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| An October sunrise at Beckwith Conference and Retreat Center, in Fairhope, Alabama |
Chosen. Called.
“Come and see.” Our lessons and
Gospel this morning are our invitation to be beacons, lights (if you will), for
the glory of God.
It is
the season of Epiphany. That time when
we recognize the Light of the World is Jesus.
And when we are reminded that in our recognition of Jesus, we, too, are
invited to become lights to the world.
We are
chosen, called, and invited to be in community with one another, shedding light
to and with one another, not only in this place, at this time, with these
people, but outside these doors, to the people we meet. Bringing God’s hope and joy and love out to
others, hoping that they will recognize the Lord and Savior within us and want
to accept the invitation to become a part of the community of faith.
We
hear this in the lesson from Isaiah, where the writer acknowledges that they
are chosen by God, known and named in the womb, to be a light in a world
separated from God, chosen to tell the story of God, chosen to be a servant who
will bring the people back into community with one another and God. No small task, mind you, and one that would
require the mouth of a sharp sword or an arrow hidden in God’s quiver. One that would stand up and speak up in ways
that would make governmental leaders stand up and take notice that it is this
person, and not them, who is chosen by God.
With a
mouth of a sharp sword or an arrow hidden in God’s quiver, this person is
chosen to call out inequities, to challenge the civic authority, to bring the
Israelites into renewed relationship with their Creator. Chosen to challenge authority and call
attention to those who were being mistreated.
Chosen to remind the followers of God that God was still present with
them, even though they had begun to believe that all their efforts for equity
in a cruel world were being wasted on a lost cause.
God
chose this person, from the womb, to shed a light on the darkness and change
the hearts of those who were losing hope.
Chosen
to shake up the community in order to recreate community. Chosen.
In our
second lesson, Paul reminds us that he was called to be a disciple of
Jesus. He also reminds us that we, too,
are called to be Jesus Followers. We
are called to bring our God-given gifts and talents into our faithful, everyday
lives. Gifts that help us tell the story
of Jesus in this world.
We are
called to live as the Jesus Followers we are.
We have hope because we possess what we need to receive God’s grace
throughout our lives.
Chosen. Called.
It is
in Jesus, however, that we are invited.
“Come and see,” Jesus tells John the baptizer’s disciples when they ask
him where he is staying. “Come and see.”
There
is intimacy in that invitation. An
invitation to enter someone’s personal space.
To hear and learn and witness and grow into relationship with this
person, this Jesus.
These
two disciples of John changed course and began a new journey with someone
promised to be the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit, the Lamb of God,
Jesus. They changed course when they were invited to “come and see.”
But it
began with Jesus asking them, “What are you looking for?”
They
called him Rabbi, teacher, and asked him where he was staying, or as it was
interpreted in The Message, where he lived.
Was that what they were seeking?
To know where he ate his meals and laid his head at night? No, not really. They were looking to know him. And where is the best place to get to know
someone?
Think
about the most important relationships outside of your immediate family. Those people who have invited you into their
homes, shared meals, laughed and cried with you. I imagine the closer your relationships, the
more time you have spent in one another’s homes, sheltered and safe. Places of intimate sharing and caring and
learning.
When
we enter into someone’s home, we are given the opportunity to see them in their
element. We see what gives them joy,
what distracts them, what is important to them.
The pictures on the walls tell stories.
The clutter-filled or sparse spaces give us insight. We have the opportunity to see others in new
or different ways.
When
the host is comfortable with you in their home and you are comfortable in their
home, the way you are together can potentially change. It is in the –“come and see” where I live,
who I love, what is important to me—invitation that builds the relationship.
Jesus
said, “come and see.” He welcomed these
strangers into where he was staying, and they were invited to build a
relationship with him.
Chosen. Called.
Invited.
Even
though these stories are about different people in a different time, these are
our stories, too. We are chosen. We are called. We are invited to be a part of this community
of Jesus Followers.
It’s
easy to rest on those three things:
chosen, called, invited. To feel
comfortable that we are a part of that community. At ease in knowing that we are recipients of
God’s Grace.
But
there is more to those words: chosen,
called, and invited, than comfort. Being
a part of God’s community means we are chosen, as we heard in Isaiah, to be
God’s servant, serving in ways that show God’s glory to the world. That means talking about God in the
world.
We are
called to use the gifts God has given us to tell the world about God.
We are
invited into relationship with Jesus to learn his life and ministry and to
learn what we need to know and do and be to show God’s love to the world.
That
we are chosen, called and invited does not mean we sit and rest. No. It
means we get up and we are active in the world, living as members of Christ’s
body. For some, that is in being active,
in doing and being the hands and feet of Jesus.
For others, it might be in telling the story, which might sound a little
like this interpretation of verses 9 and 10 of Psalm 40, which we recited
earlier. This from The Message:
I’ve
preached you to the whole congregation,
I’ve kept back nothing, God—you know that.
I
didn’t keep the news of your ways
a secret, didn’t keep it to myself.
I told
it all, how dependable you are, how thorough.
I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth
For
myself alone. I told it all,
let the congregation know the whole story.
You are chosen, called and invited to tell the story, to
live the story, to be the story of Jesus in the world. YOU are chosen, called and invited to choose,
call and invite others into the story.
Beloveds, let us pray.
Help
us, Jesus, to tell the story of how God’s love for us changes and challenges
the world. Help us to tell the story of
how your miracles of healing and feeding and loving those society deemed
unlovable turned the world upside down.
Help us tell our own stories of faith in you, of hope in your
resurrection, of joys that have filled our lives, and of your love for each of
us, individually and in community. Help
us to know that because we are chosen, called and invited, we are to tell your
story to the world. Amen.
At the Offertory, the choir sang "I Love to Tell the Story."