Reflections on "Jesus Is the One Who Points to the Kingdom" Matthew 4: 12-17; Acts 28: 23-31

It was a busy week, so the final sermon didn't have much time to sit before it was preached!  In fact, in the text you can see that one of the illustrations was changed from the chapel to the sanctuary, and it worked much better in the sanctuary.  not sure why I didn't think of it when I put the sermon together, but as I was in the sanctuary service looking out it hit me that an OSU football illustration would probably work better than a generic basketball illustration.

I did spend some time this week on the age-old question that scholars have debated about how to understand the kingdom of God -- is it present, future, or something else?  It can sometimes be a challenge to go from the research behind the sermon to the sermon that gets preached, and this week was no exception.  

I loved the information about Capernaum (that insight was new to me, or at least I don't think I'd preached it before.  I did visit that topic a bit last year during a Lenten Bible study).  It is a subtle point in the text, and sometimes I think I make too much out of those types of things, but I found it compelling and fascinating.  

I tried to remind myself that the point (pun intended) of the sermon was to think about Jesus as the one who points to the kingdom, and I got there somewhat, but didn't get there all the way.

The Wordle visual illustration did not work this week (in the sanctuary; in the chapel we used old-fashioned technology that did not fail us!) for the sermon.  I'd be curious if its presence (or lack thereof) makes a difference to those who hear the sermon.   If you have an opinion on that, I'd love to get some feedback.

peace.

Richard

“Jesus Is the One Who Points to the Kingdom” February 17, 2013; FPC, Troy, Jesus is the one who series

Introduction: One of the temptations of our faith is to reduce it to profession of faith in Jesus Christ or just a personal relationship with Christ.

That may sound a bit odd, particularly given the importance we rightly place on having a relationship with Christ and professing our faith in him.

But notice what Paul is doing in the passage in Acts we read. He not only is calling people to believe in Jesus Christ, but he calls them to believe that the kingdom of God has arrived in their midst.

In fact, as we discover in the Gospel of Matthew today, Jesus is the one who points to the kingdom of heaven.

Three thoughts on the the kingdom of God.

Move 1: When Jesus points to the kingdom of God, he announces that the world has changed.

a. Admittedly, we are not sure what to make of that change.

1. WE know the kingdom of God is important.

2. Jesus mentions it 114 times in the the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

3. But, Jesus refers to it in different ways that confuse us.
4. In some places he says things like “ the kingdom of God is at hand,” which suggests that the kingdom is in place now.
5. That seems a bit confusing when we look around the world and see things like evil, violence, sinfulness, that we do not expect to see in the kingdom of God.
6. At other times, Jesus speaks about the coming of the kingdom, which suggests that its arrival is a future event.
b. I believe that those who see the arrival of the kingdom as a both...and are probably correct.
1. that when Jesus announced that the kingdom was at hand, he meant that it had been initiated.

2. Jesus does bring in the kingdom.

3. But, the fulfillment of the kingdom is a future event when Christ comes again.

4. Illustration from the chapel service: think about it like a sporting event – let's say a basketball game. In the first half, it's a closely contested game, but in the second half one of the team pulls ahead of the other team. With about 10 minutes left in the game, the team that is behind makes a run and the score tightens, but then there are back-to-back steals by the team that is ahead and it breaks the will of the team that is behind. All the players and everyone watching know that the game is over, even though there is 8 minutes or so left on the clock. The time continues, but the final outcome has already been determined.

Illustration from the Sanctuary service: Imagine an OSU football game. OSU gets ahead early; to start the second half the other team scores and it looks like the game might tighten up a bit. But then OSU intercepts that ball and score a touchdown followed by a fumble on the kick-off and then another touchdown. Now everyone knows the games is over – you can look into the eyes of the players on both teams and they know; it's done. There may still be the fourth quarter to play, but everyone knows the game is over, even though the scoreboard isn't flashing 0:00.

5. Christ has come and initiated the kingdom. We know that the final outcome, the fulfillment of the kingdom, is no longer in question, but the we are still living out the partially realized kingdom until Christ comes again.

c. That's one of the reasons Jesus teaches in parables.

1. remember that many of the parables begin, “the kingdom of God is like...”

2. Jesus is trying to break into our normal routines and help us re-envision what the world could be like and how we ought to live our lives (See Anatomy of the New Testament: A guide to It's Structure and Meaning, by Robert Spivey and D. Moody Smith, p. 226ff for more discussion of Jesus' use of the parable to describe the kingdom).

When Jesus points to the kingdom he announces that the world has changed.

Move 2: When Jesus points to the kingdom, we recognize that the kingdom looks different than we might have expected.'

a. Matthew makes this point very clearly by noting that Jesus announces the kingdom and begins his ministry in “Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.”

1. Some scholars note that this region was hardest hit by Assyrian occupation.

2. This meant that generations before many Israelites had been uprooted from their homes in this area and shipped to other places and Gentiles came in to occupy the land.

3. By the time Jesus makes Capernaum his base of operations, it is a place with Jews, Gentiles, Samaritans, and lots of inter-marrying.

4. Capernaum was also on one of the most important trade routes in the world.

5. If you wanted to sends news, you could sent it anywhere in the world in Capernaum.

6. It is here where Jesus announces the kingdom of heaven.

b. Notice the implication – the kingdom is more expansive than anyone might have imagined.

1. Te Jews who had been hoping for a Messiah now discover that the kingdom is not their personal territory.

2. All the different people of Capernaum will be invited into the kingdom.

3. Indeed, as the word spreads along the trade routes, all the world will be invited into the kingdom.

4. The coming of Christ and his subsequent death and resurrection will be for all the world, not just the small sect of Jews who had been looking for a Messiah.

When Jesus points to the kingdom, we discover that the kingdom is different than we had imagined.

Move 3: The arrival of the kingdom of heaven/God calls for action:

a. Jesus ties it directly to repentance.

1. the kingdom has arrived – so change your ways.

2. Turn back to God.

b. next passage in Matthew is the calling of disciples.

1, the kingdom of God has arrived – follow me.

2. Give your lives over to my ways.

c. That I think is what is so important about recognizing that Jesus points to the kingdom.

1. It means that even though we see a world that is not where God wants it to be yet, we can dare to act.

2. WE can see glimpses of the kingdom and work toward the kingdom.

3. Mission trips – give us a chance to announce to the world through our actions – the kingdom of God is at hand.

Paul is proclaiming the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the kingdom.

Conclusion: The movie “The Battle of the Bulge” depicts the WWII battle of the same name.

German subterfuge included sending German soldiers dresses in American uniforms behind the Allied lines to cause disruption.

One way of causing disruption was to go to crossroad where there were sign to direct the traffic and change the directions in which the signs were pointing.

When Allied troops were being sent as reinforcements, they would be traveling across unfamiliar road and depend on the signs to direct them. But, when the signs had been changed, the troops would go the wrong direction and not get to the place they were desperately needed.

It made it clear how important it was not only to have a sign to point out where you should go, but that the point send you in the right direction.

Christ comes into the world and points us in the right direction, into the kingdom of God.

"Jesus Is the One Who Points to the Kingdom" Matthew 4: 12-17; Acts 28: 23-31

1. The arrival of the kingdom of heaven/God calls for action:  repentance; following Christ; moving to a new place.

2.  Interesting insights from the blog "Sacredise: Loving God, Loving World. Reflections on Transforming Worship" John van de Laar (a Methodist minister in S. Africa), http://sacredise.com/blog/?p=624 on the location of Capernaum as Jesus' base of operations on Matthew.

The Gospel of Matthew makes it very clear that Jesus settled in “Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali”. In the Isaiah prophecy that the Gospel writer quotes, this region is referred to as “Galilee of the Gentiles” – and here is the clue to the significance of this location. This region of Capernaum – the region of the two tribes Zebulun and Naphtali – was, it has been suggested, the place where the Assyrian occupation most impacted the people of Israel. Israelite people had been exiled from this region and many Gentile people were imported into the region by the Assyrians. This meant that it was a place inhabited by Jews, Gentiles and the Samaritan descendants of intermarriage. At the time of Jesus, though, it was a place where these groups lived together quite amicably. It was also situated on one of the busiest and most important trade routes, connecting the resident merchants with the rest of the world.

If Jesus was looking for a place to make a statement about what kind of ministry he would offer, this place would make it very clear. The ministry was to reach not just Jew, but all people. It would have impact not just for Israel, but for the world. God’s reign had come, and it was open for all comers – those of the chosen race, AND those who were hated outcasts and Gentile occupiers of the Holy Land.

Capernaum offered Jesus its hospitality – it became a home for him. But, far more than this, Jesus, by settling in Capernaum, offered the hospitality of God to the world. He preached the available reign of God, and then he began recruiting disciples – those who would become members of an alternative community in which this shocking hospitality is lived out and revealed in all of its messy, difficult glory. This is how it started – and I can think of no good reason to believe that anything has changed in Jesus’ agenda. If I am going to call myself a disciple, I am going to have to take seriously the shocking locations in which the reign of God is to be manifested and lived out. But here’s the good news. If Jesus offers hospitality to the world, then he also offers it to me. I can find a home in the reign of God, if I am willing to live beside neighbours who are different to me, who might offend or shock me. Even in the spiritual life, the question of location is a challenging one!

3.  Shirley Guthrie (Christian Doctrine, 283) cautions against an understanding of the kingdom being already in place and waiting for the followers to complete it.  That would make it an act of humans, and diminish the power of God to act. He also cautions against seeing it only as something in the future, because then it does not give credence to what God did in coming in Christ.  he argues that the biblical text tells us that God has acted and the kingdom has arrived, but that we also know that evil is so strong, that the struggle will continue on earth until Christ's final victory.  it means we take evil seriously, but not more seriously than we do God.

4. Kingdom of heaven is Matthew's term; other gospels use kingdom of God.

5. this sermon is not merely a doctrinal sermon about the kingdom of God/heaven, but about the role Jesus plays in pointing to the kingdom.  Trying to remind myself of that and what that means to our everyday living.

6.  Who are examples of people who point to things in our world?  

7. notice that Paul is proclaiming the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the kingdom.

Reflections on "Jesus Is the One Born of a Virgin" Matthew 1: 18-25; Isaiah 7: 13-17

When I picked the Isaiah passage to pair with the Matthew passage, I did so because it was the prophecy that Matthew was quoting.  As I studied the Isaiah text, it turned out that it fit very well into the sermon, particularly in describing how God pursues us.

I was having coughing/congestion issues, which caused me to be speak softer and perhaps less change in modulation than normal.  It had a different feel to me, but I'm not sure how that difference was heard in the congregation.

I was reminded how Karl Barth has always been an important theologian in my thinking, and now N.T. Wright has become an important voice for me as well.

The problem/challenge with this theme is that it is a well-worn Christmas theme, so we were not very far from it in our year.  I did use hymns about Jesus' birth that were not the traditional Christmas carols to keep from having it seem like just another Christmastime sermon.  But, I could not imagine preaching a series about the basics of who Jesus is without including his virgin birth.

“Jesus Is the One Who Is Born of a Virgin” Matthew 1: 18-25; Isaiah 7: 13-17 FPC, Troy; February 10, 2013; Jesus Is the One Who... series

Introduction: Lots of stuff in different traditions and in theological circles surfaces when we say that Jesus is the one who is born of a virgin.

For example, the Presbyterian church I served in KY was on the same block as the Catholic church. The two churches did quite a bit together. For instance, we were the two cornerstones of the local Habitat for Humanity. I always thought it was a wonderful witness to the community about our unity in Christ.

As I have shared with some of you before, some summer we did VBS together. One year the plan did not put a teacher from each church together, but instead had Catholic volunteers teach certain ages and the Presbyterian volunteers teach the other ages. This led to my surprise when my daughter said her prayer before going to bed one night, she had a a prayer for the Virgin Mary. Guess who'd had the Catholic volunteers that week!

There is a whole world of Mary theology that is part of the Catholic experience that we do no have in the Presbyterian church.

Scholars also love to argue about the virgin birth. We know with certainty that Matthew mistranslated the passage from Isaiah when he quoted Isaiah 7 and used the word, “virgin,” instead of “young maiden.”

Or, lots of time and energy has been spent questioning why Mark and John don't write about the circumstances of Jesus' birth. Here's a helpful hint: if anyone ever challenges you on what you believe about the virgin birth, tell them you totally agree with Paul on the subject. You'll be long gone before they figure out that Paul never mentions the subject.

Or, of course the opposite argument might be why would Matthew and Luke make up the virgin birth.

An interesting insight from N.T.Wright:  "No one can prove, historically, that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. No one can prove, historically, that she wasn't. Science studies the repeatable; history bumps its nose against the unrepeatable. If the first two chapters of Matthew and the first two of Luke had never existed, I do not suppose that my own Christian faith, or that of the church to which I belong, would have been very different. But since they do, and since for quite other reasons I have come to believe that the God of Israel, the world's creator, was personally and fully revealed in and as Jesus of Nazareth, I hold open my historical judgment and say: If that's what God deemed appropriate, who am I to object?" God's Way of Acting, Christian Century, December 16, 1998, pp. 1215-17; http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=17

What does it mean to us that Jesus is the one who is born of a virgin, with an emphasis on born, which I think is the most critical part of that sentence.

Move 1: Jesus is one of us.

a. One of the heresies of the early church was Docetism, the belief that Jesus was really a God wearing the mask of humanity. That Jesus was not fully human.

1. IN some ways that makes sense.
2. Why would God, the creator, stoop to the level of the created humans?
3. Can you conceive of any rational reason that a powerful God would give that up to become human.

3. Part of the mystery of Jesus being human is why God would choose to become human.
   
   b. But the Gospels announce and we proclaim the birth of Christ, God in flesh.
   1. Imagine that, God fully human.

1. Why?
2. The name Immanuel, which means God with us, gives us a clue.

In Mt.. Sterling, KY, where my family and I lived before Troy, there was a blind man named Tom who was a familiar sight downtown. He had grown up in town and everyone knew him. He actually lived in a house that I passed everyday coming and going to church from my house. I would pass Tom's house several times a day. It took me awhile to notice something odd, or maybe I never did until someone pointed it out to me. There would be lights on in the house from morning until night. Think about that. Why6 would a blind man need lights on to see around his house. IN fact, the act of turning on the lights would be an added chore.
It turns out that Tom's mother lived down the street and drove by his house often to check on him. If he turned on his lights, she would not worry about him.
A blind man, taking on the habits of a person with sight, so that he could communicate better and comfort her.

3. In the birth of Christ, we find God totally aligning God's self with us.
4. God choosing to take on our humanity in order to connect with us, to comfort us, to save us.

Jesus is born to be one of us.

Move 2: Jesus is the perfect one of us.

a. Jesus models what it means to live out our humanity as God intended it.

1. Think about when you are learning a new job how helpful it is to have someone who serves as you mentor, whom you can observe work to learn what it means to apply the book knowledge about the job to the reality of actually doing the job.
2. When we contemplate what it means to live out our humanity, we have the example of Christ, who lived as a human among us.
3. Jesus did not deal with Facebook, nor did have the ability to travel the world or communicate like we do. He lived in a different time in history.
4. But Jesus confronted many issues that we encounter.
5. He had close friends, even close friends who did not always support him like he deserved or needed.
6. Jesus was in a relationship with God, and it even challenged him to do thinks he might not have done otherwise.
7. Jesus dealt with change and other people's resistance to change.
8. Jesus knew what it was like to have people depend on him, or to have people have high expectations, or to have people ask him for help.

b. OF course, the perfection in which Christ lives judges us.

1. In Christ's perfection, we see our imperfection more clearly.
2. I suspect the problem is not that we do not have a clue about how Jesus would respond to a certain issue or situation;
2. no, the problem is that when we look at how Christ acted, it often does not fit with how we choose to act.

Jesus is born to show us what human perfection is.

Move 2: God comes after us.

a. the Isaiah passage we read this morning is the one Matthew references in his story of the birth of Christ.

1. It takes us back to a time when Israel was dealing with enemies who wanted to conquer her and her own unfaithfulness to God.
2. King Ahaz is worried about Jerusalem's destruction at the hands of their enemies.
3. The prophet Isaiah comes to Isaiah with a word of promise and hope – God will take care of you.
4. In fact, God tells Isaiah to have Ahaz ask for a sign. Then, God will give the sign and prove God's faithfulness.
5. But Ahaz, under the guise of not wanting to put God to a test, but perhaps more out of arrogance, or lack of faith, or fear, refuses to ask God for a sign.
6. To which the prophet Isaiah declares, “God is going to give you a sign anyway.” and the sign will be the birth of Immanuel, which means “God with us” to a young maiden.
7. God pursuing the Israelites with the sign that Matthew recognizes in the birth of Jesus Christ.

b. Karl Barth notes that the importance of Jesus being born of Mary means that we do not have to seek God.

1. God came to us.
2. That means our hope is not in our ability to go and find God, but our hope is in the God who has come and found us.
3. Like a parent looking for a lost child; like a shepherd looking for a lost sheep; God has chosen to come for us.

Conclusion: A few years ago, the small town of Zwiebodzin, Poland erected what would be "one of the largest statues of Jesus ever erected, measuring 108 feet from head to toe. There used to be Youtube video of of the crane putting the outstretched arms and then head on Jesus. Some of the townspeople thought it would be great for the local economy. All the tourists who came to see the statue would spend money and revive their failing economy.. .the New York Times interviewed the Catholic Priest who organized the project, who said “I hope this statue will become a remedy for this secularization,” said the Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki, “I hope it will have a religious mission and not just bring tourists.”    Todd Weir on his blog bloomingcactus at http://bloomingcactus.typepad.com/bloomingcactus/2010/12/isaiah-710-16-god-with-us.html

Personally, I don't think the world needs a 108 foot statue of Jesus; what we need is the Jesus who was born of a virgin.

We need Jesus, the one who is born of a virgin. And he is already here in our midst.

"Jesus Is the One Who Is Born of a Virgin" Matthew 1: 18-25; Isaiah 7: 13-1

A little late and limited, but here are a few thoughts for Sunday's sermon.

1. Karl Barth notes that the importance of Jesus being born of Mary means that we do not have to seek God.  God came to us.

2. We note that Jesus is called "Immanuel," which means God with us.

3.  Karl Barth argues that when God chooses to be born of a virgin, God chooses to work through the powerless.

4.  Jesus being born of a virgin counters the early church heresy of  Docetism, that argued that Jesus was not fully human.

5. I find it curious that neither Mark or John mention the virgin birth, although Mark's beginning fits with his action oriented gospel and John's clear use of Gnostic (a popular philosophical school at that time) themes might preclude his speaking of Christ's birth.  Of course, it is hard to imagine why Paul would not have mentioned Christ's virgin birth, so I wonder what the absence of that topic in Paul's writings means?

6.  I ran across this story about a statue of Jesus erected in Poland in November, 2010.  "one of the largest statues of Jesus ever erected, measuring 108 feet from head to toe, was raised in a Polish field near the small town of Zwiebodzin.  The video on Youtube is fascinating to watch as a crane raises first the outstretched arms and then the head is placed on the body.  The statue rivals the vast Christ the Redeemer statue that watches over Rio de Jenaro...the New York Times interviewed the Catholic Priest who organized the project, who said “I hope this statue will become a remedy for this secularization,” said the Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki, “I hope it will have a religious mission and not just bring tourists.”   The article goes on to say that in Poland, where 90 percent of the people say they are Roman Catholic, actual church attendance has dropped to 40 percent in rural areas and 20 percent in the metro areas.  When the non-church goers are interviewed about why they don’t attend, they say that the church is not relevant to modern times, being more focused on issues like contraception.  They see the church as hypocritical because of sex scandals and too involved in supporting the political party that just lost power in government.  As I read about these issues, I thought, it doesn’t matter how big that statue is, these folks are not coming back to mass.  It may be a reassuring and inspiring symbol to those who are engaged in the church, but the symbol doesn’t overcome the disassociation many Polish people feel."  Todd Weir on his blog bloomingcactus at http://bloomingcactus.typepad.com/bloomingcactus/2010/12/isaiah-710-16-god-with-us.html

7. An interesting insight from N.T.Wright:  "No one can prove, historically, that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. No one can prove, historically, that she wasn't. Science studies the repeatable; history bumps its nose against the unrepeatable. If the first two chapters of Matthew and the first two of Luke had never existed, I do not suppose that my own Christian faith, or that of the church to which I belong, would have been very different. But since they do, and since for quite other reasons I have come to believe that the God of Israel, the world's creator, was personally and fully revealed in and as Jesus of Nazareth, I hold open my historical judgment and say: If that's what God deemed appropriate, who am I to object?" God's Way of Acting, Christian Century, December 16, 1998, pp. 1215-17; http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=17

Question for you bloggers?  Does it matter to you that Jesus was born of a virgin?  

"Jesus Is the One Who Calls" Mark 1: 16-20; Genesis 12: 1-5

I switched the third move to the first move in the Chapel, but I decided it would work better the way I had it in the text below.  After doing it both ways, not sure which was better.

I enjoyed the sermon.  It could have been several sermons, and I could have added more about call.  I probably needed to focus on Jesus as the one who calls a bit more.  I'm going to need to keep reminding myself that the focus is on who Jesus is.

“Jesus Is the One Who Calls” Genesis 12: 1-5; Mark 1: 16-20; FPC, Troy; February 3, 2013; Jesus Is the One Who... series

Introduction: As I was working on my sermon last night, my wife said, “keep it short, we have a lot going on in worship tomorrow.”

We do, so I will (try!).

Move 1: When Jesus calls, we leave something behind.

a. Andrew and Peter leave their nets behind.

1. not to be outdone, James and John leave their father and the hired men out in the boat.

2. They leave things behind in dramatic, immediate fashion.

3. In fact, you may have yourself or may have known people who have dramatically left something behind to follow God's call.

b. I may not be a dramatic leaving behind, but we have to leave something to answer Jesus' call.

1. Maybe it's leaving behind something else we would do with the time being demanded by our new call.
2. Maybe it's leaving behind the fear we have of trying something new.
3. Maybe it's leaving the certainty of what we know how to do for the uncertainty of venturing out into a new place.

When Jesus calls, we leave something behind.
Move 2: Conversely, Jesus calls us to something.

a. That something does not have to be a church thing.

1. In Wendell Berry’s novel Jayber Crow, the title character is raised in the Good Shepherd orphanage. He describes hearing preachers “tell in sermons how they had received “the call.” … Not one of those [preachers] had ever suggested that a person could be “called” to anything but “full-time Christian service,” by which they meant either the ministry or “the mission field.” The finest thing they could imagine was that an orphan boy, having been rescued by the charity of the church, should repay his debt by accepting “the call.” Wendell Berry. Jayber Crow, pp. 42–43
2. Call is not the same thing as church work, although I would like to think that church work is about call!
3. IN a global sense, Jesus calls us to a new way of life. A new way of life that encompasses all we do, not just those tasks that are tied to the church.

b. Called to Particular tasks

1. Abram had to leave his home and go to a new land when he was called to be in covenant with God.
   2.  Moses heard God's call to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness.
2. Isaiah was called to prophesy to God's people.
3. The elders and deacons that stand before us today are called to the particular tasks of church leadership and pastoral care.
4. Within the context of the new way of life to which Jesus calls us, there are particular tasks to which we are called.

100. Sometimes, our call is glorious.

1. Frederick Buechner once described calling this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Frederick Buechner. Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC (1973), p. 95.

500. Sometimes our call lacks such such beauty and symmetry.
     1. Mission trip to Nuevo Laredo.
     2. Hot.
     3. Hardest job, but quickest job. Putting in two pieces of insulation in the attic. Had to wear goggles and a mask, long sleeves, and then crawl across an attic to place the two pieces,. Dirty and probably 120 degrees. I volunteered because I figured an adult should lead by example. This big kid from the other youth group volunteered.
     4. Up we went to lay our two pieces, only to discover that the all the insulation had been installed upside down. Had to be pulled up, flipped, placed back down.
     5. We could only work for about 10 minutes before having to come back down for water and cool air (mind you the cool air was about 98 degrees).
     6. It was miserable. Made me rethink the importance of mission trips./
     7. I asked the young man, “Do you want me to get someone to change out with you?” “No.” “really, this is miserable work, no problem getting someone else.” “No. God sent us here to finish this church. Might as well be me.”
     8. Not much fun in that particular task; but if felt like a calling.

Jesus calls us to something.

Move 3: Listen for Jesus' call.

a. We do not know this from mark's gospel account, but in John we have the sense that the disciples were looking and listening for the Messiah.

1. When Jesus called, they were ready to respond.

2. Are you listening for Jesus?

b. Computer Jr. year in college. Did not have to retype papers. It had a phone modem. We could type in a number and have it call someone. We never did figure out how to talk to the person, but it did not really matter because we only used that mode to pester people. We could set it it sequentially add to the phone number so that it called room after room in the dorm and we would sit and listen to the frustrated people in the dorm answer their phones with no one on the other end.

Our favorite was to set it on an endless loop of ceiling the room next to ours, the one we could hear the guys through the wall, so we could especially enjoy that fun. He would answer a few times, then unplug the phone. Of course, no matter how long he waited (1 minute, or an hour), the minute he plugged the phone in, it rang. Our computer just kept calling!

1. We live in a world where we cannot turn off the demands that call on us. Do this; do that. people and situations demand our attention and call us to do all sorts of things. Sometimes it seems like the calls are on a never-ending loop.

2. Look and listen for Jesus's call.
   
   
   Amen.