Musical Prelude and Service.

Psalm 27 & Matthew 4:12-23
I wrote this reflection on Thursday, January 24. A lot has happened in the days since, including the
killing of a second person on the streets of Minneapolis. While I could be tempted to throw out this
sermon and speak directly to this violence, I have chosen to keep these words. But, for me, the
killing of Alex Pretti lurks in the background of all I say this morning.
In the late fall of 1987, I found myself living for a few months in Jamaica as part of an exchange
program. The family I lived with was Anglican and I accompanied them to church on a regular basis.
Other times, with my fellow exchange participants, we attended different churches to get a taste for
the different expressions of faith and worship in our community. But on one particular Sunday, part
of the priest’s sermon was directed at the teachers in the congregation, if my memory is to be
trusted. I struggle to remember all the contexts for this sermon. I believe there was some tension
between the teachers in that part of Jamaica and the government. Talks of strike or work-to-rule,
and concern for what that was going to mean. We are familiar with those kinds of conversations
here.
In any case, this priest decided it was his place to speak in some way to that debate. I don’t
remember a great deal of the content of the sermon delivered almost 40 years ago, but I do
remember him declaring very clearly that teaching is not just a job. It is a calling.
So, here’s the thing – I agree. But I also remember; as the child and the grandchild, and eventually
the spouse of teachers, I heard those words, not as encouragement and support for the teachers
that were his audience, but as reminding those teachers of their responsibilities; as a bit of bullying.
I recall the woman my counterpart and I were living with, the principal of one of the schools in our
community, was not particularly impressed with that sermon.
In any case, the naming of a calling is what stuck with me. This notion that there are certain careers
or jobs that many of us take on that go beyond contracts and ways of earning a living. That they are
something we are born to do or are through our experiences and aptitudes are drawn to take on.
That to some extent we have little other choice. For many, education, health care, journalism,
ministry can feel like a calling.
We need to be careful discussing certain careers, or vocations if you will, as calls. It can make those
jobs sound special or more important. I don’t think that’s the case. Everyone, no matter what work
they find themselves doing is contributing to our community and that should be honoured. If we are
not careful, discussions of call can also leave people feeling trapped; that no matter how they are
treated in their work, they are obligated to stay in that position, because it is more than a job.
That can lead to exploitation.
But I do believe that call is very real. I feel called to the work of ministry. In turn, I experienced a call
to come to Dunnville to carry out that ministry in this community.
I still feel that call. And whether or not many of you are comfortable with the term, I believe all of
you are called to the work, the actions you take, for this community of faith and for the community
and the world around you.
Today’s scripture from Matthew is about call. It is certainly about Jesus calling his first disciples,
Simon and Andrew and James and John, but it goes beyond there. It starts with John the baptizer
being arrested and thrown in prison and Jesus reacting to that news.
While it is not part of our reading this morning, John is thrown in prison after loudly criticizing Herod
for marrying his brother’s wife, Herodias. We don’t actually get that part of the story until the 14th
chapter of Matthew.
John, who is seen as a prophet, is critiquing the society they are living in. He is pointing out the
injustices, the immorality of the world and the way that is harming people and their relationship with
God. John is living out his calling, and sadly it leads him to jail. A thin-skinned authoritarian used his
power to attempt to silence his critic.
Upon learning this Jesus withdraws to Capernaum in Galilee. He doesn’t keep silent, but chooses this
place, far from the seats of power. A place that is often overlooked and exploited to begin preaching
of the coming of the Kingdom of God. In a place most people give little time for, he speaks of God’s
unwavering love and of the justice that God offers. He preaches that these people have a part to play
in bringing about God’s reign.
He preaches that they too are called to work for a new world. In a place where it would be very
tempting to think we are forgotten – we have nothing to offer, Jesus walks up to a few fishermen –
people struggling in a job that has been exploited and rendered almost hopeless by the exploitation
and mismanagement of a self-centred empire and a ruthless and greedy client king; and says I have
something new for you to do. God sees who you are and what you are capable of. Follow me.
A professor of preaching and writer I follow, David Lose wrote on the idea of call, that there are
different kinds of calling. And yet, each is from God. All of us experience a call, based on who we are
and what we can do. The thing is very few of us use that term, calling. It’s not necessarily about
what we do, although it can and often does lead in that direction. It’s about what we believe and
who we are. David Lose suggests that’s where is starts.
Listen. Listen to what God is telling you. What do you believe? What do you value?
Sit with that. Let yourself be something. Be children of God. Find your trust in God. Find the peace
God offers, even in the midst of fear and uncertainty in a world that can seem to be coming apart.
A world that we may have thought was built on certain pillars of respect and rules that most people
respected. A world that seems to be changing rapidly and with no real certainties.
The psalmist speaks of these fears. But at the same time puts their trust in God.
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold
[a] of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.
In the face of violence, or the threat of violence, when confronted with the reality that we live in a
world that is governed by fear, and the people who put their faith in brutal power and intimidation;
how do we chose to respond? Jesus looks to the people often viewed as weakest and least important
and says, God sees your value and your strength. God blesses you. Come and be a blessing to the
world.
For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.
Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
In the face of the chaos and despair, we can witness all around us. In the heartbreak and the pain
which witness and may experience in our own lives, we can find strength and comfort in God’s
presence.
May we be reminded time and time again that we are Gd’s. We are God’s children. We are God’s
beloved. In God we find a refuge and a source of strength and peace.
May we pause in our busyness to reflect on who we are, whose we are, and find guidance and
purpose, that we may be reminded that God calls us. All of us are called. May we take time to find
stillness and quiet that w can once again discern how we are called and where we are called.
That we may be part of God’s work to create this world again and again.
Thanks be to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789