The Rev. Canon Anne E. Kitch
Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Luke 4:21-30
I spend a lot of time wondering what God is calling me to do. You’d think I might have figured it out by now, but that is simply not the case. It’s not that I have no idea. I believe I have made many choices in my life in response to what God’s call. It’s just that the path ahead of me never seems to remain obvious for long. Let me be clear. I do not believe that God has a plan for each of us and that our life’s calling is to figure that plan out and make it so. I think God’s work of creation is much more active and exciting than that. I believe creation is going on all the time and that we are part of it--all the time. I believe that there is a place for us in creation. I just don’t believe that there is one set of steps we are each meant to dance.
It might be easier if that were true; then I wouldn’t spend so much of my time on the hard work of discernment. That is, figuring out what I am being called to do or be. Besides, if God really had it that specifically set out for us, and if God loves us, wouldn’t God just give us the map? What I do believe is that God calls each of us and sets us free within creation to make choices. God gives us gifts and wants us to use them. God delights in seeing what we can make of them.
The church teaches that these gifts are for the building up of the body of Christ. That’s what it says in our Catechism (p. 855 in the Book of Common Prayer, if you’re curious). Under the section titled The Ministry, the first question asked is, “Who are the ministers of the Church?” The answer: lay persons, bishops, priests and deacons. The next question: “What is the ministry of the laity?” The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church, to bear witness to him wherever they may be, and according to the gifts given to them to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.
So, according to church teaching, we are all ministers. We are all called. We are all given gifts. In the passage from Jeremiah we have a picture of what a call looks like. In fact, this passage is known as the Call of Jeremiah. It is pretty powerful stuff. “Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet…’” When Jeremiah protests that this call is beyond him, God offers encouragement and support. Do not say, ‘I am only a boy,’ you will be able to do this. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. God gives Jeremiah the tools he needs, literally putting the words into his mouth. God knows, God consecrates, God appoints, God encourages, supports, and provides the necessary tools.
Now, let me remind you that this passage is the call of Jeremiah. It is not the call of Anne or Jean or Robert. As far as I know, not one of us called to be the prophet to Israel in the time of the fall of Jerusalem. In fact, it would be silly if not even dangerous for us to try to be Jeremiah. Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester in the 16th century and a well known preacher wrote, “We are not to follow the saints in their vocation. We are to follow God in our vocation. If we try to do what the saints did, we may miss our own calling.” (Bishop Latimer was martyred in 1555) We can admire the saints and be inspired by the saints, but we are meant to live our own vocations, not someone else’s. In fact, Bishop Latimer points out that if we try too hard to be someone else, we will miss who we are. God knows who we are is important, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” Is there anyone that God does not know? God knows, God consecrates, God appoints, God encourages, supports, and provides the necessary tools for each of us.
We have been reminded of this the past few weeks as we have heard the words of St. Paul to the church in Corinth. St. Paul wrote to remind the folks in Corinth what it means to be the people of God, that God calls us all, but not for all the same work. There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit…to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good and—just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ…Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it (1st Corinthians 12:4, 7, 12, 27) and now—and I will show you an even more excellent way and Paul launches into one of the most quoted passages of scripture—all about love.
This passage from 1st Corinthians is a favorite passage to read at weddings. But I am here to tell you it has nothing to do with romance; it has everything to do with following our vocation—with being the body of Christ. Paul is not telling us only how to love the person we are in love with; Paul is telling us how we are to be with all people at all times. If we ignore it because we think it is sweet and romantic or because we’ve heard it before, then we will really miss the point. Paul, a man of great skill and ambition is ever there was one, is talking to us right here and right now.
We can follow our call. We can identify and use our spiritual gifts. We can take our place with the body of Christ. But… if we do any of this without love, it fails. Paul would look around the room and say, “Look at all these marvelous gifts! Some of you have gifts of musical expression, some of reading, some of leading others, and some of hospitality. Some of you are teachers while others have gifts of administration. Some of you are called to be architects, or parents, or mentors, or technicians. But no matter what you do, or how gifted you are in small ways or in great ways, if your gift is exercised without love, it falls flat as far as this community is concerned. Gifts without love have no power. But a gift plus love equals ministry.
Knowing how to love like this is not easy. Being able to love patiently and kindly, using our gifts without insisting on our own way, is not easy. Love is not simple. We cannot engage in loving action on automatic pilot. As beautiful and familiar as these words are, they are not the easy sentiment of a greeting card—they are the truth of the gospel. They carry the power of life in Christ. Jesus came into the world to witness God’s love to us. Jesus showed those around him what it looked like to love God and to love others. It was not a sentimental picture. His kind of loving almost got him thrown off a cliff in his hometown. His kind of loving did get him killed in the end. And his kind of loving was stronger than death. That love never ends.
Our striving will end. Our accomplishments will end. Our good deeds and acts of power and words of wisdom will end. Our governments and nations and world domination will end. What will be left is love. What would it look like to strive for love? What would it look like to strive to be loving, with all our ambition, with all our strength, with all our cunning and skill and intelligence? With all our heart and soul and mind and strength? It might look like following God in our vocation. It might look like being the body of Christ. It might look like God’s creation: redeemed and perfect.
Where is God calling you today? What will you strive for today?
Copyright © 2007 Anne E. Kitch
(Hugh Latimer quote is from Fruitful Sermons as quoted in Nearer to the Heart of God: Daily Readings with the Christian Mystics, edited by Bernard Bangly, Paraclete 2005)
