy

3 Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. ² And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, ³ and before the lamp of God went out in the ^[a]tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, ⁴ that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, “Here I am!” ⁵ So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”

And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down.

⁶ Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!”

So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷ (Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.)

⁸ And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.”

Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

Our Gospel lesson comes from Matthew 4: 18-22

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

The Message

If you’ve been talking to me this week, you know that this has been a tough week for my family. So tough, in fact, that the events of this week radically changed the content of this week’s sermon.

On July 20^th, my dad called me to tell me that my Grandma F, his mom, passed away. It was not unexpected. Grandma turned 90 in January, and she has been struggling with dementia for nearly a decade. If dementia has affected your family, then you know how complicated that grieving process can be. Six years ago, Grandma’s dementia advanced to the point that it was no longer safe for her to live in her house, so she moved into a nursing home, where she was cared for, supported, and where she spent the rest of her days.

Grandma was born in a tiny town in Indiana called Cambria. Her mom’s maiden name was “Bible”, and faith was extremely important to her family. Small town Christian life was everything about who Grandma was. She was extraordinarily devoted to every church she belonged to. All her stories about her young adult life involved situations like standing over her stove with a big pot of chili, then yelling out the back door “Kids! Soup’s on!” And then serving dinner to a dozen children when she only had three. Grandma was extraordinarily generous, and she always gave with an open heart and hand.

Grandma was a tough lady. She was raised in a big family (she was the second youngest of eight children) during the Great Depression, in a part of the country that didn’t exactly benefit from the booming economy of the roaring ‘20s in the first place. She met my grandpa when she was still in high school and he was 25, and right after she graduated they planned a small court house wedding. Grandma proudly and romantically looked back on the summer of ’48, the year she married Grandpa F, as such a rebellious time. They had three children: my dad, and my uncles Bill and Joe. My Uncle Joe was born with a cleft lip and palate, at a time when doctors knew much less about birth defects than they do now, and raising a child with health problems meant my grandparents chronically had too much on their plate, and had to tighten their belts even more. Grandpa was a Marine, and being married to a member of the military during the Korean War brought on even more challenges for Grandma.

But she always persevered, especially because her family helped her. She went on to be a Grandma to eight, a Great-Grandma to eleven, and a Great-Great-Grandma to one. She wanted to know all about my life partner Sean after we met in middle school, and by the time I was 16 she became very concerned that we settle down and get married soon, lest I become an old maid and we waste time that we should have spent young and in love.

I could go on all day telling stories about Grandma. I share these in part because we’re all still getting to know each other, and to know my heart you need to know the hearts of those who raised me. I also share these because Grandma brings us right back around to the theme of this week’s worship: callings. You might know that I did not plan to become a minister, I planned to be a math teacher growing up. But when I felt this particular calling and decided to follow it, Grandma was one of my very first supporters. She was so proud to have a granddaughter who was a minister that she convinced her pastor to invite me to preach at her church in Indiana. It was such a special day for both of us. It was at a time when I really needed someone to see my calling within me and affirm that this is real, that God didn’t dial the wrong number, that I am capable.

So often, this is what it takes for us to truly answer our callings. So often, we don’t understand them right away. We don’t know how to listen, we don’t listen to the right parts, and we don’t know how to respond. What we need is an experienced, compassionate, Christ-following mentor to guide our steps. That’s who Grandma was for me. Over and over, she affirmed this wondrous path God put me on, and showed me the way to follow. That’s who Eli, an aging priest, was to ten-year-old Samuel in our Hebrew Bible passage. That’s who Jesus was to his first four disciples.

It's anything but easy to pursue these callings we have, even when we think we know what God has put on our hearts to do. We take on enormous risks in order to follow God. Jesus’ first four disciples were fishers who quit their jobs! What could someone tell you that would convince you to quit your job? As much as I’d love to say “I’ll do anything for the Lord”, I have to tell you that when God says “come, follow me”, I want to know there will be health insurance and a 401(k) where we’re going. We get no such guarantees from God. Nor do we get firm details.

What we get is pulling. God tugs on our heartstrings with something we just can’t say no to. Something we can’t put down, can’t walk away from, can’t punch out of. The call is enough. It gets us through.

And when it isn’t, when we don’t know how to stay on this path toward God, what we need more than anything else is that wise, loving person who shows us how to move our feet and says “go”. Who is that person for you? Is it someone looking down on you from heaven, as it is for me? Is it someone in your life now? Is it someone you haven’t met yet? Is it someone right in our church?

Talk to that person. Tell them you have a feeling you should try something new. Something God wants you to do. Ask for their advice. They will lead you to some great places.

That’s all for this week, dear ones. Go in peace, love and serve the Lord. Worship is over, service has begun!