Sermon 4th Sunday of Easter (Vocations Sunday)
Today is Vocations Sunday, a day on which the church invites us to
think about God’s calling to us. This morning we would be exploring
what this means to us.
The word vocation is derived from the word “vocation” which
means summons or calling. However, it is often seen even within the
church as a profession reserved for some people especially the
ordained. And outside of the church, as those in professions such as
nurses, doctors, teachers, police officers and many other public
services are often said to be in a vocation. Because the pay is low,
the service is selfless and the work expectation is unrealistic!
While both understanding are acceptable nevertheless, it limits the
definition and understanding of the word itself.
For us Christians, vocation is the more than just a profession. It is a
call from God. And often, the Bible uses the analogy of the Shepherd
and his sheep to explain this calling.
There are at least 11 instances in the New Testament, where Jesus
refers to himself or is referred to as The Good Shepherd. When this
number is added to other instances in the Old Testament like Psalm
23, where God is described as the Shepherd, we might be surprised
to see how popular this analogy is.
The relationship between God and his people is compared to that of
sheep and shepherd. The sheep depends solely on the shepherd for
its wellbeing and safety but for this to happen, it must listen to the
shepherd’s calling. Likewise, we are implored to listen to God’s voice
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calling out to us.
In our Gospel passage, Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my
Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not
belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they
follow me”.
The word translated to Church is the Ekklesia in Greek, which
means the community that is called together. So young and old, men
and women, individually and corporately we are called.
And as Christians, our calling is three-fold, we are called to follow;
we are called to be and we are called to belong.
The first and most important of these three calls in the call to
discipleship. A call to follow Jesus as our Master, Savior and
Shepherd. We are called to follow Jesus, to follow him in his care for
people, to follow him in his willingness to sit and eat with the wrong
sort of people, to follow him in his self-giving love. We are called to
care for the rejected, the homeless, the lonely and the refugees. We
are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. Like Dorcas, in our
reading from Acts of the Apostles, we are called to acts of charity
and good works. We are called to act like Pope Francis did
yesterday, taking refugees with him from Lesbos to the Vatican.
The second of our calls is the call to be ourselves. ‘Be yourself’ is a
refrain that we hear a great deal in our society. It often mean “do not
to worry about other people’s expectations”. This is not what I
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mean when I say we are called to be ourselves. What I am trying to
say is that God has called us to be ourselves because He has created
us to be who we are. If God had wanted us to be anything else, then
that is how he would have made us. And when we come to him,
though he washes us clean of our sins, nevertheless, he does not
want us to throw away every experience or everything about
ourselves.
You see God is not a wasteful God. Every experience we’ve gone
through, every knowledge and skills we’ve acquired are for a
particular purpose. They are to make us who we are and should be
part and parcel of our calling and what we bring with us when we
answer God’s call. God called David the Shepherd boy and made him
shepherd of his people, He called Peter the fisherman and made him
fisher of men. He called Paul the argumentative lawyer and made
him his advocate to the Gentile. Likewise we are called, each of us
whatever our profession. Are you are banker? Could you bank God’s
people? Are you a teacher, a doctor, a secretary, a trader, retired
person? Could God be calling you to use such skills and experiences
for His Kingdom?
Last week, there are Newspaper reports concerning the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Justin Welby and his paternity. It was widely
reported that he was indeed not the son of Mr. Welby but rather the
son of Mr. Anthony Browne. We can only imagine the shock for him
and his family. But as Justin Welby said:
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"I know that I find who I am in Jesus Christ, not in genetics, and my
identity in him never changes.”
- Justin Welby
This bold claim is based on his trust on Christ as The Good
Shepherd, who has called him. Same way, our identity should be
based on our calling. I am sure Justin’s experience will enable him to
feel what its like to discover such news about ones paternity and
this will enable him to help others in reconciling themselves with
such.
Whatever our experiences in life, good or bad, I pray that we would
allow them to enrich who we are so that we could help others in
such situations.
The third part of our calling is the calling to belong. Jesus tells us
that ‘there will be one flock’ of which he will be the Shepherd. We
are called to belong to each other. We are called together, never on
our own. We cannot be ourselves on our own – we are made to live
in the midst of people. We cannot follow Jesus on our own – we are
called into the one flock with Jesus as our Shepherd. We are called
to love one another, and we cannot do that on our own. God has
made us to need each other, to need other people. We need one
another in order that we can fulfill our vocation together. Together
we will learn to be ourselves. Together we will seek to follow Jesus.
Together we will use our gifts to uplift and serve the Body of Christ.
Hence, vocation is not just for some people – we all have a vocation.
We are all called. The key is to find your vocation and to follow it.
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No one could answer a call they’ve not heard. We can only answer
God’s call if we’ve heard it and we can only hear it if we’ve listened
to it. This listening is both individual and collective. So let me end
with a challenge. Are we listening for the voice of God calling us to
be ourselves, to follow Jesus and to belong to one another? And how
is that calling to be manifested in the realities of our lives as
individuals and as a community?
God is a Spirit, He is not static and he constantly wants to do
something through us. Might God be calling you to a new thing, and
might that new thing be ministry in the church as a lay preacher, a
visitor, a pastoral assistant, a member of the choir, a small group
leader, a teacher or helper for Kid’s Church or Youth Group, or even
as an ordained person? None of us is without a calling, what is
yours?
Or might God to be calling you to do something differently with your
vocation? Or do you know somebody who you think God might be
calling to a particular ministry. You might want to say a word of
encouragement to them.
If you would like to explore what you calling might be, you could
have a chat with those who are already involved in what you feel
you are been called to. Otherwise, why not have a see a member of
the clergy who would be able to help you in exploring what your
individual calling might be.
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