How do you know your calling, versus your wishful thinking? Practice. Make your best guess and see how it goes. Be sure to consult a wise person before you do something too weird. You’ll learn. Remember: no suffering for suffering’s sake. Your calling is not going to torture you. It’s going to feel right. Maybe not easy, but right.
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Brea Congregational United Church of Christ
January 21, 2018
Follow Me
Mark 1:14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to
Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the
good news.”
16 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. 17
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their
nets and followed him. 19 As he
went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who
were in their boat mending the nets. 20
Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with
the hired men, and followed him.
The beginning of Jesus’ ministry is told in the
gospel of Mark in the sparest way. Two sets of brothers, simple fishermen in a
small village by a lake, are invited by Jesus to follow him, and be “fishers of
people.” It sounds like the beginning of a pyramid scheme. And it would be, if Jesus was selling
something. But he wasn’t. He was giving something away. Jesus was giving the most precious gift I can
imagine: the invitation to claim our identity as children of God. Our sacred worth that nothing and nobody can
take away. It is the work of a lifetime
to figure out how to receive that gift, and enjoy it, and live into it.
“Follow me.”
Such simple words. To Mark, this is the whole point of his gospel. He wrote it so that we, his readers, could follow
Jesus, hear his teachings, watch his acts of power, and witness the Kingdom of
God springing up like mustard blooming on the Chino Hills. Mark wrote this
Gospel so we could be transformed. The translation we heard said “The Kingdom
of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.” Repent, but the Greek verb
metanoeo might be better translated,
“change”, or “transform.” I bet the process theologians among us already knew
that. Transform, and trust the Good
News. That each of us really is a child of God: precious, loved, valued beyond
measure. That Jesus really does lead us
into right relationship with God and humans, if we will follow.
That call, “Follow me,” in Mark’s gospel is not
asking us to say or believe the right things. I’m sure Mark would like you to
believe as he did. Which was, incidentally, not orthodox Christianity. That came several centuries later. Mark was trusting that following Jesus would
help you believe whatever it is you need to believe.
What we believe does matter. But what we say we
believe and what actually shapes our actions are often two different things,
aren’t they? Beliefs can just be statements we debate, puzzles we solve; they
can be all up in our heads. Trust is more
deeply rooted in the heart. And that is
not just a metaphor. Scientists tell us the heart has thick neural bundles
connecting it to the midbrain, the seat of our emotions and our motivation. Trust is what helps us get up in the morning
and face the world. We heard “believe
the Good News.” But the Greek verb pisteuo can just as well be translated,
“trust.” Trust the Good News. Trust your identity and worth as a child of
God. Lean into it. Let it comfort you, and
let it challenge you. Let this Good News
reassure you that you matter; you have a purpose, and you are loved. Let this Good News challenge you to live fully
out of that trust, and to share it with others.
That call to “Follow me,” could be pretty
intimidating if you skip over Jesus’ outrageous debates and his dinner parties
and his wandering with his friends all over Palestine, and if all you focus on
is his suffering and death. Pretty intimidating. Why would people focus on his suffering and
death? I don’t know, but that’s what I heard in church when I was a child. Suffering
is a part of all our journeys. Sometimes following Jesus means stepping into harm’s
way, into avoidable suffering. But not
for its own sake; rather, to be in solidarity with others who are suffering. And
one follower does not get to tell another follower how and when to suffer.
Suffering is not the goal. You know this. Nor is guilt at the suffering you don’t
sign up for.
“Follow me.”
Here’s something not everyone knows.
You might not have to be a Christian to follow Jesus. You don’t even
have to know what you believe. Just
start down the road and see where it takes you.
It’s probably a good idea to actually pay attention to what he did and
what he taught. It amazes me how many
people who claim to be Christians seem to be ignoring his teachings and
following the teachings of someone much more divisive and mean-spirited. I suspect that my Unitarian Wiccan friend is
following Jesus better than that.
“Follow
me.” Note that Mark doesn’t talk about following Jesus to earn a reward or
avoid punishment. That hell stuff is
mostly in Matthew’s gospel. With one notable exception in chapter 9, Mark does
not scare us with hell. Surely lack of a proper hell is part of the cause of
lax attendance in open-minded churches. “If you don’t believe in hell, why go
to church?” I actually heard that from a
fellow student at Claremont School of Theology.
Why go to church indeed? Maybe because we seek the
Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Right relationship with God and the
world and each other. How are we going
learn to follow Jesus and be open to God’s leading if we followers don’t stick
together and learn with each other, learn from each other? If we don’t show up on a regular basis and
try? Jesus’ talk of the Kingdom of God is hard to pin down. It is near, it is among us, we can receive
it, we can enter it. It seems like a way
of being, not a place. A way of being
that’s almost in our grasp. We need each other to help track it down, to help
God create it among us, and to help each other on Jesus’ Way.
I’ve been doing these listening interviews with
church members. I’m almost done. That means if I haven’t interviewed you, it’s
time! A very powerful and beautiful thing came out of a number of the listening
interviews. These people said that in this church are some individuals who are
so inspiring in what they do, you just want to watch them, and spend time with
them, and aspire to be like them.
That call, “Follow me,” is the beginning of a grand
adventure, a deep challenge, and a deep joy.
Mark wants us, the readers of his gospel, to accept the invitation. And he does everything he can to make the
entry bar low. Don’t worry if you get confused on the details or if you mess
up. I heard someone say recently that he couldn’t imagine how to follow Jesus,
because Jesus was perfect. Well,
according to Mark’s gospel Jesus isn’t perfect; that Syro-Phoenician woman in
chapter seven had to teach him a thing or two about inclusive love. Something about even the dogs under the
master’s table deserving some scraps. And
it isn’t hard to be better followers than Jesus’ first twelve: Mark shows them bumbling and misunderstanding
and making fools of themselves regularly.
Can we all give ourselves permission to follow
Jesus badly? Just get that out of the way up front? We may be inconsistent, or confused, or
timid, or distracted. We may not have the skills or the knowledge to follow Jesus
very well. We may be selfish, or
self-righteous, or mired in bitterness and resentment. We may think we are supposed to do far more
than we are doing. If you don’t think you’re very good at following Jesus, the
last thing you need is to give up. That would be like refusing to do the
laundry because the clothes are too dirty! We don’t have to be good at
following Jesus, just willing to try and willing to learn. What a relief. It allows us to be honest about our struggles
and our flaws. And it allows us to be
truly welcoming of other people who are not perfect either. (And somehow their
flaws are easier to see than our own, funny how that works.)
So there is the calling, and the challenge, and
have I covered all the excuses not to answer the call yet? You don’t have to believe the right things,
you don’t have to sign up for suffering, you don’t have to be good enough…
Wait, there’s one more excuse. “I’m too
busy.” With what, life? Feeling overwhelmed? Maybe you need some support, some wisdom, inspiration,
comfort, hope? What better way to get those
things than to answer a call to be loved and led by the force that created the
universe? Stick one toe in the water, and see what happens.
“Follow me.” Because you’re at this church, I
suspect that you know how to think for yourself, and you know that following
Jesus does not mean blindly following any human
leader. You are free to disregard anything I say, right? Good. Various
religious leaders over the years have set themselves up to tell people exactly
what to do to follow Jesus, for better, or for worse. We don’t do that here. It’s your life, and it’s your walk with the
sacred that we’re talking about. Other people can give you guidance and
support, but you are the one who gets to figure out how Jesus is calling you,
in your family, your day job, your play, your relationships, your use of money
and time… How are you going to love your neighbors and love yourself?
So say you answer that call to follow Jesus,
where does it lead? Can it really be personal and individually tailored to you?
Can it be that the force that sets the stars in motion goes to this level of
detail to concern itself with our individual gifts and talents and struggles
and creates personal invitations for each of us, different at different phases
of our life, possibly even different every day? That is hard for our human
brains to believe, because we see relationships in human terms. Humans can’t multitask seven billion
ways. Yet I watch it happen, for those
who follow and pay attention. Perhaps
you would like to think of this phenomenon as inspired intuition. Of course it is. Inspired by… that Holy Spirit that we saw
last week landing on Jesus. She’s still in the back of the sanctuary.
That inspiration may have led you to a vocation,
a job that is a calling. Something big
and life-changing. Or it may have led
you to drive your friend to her doctor’s appointment. Something small that helps weave the web of
love that sustains us all. Or it may have led you to dance a dance, plant a
plant, sing a song, cook a meal. We are
called to acts of creation, of celebration, of love and respect and care and
integrity, of learning, of transformation and of renewal. We are called to lift
our lives up to the light and power of the sacred and find the patterns that
are hidden there, ready to be revealed, and the ones we will help create. We are called to an adventure of living in
the Power of God’s spirit.
How do you know your calling, versus your
wishful thinking? Practice. Make your best guess and see how it
goes. Be sure to consult a wise person
before you do something too weird.
You’ll learn. Remember: no
suffering for suffering’s sake. Your
calling is not going to torture you. It’s going to feel right. Maybe not easy, but right.
Churches, too, have calls. You might think we are called to pray and
sing and party and care for each other. That’s
good stuff. But according to Paul, the
purpose of the church is “to equip the saints for ministry.” That is, to help you get clear on your
calling and give you the tools and support to do it. And churches are unique, as people are unique. One church really puts energy into one mission;
another is really good at something else.
One of the questions I have been asking in the
listening interviews is, “What might God be calling this church to be?” And
many of you had some pretty clear ideas.
To be a teaching church. Which
means a number of you might be called to have a passion for learning, and maybe
even teaching. To be an alternative
voice and a force in the community for radical welcome of LGBTQ people, and of
homeless people, and no doubt, of people we haven’t even met yet. A voice for saving
Mother Earth. This church has a unique and wonderful way of following Jesus, of
responding to that call.
Everybody needs a purpose. Don’t settle for those purposes our society
tries to give you; they will fail you. When we are following Jesus, we have a
worthy purpose. If you think you don’t have a purpose, your purpose is to find
your purpose, your calling and then go do it.
I’d love to chat about it, and so would many people here.
“Follow me!”
Who is going to accept that call?
Don’t worry, there will not be an altar call now. But if you do intend to follow Jesus, make it
real. Write it down. Or tell somebody. Or put a sign on your mirror. Or pledge to show up here every Sunday you
can.
“The Kingdom of God has come near.” Despite all the chaos and hatred and fear
around us, when we are living our calling, we will participate in the Kingdom
of God. We live the Good News, and it
transforms us. And we help others to know
the wonder and the love that is our personal, cosmic, ever-creating God. Amen.
