January 30, 2010
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Answering God’s Call
Imagine with me answering your phone and hearing a voice say, “Please hold for God.” When God comes on the line, God says, “Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered! See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do among MCC congregations—a red-letter day! Your job is to pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish, and then start over, building and planting.” And now you know my call from God. In my case, God sounds a lot like Rev. Elder Jim Mitulski, Rev. Margaret Walker, and Rev. Elder Diane Fisher. I am called to come to MCC congregations who are in transition and analyze them, get them to share with me the stories of their past, good ones and ones they wish weren’t part of their past. Then I get to dismantle everything they do without thinking and ask them to think about it. I ask them to imagine who they want to be and then make a plan as to how to get from who they are to who they want to be. Sometimes this requires me to challenge beliefs they have come to think of as sacred. I ask them to let go of the core statement of almost every congregation, “But we have always done it this way!” Then we are ready to start building the church they are committed to becoming. And, when they have their feet underneath them and the future is looking bright, I have to walk away. Doesn’t that sound like fun? I don’t know that I would call it a red-letter-day as Jeremiah does. But it is my calling and I have said yes.
Now imagine you answer your phone and a voice says to you, “Please hold for God.” And when God gets on the phone you hear, “I have called you to be a prophet in the Halifax Regional Metropolitan Area, Nova Scotia, beyond. You have been called to speak the Good News to the people in your community. You may be rejected, you may be threatened, and it may appear no one is listening to you. But I want you to keep on speaking truth to the people, to the institutions, and to the government. You are called to bring justice to the oppressed, release to the captives, and health to those who are sick in body, mind, or spirit.” This is your calling. The voice may sound like your pastor, or your partner, or your neighbor, or your own voice, or maybe even the voice of your enemy. They can all be God to you and you should listen.
It isn’t easy to be a prophet in your own country and that is why you need to gather here. It is in gathering here that you will find the things you need to equip yourself to answer God’s call to you. Here is where you will find God’s word spoken; here is where you will sing the songs that will lift your heart. Here is where you will find the friends you need to help you carry the burden and you will find the ones who will pick you up when you stumble. We cannot do God’s work alone. Consider that Jesus surrounded himself with others to do the work of being God’s prophet. Consider also Jesus did not pick people who were all alike. Jesus did not pick people who would always agree with him. Jesus even picked people who would try his patience. Peter, the rock on which the Church is built caused Jesus to call him Satin and to get out of his sight. The church lives up to this foundation with amazing frequency. Safe Harbour MCC you are called by God to be a diverse community with many voices, many ideas, and many ways of being prophets. Do not sacrifice this diversity for the sake of appearing harmonious. Find your joy in the struggle to be and do what God has called you to be.
God has called us to be prophets together for a period of time and now we are being called to go our separate ways. I want you to know and to believe that Safe Harbour MCC as a church and as individuals will always be close to my heart. I hope and pray you will make a success of being the prophets this community, province, nation, and world need from now until the end of time. Amen.
