Annual Address 2009--Called

Annual Address 2009 (3 Epiph B)
(Jonah 3: 1-5; Ps 62: 6-14; 1 Cor 7: 29-31; Mark 1: 14-20)


All we’re asked to do is to follow Jesus when he calls.

A number of us wrestled this past week with what it means to be called by Jesus. This is some of what emerged: To be called means to be known by name. To be called means we are asked to respond, to get up and do. To be called means that we are asked to live the deep mystery of our own lives, and the deep mystery of the life of the one who calls. To be called means to live in trust, to walk in faith.

Jonah was called to speak strange words of God to hostile people. He was famous for his reluctance and for how God’s call to him never stopped. Jesus was himself called, and Jesus called others. No outline of a plan, no five or ten year goals. I wonder if there were others who were called and who did not respond to Jesus. The ones we know by name were the ones who got up “immediately” and followed, without knowing the five or ten year plan.

Is Saints Peter and Paul a called community? And to what life are we called? It’s not enough to say, “Of course we’re called. We’re a church!” Some churches do not ask these questions. Some do not listen to God whispering the answers.

How has God whispered to us since last Annual Meeting?

We have grown and deepened, I believe. We have welcomed the awesome gifts of people come among us who are helping to re-imagine our ministries with children and youth, music and worship, outreach to the poor, and deepening our ongoing formation in Christ. These ministries are visible in a deeper joy and higher visibility of children and youth, with a revived catechumenate, with music enriched by the gifts of the community, with new ways for the Companions and Culdees of Columba to share life and fellowship, with new and ongoing outreach programs. We have a hunger for God and Christ and a deep joy in our fellowship with one another. That hunger and that joy is tangible. We have pursued a mission among Hispanic folks and that congregation is growing and is vital.

Others are drawn to this life we share. The parish and The Columba Center received an Ecumenical Service Award this past May. Pilgrims seek us out, who have heard of our outreach work or the spirituality lived in our worship or of the Celtic note we strike.

Our journey has had its measure of struggle and pain. During my sabbatical parish leadership coped with the challenge of a fistfight at Brigid’s Table and made hard decisions in the aftermath. Maybe that’s why “I Survived The Sabbatical” t-shirts were given to the wardens! We continue to struggle with budget and money concerns. We said good-by to a number of dear old friends, faithful members, and one former member: Chuck Reese, Ruth Sommerville, Cythia Brown, Sally Shore, Evelyn Coulter, John Rice, Bob Cockburn, Brian Russell, Marjorie Purcell, and Art Roddy. May they rest in Jesus.

We all have a sense of our world changing rapidly. The language of change is everywhere. Portions of our economy collapse, and we need only look around us this morning to see people who have been directly impacted. Many of us have a sense that together we need to take a new path. But there is hope.

Hope was spoken aloud as the nation and world was electrified by the past election. No matter how we voted, we were moved by the language and longing for hope. The world spoke of America turning down a new path. People of non-European lineage stared with joy at the first African-descended President, and spoke of hope.

I think all hope is grounded in humanity’s deepest belief that all our lives have worth and meaning and that we are the free children of God, loved beyond measure. And God shall call and we shall follow until God will be all in all.

Are we a called community? How may that take flesh this year?

If we are a called community, we will live the outrageous love of God openly and visibly and seek new ways to make that loved life visible. The world is changing, and how we are visible to those called to find us needs to change as well.

If we are a called community, we shall fully welcome those who do come to us and take the adventure that their presence and gifts offer. This year six Vestry seats open, and with prayer and discernment the nominating committee spoke to many and six responded. Of those six, three are less than age thirty, and all but one have been among us less than five years. It used to be that Saints Peter and Paul had a way of letting people know that they were “newbies” for at least five years. That vestige of older church culture has come to an end and needs to come to an end.

If we are a called community, we will continue to develop the Hispanic component of our parish and let their increasing presence change us as God wills.

If we are a called community, we will keep asking ourselves what it means to be a church in this era called by some “post-modern.” I do believe that we are called to be a community living a classic Trinitarian faith, rooted in the Word and the sacraments, deeply appreciative of our Anglican and Catholic heritage. But I also think that when we quietly and prayerfully examine various parts of our life, “we’ve always done it this way” is not a good enough answer. We need to speak in new ways, reach out to new people, seek new ways to celebrate and to serve.

The time is short, as Paul says today. There is a sense of urgency to our life. We have a great gift and we are called to live it with passion and with joy. We may have a reprieve on money matters for one more year. This year will soon be over and we need to ask ourselves what God calls Saints Peter and Paul to be and to do with a stressed budget amidst a wounded economy. For the world is hurting. It’s tempting to make Annual Meeting all about our internal affairs. But as William Temple said, the church is the only organization which exists for those who are not yet members. We are Christ in the world. Only God could come up with such an impractical way to work. To be a called community is to listen and to respond. We don’t know where it will all end. But I am naïve enough to believe that if we listen and follow, we will walk with Jesus and will never be left alone. That’s all we’re called to do and to be when all is said and done.