1 Samuel 3:1-14; Ephesians 4: 1-7, 11-16; Matthew 9:35-38
One doesn’t have to be a genius to work out why the passage from Samuel has importance for Sherri today. With women priests being such a regular part
of our life as Church for almost forty years, we might not understand the
confusion that might occur within a person who grew up loving God and knowing
that they were called from an early age, and yet also aware that in her
tradition the priesthood was open only to men. If one thing typifies Sheryl’s
call—at least in its phase that I have been privileged to share—it is the
lingering sense of, “can this really be happening?”
Samuel did not look for the call. He had to be redirected
several times. What he didn’t know was that his mother had set him up. She had
a deal with God and God had come to deliver. That in itself is commendable. She
prayed for the capacity of childbirth, and then when the gift was given, she
offered her firstborn to God’s service. She trusted that he would be one of
many.
So for all of us who dare to yield our lives to God, God
eventually—and I stress eventually—takes us up on it. For God is eager to share
the mission of Divine Love with us all. So pinch yourself, Sherri, this is
really happening. And though the journey has probably been exhausting, it is at
the starting line that you have arrived. And the invitation to serve is taking
on a different hue, and it is to serve for the sake of God’s holy mission and
purpose in a new and unexpected capacity. Now note that a call thwarted can
easily become a goal to be gained, and even a privilege to assume—almost an
entitlement after all your perseverance. That is the danger of such an extended
venture. But it is a call and it has
never been your duty to direct the timing. Now, however, is the time to relax—to
let go of all hesitation and release yourself into the arms of the Spirit for
that which She has in mind.
One thing is sure—the harvest is plentiful and the laborers
are few. We have—like Hannah—prayed to the Lord of the Harvest and you have been
called forth. Again, note—it is to the Lord of the Harvest that we have prayed.
It is possible to say that God does not see Church as we see it. God sees
people, and especially people beyond the pews. Especially, God sees the people
who live hard lives—new immigrants, the displaced, people whose special needs
often lead them to marginalized existences—sometimes because our common life
has to slow down or not run quite so smoothly when words or intellectual
capacities require different ways of connecting, or more complex and demanding ways
of caring. Needless to say, those of us who do not give time or attention never
understand the diminished quality of our own lives in their overstressed,
hurried pace. But God sees always the potential harvest of Love if we would
only pay attention to everyone.
God walks with us all; God searches for lost sheep; God
watches over widows and orphans; God waits until the poor have gleaned the
fields before He closes the gate. For God the harvest is always full; and the
need for servants is always great because God sees where and how people live
and has compassion upon them all. And He expects the Church to do the same. So
go and join the Harvest as a priest. Gather others as laborers. It is not a job
that awaits you but a call, a calling from God. Learn to look for the whitened
fields and give your time and energy to work with those who will support your
labors, and not impede them. Go where you are wanted, and where the compelling
Love of God drives you.
You are part of a new generation of Divine laborers. Every
new ordination that is taking place these days is for the refreshing of the
Church in mission. There are no more hand-holding pastorates—except where
people have no place to go because they are dying, or in prison, or infirm.
This is a new day for the Church. God is in the harvesting business and we are
invited, urged to join in. And the challenge is to all of us. I would also add
that looking around this room and identifying how we have been drawn together
in support of our new priest from our different Christian traditions, that it
is a new day for the Church to view itself ecumenically. The Harvest call is to
people of every tradition, within one humanity, of every nation.
You, as a priest, Sherri, will participate to a point and in
a specific role. But the full force of laboring falls on all of us as we are
asked to reconnect with God’s call on our lives as agents of service. Some of
us are apostles, pastors, others teachers, enablers of ministry, and prophets
even. We are all expected to live a life worthy of the calling upon us. God
demands it. The world in which we harvest needs it. So do not be afraid to be
Church; and don’t be afraid, Sherri, to participate in the leading of us into
that endeavor.
This past week, at Ministries Retreat I took on teaching a
class on John’s Gospel. I saw the Gospel in a light I had never quite seen
before. It was written at a time when the last apostles were dying off, and the
young Church was being cast out of the synagogues that for so long had been its
root. In that moment the Gospel reminded the followers of Jesus of His
promises—of His presence through the Word and as the Word, of His death as the
doorway to becoming ever present in the gift of resurrection and the Spirit who
brings life. They were now His active presence in the world, and their mission
was that the world might believe through their witness and the love they shared
with one another.
I believe that we stand at a similar place in Christian
history. That Church grew into a full presence—even imperial in many of its
ways forward. We stand on the edge of a time when that great witness is
closing. It is time to be renewed in the Gospel, to look with fresh eyes at the
purposes of God in Christ Jesus in bringing a Kingdom where love and
reconciliation reigns. The Spirit is still active and very present, but leading
us to new ways and new identities and new priorities—all for as ancient a
purpose as “The Kingdom of God is upon you.”
I am excited by the prospects before you. God has not opened
you up over your life to so many different avenues of ministry to call you to
limited opportunities, but will make all of that diversity and giftedness make
sense. You have waited faithfully; today your call is being fulfilled. May God
find you worthy and may God find us all worthy both in support, and in our own
rights and calls.
Amen
