Epiphany 3<\/p>\n
Year A
\nIsaiah 9:1-4
\nPsalm 27:1, 5-13
\n1 Corinthians 1:10-18
\nMatthew 4:12-23<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still Epiphany\u2026 and Jesus is still calling disciples\u2026 but first\u2026 there\u2019s a story about a farmer from a rural part of the country\u2026 and this farmer comes to visit a relative in the big city\u2026 and they\u2019re walking down a busy\u2026 noisy main street\u2026 amidst the clamor\u2026 and confusion\u2026 and traffic\u2026 and general hubbub of the city at rush hour\u2026 and just then\u2026 a fire truck goes by\u2026 siren blazing\u2026 and the farmer says\u2026 Listen: I hear a cricket over there\u2026 the relative\u2026 the carefully conditioned city-dweller replies\u2026 How can you possibly hear a cricket in the middle of all this?!\u2026<\/p>\n
The chirp of a cricket\u2026 in the very core of a buzzing city\u2026 we can\u2019t hear that, right\u2026 but the farmer\u2026 unfazed\u2026 says\u2026 I figure you hear what you\u2019re listening for\u2026 and with that\u2026 he takes the spare change from his pants pocket\u2026 and drops it on the ground\u2026 and at the similarly\u2026 almost-imperceptible sound of a few coins hitting the sidewalk\u2026 people stop in their tracks\u2026 heads turn\u2026 notice is taken\u2026 I figure you hear what you\u2019re listening for\u2026 he said again\u2026 and that\u2019s a powerful statement for us as Christian community\u2026<\/p>\n
The Rev. Dr. J. Barrington Bates\u2026 writes\u2026 in last week\u2019s Gospel\u2026 Jesus said it another way\u2026 What are you looking for?\u2026 and this is the challenge before us today\u2026 what are we looking for\u2026 who and what are we listening to\u2026 what do we value most\u2026 in our family life\u2026 our Two Churches\u2019 life\u2026 and our national life\u2026<\/p>\n
These questions charge us to consider our past\u2026 assess our present\u2026 but mostly\u2026 inspire us to look toward our future\u2026 Rev. Bates writes\u2026 the past is clear and simple\u2026 Jesus says it this way\u2026 Repent\u2026 for we are all sinners\u2026 we have individually [ and I think perhaps more importantly\u2026 ] collectively failed to live up to our true calling embodied in our baptismal vows\u2026 we have made mistakes and fallen down\u2026 but Jesus says\u2026 Get up and try again\u2026 turn around at the quiet sound of a cricket\u2026 and try again to hear God\u2019s voice\u2026<\/p>\n
Second\u2026 the kingdom of heaven has come near\u2026 Jesus lived among us\u2026 not to predict some future and yet-unachieved utopia\u2026 but to proclaim that God\u2019s mercy\u2026 justice\u2026 and love are already here\u2026 manifest\u2026 in this place\u2026 now\u2026 so close we can touch\u2026 taste\u2026 smell\u2026 see\u2026 and hear it\u2026 if \u2026 that\u2019s what we\u2019re listening for\u2026<\/p>\n
And for the future\u2026 Jesus says\u2026 Follow me\u2026 and I will make you fish for people\u2026 we are called to bring the Light of Lights into the world\u2026 to proclaim to all people the Good News of salvation\u2026 to make the glory of God\u2019s marvelous works known\u2026 our calling as Christian community is not to repair the roof\u2026 or balance the books\u2026 or print up the bulletin\u2026 these things are important\u2026 essential in some ways\u2026 but these things are not our mission\u2026 they are not what Jesus calls us to listen to\u2026 they are not what God commands us to value\u2026 ]\n
Planting\u2026 shepherding\u2026 and fishing may have been more familiar to those in Jesus\u2019 time\u2026 they may not be among our everyday professions\u2026 but when we follow\u2026 Jesus makes us fishers of women and men\u2026 ambassadors of Christ\u2026 and turns us into\u2026 that awkward word\u2026 evangelists\u2026<\/p>\n
We just ended the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity\u2026 we just ended days of testimony in an impeachment trial\u2026 and we must ask ourselves\u2026 what kind of unity do we seek\u2026 for what\u2026 and to whose voice do we listen\u2026 are we able to listen for the cricket\u2019s voice amidst the rhetoric\u2026 the truth amidst the city\u2019s din\u2026 and what do we minimize or dismiss\u2026 is there anything we hope others will take care of\u2026 so we don\u2019t have to\u2026<\/p>\n
Some people think that the only ones who are called\u2026 are bishops\u2026 pastors\u2026 and deacons\u2026 but to be called comes from the Latin word vocare\u2026 from which we get vocation\u2026 so while to be called\u2026 seems to be reserved for those who are ordained\u2026 but the truth of the matter\u2026 is that if you\u2019ve been baptized\u2026 and I would imagine that even if you haven\u2019t been\u2026 you are called\u2026 you have a vocation\u2026<\/p>\n
Jennifer Moland-Kovash\u2026 co-pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church in Palatine, Illinois\u2026 affirms\u2026 certainly the call to discipleship is not exclusively\u2026 or even primarily\u2026 a call to professional ministry\u2026 the life of discipleship is one for all people\u2026 ordinary folks serving and following Jesus in the midst of lives as project managers\u2026 administrators\u2026 retirees\u2026 thrift-store managers\u2026 technical support people\u2026 musicians\u2026 photographers\u2026 care-givers\u2026 publishers\u2026 cooks\u2026 and more\u2026 being a disciple means seeing Jesus as the Light of the World that scatters the shadows\u2026 it means striving to be unified by rejecting division\u2026 because diversity was never intended to be divisive\u2026 as it has sometimes become\u2026<\/p>\n
It is possible\u2026 of course\u2026 Pastor Jennifer continues\u2026 that we might have a boat we need to leave behind\u2026 or some kind of metaphorical anchor in our lives\u2026 but Jesus\u2019 call seems to be less about what we leave behind\u2026 and more about our eager response to follow him in our families\u2026 in our churches\u2026 and in our nation\u2026 so the question I think we need to ask ourselves\u2026 and ask ourselves every day\u2026 is what do we want to hear\u2026 do we hear what we\u2019re listening for\u2026 do we hear God\u2019s quiet voice amidst the din of our lives\u2026 even when it means leaving behind what\u2019s comfortable or familiar\u2026<\/p>\n
When this service is over\u2026 and after a very short break\u2026 we\u2019ll conduct our annual meeting\u2026 Hannah and Chuck will be cycling off of Vestry\u2026 and Angela will be cycling on\u2026 Rich will be cycling off Council\u2026 as Kevin remains on for a second term and Polly cycles on\u2026 and we thank all of them for responding to God\u2019s call\u2026 but let\u2019s try to remember\u2026 that the reports that have been compiled\u2026 and the budget that\u2019s been prepared\u2026 are simply the tools God provides to do the work we have been called to do\u2026 to look at where we\u2019ve been\u2026 to see where we are\u2026 and to bring the Light of Lights into the world\u2026 so let\u2019s continue to proclaim God\u2019s mercy\u2026 justice\u2026 and love\u2026 as we do it\u2026<\/p>\n
Mike+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Epiphany 3 Year A Isaiah 9:1-4 Psalm 27:1, 5-13 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Matthew 4:12-23 It\u2019s still Epiphany\u2026 and Jesus is still calling disciples\u2026 but first\u2026 there\u2019s a story about a farmer from a rural part of the country\u2026 and this farmer comes to visit a relative in the big city\u2026 and they\u2019re walking down a busy\u2026 noisy main street\u2026 amidst the clamor\u2026 and confusion\u2026 and traffic\u2026 and general hubbub of the city at rush hour\u2026 and just then\u2026 a fire truck goes by\u2026 siren blazing\u2026 and the farmer says\u2026 Listen: I hear a cricket over there\u2026 the relative\u2026 the carefully conditioned city-dweller replies\u2026 How can you possibly hear a cricket in the middle of all this?!\u2026 The chirp of a cricket\u2026 in the very core of a buzzing city\u2026 we can\u2019t hear that, right\u2026 but the farmer\u2026 unfazed\u2026 says\u2026 I figure you hear what you\u2019re listening for\u2026 and with that\u2026 he takes the spare change from his pants pocket\u2026 and drops it on the ground\u2026 and at the similarly\u2026 almost-imperceptible sound of a few coins hitting the sidewalk\u2026 people stop in their tracks\u2026 heads turn\u2026 notice is taken\u2026 I figure you hear what you\u2019re listening for\u2026 he said again\u2026 and that\u2019s a powerful statement for us as Christian community\u2026 The Rev. Dr. J. Barrington Bates\u2026 writes\u2026 in last week\u2019s Gospel\u2026 Jesus said it another way\u2026 What are you looking for?\u2026 and this is the challenge before us today\u2026 what are we looking for\u2026 who and what are we listening to\u2026 what do we value most\u2026 in our family life\u2026 our Two Churches\u2019 life\u2026 and our national life\u2026 These questions charge us to consider our past\u2026 assess our present\u2026 but mostly\u2026 inspire us to look toward our future\u2026 Rev. Bates writes\u2026 the past is clear and simple\u2026 Jesus says it this way\u2026 Repent\u2026 for we are all sinners\u2026 we have individually [ and I think perhaps more importantly\u2026 ] collectively failed to live up to our true calling embodied in our baptismal vows\u2026 we have made mistakes and fallen down\u2026 but Jesus says\u2026 Get up and try again\u2026 turn around at the quiet sound of a cricket\u2026 and try again to hear God\u2019s voice\u2026 Second\u2026 the kingdom of heaven has come near\u2026 Jesus lived among us\u2026 not to predict some future and yet-unachieved utopia\u2026 but to proclaim that God\u2019s mercy\u2026 justice\u2026 and love are already here\u2026 manifest\u2026 in this place\u2026 now\u2026 so close we can touch\u2026 taste\u2026 smell\u2026 see\u2026 and hear it\u2026 if \u2026 that\u2019s what we\u2019re listening for\u2026 And for the future\u2026 Jesus says\u2026 Follow me\u2026 and I will make you fish for people\u2026 we are called to bring the Light of Lights into the world\u2026 to proclaim to all people the Good News of salvation\u2026 to make the glory of God\u2019s marvelous works known\u2026 our calling as Christian community is not to repair the roof\u2026 or balance the books\u2026 or print up the bulletin\u2026 these things are important\u2026 essential in some ways\u2026 but these things are not our mission\u2026 they are not what Jesus calls us to listen to\u2026 they are not what God commands us to value\u2026 ] Planting\u2026 shepherding\u2026 and fishing may have been more familiar to those in Jesus\u2019 time\u2026 they may not be among our everyday professions\u2026 but when we follow\u2026 Jesus makes us fishers of women and men\u2026 ambassadors of Christ\u2026 and turns us into\u2026 that awkward word\u2026 evangelists\u2026 We just ended the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity\u2026 we just ended days of testimony in an impeachment trial\u2026 and we must ask ourselves\u2026 what kind of unity do we seek\u2026 for what\u2026 and to whose voice do we listen\u2026 are we able to listen for the cricket\u2019s voice amidst the rhetoric\u2026 the truth amidst the city\u2019s din\u2026 and what do we minimize or dismiss\u2026 is there anything we hope others will take care of\u2026 so we don\u2019t have to\u2026 Some people think that the only ones who are called\u2026 are bishops\u2026 pastors\u2026 and deacons\u2026 but to be called comes from the Latin word vocare\u2026 from which we get vocation\u2026 so while to be called\u2026 seems to be reserved for those who are ordained\u2026 but the truth of the matter\u2026 is that if you\u2019ve been baptized\u2026 and I would imagine that even if you haven\u2019t been\u2026 you are called\u2026 you have a vocation\u2026 Jennifer Moland-Kovash\u2026 co-pastor of All Saints Lutheran Church in Palatine, Illinois\u2026 affirms\u2026 certainly the call to discipleship is not exclusively\u2026 or even primarily\u2026 a call to professional ministry\u2026 the life of discipleship is one for all people\u2026 ordinary folks serving and following Jesus in the midst of lives as project managers\u2026 administrators\u2026 retirees\u2026 thrift-store managers\u2026 technical support people\u2026 musicians\u2026 photographers\u2026 care-givers\u2026 publishers\u2026 cooks\u2026 and more\u2026 being a disciple means seeing Jesus as the Light of the World that scatters the shadows\u2026 it means striving to be unified by rejecting division\u2026 because diversity was never intended to be divisive\u2026 as it has sometimes become\u2026 It is possible\u2026 of course\u2026 Pastor Jennifer continues\u2026 that we might have a boat we need to leave behind\u2026 or some kind of metaphorical anchor in our lives\u2026 but Jesus\u2019 call seems to be less about what we leave behind\u2026 and more about our eager response to follow him in our families\u2026 in our churches\u2026 and in our nation\u2026 so the question I think we need to ask ourselves\u2026 and ask ourselves every day\u2026 is what do we want to hear\u2026 do we hear what we\u2019re listening for\u2026 do we hear God\u2019s quiet voice amidst the din of our lives\u2026 even when it means leaving behind what\u2019s comfortable or familiar\u2026 When this service is over\u2026 and after a very short break\u2026 we\u2019ll conduct our annual meeting\u2026 Hannah and Chuck will be cycling off of Vestry\u2026 and Angela will be cycling on\u2026 Rich will be cycling off Council\u2026 as Kevin remains on for a second term and Polly cycles on\u2026 and we thank all of them for responding to God\u2019s call\u2026 but let\u2019s try to remember\u2026 that the reports 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