“Called by God” What does that mean for you? Does it bring up stories like Peter and Andrew meeting Jesus along the shores of the sea of Galilee, or Moses arguing with a bush, or Jonah hopping on the next ship headed directly away from Nineveh? Or maybe you have the chance to sit with someone as they discern if God is calling them to paid ministry within the church and you listen to their story of feeling called. Or maybe the chair of the Nominations Committee calls you up and uses language about call to help convince you to take on a new task.
Called by God. Is that a comforting idea or a terrifying thought? Maybe a bit of both?
Called by God. Is that an individual thing or a communal thing? Again maybe a bit of both? Actually it is definitely both. We are called as individuals and we are called as a community.
In both cases when we are called by God it is really, as I see it, an invitation. We are being invited to join in the work of Kingdom living and Kingdom creating. We are being asked to take part in tikkun olam, the mending of the world. We are being invited to be part of the new thing God is doing in the world. Really the only question left is to wonder how we will respond to the invitation.
This means we are called to help create a more equitable world. We are called to actively work against structures that create haves and have nots, that declare some people more valuable than others. We are called to actively break down things like racism, and heterosexism and a bunch of other isms. We are called to actively change the way we interact with the non-human parts of creation. We are called to actively create a more loving and caring world.
That sounds a little bit overwhelming now that I see it in print. Luckily being called to do those things does not mean it is up to us to accomplish them. We are not meant to complete the task, we are meant to play our part.
It is my belief that our congregational decision to explore officially becoming an Affirming congregation is responding to God’s call to us as a community. It is my belief that this congregation’s long standing support of the local outreach fund is a part of how we are responding to God’s call. Same with our long-standing commitment to provide space for 12 Step groups to meet. How else do you see us as a community responding to God’s call? What other possibilities do you see that we as a community might choose to pick up for a season or two?
Now I get to the real question I want to ask. What is God calling you to do? Because God is calling each of us to do some thing, or a combination of things. Some of what God calls people to do is done in their faith community. Is God calling you to take on a role within the congregation? Maybe you are already doing that. That is part of how we are called. For some it may be a big part, for others a small part. But it is not the whole picture.
For many people the place they live out God’s call is outside the faith community. Some do it in their career. Some do it in their volunteerism. Some do it in their family life. Some do it through political or social activity. God does not only call us to fill roles within the faith communities. In fact I would suggest that God calls us to be part of faith communities primarily to gain the support and energy to all us to live out our call to action in our everyday life.
I repeat. What is God calling you to do? How has that call stayed the same through the various seasons of your life? How has it changed? I fully expect that we are called to do different things in different parts of our lives. As our experiences and abilities and time availability change over time so are the ways we are called to live. But we are all called. In every season of our lives we are called to do those things I listed above. In every season of our lives, in every setting of our lives, we are called to join in the work of Kingdom living and Kingdom creating. So really the question we need to consider is “how will we answer today, this year, this season?” The answer may change over time. The specifics of what we are called to do might change. But the big picture remains the same.
God is calling us to be part of the new thing God is doing in the world. God is calling us to be a part of the new heaven and the new earth. God invites you to join in the work. How can you respond? How will you respond?
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