Called and Chosen- for What?
A Sermon preached Sunday, January 27, 2008
by Pastor Terry Davis
First Presbyterian Church, Hartford, CT
The story that we read from the gospel this morning has always seemed to me rather strange and unbelievable. The way Matthew tells the story we have a stranger who walks down the seashore and seeing fishermen cleaning and mending their nets. He calls to them out of the blue and challenges them to leave their work and their families behind and follow him and they instantly responded to the call. That is hard to believe. Having read John’s account last week of their previous relationship with Jesus the story becomes more believable. If they had already left their families for a period of time to associate with John the Baptizer, and then had met Jesus and heard John the Baptizer tell them that Jesus was the one to come that was greater them him, that he was the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, then today’s story makes more sense. Even then we do notice that Matthew first says that Jesus had began to preach, and then that he called the four fishermen so it would be likely that they had heard his preaching, and even possible that they had renewed their association with Jesus before he actually called them to become his followers on a long term basis.
That would make sense that they would respond to his call after knowing him for a while. It certainly would make their experience a little more like our own, because few of us made any commitment to follow Jesus on our first meeting or acquaintance with him. Most of us grew up learning about Jesus, and after a period of time we came into some sort of relationship with him and made a commitment to him in response to a sense of call.
For the most part we responded to the call to membership in a particular Church in the same way; we first visited, we met people, we listened to the sermons, we participated in worship, and after a period of time felt that we were called to make a commitment to be a part of the congregation. For some people it is a matter of weeks before they make the commitment, for others it may be months or even years. We do have some people who attend and participate in the life of this Church, but have either never have experienced a sense of call to formally affiliate with the congregation, or if they have experienced a call have resisted responding to that call to commitment.
But Jesus wasn’t calling the fishermen to affiliate with a Church; the Church as we understand it did not even come into existence until after Jesus death and resurrection. When the Holy Spirit came upon the gathered disciples and they began a great evangelistic outreach; that is when we see the beginning of the Church. The fishermen seem to have become the first followers of Jesus in a sort of informal association. It was not unknown for traveling Rabbis to attract followers who participated in the ministry, sort of preacher groupies. The disciples were familiar with this pattern of affiliation, they had for a period of time been John’s disciples, now they understood that Jesus was calling them to be his followers. There is nothing in this description of their call to indicate that Jesus was calling them at this point to be preachers. A lot of times when people talk about their call they mean their call to preach, without thinking that just as they were called to be pastors and preachers other people may be called to be doctors and nurses and teachers.
I would want to suggest to you today that the first calling which Christians share is not the call to preach, or to serve in another office in the church, but the first call is the call to follow. We are called to follow Jesus in our Baptism when God calls to be part of his family and to enter into a relationship with Jesus. We may not respond to that call immediately, especially if we were baptized as infants, but in Baptism we are called to follow Jesus.
It is only when we have responded to the initial call to follow that we may experience the call to some specific work. Jesus does give them a hint of what work they will be doing when he tells them that they are going to be catching people instead of fish. This indicates that Jesus was calling them not only to follow him, but that they were also going to be called to be recruiters, to call and entice other people a join in the band of followers in which they are the first members.
First and foremost he called them to association with him, they were in constant contact with him, they were disciples, learners, before they were recruiters because they needed to know and understand the message about the Kingdom that Jesus was all about.
It is somewhat like a political activist working on an election campaign. First you need to know the candidate, and you need to know what the candidate stands for, what is the platform, what are his or her qualifications for the job. You need all this knowledge if you are going to be an effective recruiter to bring more people into the Obama camp, or into the Clinton camp, or to become a part of the McCain operation.
Unfortunately many Christians neglect their calling to be learners and to be in fellowship with Jesus. We provide Sunday School so the youngest members of the Church family can be learners, but we can see on Sunday mornings that sometimes there are large numbers of children and other Sundays there are only one or two. If young people attended public school as undependably as many of our young people attend Sunday School there should be a truant officer at their door. There is so much that interferes with Sunday School, parents work schedules, soccer, hockey, and other youth sports, scouts and more. But the truant officer might need to be at the door of many of us adults also, because the percentage of members participating in Adult forum and Bible Study is fairly small. Hopefully many of us participate in daily bible reading and prayer, but I don’t know. We are called to fellowship with and learning from Jesus, that is the basic call to follow. When we have done this, then we may be called to other functions in the Church, some are called to sing, others to participate in community meals, some are called to leadership, and others are called to cook and make phone calls to other members and potential members.
I have come to believe that all of us are called not only to particular tasks and ministries within the Church, but also that we all have a calling in the world. Some of us earn our living out the calling that we have, and we certainly see this in the caring and helping professions. I certainly hope that my doctor is living out a calling to a ministry of healing, mot simply treating patients to make a comfortable living. I hope that the teachers who teach our children have been called to their task that is so important to our youth. I would like to believe that the police officers in our community are called to service to the community rather than just earning a paycheck, or being in a position of power. I sense that most of the workers at Hands on Hartford feel that have been called to the kinds of ministries they are engaged in. For one thing, if they were only interested in a paycheck they could earn a bigger one working for the school board of a public agency.
Unfortunately it is true that Increasing numbers of people in our society end up doing work which is neither exciting nor rewarding except in terms of the reward that we get when we receive our paycheck. Have these people been deprived of the opportunity to live out their calling in the world. I don’t think so; I believe that God calls us to a variety of tasks and jobs in the world from tutoring and mentoring children and youth to political activism. Although I know I have been called to be a pastor and preacher, I also believe that I have a calling to work for the kingdom of God through political organizing and activism. My work as pastor, particularly at this Church, has given me some opportunities to be involved in a variety of causes to make our community a better and more inclusive society. People ask me, when I retire will I continue to preach, will I become an interim pastor, will I work part time for a Church. It is possible, but I feel a stronger call in retirement years to continue involvement in advocating for causes such as equal rights for all people, economic justice, and so forth.
Have you sensed and recognized that you are called and chosen to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ? Have you experienced and responded to God’s call to further service within the life of the Church? Have you discovered a calling in the world that is worthy of a follower of Jesus Christ?
1 Corinthians 1:10 - 18 10Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12What I mean is that each of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” 13Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God
that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. 18For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Matthew 4:12 - 23 12Now
when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.
13He
left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of
Zebulun and Naphtali,
14so
that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
15 “Land
of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
16
the people who sat in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death
light has dawned.”
17From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 18As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. 23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.