Matthew 9:9-13 (Acts 13:1-3)

2nd Sunday after Pentecost | June 11, 2023 | Mt 9:9-13 (also Acts 13:1-3) | Dave Brooks |

Today, our liturgical calendar has offered us an opportunity, for today is both the Second Sunday after Pentecost and the Feast of St. Barnabas. Two disciples for the price of one! The Scripture passages for both these observances point us to an important idea and a necessary, key phrase for the Christian life: Jesus has called you. The Christian life—true life, abundant life—begins in Jesus’ gracious call to follow, as he called Matthew. What is more, the Christian life—true life, abundant life—is sustained by Jesus’ gracious call to follow, as he called Barnabas to a specific task through the Holy Spirit.

But this call is harder to hear, harder to comprehend and harder to answer in our secular world where we are told repeatedly to listen to ourselves and chase what our hearts want. Even using a churchy word like “vocation” (meaning “calling”) simply points us back to our daily lives and choices, because in our world, a vocation is just a synonym for a career…isn’t it? What is more, we Christians have taught and been taught that “The Call” is a very special term reserved for very special people—people who have been recruited, so to speak, by God for a vital, possibly dangerous mission.

Yet, even though “harder” may be part of the process in answering the call of Jesus in our buffered, self-referential world, it is possible, even more than possible, because Jesus the Lord is not thwarted by the things of creation, not even death. He has called you and I, and there are three things we must remember as we answer that call:

The first is to remember your need. Jesus attends a dinner party with “tax collectors and sinners,” an interesting phrase that suggests that the partygoers were outside of God’s Law by the very living of their lives: their professions, habits, and relationships were all transgressions of Torah. Of course, our current cultural moment celebrates transgression, finding it heroic and praiseworthy, but pretending we are not sinners in need only compounds our problem. Jesus was clear: he came seeking sinners, not the righteous, and if we insist that we are not the ones for whom Jesus came, well, then we cannot be surprised when we do not hear his voice.

The second thing to remember is go to the places Jesus has promised to be. The story of Barnabas is instructive here. Acts details Barnabas’s work from chapter 4, when he sold a field and brought the proceeds to the apostles, to his intervention in helping Paul reconcile with the Jerusalem Church, to his long partnership with Paul on his journeys. The feast day passage notes that Barnabas was regularly in worship and was worshipping and praying when the call of Jesus came to him through the Holy Spirit. We are not “self-made,” but grow in our ability to hear and follow as we engage with other Christians. Even the story of Matthew points to this truth about Jesus: Jesus goes to his preferred place, which is where people in need are found. Jesus goes, Jesus finds, Jesus calls—and Matthew is blessed. When we go where Jesus has promised to be, our ability to hear him, comprehend him and answer him is improved. So go to those places! Go to the Scriptures frequently. Go to your knees in prayer. Go to the community that gathers around the Sacraments—and in all these places, listen to him!

The third thing to remember is Jesus is among us to bless. It is easy to tune Jesus out when what he is asking pushes against what we want, and it is easy to forget that the call of Jesus to follow rests in the many moments of life that we would consider mundane, even trite. Our desire for glory and importance gets in the way of Jesus’ work, which directs us again and again to the neighbors that surround us. Luther helps clarify this last point: in his writings on vocation, Luther insists that the Christian’s calling is not simply “find an occupation,” much less, “go be wealthy/influential but rather understand that Christ’s call on your life means that every part of your life is now the arena where salvation is being worked out. The web of relationships around us, whether personal/familial or social/communal, or professional/occupational are only the channels by which Jesus works to free you from what holds you captive or frees you for an opportunity to glorify him as Lord. We do not need to be fearful or resentful when a call moves us away from what we “want” or what we think is “important” but be mindful that the Lord can and will bless us in the most unexpected places and ways.

Remember your need. Remember to go where Jesus promises to be. Remember he is among us to bless. And to God be the glory. Amen

Pastor Dave Brooks

Raleigh, NC USA

Pr.Dave.Brooks@zoho.com