Rev. Dr. Mary Lautensleger

 

Jonah 3:1-5; 10 and Mark 1:14-20

Illustrations and/or Sermon Starters

Both Jonah and Mark have call stories for us on Epiphany 3 B.

Some of us don’t answer calls right away. As a freshman in college, I knew that I had a call from God to a full-time vocation in the Christian ministry. Being of the female persuasion in the 1960s, I had no idea what to do with that call. I prayed about being a foreign missionary, but felt no real leading in that direction. As a result, I was forty-something before I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up!

I became a church musician in the 1980s, and God, using my love of music, took it from there. I had a hunger to learn more about the Bible and theology, and as a result I enrolled in seminary classes in order to become a more knowledgeable director of music. For the first time in my life, I was exposed to women in the pulpit, and by the time I had completed my degree, I knew where I really belonged. God does not call the prepared, but God does prepare the called.

Another reason we don’t always respond to God’s call is because we are quite satisfied with our current lives. Inertia has set in and we are comfortable, as well as fearful of change. Jonah was in no mood to travel to Nineveh, especially proclaiming bad news. He was well aware that in delivering such a message, the Ninevites just might “shoot the messenger.” Instead, Jonah found himself involved in a comedy of horrors as he tried to flee from the irrevocable call of God.

John Betjeman tells how his father pressured him to choose a career in the family business, but John had another calling. He wanted to be a poet. His father told him, “You’ll starve! And besides, you have simply got to keep the family business going. You are the fourth generation!” John Betjeman followed his call, and ended up as British Poet Laureate, with a memorial in Westminster Abbey.”

Scripture doesn’t tell us how long Zebedee’s family has been in the fishing business, but it may well have been many more generations. Zebedee probably assumed that James and John would take over in the future, also passing the fishing business on to their offspring. When we follow our hearts, and the leading of the Holy Spirit, we fulfill God’s calling in our lives, using the gifts and graces God has given to us.

While visiting my daughter in Dakar, Senegal, she took me to the beach. There, I was amazed to see dozens of people wading out into the ocean with huge nets. Several individuals gripped the perimeter of the nets and were scooping up fish as the tides brought them in. That day on the Atlantic shores of West Africa, the Bible stories of fisherfolk came alive for me, even through there were no boats to cast from. I felt as if I were traveling back in time to observe events in the New Testament

Rosalie Mann

 

Psalm 62:5-12

The Psalm Makes Me Cry

I can't write a sermon on this Psalm but perhaps you can.  I cry every time I read it. It is a song of aloneness.

As you write your sermon be aware of how this Psalm is able to touch the depths of a person’s being.  You are preaching on delicate but fertile ground.

If a minister has a member of their congregation who is waiting on medical test results, or someone who has just received a bad medical diagnosis (i.e., cancer) – the Psalm may serve as a good prayer.  You may, in fact, want to frame your sermon as a prayer.

For God alone my soul waits in silence,
   for my hope is from him. 

He alone is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 

On God rests my deliverance and my honour;

   my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 

Trust in him at all times, O people;
   pour out your heart before him;
   God is a refuge for us.

The Psalm reminds me of one of my favorite songs.  I am not a country music fan, but I do like gospel music (the harmonies).  One of my favorite songs is "Where No One Stands Alone" by the Gaither Vocal Band.  It is also a song of aloneness. 

Lyrics:

Once I stood in the night with my head bowed low

In the darkness as black as could be

And my heart felt alone and I cried Oh Lord

Don't hide your face from me

Like a king I may live in a palace so tall

With great riches to call my own

But I don't know a thing in this whole wide world

That's worse than being alone.

Chorus: Hold my hand all the way
             Ev'ry hour ev'ry day
             From here to the great unknown
             Take my hand
             Let me stand
             Where no one stands alone.

There is a connection between this song and this Psalm.  We are never truly alone, as God is always there.  God is our refuge during difficult times.  God is our rock.  God is our reassurance that we are not alone.