So…
Every time someone from the Presbytery
calls, I shudder. It’s not because the people who are a part of the Presbytery
are bad, far from it. I shudder because it usually means they want me to do
something.
I got two calls recently.
One was to consider teaching folks from
other churches how to do 60 second sermons. I could do that! Then they told me
the presentation and question time was 70 minutes! Yeah no. I would be done in
about 6 minutes.
I don’t write a script. I look at the
sermon from the week before to make sure I remember what it was and then set in
my mind what the theme was, scripture and the date.
I use an iPhone’s camera set to video,
and the with the back-facing lens, showing me my pretty face, I push the button
and I talk, kind of summarizing the sermon from the Sunday before for 60
seconds.
And because I am that good, I get it all
in one take, or three or seven. Then I upload it to Instagram and put a title
on it. Done.
I’ve also added it to Vimeo, a video
hosting site, because from there I can send it to both the church’s Facebook
pages (yes there are two – Facebook started one all on its own, because ours is
Otisville Presbyterian and they noticed there was also the possibility of Otisville
– Mt. Hope Presbyterian, and I have never figured out how to get rid of it, so
I post to both).
I mean, this is not brain surgeon’s
work. Have I used up six minutes yet?
So, I told them I didn’t think it made
any sense to have me talk for six minutes.
Erin Moore, Teaching Elder from the
Chester church said I was off the hook for January, because they have this
really cool dude named Brian McLaren coming to talk about the future church.
But she thinks I should be on in March.
I am hoping they don’t call. I don’t
want to go. Whine, whine, whine.
I am also hoping they don’t see anything
about Facebook Live or they will want to know about that. And soon, YouTube
Live I hope, because we have folks, and there are lots of others out there in
video land, that don’t have Facebook.
The other call was about the possible
sale of the Stony Point Presbyterian Church. The congregation has closed and
now the question about the sale of the building has arisen.
While I am concerned about the sale and
how the proceeds are used, I am not going to get involved in that boondoggle. Except
I am.
So, when I get a call, I tend to duck.
And that makes me wonder why Peter and Andrew
and James and John didn’t.
Matthew doesn’t give us in his version
of the gospel story any preparation for the calling of these four. Other gospel
writers do. The miracle of the many fish in the boat for example.
But Matthew just says Jesus’ called and
they responded; almost as if Jesus call, his authority, his presence, his
spirituality was sufficient enough to move the hearts of these grizzled
fishermen.
And I’m not saying it wasn’t. Matthew
came on the scene not long after this so he would have known the story.
But it’s a stark reminder that Jesus’
followers don’t follow him just because they saw a miracle. And they didn’t
follow him just because he was a great teacher.
Matthew suggests they followed him
because he was Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ. They heard his voice. They heard
his call. And they heard the voice of God in some way in that moment and knew
they needed to respond, and did.
They got out of their boats, they left
jobs and family behind and followed Jesus, to become part of his ministry, to
become part of what God was doing.
And did you hear what they did? They
went with Jesus while he taught, and they saw Jesus heal people. The story is
amazing. Following Jesus must have been an adventure of a lifetime.
And here is another thing. You notice
how Jesus calls ordinary people? Not rock stars, not religious leaders. Not
politicians. Not Wall Street money gurus. He calls fishermen, and later on guys like Matthew and Zacchaeus, and women
like Mary and Martha, and folks healed from demons and leprosy.
They were just regular people. Because
Jesus honored regular people. He wasn’t concerned about a person’s age or color
or family history. He wasn’t concerned with whether you were male or female,
tall or short, married or single.
Jesus saw people as people, as persons
each created in the image of God, beloved by God and worthy, always worthy of
the time and care and compassion of the Son of God.
Jesus had no time for racism or sexism
or nationalism or religious intolerance that separates God’s people rather than
bring them together. Instead he saw each and every person as valuable in the
sight of God. Every person; a reminder on the Martin Luther King weekend we all
need to hear.
Jesus is calling. So, how is God calling
you? When recently have you heard his voice? And what was it you were supposed
to do as you followed him? What were you to leave behind, at least for now? And
what is it you were/are supposed to accomplish with and for Jesus?
It’s easy when things are busy to ignore
the call, but be assured, if Jesus is looking for you, he will find you.
Maybe it’s time to get up and out of the
boat, because the adventure ahead will be amazing, and so worth it.
I got another call the other day.
They wanted to talk about the electric bill.
That one you don’t have to take.
Jesus is calling…
Amen.
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