If there was
ever a case to be made for the importance of keeping things in context, I think
these two itty-bitty readings do it. These are two little snippets of larger
stories; reading them today makes me think of looking at a snapshot of a happy
couple on their wedding day, walking out of the church in their fine clothes,
with huge grins on their faces, to the joyful gathering of friends and family
tossing rice or birdseed or rose petals at them – then saying, this is the
story of a marriage.
No, it’s not. It
is the start of a marriage. It is a moment in a marriage. But there is so much
more, many more moments, and you and I know quite well that they won’t all be
that happy.
This couple
won’t have these ecstatic grins pasted on their faces for the next however-many
years, til death do them part. There will be plenty of down times: moments when
they hurt each other, moments when they fail each other, maybe abandon each
other. They said yes – I do – to one another, but there will be plenty of
moments over the years when they forget those promises they made.
These two little
stories from scripture are like that. They give us that happy, blissful moment
when these characters said yes. God said “Repent!” and the citizens of Ninevah
turned around and said “Yes, Lord.” Jesus walking along the lakeshore called
out to Simon and Andrew, James and John, “Come with me!” and they dropped their
nets and followed him.
And it might be
that your reaction on first hearing these little stories was surprise. That is
a perfectly legitimate reaction. These are surprising responses to great
demands from someone they don’t even know. What would make the people of
Ninevah say yes to the voice of Jonah, a foreigner, a man who clearly doesn’t
like them (you know if you read the rest of the story, anyway), bringing a
message from a foreign God? Wouldn’t you think they would at least need more information?
What would make
these Galilean fishers, family men, business men, say yes to this man from a
neighboring village? What would make them drop their nets, leave their fathers,
and not even look back? Wouldn’t you think they might want to discuss this
first?
I mean, it does
happen this way sometimes, that someone says yes to God the first time they
hear God calling. It does happen sometimes that someone says yes to Jesus the
first time they meet him; but often it takes more time. And whether it happens
in an instant or over time, whether you say yes immediately or have to be
dragged into a relationship, is not that important. I don’t think it is the
essential point of the stories, to tell you the truth.
I think the
essence of these stories is that there are pivotal moments in our lives
journeys, decision points in which we must say yes … or not.
Last week we
also talked about people who say yes to God, with two other stories – the story
of Samuel and the story of Nathanael. Call stories. The scriptures are full of
these call stories, because this is the story of us and our relationship with
God: God calls, we answer. God invites, we respond. God acts, we react. This is
the story of our faith.
In some
Christian traditions people are expected to have a personal conversion story.
It is expected that, when asked, they can tell you the day and the
circumstances in which they became a Christian, when they were “born again.” It
is assumed that they could say, for example, when I was 16 years old, at my youth
group meeting the week before Christmas, I gave my life to Christ.
Or perhaps, it
happened one night in April when I was 30 years old. I was a broken man. I had
lost my job, my marriage was over. I was standing at the gas station, pumping
gas in my car, not knowing where I would go or what I would do and suddenly I
heard Jesus talking to me. And my life changed at that moment.
It happens this
way sometimes – but not all the time.
In reality, most
people who have grown up in a church family do not have a born-again
experience. This is something that our puritan forefathers and mothers actually
fretted about. They knew what it was like to have an experience of conversion,
because they had turned away from the church of England to form a new church.
They left their homeland for the sake of their faith; they really knew the
dramatic impact of such a conversion and the commitment it required of them.
They feared that
their children could never understand this if they didn’t have a similar
experience, so they tried to create the circumstances that would invite such an
experience, hoping that their children would find out what it was like to
repent, to turn their lives over to Christ, to be born again. Some did and some
did not.
Eventually, the
reconsidered their expectations. As powerful as may be to have such a
conversion experience, a moment of decision in which you say yes to Christ, I
have a few concerns about the whole thing.
First, I would
say that the expectation that this is the only way to be able to call yourself
a Christian is flawed, and harmful. I have been on the receiving end of this expectation,
being told that if I could not say the moment I became a Christian then I am
not a Christian, or as they might say, I am not saved.
This is very
legalistic and narrow-minded thinking. It tries to impose a one-size-fits-all
evangelism, but all you have to do is read the scriptures to know that God does
not impose a one-size-fits-all expectation. Why should we, then? To say there
is a clear set of steps one must go through to be “saved” is to try to control
the power of God. Nice, if you can do it. But, crazy to think you can do it.
Another concern
I have is related to this term that is so often used – to be saved. This idea
of a conversion experience all too often seems to be about only one thing:
personal salvation. In all these stories, like the 16-year-old who recites the
Jesus prayer in youth group or the woman who walks off the street into a church
one day and sees the light, they too often suggest that the point of all of
this is to be saved – period.
But when we read
the call stories in scripture, is that what they are all about? Does the boy
Samuel, whose story we read last week, say yes to God so he can be saved? Do
Simon and Andrew, James and John, say yes to Jesus so they can go to heaven? Is
that really what it’s about?
The stories in
scripture, where God calls someone to God’s side, always have a bigger picture
in mind. God has plans for God’s people, plans which are bigger than their
individual lives, certainly; plans which are bigger than anything they could do
or imagine doing on their own. When God calls someone, it is not just to
conversion, it is a call to discipleship. God calls us to follow, to become
workers in the vineyard. God calls us to be a part of God’s great work of
bringing God’s kingdom to the world.
The moment when
we say yes is not an end in itself, it is just the beginning. Like the moment a
man and woman say “I do,” is just the beginning of a journey, the moment we say
yes to God we are embarking on a journey – a journey in which you will be asked
to give your heart to this world and all who live in it, to the concerns that
are God’s concerns: peace, justice, love.
When you say yes
to God you are saying yes to all the things God says yes to. And no to the
things God says no to.
It concerns me
that we might not recognize that our yes to God is not merely for ourselves.
Saying yes to God is never something you do merely for yourself.
There is one
other thing about the idea of a conversion experience that concerns me: that is
the notion, the suggestion, that it is something that happens once, like a big
bang that changes everything for always. Such a belief denies the value of the
way so many of us actually experience God’s call.
I have never had
what some would call a born-again experience. But I have had many, many moments
of saying yes to God. I have had a few big, momentous ones, and other smaller
ones.
I know I have
had these experiences of being called by God, because they have scared me. I
know these moments have been moments of God in my life because they have called
on me to get outside of my comfort zone, to get beyond my own selfish desires.
They have called me to serve, to risk, to love unconditionally.
I know these
times God has invited me to be born again in Christ, to step outside of myself
and serve for Christ’s sake, because even if they don’t meet someone else’s
definition of being born again, they have given me glimpses of the joy that
comes from living near to God, the deep peace that comes from trusting
obedience to God. I know these moments of saying yes to God have been true
faith experiences because they have made visible to me the power of the Holy
Spirit in carrying me over to places I could not go on my own, giving me words
I could not say, and actions I could not take without God’s help.
And each time I
have said yes to God’s call I have known that it probably won’t be the last
time I need to say yes. I will be called on to say yes again and again and
again, because I am still a flawed, imperfect sinner. I will still make
mistakes, I will still sometimes choose the broad road that leads to
destruction rather than the narrow road that leads to life. To be a follower of
Christ I will need to die anew every day and be born again, every day, in
Christ; to say once again, “Yes, Lord. Speak, Lord, for your servant is
listening.
May you hear
God’s voice calling you to come and follow. May you say yes to God’s call. May
you awaken every day to say yes once again, to serve the Lord with open heart
and mind.
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