Message for January 18, 2015

By Ed Winkler

Text:  1 Samuel 3:1-10

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. ²At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; ³the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. ⁴Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

John 1:43-51

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Anytime I visit another church, I carefully examine the bulletin. Even if I’m at a meeting in a church in the middle of the week, I can usually find a bulletin in one of the pews. I do that because I like seeing how other worship leaders do things.

I’ve seen a few United Methodist bulletins that list the denominational hierarchy. They name the bishop, the district superintendent, and the pastor. Sometimes, the bulletin says something like “The ministers: all the members.” I’ve never been tempted to do that. It’s a little too cutesy for my taste. Or maybe I’m afraid that someone will say, “If we’re all ministers, how come you get paid?”

While it’s too cutesy for me, I don’t disagree with the idea. We are all ministers. Martin Luther called it the “priesthood of all believers.” That is, God calls all believers in Christ to be priests, although God doesn’t call everyone to be an ordained priest. Luther meant that we are all called to do God’s work. Luther was also careful to point out that we are not our own priests. We minister to each other. So we are all ministers, just like those cutesy bulletins say.

We are all ministers because Christianity is not a spectator sport. It’s not enough just to believe. It’s not enough just to come to church for one hour a week. God calls us to be Christian ministers 24/7/365. Christ wants us to be hands-on followers, not spectators.

Methodist theology is quite clear: God calls all of us to be in ministry and we are all sent by God. Sometimes, we are sent around the world; sometimes, we are sent to the next room. There are plenty of hurting people, and plenty of lost people no matter where we are.

Let me be very clear about one thing: when I say that we are all called to the ministry, I don’t mean that we are all called to pastors. The parish ministry is a good fit for some of us, but not everyone. We can be ministers in just about any profession or occupation. One of the most devout ministers I’ve ever known is a plumber. He’s a good plumber; he saved our church a lot of money by using his skills and knowledge. He is a minister because of the example of his life and how he treats people. And he preaches the Word in his own way. He is willing to talk about his life, mistakes and all, and how his life changed when he let God come in. His life is a heck of sermon.

Before I went to seminary, my ministry was my church work: I was active in many things. But mostly, I taught Bible and adult Sunday school. I also tried to be a minister at the workplace. I was a middle manager; I knew all the other middle managers on the seventh floor at 451 7^th Street, Southwest. I knew the stresses and the difficulties of being a middle manager. So I’d occasionally stop in to see my colleagues. I’d stick my head in the door of their office and ask how they were doing. Some would be too busy to talk, some would say, “Don’t let the door hit you on your way out,” and some would be glad to have someone to talk to. We can be ministers wherever we are—in the workplace, in the dorm, and even in church.

This notion of being called into the ministry is complicated, though. Sometimes, our call to ministry changes over time. In the past, I never got much involved in community affairs. I didn’t feel that community work was my calling. Here at Wesley Memorial, I have slowly added more work in community ministries. Things change; situations change; and sometimes, God’s call to us changes.

Sometimes, we misunderstand our call. I love the story of Samuel. He’s a young boy and God is calling him. But he can’t quite figure it out. I’ve met quite a few people who couldn’t quite figure out their call. For several years, I’ve been part of district committees that help candidates discern their call and help the denomination discern whether the candidates should be in parish ministry. I’ve seen some candidates where it was very clear and some who struggled.

Some had had an emotional spiritual experience and felt that that experience was a call to pastoral ministry. Sometimes, it was and sometimes not. I’m always more comfortable with people who struggle with their call. In struggling with what God calls us to do, we get a chance to really think it t through. On the other hand, it seems to me that when the call to pastoral ministry comes very easily, it can leave just as easily. I met a woman my first week at seminary who said, “I heard the voice of God call me to be a pastor. So I enrolled in seminary. I guess I should go find a church now.” She was out of seminary and, I assume, the track for ministry before the semester ended. It is not always easy to define our call.

There’s a corny, old story that I love about a devout, but struggling farmer. He was having trouble even feeding his family. One day, while he was out in the field. He looked up and prayed, “Lord, please show me what I can do to feed my family and be faithful to you.” As he looked up, he saw the clouds form the letters P C.

“P C. So you want me to preach Christ?”

So he became a preacher—a bad preacher. He was uneducated and not very articulate. He struggled to preach faithfully, but all in all he was a disaster in the ministry. When he died, he went to heaven and he met his maker. There he said, “Lord, I always did my best to be faithful to you. I know I was a terrible preacher, but when I saw the PC in the sky, I knew what you wanted me to do. I’ve always wondered, though. Why did you call me to preach Christ?”

God said, “Actually, I was trying to tell you to plant corn.”

Getting our call right is not always easy. That’s where other people can help. I often ask candidates, “Do other people see a call to the ministry in you?” Sometimes, other people can help us discern our call, especially when they see gifts or potential gifts that we don’t see.

One of the best council chairs I ever worked with had never chaired a committee in her life. I prayed about who would chair our church council, and her name popped into my brain. I knew that she was devout, devoted to her church, and well organized. So I asked her. She was hesitant, but willing to try. And she turned out to be terrific. Sometimes, we see potential in people that they don’t see in themselves.

Unfortunately, sometimes the work of the ministry brings out the cynicism in other people. There seem to be no shortage of folks who say things like, “Can anything good come out of the church?” I guess I understand it. There are people who have been hurt by the church. There are people who have heard bad things about the church. I seem to run into a fair number of people who have never been near a church, but have heard bad things.

Jesus encountered that same kind of cynicism. When Philip tried to convince Nathanael to meet this Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nazareth was a tiny village in Galilee, a mountainous, backwoods province north of Jerusalem. The sophisticated folks of Jerusalem would never believe that the Messiah could come out of Nazareth. But such is God’s sense of humor. The only way I know to deal with such cynicism is to ignore it and show by example that, indeed, good things can come out of the church.

Today is Human Relations Day. It’s a day we celebrate in the United Methodist Church to help us celebrate and remember the call for all of us, no matter what color, ethnic group, race, or religion, to live together faithfully as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that one of our most important callings is not to a job or a position. I believe that God calls us to build bridges, to bring peace, to be ministers of reconciliation to the different groups in our community and world.

There is a lot of tension between African-American communities and police forces in some communities. There is a lot of tension between Muslims and Christians in some parts of the world. This is a good day for us to reaffirm our belief that we are all God’s children, Black or White; Muslim or Christian.

My friend, the Reverend Rik Davis, died a few days ago. He had fought cancer for two and a half years. During that time, he wasn’t able to live out his calling as a pastor, but he lived out his calling as a Christian, living with faith and confidence. He wrote the benediction for his own funeral. In his benediction, he said, “I don’t tell people to be strong for each other. I tell people to be real for each other.” That’s a calling: to be real, authentic people being as faithful as we can.

The story in the book of First Samuel says, “The word of the Lord was rare in those days.” It sure may seem to us today that the word of the Lord is rare. How often do we want to say, “Lord, where are you? Give us a good word.” I’m convinced that the word of the Lord is still here to be heard. The Lord still speaks to us. The Lord still calls us to the work of ministry. The Lord still sends to do that work. The Lord still wants us to be peacemakers and bridge builders in our communities. The Lord still wants us to be real, authentic people of faith. God hasn’t left the room. God is still here: calling, sending, and walking with us.

© 2015 Ed Winkler