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Words From the Middle

At the intersection of Sacred and Profane

2016/10/30

What kind of a call?

This Sunday we looked at calling and the kind of people that Jesus calls. As it turns out there are at least two kinds of calls. The first is the initial call that God extends to people. This is the one that some of us experienced when we were so young we barely remember it. Others had a more dramatic, or at least more easily remembered, and later in life call. The second is the call or calling that we all have as followers of God.

Needless to say, there is a definite sequence to these two calls. Today’s Lectionary texts present both kinds. In the Gospel lesson we have the familiar story of Zacchaeus. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he” (I simply could not resist) who was called to follow Jesus by Jesus himself. As a Jew, Zacchaeus had some understanding of what was required of him but it wasn’t until his encounter with Jesus that he understood what it meant to be called by God. The Epistle lesson mentions the broader call, the one we each have to follow God and to do what it is that only we can do to become the very best people we can be, namely the people we were created to be.

What I was trying to get at today was that we all know about the first call but we tend to reserve the second call to people who have “big” or “important” callings and as it turns out, we each have a calling and every calling is as big and important as every other.

Knox Presbyterian Look who Jesus calls

https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/161030_Knox.mp3

St. Mark’s Presbyterian Look who Jesus calls

https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/161030_St_Marks.mp3

Blessings,

Barry

Article by Barry / Pentecost, Preaching, Sunday, Year C / call, calling, Jesus, Pentecost 24, preaching, Reformation Sunday, Zacchaeus Leave a Comment

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