Saturday, January 21, 2006

What's Your Calling? • January 22, 2006

Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:5-12; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

Sermon by Michael R. Martin
First United Methodist Church of Saranac Lake, NY
Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
This is where it all began. This is where the rubber meets the road. It all started right here, man. Wow! In just a few short weeks, we’ve scripturally covered Jesus’ immaculate conception, birth, baptism, epiphany. And Jesus’ first words in Mark “The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent, and believe in the good news!” (NRSV)

Jews of Jesus' day understood exactly what Jesus meant when he proclaimed the time is fulfilled. The Greek word used for time, kairos, refers to a particular time period with its beginning marked by an extremely important event. This placed Jesus' coming in the center of God's plan for revelation and redemption. The Old Testament prophets often spoke of the future kingdom, ruled by a descendant of King David, that would be established on earth and exist for eternity. Thus when Jesus spoke of the "time" and the presence of the kingdom of God, the Jews understood him to mean that the Messiah had come to "fulfill" or inaugurate his long-awaited kingdom. Jesus reassured them that God was in sovereign control. He had begun to act in a new and decisive way. The most critical time had come. The door to God's great future had been flung open.

Jesus began his ministry with the very word people had heard John the Baptist say: Repent. The message is the same today. Becoming a follower of Christ means turning away from our self-centeredness and "self" control and turning our lives over to Christ's direction and control. Repentance has two sides—turning away from sin and believing in the good news. One without the other is kind of like half a sandwich (not a sandwich cut in half but one half or the other). The Good News, the gospel, means that Jesus, the promised Messiah, has come to usher in a new age of God's dealings with his people.

I've been thinking about a calling lately. You know, as in “what’s your calling?” When we are young, grownups are always asking us what we want to be when we grow up. Not many of us really know. Maybe in the Midwest, farmers children know they are going to be farmers. But we grow up and live life, experience many things, changes. And what we are doing and who we are at 20 is not who we are at 40 or 60 or whatever age you are now. If you were to define your calling today, how different would it be from when you were first starting out. Personally, I see it as quite different in perspective alone, if nothing else. My youthful interests were music, science, nature. Over the years these interests have pervaded what I do in both work and enjoyment. At one time, perhaps not too too long ago, I might have said my calling was to roll at least some of these interests into a career, helping folks around the country clean up lakes and maybe even getting some satisfaction in the process.

But that perspective thing I mentioned before, that’s what is different. When Jesus called to Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John “Come, follow me” he did not promise to teach them all the secrets of the universe if they would follow him. He did not promise them good health, or wealth and prosperity. But Jesus did promise to teach them how to be good disciples. “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” I’ve finally begun to truly see that this here – my relationship with Christ, my ministry and service, such as it is – is my center, my purpose, my calling, and everything else revolves around this, feeds into this. Take some time today and reflect upon your calling. What you do, what you enjoy – where does Christ fit in?

A new year, a new birth, a new beginning. . . so much promise. We will prosper as a church if we remember – Christ first, in all things. We are called as Christians to be disciples – to not only try and BE like Christ, but to DO for Christ -- to reach out, to do more, try something new, maybe even stretch beyond our comfort zone. . . Ephesians 2:10 comes to mind: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (NIV).

And don’t forget to take care of yourself
  • Pray daily – talk with God often
  • Read the Bible daily – the Bible is God’s inspired Word.
  • Learn to depend on the Holy Spirit, your counselor. As the Bible says, the Holy Spirit will teach you, guide you, & strengthen you in your times of need
  • Live one day at a time: The Bible says we are not to be anxious about what might happen tomorrow (see Matthew 6:33-34). The Bible also promises that, "Your strength will equal your days" (Deuteronomy 33:25, NIV). In other words, God's grace will be sufficient to meet the challenges of each new day.
Michael R. Martin – January 22, 2006
First UMC of Saranac Lake, 8:30AM