The Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
January
26, 2014
The Rev. Christopher L. Caddell
The world is
full of seemingly ordinary people who are able to do extraordinary things. Over the past year or so, the world has been
captivated by a few of their stories.
People like
Malala Yousafzai, the young woman who stood up for women’s education in
Pakistan, and even after being shot by the Taliban continues to be a force of
change in her part of the world.
We were also
recently reminded of the contributions of Nelson Mandela, who endured prison in
apartheid South Africa, only to become it’s first democratically elected
president.
And Pope
Francis, the first non-European pope since the 8th century, is
already changing the face of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as the
perception of Christianity around the world.
While each
of these may not seem too ordinary to us now, they most likely would be unknown
to us had they not chosen to follow a call.
Perhaps amongst other things, one thing each of these amazing people has
in common is a sense of their vocation that has enabled them to do
extraordinary things.
In his book Let Your Life Speak, author Parker
Palmer says that vocation can be understood as “something I [must] do, for
reasons I’m unable to explain to anyone else and don’t fully understand myself
but that are nonetheless compelling.”[1]
That’s how
we often think of vocation in the Church, if we think of it at all. Vocation is a word that carries a certain
amount of weight, usually accompanying a radical change in someone’s life that
defies a rational explanation. It’s the
model that’s placed before us again and again, and deeply embedded in the psyche
of the Church.
We get our
ideas about vocation from both scripture and tradition. The Old Testament patriarchs and matriarchs
hear God’s voice and make large and tangible changes in their ways of life –
leaving familiar surroundings and relative safety behind to move to a foreign
land.
The prophets
respond to God’s call by speaking out against corrupt authority and doing it in
a way that attracts attention to themselves.
Paul leaves
behind a lifetime of learning and dedication to Judaism only to become the most
ardent and outspoken of apostles of the early Christian movement.
And from beyond
the biblical witness, the Church leaves behind a legacy of people who have been
dedicating their lives to Christian vocations by serving as monks and nuns,
priests and pastors, Christian educators and authors.
All leaving
behind some semblance of “normal life” to pursue this vocation.
Today’s
gospel text is another example. It is Matthew’s
version of Jesus calling the first disciples.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John will come to be four of Jesus’ closest
friends and companions.
On one hand we
could say that these four men fit the pattern of vocation that I have just
described. Their decision to follow will
take them places that were unfamiliar and away from the safety of home. As they left their nets and boats behind
others must have thought they were foolish and unwise. Certainly in following
Jesus they did something that arguably they couldn’t fully explain either to
themselves or to others, but nevertheless found so compelling that they had no
other choice but to follow Jesus.
We, of course,
have the benefit of knowing the rest of their story. We know what is coming for these four men –
the amazing things that they will see and do, what they will learn, and what
they will teach to others, and the influence that they will have on generations
of people far and wide all the way down to you and me.
Peter,
Andrew, James, and John may be ordinary fishermen, but it is hard to separate
out of our minds who they will become and the impact they will have. Just like Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela,
or Pope Francis, it is hard to see the simple beginnings of these four
disciples.
Perhaps that
is why it is important for us to be reminded so often of just how Jesus called
his disciples. Last week we heard John’s
version, with the invitation to “Come and see.”
But this week it is Matthew, and that invitation is somewhat
different.
There is the
invitation to from Jesus to follow, but there is more to it. “Follow me,” Jesus says, “and I will make you
fishers of people.”
The
invitation is not about following just Jesus to observe what he is doing, but
to follow by entering into a relationship with him, with each other, and with
those that they will meet along the way.
These ordinary fishermen, living an everyday life, are invited to be a
part of God’s plan for salvation by choosing to be in relationship with others.
The question for us is not
whether or not we have a vocation, a call.
The fact that you are here is evidence enough to say that you have been
called, and that you are already responding to that call. We are, however, reminded this morning that
our vocation joins us to one another in relationship, both inside and outside
the walls of this building. And it is
through those relationships that we have the chance to participate in God’s
mission of salvation.
Perhaps that is a little hard
to wrap our minds around. I’ll admit it
can seem far-fetched.
But humor me for a moment,
and I want you to call to mind one significant relationship in your life,
someone who has made you who you are today.
Think of someone who has taught you how to love, how to forgive, how to
be when you are truly at your best. It could be a long-term relationship, or a
brief encounter, but someone who has shaped your life in some meaningful way.
Hold that person in your
mind. You got it?
Now imagine that that you and
that person never met.
How would you be
different? What in you would be lacking
because that relationship never happened?
Now I want you to call to
mind someone in your life now; someone to whom you have a significant
connection. It can be someone brings you particular joy, or sorrow, or
frustration, or hope. Hold that person
in your mind.
How is God using you to make
a meaningful difference in that person’s life?
How does that Christ-shaped relationship bring this person and the world
a little closer to God’s vision for his creation?
That is the vocation, the
call of a disciple – to allow God to work through the people and relationships
he places in our lives. And while we may
think of our lives as ordinary, following Jesus and being fishers of people
brings about extraordinary things. Amen.
[1]
Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak:
Listening for the Voice of Vocation, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000, 25.
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