Third Sunday after Epiphany

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Third Sunday after Epiphany
Jan 22, 2012 --

Annoying Calls

The Tuesday after Christmas, late at night, around 11:15 a call came into our home. At first I was startled as most of us would be. But then I was annoyed.

The caller ID indicated that the company that monitors our alarm system was calling. They’ve called in the past. Usually it is a recording informing me that there is a problem with the system; usually it means that there has been a power outage at the church.

Nothing to worry about.

But on that night there was a live voice on the other end. The operator informed me that the fire alarm in Fields Hall had been sounded. The fire department had been called and was requesting me to come to the church immediately.

Could it be that there really was a fire?

I quickly drove to church. I saw the flashing lights of the fire truck. The police were also here. The alarm was blaring in the quiet of the night. But thankfully there was no sign of any fire.

After turning off the alarm, and a very thorough check of the building we all went home thankful that this had been a false alarm.

I settled into my bed, but at 12:15 another call rang in our home. Again the fire alarm was sounding. Again I was requested to come to church. And again, thankfully, there was no sign of fire; but now I was getting really annoyed.

To make a long story short you might remember that Tuesday after Christmas we had heavy rain. Water had gotten into the ceiling right inside the kitchen entrance, which triggered the smoke detector which set off the alarm.

We all receive calls in life. Often these calls are annoying because first of all they are untimely, bedtime, dinner time, times when we are distracted. But even more annoying is that these calls usually ask something of us. They ask for our money. They ask for our time. They ask for our presence. They ask for attention to a matter.

We would rather not receive these calls because often we have no money, or time, or desire to give attention to what is asked. We’d rather just go back to bed, or dinner, or doing whatever we were doing before the call came.

Do you think Peter, Andrew, James, and John are annoyed this morning? The gospel is the call to discipleship.

Already in Mark’s gospel we can determine that this call can’t be good. We’re only in verse sixteen in chapter one and Jesus has been driven out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. John the Baptist has been arrested. Already there is tension with the Jesus, there is conflict, and the forces of evil are at work in his story.

So a call from Jesus gives some indication of what this call entails. Fishing for people sounds a little strange, but it doesn’t sound dangerous; yet conflict is inevitable when announcing good news to a sinful world. Jesus Christ is going to clash with the world, and those who answer his call will get caught up in this in this clash.

I can’t help but feel that Peter, Andrew would have preferred to just keep fishing for fish. I think James and John would have preferred to just keep mending their nets and staying in their boat with Zebedee and the hired men.

But this isn’t what happened.

And immediately Peter and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus.

When Jesus called James and John mark writes:

And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Why?

Why did Peter, Andrew, James, and John answer Jesus’ call so quickly and apparently without thinking it through?

They answered Jesus’ call for the same reason I answered the call from the alarm company on the Tuesday after Christmas.

Tom Long, preaching professor at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta says that one of the deepest hungers we have is to be called. And in addition to this one of our deepest fears is that there is no one out there who cares enough to call us.

While I prefer not to be called late at night when the alarm sounds, what would it say if the call never came? It would say either I don’t care if the church is on fire; or worse, it would say that I would not be needed.

When calls come from our children, or from our boss, or from the pastor; often they ask something of us. Often we are annoyed.

But what if the calls never came? What if no one asked anything of you? What it would say is that you do not matter.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John answered Jesus’ call; they dropped their nets immediately and followed Jesus because Jesus’ call meant that they mattered to Jesus.

Tom Long tells the story of Grace Thomas. We’ve never heard of her. She was the child of a street car conductor from Birmingham, Alabama.

Grace fell in love with a boy from Georgia Tech. She married him, moved to Atlanta, and became a full time wife.

To help support her family Grace took a job as a secretary at the Georgia state capitol in Atlanta. She now was a full time wife and full time secretary.

Through her job Grace became interested in politics and law so she enrolled in law school. She now was a full time wife, a full time secretary, and full time student.

Upon graduation from law school Grace astonished her family by deciding not to practice law, but to run for political office.

Her family expected Grace to run for the school board or the library board, but they were shocked when Grace Thomas said that she was going to run for governor of the State of Georgia!

It was 1954. Nine candidates ran for governor. Eight men and Grace Thomas.

In 1954 there were nine candidates for governor but there was only one issue; the integration of public schools. The eight men were all against it, Grace was for it. “It was the coming of justice,” Grace said. Her slogan was “Say Grace at the polls.”

Not many voters did. Grace Thomas came in dead last.

Her family was relieved and hoped that Grace had gotten politics out of her system. But in 1962 she ran for governor again. But this time the civil rights movement was in full swing. People started paying attention to Grace. She ran on a platform for equal rights. As expected she clashed with the world. She received death threats. Her family feared for her safety.

One day Grace gave a campaign speech in Louisville, Georgia. This small town was infamous for being the sight of slave market. Grace decided to give her speech under the canopy of that slave market. She addressed a small gathering of farmers and merchants and said. She pointed at the slave market and said; “This, thank God, has passed. Now it is time for Georgians to join hands, and have all races come together.”

Someone in the crowd shouted out; “Are you a communist?”

“No,” said Grace.

The voice answered, “Well, where did you get all these crazy ideas?”

Grace thought for a moment. She looked around and then pointed to the steeple of the First Baptist Church. “I got them over there in Sunday School.”

Many years ago Jesus called Grace through one of her Sunday School teachers to come and follow the way of Jesus. Grace didn’t realize it at the time but the call clashed with the world.

Grace could have been annoyed at the call. She could have easily ignored the call. It would have been easier to be a full time wife, a full time secretary, and a full time student. But Grace understood that she was needed. And she probably understood that she would never be elected governor; but her voice gave witness to the presence of Jesus Christ.

Yes some calls are annoying. Some calls we’d rather not answer.

But when the caller ID says Jesus Christ, be reminded that Jesus has remembered you and that you are needed. And then drop your nets, answer the call, and follow Jesus.

Amen

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