Are We Listening?

January 16, 2005 (Second Sunday after the Epiphany)

  by The Rev. Linda Yeager, Deacon

- Isaiah 49:1-7
- Psalm 40:1-10
- 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
- John 1:29-41

(From The Lectionary Page)

When I was a child, playing outdoors in the late afternoon, I always knew when it was time to go home for dinner. My father would stand on the back porch, place two fingers strategically in the two corners of his mouth and whistle.  It was a loud, piercing whistle, which I immediately recognized no matter where in the neighborhood I was playing. It was easy to hear that call, and I knew the response: get home right now.

As I have grown older, there have been other calls in my life, perhaps not as loud and certain, and I know that each of you has also had many kinds of calls. For example, if you have lived awhile and you are a male, you remember the draft notice that came in the mail, and you knew how to answer that call.  Some of us have received a call that offered us a job, and we knew how to respond to that call. The call to action, the call to service, the call to marriage, the call to parenthood — our lives are filled with calls. Sometimes the calls are clear and we know exactly how to respond. Sometimes the calls we sense are vague and leave us uncertain of just what we are being called to do. A spiritual call is often like that. Just what is it that God is calling me to do, we wonder.

The scripture readings for today speak of being called by God to live our lives in response to the many gifts we have received. In the Old Testament reading, Isaiah proclaims his hopes for Israel and seeks to understand his own role. Isaiah believes that he has been called by God to use the gifts that God has given him: “He made my mouth like a sharp sword . . . he made me a polished arrow . . ..” Isaiah recognizes that he has a gift of speaking and a gift of convincing people, of reaching their hearts, but he also feels discouraged: “I have labored in vain,” he laments. The irony, of course, is that Isaiah would never know, in his lifetime, that the words he spoke still live today as we now read and recognize the great light of which he spoke as our own savior, Jesus Christ. Still, discouraged or not, Isaiah was able to assess his gifts and use them for the glory of God.

Paul, in today’s passage from the opening of First Corinthians speaks of both his call and that of those new Christians to whom he is writing. He begins the letter, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.  . . he continues addressing the Corinthians, “to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints . . . “ and today’s passage ends, “God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” And the really incredible thing that Paul tells this group is that they have every spiritual gift that they need. Within that little group of Christians exists every spiritual gift necessary to faithfully serve their Lord. And if that little group had every spiritual gift necessary, then surely so do we! Not only does this passage encourage us to assess our own gifts, but also to look around us and recognize the gifts of others and together to serve God in community.

In the gospel passage from John, we watch two of John’s disciples as they follow Jesus. Jesus asks them for what they are looking, and they respond by asking him where he is staying. He invites them to come and see. Then this remarkable sentence occurs: “They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day.” They came; they saw; they remained. And then they invited others. They were called just as we are called, just as this congregation is called, to come, to see, to remain, and to tell others.

This call business, this idea of being sought by God to service, is frightening at best. Oh, we say, we know that some are called. Some, like Andrew, the apostle, or John Wesley or Mother Theresa or Martin Luther King, Jr., whose life we celebrate this week, had a strong sense of their call, their mission.  They were gifted with extraordinary skills of persuasion, of intellect, of passion, of charisma, of oration. Most of us, on the other hand, struggle just to maintain life in some kind of economic, social and relational balance. We come to church, most of us give of our material accumulations to the service of the church, and we participate as much as we can. What more does it mean to be called? What more is expected? The call to serve God urges us to assess the gifts that we possess, honestly, realistically, and hopefully and then to use those gifts in every situation in which we find ourselves.

Today is the Cathedral’s annual meeting. As we gather after church for the annual meeting, we assess the call of this church. We look at the year that has ended and what we have offered to one another, to this city, to this nation, to this world and to God. We will each receive a pamphlet that summarizes the life and ministries of the Cathedral during the past year. As we read the information contained in the pamphlet today, and as we listen to the financial report, each one of us must look and listen through the eyes and ears of God’s call to us, the call that each of us has received, to serve one another and God with the gifts that we have been given.

I am reminded of the little boy who was trying out for a part in a school play. He had his heart set on being in it, and his mother feared that he would not be selected. On the day the roles were determined, he came home with great excitement. “What part did you get?” his mother asked him. “Guess what, Mom!” he shouted. I’ve been chosen to clap and cheer.” The teacher had evidently recognized this young man’s gifts.

What does it mean to use our gifts? That’s what we discover when we assess and pray. Perhaps it’s time to speak out for that which most concerns us individually, for those situations that we find intolerable or unrighteous, for each voice counts and a voice unspoken will never make a difference. Perhaps it’s time to listen to one another and to recognize when someone needs to share his or her story, for healing comes with caring listening. Perhaps it’s time to help with a ministry here, a ministry that speaks to our hearts and our gifts, for passion leads to action. Perhaps it’s time to be quiet and find God’s voice through scripture or teaching or sharing ideas. Perhaps it’s time to share what we have materially with the church and its ministries to the world.  Perhaps its time to share our faith with others, to invite them to be part of this church and the ministries here, acknowledging that when we do so, we are offering them an opportunity to grow spiritually in their own calls.

As I was reading about Martin Luther King, Jr., and how he answered the call that he heard, I came across the speech he gave when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. In one of the sections of this speech he says the following:

I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermo- nuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.  I believe that even amid today's motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.  I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.

This is our hope, and I believe that all this can happen if every one of us and every one whom we influence will respond to the call to use the gifts we have been given by God in faithful service to God and to God’s world.