“YOU are Called into Ministry!” Matthew 4:12-23; Rev. G. Scott Turnbrook; Northwood United Church; January 22, 2017
His name is Bob. He lives on the street and he hears voices. These voices tell him that the shelters are not safe…so he lives on the street. These voices tell him not to apply for social services ~ it is of the devil...so he lives with no support. But he also receives voices, telling him to share God’s love...and he lives a life of ministry. I first met Bob in a prayer group at First United Church in the Downtown Eastside when we were gathered in a circle, sipping coffee and discussing a Bible reading. Bob spoke up, alertly, and proceeded to offer a very thoughtful insight on the text we were studying. After the group ended he told me about how God called him to a street ministry to save all those who live on the streets. And so Bob hears voices. He wanders the streets, helping people, discouraging drug use and prostitution, offering prayer, offering love, offering Christ’s ministry in the Downtown Eastside.
We all hear voices in our heads. Now certainly when I say that, you might think of voices arising from a mental illness such as schizophrenia. And that is one extreme form of this. Hearing voices in that instance is incapacitating. These voices separate the person from those who love them and from social systems which can offer their support and care. These voices are an ongoing plague and threaten their day to day healthy life. Aside from these types of voices, I believe that an entirely healthy person hears voices too. What voices do you hear? I am going to go out on a limb and tell you that I hear voices. This past Thursday was the eighth anniversary of the death my father. And I still hear his voice of encouragement and support ~ his voice of wisdom and love. My grandmother was an active church lady, a lifetime member of the UCW ~ I still have her pin in my jewelry box, and I hear her voice still speaking to me ~ a voice of grace and love.
In a religious context, people heard voices of call / voices of direction from the divine. All of the prophets throughout the Hebrew Bible / the Old Testament heard a voice of call and they responded. But it wasn’t just the fiery prophets who would have books of scripture named after them, those who heard voices from God were also regular people like you and I. I heard voices years ago that called me into ministry. Unrelenting voices that would not let me go until I began to listen to them and discern a new vocation. It’s kind of a ‘small world story’ for us because when I was working in sales and marketing in the Toronto area and beginning to hear voices of a call into ministry, the wise counsel I turned to was the Rev. Dr. Doug Lobb ~ who at the time was serving the congregation of Timothy Eaton Memorial United Church. It’s a small world because many will remember Doug as being in the interim ministry team preparing the congregation for Rev. Will’s arrival. And my conversations with Doug helped me gain clarity on the restless voices that would not go away; they helped fine tune these voices; and they ultimately led to me changing careers, returning to school, and beginning my career in ministry.
So, how about you? Do you hear voices? Do you receive callings from God? Some recent research may guess at your response to this question. Last year, I had the pleasure of gathering with colleagues in Vancouver for a day with the Rev. Dr. David Lose, President of Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia. He reported on the findings of some research that was done through the Lilly Endowment foundation in the area of vocation. His team discovered two perplexing things: Firstly, (and not too surprising) the graduates (new ministers to be) of the five institutions they studied ~ Catholic Theological Union, Duke Divinity School, Fuller Seminary, Princeton Seminary, and Luther Seminary ~ reported that “call” was a significant category that lay behind their teaching and preaching. What was odd, however, was the discovery that a large majority of the members of the congregations these ministers served don’t feel called. Most folks sitting in the pews listening in on the preaching and teaching don’t see what they do outside of the church as worthy of God’s attention and interest. Wow! … I remember hearing that and being so deeply troubled.
So, let me ask you: Does that research hold water with you? Do YOU feel called? Do you feel that the way you spend your time, talents and treasure is of value to God? Do you feel that it matters to God? May I suggest to you that you should! YOU are called into ministry as much as I or Kerry or any minister or even our Moderator is called. YOU are called into ministry. A few thoughts…Consider the ministry that you offer within your family system. I was so glad when BC Family Day was adopted six years ago because it was that acknowledgement of the critical role that family plays in society. Faith begins at home; a person’s ethics and values; and how they come to define themselves in the world all begins at home. It needs other supports like a church, for example, but faith begins at home. And if you are a mother, father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, grandmother or grandfather ~ and you take your role seriously, and reverently ~ how could you not view your role as that of ministering God’s hope, peace, joy and love that you know in Jesus. If you are in a family, YOU are in ministry. How about your role in community? Unless you are a hermit, you live in some sort of community ~ there too, YOU are in ministry! Jesus said something about neighbours…what was it? … ah yes…Love them! Enemies too. Communities don’t happen by accident, they happen through the faithful expression of people’s administering of hope, peace, joy and love that they each know in Jesus. If you are in a community ~ YOU are in ministry! If you go to work, YOU are in ministry there too. Whether there is a cross on top of your building or a corporate logo, you are in ministry. Exercising our Christian ethics and values in our specific context; treating others in a manner that is congruent with our faith; whether we touch products or people’s lives, we are charged to do it in ways informed by God’s hope, peace, joy and love as revealed in Jesus. If you go to work, YOU are in ministry! YOU are truly in ministry in your family, in your community, in your career.
I suppose it might seem odd to think of yourself as a ‘Minister’ because we have professionalized this role so much today ~ just like so many other professions in our world today, we have over-professionalized ministry. We hire teachers to teach our children ~ and we forget that our children’s first teachers are their families. We view the medical system as a first-order solution and charge it to medicate our problems away ~ and forget the responsibility of our caring for our mind, body and soul. We sometimes forget that love, teaching and care in the world begins with us and these respective professions are meant to supplement and partner with us, not take over. This extends, I would suggest, into the church as well. We have come to believe that the minister is the man / woman standing in the pulpit, offering the prayers at the graveside, officiating at the wedding ~ and have come to believe that he/she has all the power and knowledge. Much of the work of the Protestant Reformation, which will celebrate its 500th anniversary this October 31st, was about giving ministry back into the hands of the people. The church had taken so much power away from the people since the days of Emperor Constantine and as Luther nailed his 95 theses to the wall of the Wittenberg door 1200 years later, he sought to restore balance ~ to view ministry as the work of the people. YOU are called into ministry too!
That is the legacy of this passage whose message echoes through the millennia from a Galilean seashore to us in a Fleetwood suburb today. Simon-Peter & Andrew, and James & John heard a voice ~ they heard the voice of Jesus saying ‘follow me’ ~ and they left their nets / their lives of the past ~ and immediately they followed Jesus. They were grown men, their lives were set, and they heard a call and followed. THEY were called into ministry and the text says “immediately” (without hesitation) they followed Jesus. And through them the church began to unfold. Imagine with me… if they had not followed. What would have happened? If they had kept fishing? Would Jesus have just been another great figure in history? Would there even BE a church today? I appreciated President Obama’s final press conference earlier this week. He shared some of the advice he had passed on to President-elect Trump, telling him: “you cannot do this job alone”. Jesus knew this same truth. He could not do this ministry alone and so he called the disciples to follow him.
Jesus calls YOU into ministry as well, for you are the church. This afternoon, we will have our Covenanting Service: a celebration and making of covenant between your ministry team: Kerry and I, the church authorities to which we are accountable ~ BC Conference and Fraser Presbytery, and you ~ the Members and Adherents of Northwood. And, in my opinion, this service will all be for naught if apart from Kerry and I, each and every one of us also discerns and exercises our individual calls going into the future. Kerry and I are called to serve you as your ministry team. But YOU are called to serve too! YOU are called into ministry! What does that call look like? How does it take shape and form in the way you live out your connection at Northwood? It will have ebbs and flows. And certainly, there are times in our lives when life is so difficult that we need to just ‘tie a knot and hang on’. But there are other times in our life, other times when we are freed up and empowered to exercise our ministry in so many forms. How will that look in this next chapter of life together?
So, if you are hearing voices…voices of call…voices which excite you to get involved in your church, in your family, in your community, in your workplace I am glad. I am glad because these are the voices of God calling each and every one of us to BE the church.
Thanks be to God for the voices by the seashore, the voices in our head!
Amen.