January 21, 2018
The
Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, PA
The
Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Sermon:
The Ven. Richard I. Cluett
Mark
1:14-20
I
was wondering this week is you have ever been confused or disappointed by God, if you have ever been
disappointed in God. Or how about the
Bible. You ever been confused or disappointed in or by the scriptures? Or have
you maybe had some down times when you have been disappointed that your
relationship with God didn’t go the way you thought it would or should? Have
you had sometimes when your trust and faith became somewhat tenuous? You
weren’t so sure any more. There seemed to be no proof in the pudding, as it
were? I have!
Take
for an example, today’s gospel reading. I find it confusing and disturbing that
in these past weeks we have become used to the Power and Glory of God at work
in the world. We have heard and read of such things as the miraculous pregnancy
of Elizabeth, the announcement that Mary carries the Son of the Most High, Mary’s
powerful hymn describing what this means for the powers of the world, as well
as the least powerful of the world. The birth of Jesus, the presentation of
Jesus to the world represented by the 3 wise visitors, the naming of Jesus, the
baptism of Jesus – in all of these the presence and power of God are clear,
obvious, and palpable – you can almost feel God near – in your bones and in
your spirit.
But
today we hear of the death of John the Baptist, and we hear Jesus proclaim the
presence of God’s kingdom and his calling a very few disciples to join him. No
angelic or archangelic voices, no clear voice of God. No John. Just Jesus and
some followers are left. That’s it. One might call it a rather inauspicious
beginning of a kingdom, much less a movement.
Something
else that is a little out of sync for me is the call of those disciples. Jesus
called – and they just picked up a left – everything – immediately. Did you
think that was a little extraordinary? Now, I have never been “slain in the
Spirit.” Jesus has never appeared before me to invite me, nor has Jesus knocked
me off my horse, to ask why I was not following him.
When
I was aware of Jesus calling me, I thought both he and I were mistaken. That
would never happen, not if you know what I know about me. And when the niggling
whisper became an insistent call, my response was not immediate, to say the
least.
What
I do know is that each of us is here today because we have been called by God
to follow Jesus. If your response was an immediate, “Yes, Lord, I believe and I
will follow”, what a blessing for you. My years of experience being with
followers of Jesus is that Jesus had to pursue most of us. Many of us more than
once. He was the Hound of Heaven at our heels, until we were overtaken,
overcome, and wanted to willingly, even pleadingly ready to say, “Yes, Lord, I
believe and I will follow”.
Theologian
Karl Barth once wrote that Simon, Andrew, James, and John are “elected to discipleship simply through the
fact that Jesus claims them.” In other words, it was not about them, it was
about Jesus. Like it or not, our place is with Jesus. It is in the mind and
heart of God to have it so. Jesus claims us therefore we are disciples.
It
is kind of like that car dealer who says in his ads, “You may not have known it, but I have always been your car dealer.” You
may not have known it, but Jesus had already claimed you as brother, sister,
disciple, and more. We had to, at some time, and have to today decide whether
or not to claim Jesus.
It
is clear from today’s reading that a lot depends on Jesus and his disciples.
The powers of the world did their most heinous worst when they killed John, a
righteous and good man. It was now up to Jesus and those who are with him to be
signs that this is God’s kingdom, here and now in whatever era or generation we
have been placed. Clearly the stakes are high.
And
it is no wonder that we demur, that we equivocate, that we delay, that we are
suddenly distracted by urgent other business. And therefore, Jesus must wait
for us to claim him, too, but of course in our own good time.
The
first time I left home, I was 14. It was the most difficult thing I had ever
had to do. I boarded a train to go to boarding school 100 miles from home. My
choice, my desire, but still very, very hard. When our son left home at 18 to
go into the army, there were 3 very emotional, anxious people with tears in
their eyes. It is always hard to turn from what we have known, loved, counted
on, found comforted in and to enter into a new way, a new future, a new
purpose.
John
Calvin wrote that “God called rough
mechanics like Simon, Andrew, James, and John in order to show that none
are called by virtue of his or her own talents or excellences. Like those
disciples who misunderstood and failed Jesus at every turn, we too are sinners
in need of forgiveness… Like them, we sinners, despite our failings, are slowly
being formed into followers of Christ. Like them we are called not to the
enjoyment of a private salvation but to a public vocation.”
As
warm and comforting as those Advent and Christmas readings are, God comes in
Jesus into the real world, to claim real people, to give love to real people,
to heal a very real world – and all of it in need of repentance, forgiveness,
merciful healing and loving Grace. We forget that those readings earlier include
the slaughter of innocent children, an escape across the desert into Egypt, and
more real world danger, degradation and desperation than we could possibly
imagine.
And
so here we are, you and I, today called by Jesus, claimed by Jesus as God’s
beloved, and presented with this very real world we have been born into that is
in sore need of the awareness of God’s presence, the righteousness of God’s
judgement, the acceptance of God’s love and mercy, and the repentance that will
lead us all deeper into being the Kingdom of God.
That
is what Jesus proclaimed after the death of John. That is what he called those
fishermen to. Like them, we too are called to trust him, trust his message,
leave behind what we must and follow him. And we are called by him to do that
today and tomorrow and all our days. He will be with us wherever we go and in
whatever we do, and he has given us this wonderful community to be with us.
