Deuteronomy 18:15-20
Psalm 111
1 Corinthians 8: 1 b-13
Mark
1:21-28
Sermon January 29, 2006
Mark 1:28. At once his fame began to spread throughout the
surrounding region of Galilee.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Gospel today is about the very beginning
of Jesus' ministry and "at once his fame began to spread." We are
here, so most of us know the stories about Jesus' ministry, his teaching in the
temple, his healings, his choosing those to follow him, and the rest of his
story.
Today, I want to ask you about your story. I
want you to think or start thinking about your ministry. We all have one. God
expects all of us to do something. I am asking - "What are you known for?
Don't think that God only called Fr. Hubbard, Fr. Breedlove, and me. In this
parish the ministers are "ALL
BAPIZED CHRISTIANS." It says so in the bulletin each week and it says so
in our actions and behavior as a parish. We are all ministers for God through
Jesus Christ - from the youngest of us to the oldest. We are ministers by our
actions and our words.
So I am asking you to evaluate yourself with
that thought in mind - what ministries are you doing and how are you doing
them?
Have you ever been asked the question about
how you would introduce or define yourself or describe yourself on a resume?
What would you list?
For me this personal description has changed
drastically over the last 10 years. I now state that I am a servant of Jesus
Christ, a wife, a mother, a family member, a friend, and a community activist
who works as a chaplain. I go where God
leads me and do what God has called me to do. And I am all these things, all of
the time. They all overlap and mix together - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No break. That is because we can never tell
when God is going to need us or use us. During one of my many interviews for
the deacon's formation program, I said that "I bought a ticket for this
ride and I am just along for this journey." It many sound strange to you, but it is true for me. I never know what or where, but I know for
who I am working.
I have come to believe that God made me who I
am so that I could serve his purpose in this life. And I believe this is true for each of us. We are all very different. Just look at the three ordained people. We are all very different, we each have
different ministries, and yet God called each of us to serve him.
The real difference between ordained people
and everyone else is that we felt called to a formal ministry, acted on that
calling, and were forced by the process to look at ourselves and all our
motives, reasons, and call. And I do
mean forced. The process makes you
deeply evaluate yourself through questioning, prayer, reading, study, and
writing - you need to know who you are and why you feel called. And they ask you this over and over and
over. Then they vote on whether they
agree with you. And this goes on for several
years. It is really an interesting
process, but in the end - you should know yourself and your relationship with
God. With ordination the church is
saying they believe that they can count on you. But, that is true for all of us with our baptism.
So, how can God and the church count on
you? Take a period of reflection and
ask yourself. Focus on who you are, what
gifts you have, and what gifts you can bring to God's service. Don't think big,
think small- day-to-day things.
It is the little things that really make a
difference. This last week, six members of this parish spent the night at
Christ's Church, New Brunswick, providing the supervision for the overflow
shelter. All we had to do was be there,
no huge effort. But, because we were willing to do this, 12 to 15 men got to
sleep inside a warm room for the night and not on the streets. Yesterday a large roomful of parish members
came together to discuss the ministries of St. Barnabas and how we can better
share those ministries. Everyday people
from this parish reach out and serve in the name of Jesus Christ. It isn't just the doing; it is how you do it
and why you do it. It is giving your time and yourself. It is very simple. All
you have to do is do!
It is a smile or hug, a good morning or thank
you, offering to pray for someone or praying the whole prayer list each day,
stopping to listen to someone or sharing your thoughts, visiting a shut-in or
making a call, bringing some items for the food bank or preparing a meal at the
soup kitchen, working on our buildings and grounds or helping a neighbor,
preparing for Sunday school or bringing your child to church, greeting someone
at church or someone on the streets. It
is giving of yourself and your time that is the most valuable gift of all -
something all the money in the world can't buy. The smiles on a child's face listening
to the story at Sunday school or the smile on someone else's face for your act
of kindness.
Children teach us these lessons; because all
they want is our attention. They want
you to just stop and do something with them: to hold them or color or listen to
them share or sit with them and read or tuck them in or hear their prayers.
These wants don't change with age, just the
situations change. We want a phone call
or a visit or a note or a card or an e-mail - people just want to be remembered
and thought about. The people at the
overflow shelter, the women's shelters or the soup kitchen want the same things
we do; their circumstances are just different.
Jesus did lots of things with and for lots of
people. We are all called to do things for Jesus. By coming here we are part of a larger community and together we
can do lots of things for God in the name of Jesus Christ.
Think about it. What can you do? How
would you describe yourself as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus Christ? What and how are you serving Him? We aren't a Christian just when we are here
at church - we are each a Christian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. What does your resume say about you? Amen.
Deacon Barbara A.D. Jensen
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
Monmouth Junction, NJ