Mark
1:14-20 Ordination of Elders Day
Elizabeth M.
Deibert 25 January 2015
After last week’s
sermon Are you Listening?, one of you (who was really listening) asked this
good question, “So how do you know if you’re hearing the voice of God or your
own inner voice? After thinking of it and talking to the elders
yesterday, here’s what I think: By years of growing into oneness with Christ,
such that your own voice is completely aligned with his. Iraneaus said,“Jesus became who we are that we
might become what He is.” Our
trouble is that we don’t take that seriously. This is our
calling. This is our identity as Christians – to become like
Christ. But we are Christ-admirers more than
Christ-followers. We just want to check his Facebook page once a
week or follow him on Twitter, instead of living our lives with him, for him,
in him.
What if you are
trying to hear God’s voice about your marriage, your work, your children, your
potential surgery, how to utilize your time in retirement, or some other
significant decision? How do you know the will of God?
By struggling and praying. I can remember sitting on the airplane (May
will be ten years ago) and talking to Richard about whether I felt called to
come here as pastor. I wanted to quit one year later, but I
didn’t. Maybe that’s when I really accepted the call to be
here. Just two weeks ago, after mentioning conflict with my brother
in a sermon, I felt directed by God to call my brother to try
reconcile. I get messages all the time about calling various ones
of you and I could call them my own thoughts, but that would not be right
because you know how forgetful I can be. So I am actively praying,
God, help me to remember the people I need to remember to call – at the right
time. So how do you know if it’s God’s voice? By practice I
guess. If you are listening carefully to Holy Scripture, seeking the
Spirit of God in worship and sacrament, striving to follow Christ while
humbling listening to the perspective of your fellow Christians, then I expect
you will discern the will of God. It’s not an overnight
thing. It is a journey – that’s why it helps to think about
the call of the fishermen to journey with Christ.
They physically
dropped what they were doing and went with him. Now the first days,
weeks, maybe even months, do you think they knew what Christ was thinking,
where He was going, how He wanted them to help Him? No, there are
plenty of Gospel stories that indicate they were rather clueless, bumbling
fools.
But presumably they got
better at following Him the more they did it. Same with
us. We get better at it with practice. But just like
the disciples, we have to go through trials and temptations, failures and
misunderstandings along the journey with Christ. As they went, it
became clearer and clearer that it was all about service. That’s
why he said, you will be fishing for people, it was all about
people. Healing people, teaching people, feeding people, yes, the
children, yes, the diseased lepers, yes, the prostitutes, yes, the lying tax
collectors, yes, all the outsiders, bring them on. The only people
Jesus did not seem to want were the ones who thought too highly of themselves,
the ones who thought they were better than others, more holy and pure and able
to perfect themselves. Jesus seeks those who know they have needs,
those willing to turn and trust. Jesus calls the disciples.
Mark
1:14-20
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.
Jesus’ special cousin
John was arrested. Presumably that would have concerned him, but
Jesus did not let that threat diminish his call. He went
on. He gathered up some fishermen and told them if they came with
him, they’d be fishing for people. When we read this story, we think of
how different it is for us. Few of had it happen so
quickly. One day you’re fishing with father. The next
day you’re on the road with Jesus, fishing for people. For
us, it is more of an every day question – am I on the road with Jesus or on my
own path. Will I follow today? Where does Christ want
me to go? Do I have the courage? Do I have the
gifts? Can I let go of other commitments to keep this
one? Some following decisions are big ones, others are smaller but
they stack up to shape our life’s direction. Some of you have made
commitment to Christ by stepping up to be leaders in church. Others
of you have heard God’s voice to do whatever it is that you do in the world, in
such a way that you are serving people.
Following Jesus is not
the same kind of nomadic existence that it was for those early
disciples. But it does still require the willingness to lay other
things down. It does still require a re-orientation of one’s
priorities. It does still require the willingness to put family second,
God first. Oh no, you say, you cannot put family
second. Well, Jesus said in another place, “unless you hate mother
and father, spouse and siblings, you cannot follow me.” I think
what he means there is that you have to be primarily defined as Christ-follower
in order to be a disciple. If being Christ-ian is number one for
you, then you will become your best self, your differentiated self, the person
you are meant to be, which while it relegates family to second place, on the
other hand, it should, if you are truly following, make you a better parent,
spouse, sibling.
You have to leave home in
order to find your true home, the home that was always there, but was
disguised, not fully seen when you were finding security in family, spouse,
children, siblings. You have to leave home, in the sense of this
world, in order to find your true home with God – here and beyond.
Jesus is calling you to
fish, to help, to care, to make peace, to listen, to love, to be hospitable and
kind and gracious, to do whatever it is that you do, for people.
Are you living in your neighborhood for you or for people? Are you
going to the gym for you or for people? Are you coming to church
for you or for people? Are you living in your family for you or for
other people? Are you going to work and school for yourself or for
other people? Is your retirement all about you or about other
people? Is your car, your house, your time yours to do what you
want or is it for people? Do you read for you or for others – to
understand them? Is your savings account just for you or for
others? Are you being ordained and installed as elders,
commissioned as ministry team leaders/managers for people?
We had a session planning
and bonding day yesterday at church with the elders. As we worked through
conflict dynamic strategies and transformational leadership issues, as we
studied the vision work many of you did last spring to arrive at five
priorities for the year, it became clear that every team, every goal is for
people. Because if it’s not for people, it is not worthy of our
time. As Pope Francis said in his address to the European
Union, it is vital that we develop a culture of human rights that is
harmoniously ordered to the greater good for all of us. Otherwise, these
rights will end up being considered limitless and consequently will become a
source of conflicts and violence.
My favorite author for
the month of January (Richard Rohr) says we spend the first half of our life
figuring out who we are, building our identity, getting pieces of it broken and
then amazingly mended by the grace of God. And all of this is for
the purpose of having a self/a vessel that God can truly use for the sake of
others. We are a tree that has grown stronger because of wind storms, a
vessel stronger because it has been broken and then glued back together by
grace. This is just the right place for Christ to dwell, to be seen
by others, shared with others – a grace-glued-together vessel. Erik
Erikson called this adult stage of life generativity vs. self-absorption and
when this stage is lived well, older adults can experience hope instead of
despair.
That’s what Christ is
calling you to do – to live for others like he did, which when we do it
completely, means we are bringing the life of God to this world, rather than
letting this world as it is, in its brokenness, control us. This
world, in its sin and brokenness, tried to deal death to Christ, just as it
still deals in accusation, and death with us, but Christ triumphed over death,
making it possible for us to do the same.
But we cannot triumph
over death without experiencing it, without suffering. We have to
fall and to fail, in order to discover the life that is beyond our
failing. When we fall or fail, we have the opportunity, if we are
following Christ, to Fall Upward.
(title of Richard Rohr’s book). We can fall upward to live, to
grow, to become more by serving people in whatever we do. Henri
Nouwen would say that we are “Wounded Healers” We cannot heal
without being wounded. Jesus healed us by suffering, so we heal
others by suffering first and growing stronger.
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