Called to...

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
January 13, 2013
Baptism of the Lord / Installation and Ordination of Officers
Rev. Mark R. Miller
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

            Calling is a word that is rather troubling to me.  When we use that word it carries a heavy religious weight.  The language we use for church leadership is that of “calling.”  A church looking for a new pastor or a pastor looking for a new church is called, interestingly enough, the “call process.”  If we talk about a sense of biblical calling, we might think about the prophets who receive a call to proclaim God’s peace and justice.  There is also Paul who is said to have received a calling on the Damascus road.  And a little later on in the gospels Jesus will call disciples to come and follow.  Even in our passage this morning we even refer to the baptism of Jesus as Jesus’ call story.  So it seems that calling has something to do with a special mission for a few specially chosen few. 

But is this what we really believe about calling?  What is it that we believe about calling?  How is it that we are to understand this word?  In the reformed tradition, of which Presbyterians are a part, calling was something for all followers of Jesus.  Calling is not something reserved for session members, or preachers, or ministers of music, or seminary students.  Calling is not something reserved for the especially religious or those who are worthy.  Calling did not have to include a flash of light and the voice of God.  Though, for some, that could very well be the case.   

So if this is what calling is not, what is it?  In our tradition we place a high value on what is called, “the priesthood of all believers.”  This concept really turns the sense that only some are specially called on its head.  Despite having ruling elders, teaching elders, deacons, and people who are needed to fulfill all ministries inside and outside of the church; calling involves everyone who has been baptized.  This is why we say, “Your baptism is sufficient for your calling.”  In other words, everyone who has been baptized has been called.  However, this only answers the question of who, not the question “to what?”

As good Presbyterians we often want details.  We form committees, we create work groups, we love standards, and credentials.  The details are where we spend a lot of our time.  We crunch numbers and do not let spell check have the last word.  So when it comes to working out to what we have been called we get a bit, well, edgy.  We get edgy because calling cannot be reduced to a job description.  It cannot be reduced to a position on the session; it cannot be reduced to any particular job in the life of the church, or in society.  In truth, calling has little to do with those things at all.  So what is it then?

Calling is not really about a specific job, or task, or responsibility.  It is a way of life.  When Jesus says come and follow me he does not give each disciple a specific work to do.  Instead, Jesus shows them how to live their lives.  Jesus teaches them essential values on which to base their life.  And what are those values, what is a way of life built on hospitality, generosity, and no vengeance. 

Being called, means being called to enact these values in all areas of our lives.  It means that no matter what job, what work, what role, we are fulfilling, these values inform it all.