John 1:43-51
The Message.
43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)
45-46 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”
But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”
47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”
48 Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”
Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49 Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”
50-51 Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”
This is the word of God for the People of God.
Let us pray - "Gracious and ever living God let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our Hearts be pleasing to you.
Today’s story from the Gospel is about the calling of some of the disciples. In today’s time here and now we are constantly being called by God. We are not called once, to become people of faith, but many times. All through our lives Christ is calling us. God called us first into life at the moment of our creation. Christ calls us into relationship with God and the spirit. Whether we listen for that voice or not, it is there calling us to come ever closer. If we somehow feel we are less than or we hold ourselves accountable for something we have done or haven’t done, we are called into forgiveness; If we are struggling to fulfill our calling, Christ calls us on from grace to grace, and from holiness to holiness. Calling is constantly inviting us to go further and deeper with God.
It is sad but all too often we think of Christ’s call as something that happened in the day of the Apostles along the Sea of Galilee or only for those entering the religious life and Yet Christ is among us calling us this very day often we do not believe it, we do not hear it or feel it, we do not look for it in our own lives.
These sacred callings come to us suddenly and have obscure consequences just as in any account of calling. The accidents and events of life are one special way in which callings occur and they are, by definition, sudden and unexpected.
You haven’t seen anything yet!
You may be going about your daily routine and you come across a letter, or a note, or a person, and now you find yourself faced with something, which, if met prayerfully and whole-ly ( that is spelled whole-ly) that is with full consciousness and intentionality there may be an opportunity to deepen your relationship with God.
When we dedicate our lives to following Christ, we are choosing to live as God would want us to live, and to use our gifts for the greater good. God calls us to be who we are and to live as authentically as we can. When we follow God's direction for our lives, we are being who we were created to be.
The word vocation is derived from the Latin word Vocare, which means, "to call." A vocation is a calling, which sets it apart from being merely a job. My professor Frank Rogers always taught us that; “Vocation is the place in the road where your deepest gladness and the world’s deepest needs meet." God can and does call us at different stages in our lives. For some people, the call is very clear and there is no question about following it. Simon, Andrew, James and John did not hesitate to drop their nets and follow Jesus, leaving the lives and the work that they knew well. It doesn’t mean they were comfortable with the decision. It was just something so strong on their heart that they had to go.
You see, sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zone. Quoting Micah 6:8, South African United Methodist Bishop George Irvine has said, "If it’s loving, if it’s just, if it promotes right relationships, and if it scares the hell out of you, it just might be a call from God."
I was resistant to what God was calling me to do. It was summer 2008. I was living in Palm Springs CA. I was comfortable and didn’t need a new career. It meant giving up the life I knew, it meant going into debt, and it meant having the openness to say I am ready to go wherever you lead me. I struggled with it.
But here is where it gets interesting…because of saying yes once I have been called to say yes many times. I said yes went to seminary and through that I met my husband.
I said yes to an opportunity to understand the struggles at the border and through that I went to Good shepherd UCC in Sahuarita, AZ, At that time I was a seminarian studying for ordination with the MCC. This started me on a journey of understanding Border issues and Discerning a call towards the UCC.
The church there partners with several organizations to try to see that people are treated with dignity, respect, are clothed and fed. Legal or not, refugee or resident, we should each and all be treated the same.
While with the MCC churches I witness the work of the united church of Christ AIDS network. I ended up serving on the board where not only we worked with some of our churches offering specific ministries focusing on those living with HIV/AIDS in their community. I also had the opportunity to attend the world AIDS Conference in Australia.
Jesus said “You haven’t seen anything yet!”
I had decided to get my Doctorate and an opportunity to study through oxford for my Phd arose and I jumped at it. While there I met Dr. Carlos J. Correa-Bernier, Centro Romero, San Ysidro, CA, U.S.A. I traveled half way around the world to meet a man who had a ministry just three hours from me.
“the community of the Daniel F. Romero Center for Border Ministries and Strategies (Centro Romero) organizes our work, and ministries, around the critical issues affecting the quality of life of the communities located in the border region. The border is the place where we live, work, worship and pray”[i]
So I went down to visit his ministries and that was where I first encountered las Memorias AIDS hospice in Tijuana. It was a desolate place. We saw refrigerators that were unusable. We learned how some residents worked at the local farmer market just to get scraps to bring back to the community. We met mothers and their children.
“Las Memorias Hostel is located in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico founded in 1999. Its mission is to provide quality care, human compassion, and warmth to people living with HIV/AIDS. Las Memorias also carries out educational activities for the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Las Memorias Hostel serves all regardless of social status, religion or gender, sexual orientation or identity, whether they are immigrants or from other states in Mexico. Relying on a framework of care with dignity with people living with HIV/AIDS, Las Memorias provides housing assistance, food, medicine, transportation to health institutions, and self-help sessions to clients and residents.”[ii]
Trying to figure out how we could best assist such a place as a small church in a tiny denomination was challenging ( I was still MCC then). So I found a solar company in Tijuana who gave me an estimate and we started a campaign to buy panels. I at first had contact with a pastor there but I was not comfortable sending money with out regulation, so I ended up partnering with Global ministries. Mind you I was not UCC yet.
We did end up getting solar panels on the roof I found out one summer when a missionary came form the area to speak about her work and she announced the project had been finished. I had no idea I was still working on funding lol. Just recently they added a new wing just for TB as Tijuana has the highest amount of TB infections and deaths in all of Mexico.
After attending my first synod while still in discernment I noticed we did not have much addressing the HIV community and the AIDS Pandemic. That’s when I suggested we start having the names project/AIDS Quilt panels at our synods. That has been my pet project at every synod since.
We Bring 12 Panels of the Aids quilt each consisting of roughly 8 quilts that’s 96 panels of people who have passed from aids. We bring panels related to our host city and to our different congregations. And every time I minister to people crying, people who ask if this is still a thing, and people who want to know if they can still make quilt for a loved one. So my ministry looks like this …Hugs , yes and here is information on HIV/AIDS. And yes here is how you make a quilt.
Jesus said you haven’t seen anything yet!
The work of UCC Churches and ministers I knew and respected pulled on my heart. I started asking myself did I just want to serve the LGBTQ community alone or serve a broader, Larger, community and work together in many different ministries to Bring this world closer to the Kin-dom of God.
The churches I have served had made hats and scarves and fed the homeless on the street where they live. Churches I have served have provided a free community meal once a month just so we can get to know our neighbors. The churches I have served have gotten together with other churches so we can walk beside and support hotel workers, and car wash workers.
I have delivered clean up buckets to a local congregation whose members had been devastated by wildfires. Another time I ended up receiving a call to serve as a second responder as families were allowed back into their fire ravaged neighborhoods. We made sure they had meals and all they needed for clean up and spiritual and emotional support.
And yet none of this can happen without you. We are congregationalist. We live thrive and survive from the bottom up. Your pledges to your local congregation starts to feed some of the many national programs we have. It stirs hearts in your local community and inspires more people to answer that call.
I was amazed to see all the ministries your congregation here partners with. It does fill my heart with a bit of envy.
ALSO Youth,
· Family Promise/Francis House,
· Project 180,
· Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center (SPARCC)
· All Faiths’ Food Bank,
· Pride festivals, where we extend our radical inclusiveness to the gay community.
· Selah Freedom, an anti-human trafficking non-profit organization
· Sarasota United for Responsibility and Equity (SURE),
· Resurrection House, a day services center for the homeless
· St. Andrew Samaritan Fund, providing financial assistance for groceries, gas and other expenses for neighbors seeking help
I have been blessed through my call to experience but a few of the global programs of the UCC. I have experienced national as well as local programs. There is a prayer by Therese of Avila which I believe is a great reminder of the work we do as united church of Christ.
“Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which ChristHe looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which ChristHe walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which ChristHe blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are Christs’His body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which Christhe looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
— St. Teresa of Ávila (attributed)”
The way you are going as Jesus said you haven’t seen anything yet! Amen.
[i] https://www.theromerocenter.com/who-we-are/
[ii] https://www.globalministries.org/update-from-las-memorias-in-mexico/
