The Call of God
“God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of the Child of God, Jesus, who is the Christ, into intimacy with Jesus, the Christ, who is our Savior.” — 1 Corinthians 1:9.
All pastors have what I loosely call “pastor stories,” stories about questions pastors get or encounters they have because they hold the office called ‘pastor.’ Now, as I have mentioned before, one of my mentors, the Rev. Carol Anderson, was among the first women officially ordained in the Episcopal Church. As one of the first such pastors she was, if not somewhat unique, at least unusual.
In her career, she served four churches. Those churches made her somewhat unique and unusual also. She served churches on the Upper East Side and on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, in Suburban Washington, D.C. and in Beverly Hills, California.
In short, she served urban, upper-class areas. Hence, her ‘pastor stories’ were a more little rarefied than most. One she would tell concerned going to cocktail parties in Manhattan. And she would go dressed in civilian garb, that is: not sporting her Roman Collar.
Invariably someone would ask what line of work she was in. She was always forthcoming about the fact that she was a priest.
And she always said the quickest way to drive someone away at a cocktail party on the Upper East Side (or the Upper West Side, for that matter), was to tell that particular truth— that she was a priest. Having admitted this, the person to whom she was talking would invariably find someone on the other side of the room who they had not seen in years and with whom they needed to reconnect immediately.
Now, as was one of the first women ordained an Episcopal priest, she was also in demand as a speaker. Hence, she traveled. So, the other place Carol had interesting encounters was on airplanes. And on airplanes, exactly the opposite happened.
On a plane a person next to her could not jump up and find a different seat. So, after a while, she would get to hear the life story of her traveling companion— with all the person’s sins thrown in for good measure— whether or not she wanted to hear them. In short, she heard a lot of confessions at 30,000 feet.
Well, I don’t hang out in the rarefied air of Manhattan or Washington or Beverly Hills. But still, I had an interesting encounter a couple months ago— a ‘pastor story.’
In the course of a conversation, a person wondered out loud why there was so much crime today. Perhaps I was being told this because crime is perceived as a moral problem, something with which we pastors are, theoretically, concerned.
In any case, this person was worried about their kids and grand-kids growing up in a troubled world. “The world,” he said wistfully, “isn’t as safe as when I was young.”
With my “pastor’s hat” on I affirmed the feelings being expressed. I said those feelings were real and should be honored. But my official title is “Pastor and Teacher.”
So with my “teacher’s hat” on I said while I affirmed the feelings about crime, feelings that the world was less safe than it used to be, to say there is more crime than there was 30 years ago is statistically inaccurate. And this person looked at me like I had come from another planet. Well, since we were not on an airplane, the other side of the room quickly became attractive to them.
But here are some facts on crime: there is less crime today per 100,000 people than there has been since the early 1960s. Murder is less prevalent today than it was in the 1930s. Paradoxically, as a nation we are incarcerating, by far, a greater percentage of the population than we ever have before, but that’s fodder for another sermon. Back to this one.
For me, that encounter raises an interesting issue. We need to pay attention to our feelings. They are real. They matter. But they are subjective.
Sometimes feelings overwhelm reality, overwhelm facts, overwhelm the possibility of the objective. And, since feelings are subjective, what are we to do when our emotional life becomes an obstacle to dealing with the objective? (Slight pause.)
This is where we need to come back to both Paul and the words of Paul. First, a little about Paul and New Testament times. When an Epistle is read at a service of worship, we often hear it introduced as being, for example, the “Letter to the Church in Corinth.”
So, how many people were in the Church in Corinth? When we hear the term “Letter to the Church in Corinth” does it conjure up an image of a church building in downtown Corinth with hundreds of people in it? (Slight pause.)
Most scholars think the churches Paul founded consisted of, even in a large city, perhaps, two hundred people, more likely less than that. And when the people met for worship, they would not all gather together in a large building simultaneously.
No more than a dozen of them, two dozen at most, would gather at any one time for worship, always in private houses. Their rituals of worship would very much sound like and seem like what it does today— prayers, readings, hymns, the sacraments, a sermon.
But in this setting worship would also provide great intimacy. You were there in some else’s home. People got to know one another very well. In today’s terms we would call these ‘house churches.’
And this is where we come back to the words of Paul. Throughout the whole Canon, Paul insists the peace of God, the shalom of God, makes for the proper ordering of the world and for human relations within it.
You see (quote): “God is faithful; by God you were called into the fellowship of the Child of God, Jesus, who is the Christ, into intimacy with Jesus, the Christ, who is our Savior.” (Slight pause.) By God, we are called into fellowship, into intimacy.
What would these words sound like translated into today’s terms, today’s definitions? It would sound like this, I think: ‘we are called to be a support group for one another.’
I think Paul always sees all believers as belonging to one another, as belonging to the family— the family of God. In short, the church becomes our true family, our home, our support.
But if we are family, if we are called to be that intimate, tell me what happens to individual autonomy, to our personal independence, to our feelings? Does not the mutual reliance demanded by being family diminish freedom some, diminish feelings some? Because, after all, do we want to hurt someone else’s feelings? Or do we want our’s hurt? (Slight pause.)
I think too often today we mistake individual autonomy for personal independence. And I think the Apostle understood that. Autonomy is not a path to independence or freedom. Mutual reliance is. Mutual reliance as in: we are a family. We need to be family.
What makes us truly free is our mutual reliance. But this is the hard part. I want to suggest that it is mutual reliance which helps us face reality.
You see, being family— above all else— is the definition of church. Being family— above all else— is the call of God on our lives. But in fact, only when we rely on one another is true family and, thereby, a true freedom which faces reality possible. (Slight pause.)
So, what is the call of God? We are called to support one another, in Christ. We are called to lift one another up, in Christ. We are called to love one another, in Christ. (Slight pause.)
Now, today, as you are aware, is the First Sunday in Advent, the Sunday on which we think about hope. So, consider this: freedom cannot be defined. It can only be felt. Neither can hope be defined. It can only be felt.
I want to suggest that just as our reliance on one another can foster freedom, our reliance on one another can foster hope. I want to suggest that when we have mountains to climb, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even try to climb them, unless we are free to do so. And when we have mountains to climb, we cannot even try to climb them unless we have hope.
Further, when we have mountains to climb, we cannot overcome them, we cannot even try to climb them, unless we have one another for mutual support, unless we have the family of God. Mutual support is what empowers freedom— our freedom to do, to wish, to accomplish, and, indeed, freedom to face reality, freedom to face facts. (Slight pause.)
Paul starts this verse I quoted by saying (quote): “God is faithful;...” And here’s the amazing part and the point if Paul saying “God is faithful;...” God trusts us. God calls us to be family.
And then— and then, when we place our trust in God, it illuminates hope. And, when we place our trust in the family of God, that illuminates hope. Amen.
11/27/2011
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “I have said things like this here before. Those who founded this country knew about mutual support. These are the last words in the American Declaration of Independence (quote): “..for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
BENEDICTION: Let us, as the family of God share our gifts, our memories, our pain, our joy and our hopes. Go in peace for God is with us. Go in joy for God knows every fiber of our being. Go in love, for we rest assured, by Christ, Jesus, that God is steadfast. Go in hope for God reveals to us, daily, that we are a part of God’s new creation. Amen.
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