So, Now What Do We Do?

Epiphany 3B; Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Ps 62:13-14a; Mk 1:14-20; St. Paul’s, 1/21/2018

Jim Melnyk: “Ok, So Now What Do We Do?”

The early Sundays after the Feast of the Epiphany are filled with call stories – whether we’re talking about Jesus being called to the river Jordan at his baptism, the calls of Samuel and Jonah, or the many calls of the first disciples.  Faced with so many stories about call, we should pay attention to them – and to what they mean for each of us.

When we think about it, ancient people of God like Jonah, Samuel, and Jacob; or Simon, Nathanael, Andrew, James, and John – they each go about responding to God’s call differently, but in the end they all get to the same place.  Called by God and either pushed in the right direction with the help of a great fish, or immediately leaving their fish and nets behind, they all get to that glorious place of saying “yes” to God – and then wondering in their own minds or among themselves, “OK, so now what do we do?”

It may be that when we are called by God to follow a certain path we respond immediately, like the disciples of Jesus in today’s lesson, or we might end up wrestling with God like Jacob and the angel, or Jonah and his great big fish.  Either way, God’s call to us is as relentless as Francis Thompson’s “Hound of Heaven” or John Donne’s “Three Person’d God.”  On the other hand, the call of God might seem more alluring – more like a siren’s song to our hearts.  The prophets Hosea and Jeremiah both equate God’s call to us as a Lover wooing his or her beloved.  And once we respond to that call we find ourselves wondering, “What do we do now?”

 

It’s a dangerous thing to be seduced by the heart and mind of the Living God, my friends.  We never know where such a love affair will take us.  I’m reminded of the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins advice to his young nephew Frodo in The Lord of the Rings.  “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your front door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” Have you ever felt swept of your feet by God?  It is a risky thing.

And yet, here we are!  On some level we have heard the call of God in Christ Jesus and we have said like so many before us, “Okay, I’m in!”  For some of us, like Samuel’s experience we heard last week, it takes us a little time to realize just who it is calling us, and it takes a few tries on God’s part before we catch on. 

For some of us, like Jonah, we spin about looking for the soundest ship, or the fastest plane to get the hang out of Dodge before God sweet-talks us into something we think – or just know – we’ll regret.  Sometimes God calls and we make excuses like Moses, “But Lord, I can’t speak so good,” or like Jeremiah, “But Lord, I’m just a mere child;” or we speak out boldly like Isaiah, “Hear I am, Lord.  Send me!” 

Some of us may be as quick a study as Simon or Andrew – James or John – and like them we’ll only wonder later what we’ve gotten ourselves into.  We’ve all gotten here by different routes – but somehow we’ve all gotten here.

What do we do now – now that we realize God has called each of us and we have, realize it or not, responded to that call – even if simply by being here?  As I’ve mentioned in the past, I think God would have us go “all in.”  We give our whole selves to God.  We give our hearts – we give our souls and bodies to God – to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice to God. 

We commit to living the Good News that Jesus came proclaiming after John the Baptist’s death – after all, the fact that we’re here means that we probably try our best to honor the teachings of Jesus in our lives – and we commit to proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ as well. That isn’t just my job as a preacher – it is part of the “what’s next” we are all called to when we accept God’s call.

In her book, On Your Mark, author Megan McKenna shares some insight from author and theologian Eugene LaVerdiere concerning what it means to be disciples and then followers of Jesus.  “Following Jesus is more fundamental than being a disciple…. Following is a matter of being and living.  For Jesus’ followers, following meant three things: being with Jesus, patterning their lives on his life, and taking up his mission.” (On Your Mark: Reading Mark in the Shadow of the Cross, Megan McKenna, Orbis Books, 2006. p. 29).  And it’s no different for us.

So what do we do now?  We become, or we continue to be, followers of Jesus the Christ.  First, we find ways to be with Jesus; whether through study of scripture, through worship and receiving the body and blood of Christ regularly, through a life of prayer, or through being a part of the greater Body of Christ – the church beyond these doors. 

Second, we pattern our lives on the life of Jesus – speaking and living the love of God to and with those around us.  As Jesus invited Simon, Andrew, James, and John to come and follow him, we invite people to become a part of the life of faith as well – becoming fishers of people.  Now, I realize that most Episcopalians are more likely to put a bucket on the back of our boat or at the end of our dock and wait.  After all, if those fish really want to be Episcopalians, they’ll just jump right up out of the water and land in our buckets!  But Jesus doesn’t wait on folks to show up on their own – he invites them in – and if we recall the story of the height-challenged Zacchaeus, sometime Jesus actually invites himself in.

We take up the mission of Jesus – speaking a word of truth to the powers, seeking and serving the lost and the unloved as well as everyone else; welcoming the stranger, standing with those in the margins of life, comforting the afflicted, and when needed, also afflicting those who have become all too comfortable with their lives.  This part of following Jesus won’t always be easy – just look at how they treated Jesus and his disciples.

As people who through our baptismal covenant have declared ourselves to be followers of Jesus, what do we do now?  We look to the continued in-breaking of God’s kingdom – God’s reign – in our lives and in the life of this world – and we work for its fulfillment.  Author Megan McKenna calls this age “God-with-us time” (p. 23).  Time to make a difference in this world.  Time for “business as usual” to come to an end, and time for the well-being of the whole human family to be embraced.  Time to proclaim that God’s love is not owned by any one denomination – or by any one faith. Time to proclaim that God’s love is not owned by any one people, or by any one nation.

So, having recognized that we have, indeed, been called to follow Jesus the Christ, what do we do now?  That’s a great question for each of us to ask. We each have our own unique gifts – our own particular calling – and we each have to figure out what that looks like for ourselves.  At St. Paul’s you may be called to serve on the Vestry – like those we elected not long ago.  You may be called to coordinate or serve on a committee, teach Sunday School, or work with youth.  Right now we could use a couple of folks interested in serving on Finance, stewardship, or as ushers.  In the wider community it may mean helping with Harbor House, volunteering in an underserved school, or working on a Habitat House.  Who knows? In community we can each figure out what that calling may be. But whatever we choose - once we choose to follow - once we step out on the road we may well get swept off our feet to who knows where.  One thing I can promise you - when we choose to follow Jesus we're never the same person again - we are a new creation.

What we do next all come under the same general headings of being with Jesus, patterning our lives on his life, and taking up his mission – but we each need to decide what that means in our own lives – how we will make it real for ourselves.  So, what do we do now?  Quite simply, we decide to follow Jesus!  Amen.