Called to the Kingdom

[Our lessons were Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; and Mark 1:14-20.]

We often tend to use the term “call” and “calling” in the context of ordained ministry. We talk of people attempting to discern a calling to ordained ministry and, here at St. Christopher’s, the vestry recently called a priest to be our new rector. But “calling” has a much broader meaning than that.

In fact, one of the Greek words that is used for the church, ekklesia, refers to an assembly of those who are called together or called out of ordinary life to worship. And that is us. We are called together, we are called out of the world to worship God.

God calls to us all the time and in many ways. And, as Jonah, found out, God can be pretty persistent.

The book of Jonah, of which we heard a portion, is an interesting book, and not just because of the story of the fish. God called Jonah to go to Nineveh to tell them that if they repent, they will be spared. Jonah didn’t want Nineveh to be spared, so he ran away. He got on a boat and fled to the other end of the world. But up came a storm and, to save themselves, the sailors tossed Jonah overboard, since he said he was running from God. Along came a great fish to swallow him and, after three days of prayer by Jonah, God has the fish spit Jonah up on dry land. God repeats the call, Jonah goes reluctantly and preached only grudgingly, but the king and people repent! God changed his mind and didn’t destroy Nineveh and Jonah sulked.

“O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

We often feel the same way. We often feel that there are people, normally those who are different from us, who really don’t deserve to be saved. Fortunately for Jonah, God doesn’t always answer prayers. And there are other calls by God, even today.

An American anthropologist and doctor, Paul Farmer, responded to a conviction that everyone deserves medical care. With four other doctors he founded Partners in Health, and is changing the lives of the poorest of the poor in Haiti, Peru, and Rwanda. This remarkable man is a shining light in the midst of a hurting people. All because he answered a call to heal the poor.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus responded to an inner conviction that poor women deserve to receive loans with the lowest interest possible so that their lives could be changed. He knew that changing the lives of women for the better could help improve the lives of their whole families. On that conviction—that call—he founded the Grameen Bank, and the practice of giving microloans to women and the poor in general is now flourishing.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu heard God’s call, which filled him with the conviction that all human beings, regardless of the color of their skin, are created in the image of God. That call led him to work with another great human being, Nelson Mandela, to bring an end to the evil of apartheid.

In our reading from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus begins to call his disciples. He called two sets of brothers: Simon and Andrew and James and John. There is an urgency to Jesus’ call and to their response, as symbolized by saying they immediately followed Jesus. Some years later, Paul would tell the church in Corinth that time is short. The time to answer God’s call is now, there is no time to waste.

Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” The Kingdom of God is not the afterlife and it is not intended to be some distant time in the future. The Kingdom of God is that time and place when God’s will is done and God’s justice prevails: the hungry are fed, the sick are made whole, and the poor are well treated.

When we answer God’s call to help those in need, we are acting to bring the Kingdom of God that much closer.

When we answer God’s call, we don’t know where it will lead us. Neither did Samuel last week or Jonah or the disciples. Answering God’s call is sometimes painful. Sometimes, it can be fatal, as Jonathan Daniels found out in the 1960s when he was martyred while protecting a black child in Alabama in the 1960s. It can make you seem out of step with the wisdom of the world, which tells you to maximize personal gain at the expense of all else. But when we do answer God’s call to bring the Kingdom into being, we know we are answering the deepest wishes of our own hearts.

In these dark times, the light of Epiphany shines upon all who respond to God’s call, wherever they are from. When what they say and do brings light, they are all blessed by God. May the light of Epiphany shine upon us so that we hear and respond to God when He calls us by name.