Sermons

Isaiah 56: 1-8 & Matthew 15: 21-28 * Roger C. Lynn * August 28, 2005

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The passage I just read from Matthew has always left me squirming. I have had a difficult time knowing what to make of it or what to do with it. How did this story even get included in the Gospels? It seems to run against the grain at several different levels. In this story Jesus doesn’t come off looking very, well, very Jesus-like. He isn’t very nice, or kind, or fair, or just. It has always been just a little bit creepy to read this story. The floor tips a bit off-center.
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Well, here we are again. We shut down operations in town and moved worship to the great outdoors. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also a lot of hassle. We have to make sure the event gets heavily advertised, so that people don’t show up at church expecting to find us there. Some people just can’t make it out here, so they miss church today. So why do this? Just because it’s fun is probably not a good enough reason.

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God calls us. In fact, God is always calling us. And sometimes we even pay enough attention to hear the call. Sometimes we even pay enough attention to respond.

But what does a call from God sound like? We have lots of stories in the Bible about folks who heard God calling them. And they all seem to be fairly dramatic and unmistakable. Moses hears God calling from a burning bush. Samuel hears God calling in his sleep. Isaiah has a vision of the heavenly throne room and angels with fiery tongs. Most of us, most of the time, don’t seem to experience God calling us in that sort of way. So does that mean it doesn’t happen? Or does it simply mean we need to turn our attention to less obvious forms of call?
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