Following a Call – 26 June 2016 – Sixth Sunday after Pentecost/ Lectionary 13/ Proper 8

Preaching in the context of a culture that values pleasure and self-fulfillment is a challenge when confronted with readings that underscore the seriousness of a life of faith.

Luke 9:51-62

. . . [T]hree brief encounters between Jesus and potential followers. . . make the reader aware that following after Jesus is truly difficult and requires serious reflection and commitment.

In the first encounter, Jesus pictures the difficulty of following him in terms of entrusting oneself entirely to God's providing. Every creature has a home, a place of security and belonging, but Jesus does not. . . . There is no word of judgment spoken for today's listener (who might have many material possessions). Instead, Jesus models the surprising freedom that comes from having placed himself without reserve into God's care.

In the second episode, Jesus dismisses obligation to family as an excuse for failing to respond wholeheartedly to Jesus' summons to follow. In a culture that placed supreme value on family identity, Jesus' words were certainly shocking. The preacher should be clear, though, that this word of scripture does not call believers to sacrifice children, spouse or parents for the sake of church activities. The point is that family relationships must not prevent believers from learning Jesus' way of forgiveness, compassion and generosity.

Finally, Jesus describes making a commitment to follow him in terms of putting one's hand to the plow and not looking back. . . Just as Jesus holds nothing back as he makes his way to Jerusalem, so the disciple who would follow him must yield his or her entire life to the rule of God. – Aaron J. Couch

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

The First Reading gives us the story of another call to follow the will of God.

Elijah is instructed to anoint two leaders to lead this battle for Israel, Jehu as king over Israel and Elisha as prophet to carry on Elijah's work. . . .  

Elijah then, without words, calls Elisha to be his successor by placing his mantle on Elisha. Elisha clearly intends to never return to his life as a farmer. After saying farewell to his family, Elisha slaughters his oxen and serves them for a feast. – Aaron J. Couch

The call is not received without hesitation on the part of Elisha, for such is the seriousness of the prophetic venture. Yet, Elisha returns home before following the one who chose him for a new life only to take appropriate leave of his parents whose well-being he was obliged to tend and putting an end to the power of his livelihood (his oxen). There was no turning back.

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

Paul warns his readers to resist the lure of any religious promise that would substitute the freedom of Christ for the bondage of a set of rules. In verses omitted by the lectionary, he denounces those who would require gentiles to submit to circumcision and obedience to Jewish law as a prerequisite to faith in Christ. It is not the law itself that Paul rejects, but the law as a means of acquiring righteousness before God.

Addressing freedom in verse 13, Paul recognizes a different danger to life with God: Christian freedom may also be compromised by self-indulgence. . . .

Freedom given by the Spirit is not to do whatever one desires, but rather the ability to desire the life-giving good that God would give. – Aaron J. Couch

Aaron Couch is a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.

Homily Service 40, no. 8 (2007): 3-12.

Being Found – 18 January 2015 – Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Once again, the lectionary passages are all about being known, prodded, claimed, and called by God in community with one another. God calls Samuel but only Eli recognizes the voice of God.  . . . Paul reminds us of God’s concern with the material and emotional stuff of our lives, with our bodies as temples and our choices as acts of faithfulness and love. Jesus sees, knows, and calls the unlikely, recognizing our stories even before we speak them. 

This is a good week to reflect on God as the hound of heaven and on our response to that relentless God who sniffs and barks through our world. It is a good week to consider where we are called to go and what are we called to be. Perhaps even more important is this: how we are called to help others hear the voice of God. 

At the Festival of Homiletics in Chicago several years ago Jana Childers described the experience of listening to the story of the call of Samuel as she was on the cusp of turning 40 and working with a group of youth. It suddenly dawned on her that her place was shifting in God’s story “from bright, promising young Samuel to fat old Eli.” It is a shift many of us need to make more gracefully as we age and mature, asking less about how our own adventures can be distinct and new, and more about how we can help beloved others hear God’s call and claim on their lives and future. This would also be a good Sunday to ask a congregation to find their shared place, to identify where God can use them in the work of calling disciples and painting new horizons of hope—to listen to the Elis and seek the Samuels in their midst. 

– Denise Thorpe

John 1:43-51

John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus had enigmatic words for those he called. To Nathanael, who quickly affirmed Jesus’ identity, John shows us Jesus responding with assurance that more marvels than can be imagined await us. To those who are called (including everyone), following Jesus means we will see things we could not have guessed.

“Angels ascending and descending upon the Son-of-Man”? We could talk for decades about what that means. And in that conversation we are knit together into a sisterhood and brotherhood not possible in other ways. We enter into a story that includes mighty metaphors such as “heaven opened.” The preacher can say: “What does it mean? Come and see.”

1 Samuel 3:1-10[11-20] 

Since the RCL lists verses 11–20 as an option, they should be included in the reading, or at least as part of the homily; for the subsequent verses offer an explanation for why Eli’s sons were not chosen by God to fill the prophetic role to which Samuel was called. The boy hears a voice in the middle of the night three times, and in response goes before Eli, the priest for whom Samuel is the understudy. Only after the third time of the voice calling Samuel does Eli perceive that it is none other that YAHWEH, the God of Israel calling Samuel. The old priest tells Eli to go lie down and should he hear the voice again, he should answer the Lord, “Speak, for your servant is listening.’’ 

YAHWEH calls Samuel. He hears and responds with obedience. He is the carrier of the news of change to Eli, the priest. The priestly system of sacrifice of which Eli is a part is corrupt. Eli hears the word. God brings about a new, different, ear-tingling way. 

– Eric T. Myers 

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

God’s call to any of us – whether in grade school or moving into middle age and old age – is a call to know that God's desire for us has changed us. The alteration is thorough, outside and in, top to bottom, head to toe, involving all our senses.

The preacher would do well to ask the assembly on this Sunday what this change means for each person individually and for the church as a whole. How do we – and will we – each and together manifest this God-given new life?

Denise Thorpe, a Presbyterian pastor (PCUSA), is the Project Director of the Race, Church, and Theological Practices Collaborative Inquiry Team at the Louisville Institute, Louisville, Kentucky.

Eric T. Myers serves as pastor to the Frederick Presbyterian Church, Frederick, Maryland and is a former church musician and adjunct professor of worship at Wesley Theological Seminary.

 Homily Service 42, no. 1 (2009): 97-106.