Water-Washed
and Spirit-Born: Hear the Call
Sermon preached by Rev. Patricia Farris
January 22, 2006
Scripture:
Psalm 62:5-12 and Mark
1:14-20
This
morning’s Gospel reading (read so well by Kyle and dramatized
by our Fisherfolk) marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
The tradition at the time was for interested students to seek out
a renowned teacher for instruction. But this Jesus is different. He
has gone out to the highways and the byways to share his message with
all who will listen. “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of
God has drawn near,” he proclaims. The kingdom of God has drawn
near.
Today
we’re going to look at what it means for us to be called to
be participants in that kingdom. To be, as Yolanda King put it Monday
in Santa Monica’s Martin Luther King observance, to be change
agents, to be dream-workers. What does it mean that God calls US to
be part of building the kingdom in our world, in our community?
Let’s
take ourselves back for a moment and remember what Jesus is talking
about here, this kingdom that is at heart of his ministry and his
message. Baptized by John, Jesus has placed himself in the long line
of the prophets. He has picked up the mantle of Amos and Isaiah and
Micah. His reign is one that promises hope for the people, light in
the darkness, release of the captives and good news for the poor.
It is God’s kingdom of righteousness and peace and it will mean
that some things in the world will need to change.
Remember,
at the time of John the Baptist and Jesus, God’s people lived
in dire conditions. John the Baptist was arrested, as we hear today,
and then later beheaded! Slavery and economic domination by the Romans
meant that the life was difficult and often hopeless.
The
people had been waiting for a sign from God. John had been waiting,
and all the people who came out to the Jordan to be baptized by him
had been waiting. Mary and Joseph had been waiting. The shepherds
on the hillside had been waiting. The Wise Men had been waiting. Simeon
and Anna had been waiting. They had all been waiting a long time for
God to make good on his promises.
(continued...)
"Hear
the Call" by Rev. Patricia Farris, January 22, 2006
But where there had been no light, God’s new order was beginning
now to shine for all to see in the person of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
Here it was, up close and personal. Hey Simon and Andrew. Hey James
and John. Let’s go! God’s Kingdom is here. Change your lives
and believe this good news!
Hey
Mary, hey Jim. Hey Brad, hey Carol. Come with me now. God’s Kingdom
is here. That’s how we need to hear this passage—God, in
Christ, calling us by name, into a new life of purpose and promise,
dream workers for the Kingdom of God.
You
know, some months ago when we first began our work on worship renewal
here in this congregation, we filled out a questionnaire about worship
and one of the questions asked us to write what we’re most hoping
for when we come each week. Many of us, many of us, wrote that we come
wanting to know what God would have for our lives, what God’s
purpose is for our life. We come wanting a glimpse of a bigger picture
of which we each are a part. We come hungry to know that it matters,
that how we live matters—to God.
Well,
it couldn’t be clearer than it is right here in Mark’s Gospel.
Follow me, Jesus says, calling us by name. Come here with me. And I
will make you to become builders of the Kingdom of God.
Now
Simon and Andrew, James and John, were fishermen and so Jesus pitched
this work in terms they would understand. “I will make you fish
for people,” he said to them. And while some of us here are fishermen,
to be sure, we’re lots of other things, too. We’re doctors
and lawyers, teachers and computer experts. We’re musicians and
librarians and artists and scientists. We’re mothers and fathers
and sons and daughters. We’re dancers and photographers and architects
and financial advisors. We’re graphic designers and actors and
students and administrators. We’re office workers and postal carriers
and business tycoons and grocery clerks. And I guarantee you, the call
of Jesus comes to us in the language of our lives--for all our gifts,
all our skills, all our expertise, all of what we know and what we do
and who we are can and will be put to work, in us, through us, to help
build up the Kingdom of God. That’s God’s claim on our lives.
We
never know how this is going to play out, where our gifts and talents
will be needed and used. An amazing thing occurred in our world last
Monday. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was inaugurated as the 23rd President
of Liberia, the first woman elected head of state in all of Africa.
She is a remarkable woman, a United Methodist woman. Her grandparents
could not read or write. Married at the age of 17, she became the mother
of four boys before deciding to return to school and pull herself and
her family out of poverty. She studied at the College of West Africa,
at the University of Wisconsin, and then worked as a waitress to put
herself through Harvard, where she earned her master’s degree
in public administration. (continued...)
"Hear
the Call" by Rev. Patricia Farris, January 22, 2006
At
67, she is well-qualified for her job. She has worked for the UN Development
Fund in Nigeria, for the World Bank, and as an African-based vice-president
for Citibank. She’s tough, she’s smart, and she’s
endured a lot—jailed for her opposition to a former ruler, and
exiled twice during her country’s long civil war.
The
challenges she now faces are daunting. After 14 years of civil war,
most of the country is without electricity or running water, its infrastructure
destroyed. Scores of children as young as 10 were trained as soldiers
and have known only violence. Over half of the population has known
only war. The country carries a $3 billion debt.
All
of that has been in the papers, but there’s more I want you
to know this morning about this remarkable woman. She was trained
in Methodist schools and to this day is an active member of the First
United Methodist Church in Monrovia. Her pastor said of her this week:
“She is our daughter. She grew up in this church, and we know
how she was raised.”
The
United Methodist Church in Liberia has long been on the forefront
of reconciliation and development efforts. That church that raised
her, and instilled Gospel values in her, now pledges to both support
her in prayer and keep her accountable to her campaign promises: to
educate the youth, to restore hope to the children, to reach out to
her opponents, to build health clinics, to build peace.
In
her inauguration speech, referring often to her faith, she said: “We
are good, we are kind, we are forgiving, and we are God’s…we
have a future of promise and hope and we will not fail.”
Keep
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in your prayers in the weeks and months
to come. She has responded to God’s call to serve, risking her
life at times, now spending what could well be her retirement years
endeavoring to rebuild her war-torn country into a land at peace.
I
know that a few of our youth, young men and young women, aspire to
be president some day. God bless them. Who knows? Maybe a son or daughter
of this congregation will one day face such a challenge. And we will
have raised them up. And we will know them. And we will know their
values and their vision. And we will pray for them.
How
can we ever know what God has in store for us? How can we know our
place in the kingdom? We first listen for God calling us by name,
knowing that God has chosen us and will equip us to serve wherever
we find ourselves, in whatever role and circumstance. Hey, come, work
with me, Jesus calls. The kingdom of God is now.
In
whatever circumstance we may find ourselves, there may be a way to
witness to kingdom values: reconciliation, forgiveness, compassion,
peace. There may be a way to lift (continued...)
"Hear
the Call" by Rev. Patricia Farris, January 22, 2006
another
from despair or hopelessness. There may be a way to extend loving
hospitality to one who is lonely or afraid. There may be a way to
serve the hungry and the homeless. There may be a way to support someone
who is grieving and sad. There may be a way to open a window of possibility
to a child or youth. There may be a way just simply to stop and look
in another’s eyes and call them by name, reminding them of God’s
love for them.
Centering
our lives on God in worship helps prepare us to be ready in the moment
to serve Christ in ways large and small, to serve on the world stage
or to serve in the most ordinary encounter.
Pay
attention to opportunities to serve the kingdom as they present themselves
to you. And they will. For Christ is always present in the world eager
to engage us in his work. Stay alert. Pay attention to the possibilities
all around you. So that even as you are busy going about your life,
you will hear God’s voice when God calls you, and like those
first disciples, you will stop what you’ve been doing long enough
to respond to that call and serve the greater glory.
The Kingdom of God has drawn near.
Amen.
©Patricia
Farris , 2006. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution.
All other rights reserved.
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