Sermon: "To Answer the Call"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

“Be careful what you pray for!” How often I have heard those words of advice - and, I suspect, you have, too. And yet, this morning, without giving you any warning, I prayed in these terms, on behalf of us all: “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ.” Those are words from our collect today, and - as is often the case - a theme from the collect occurs in each of today’s readings as well. “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ.”

In the Gospel, we encounter examples of the typical call of Jesus. St. Mark locates our Lord, walking beside the Sea of Galilee. Jesus first calls Simon and Andrew, and then, James and John. As a result of their calls, each of these men left their work, their employers, and their families; and, then, they followed Jesus. We are not told of any conversation or argument or second thoughts. Jesus called, and they followed. That’s all we know from this account.

Now, the story may have been a bit more complicated and involved than that - and, to tell the truth, I suspect that it was. But we don’t know that. Also, we don’t know if Jesus called others who turned him down. However, if enlisting volunteers for church work these days is any indication, we probably do not have the whole story here!

These examples of calls, though, are straightforward ones. Often, ordained people these days refer to examples like the ones cited by St. Mark. For instance, as recently as yesterday, I asked this question of Lou Parsons at her ordination: “My sister, do you believe that you are truly called by God and his Church to this priesthood?” She responded that she did, and so, we proceeded.

There are some lay people also who understand God’s call as direction for their particular profession or vocation. I commend the concept of God’s call to each one of you - as lawyer or teacher or mother or student. God may not call us audibly in the person of Jesus walking by the seashore. However, God does call us - through circumstances and relationships, through successes and failures, through hopes and dreams. May we have ears to hear God’s calls!

In the Second Reading, St. Paul encourages the Corinthians to persevere in practicing their faith, following their calls from God. That is, he writes, “Let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you”(7:17).

St. Paul makes the point that outward signs of faith - like circumcision - and outward signs of life’s station - like slavery - matter very little in the practice of faith. In this particular historical setting, St. Paul encourages uncircumcised people and slaves to avoid being unduly concerned with outward signs - but, rather, to concentrate on the heart of faith, in response to God’s call.

Another collect in our Prayer Book agrees with the sense of St. Paul’s admonition: “Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure” (p234). With similar words and theology, St. Paul encourages the Corinthians. And likewise, I encourage you today. “Let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you.”

Now we come to the First Reading - in many ways the most difficult to understand and the most challenging for us to hear. Yet there, too, is a call. We read, “A voice on the bare heights is heard, the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God.” And, then, the call itself follows: “Return, O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness”(Jer 3:21-22a).

The call, you see, is a tough one - to return, to repent, to turn around, to change direction in life. And is that call not always difficult for us to hear and to follow?

The personal dimension of this call is hard enough. We are reminded of it and challenged by it every year in Lent. For instance, in the Ash Wednesday Liturgy, the celebrant reads these solemn words: “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word”(BCP,p265). Return, repent, turn around, change direction in life. As individuals - in Lent and all during our lives - God’s call to us is to repent.

However, I suggest to you this morning that the corporate, collective nature of this call presents us with challenges even more difficult to hear and to follow than the personal one. After all, though, the call from God - spoken through the prophet Jeremiah - was directed to the nation. “If you return, O Israel, says the Lord, if you return to me … then nations shall be blessed”(4:1-2a). Nations will be the objects of God’s blessings if the nation of Israel repents. The call is a collective one, directed at the nation.

My friends, think of our own nation. Think of our nation, in our own perilous day. Even as I speak, are we not claiming a different way than that of our Lord? Do we not profess the might of the sword … an outward display of strength? At the same time, are we not abdicating any moral strength and leadership that we have left in the world? Are we not in danger of trading that moral leadership for a different kind of power - a power that is not valued by Jesus Christ? Have we lost the ability to look at ourselves with the eyes of our brothers and sisters in other countries - eyes that see an ever more monolithic, unresponsive super power? Might not God be calling us as a nation to repent?

These questions do not have easy answers, I am aware. However, I am concerned, gravely concerned, in our day and time about our lack of responsiveness as a nation to God’s call. At this point in the history of our nation, what do we say to him whom we know as the Prince of Peace? How do we react when our Lord promises of his kingdom that the first here will be last there? Is it not time for us to repent, as we strive to answer the call of Jesus Christ?

In conclusion, I have admitted that the questions about God’s calls are difficult ones. I have suggested that I struggle with those questions and our calls as well. Nevertheless, I believe that our collect and our readings today encourage us to consider what God’s calls to us really mean in our lives today. Together, then, may we claim the difficulties and the struggles as we strive in faith “to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ.” Amen.

Copyright © 2003 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee