Called by Name

In the hope that someone would recognize them, it was announced that on a certain day, all those who had sons M.I. A were to come to a certain specified town.

One by one the former soldiers went out onto the stage, hoping that someone would claim them, give them back their past, and guide their future.

They were right at the edge of something.

Would it be for good or for ill?

It would take someone beyond themselves to help answer that question.

It would take one who genuinely cared.

And the process was successful in at least some of the cases.

Time and again we too stand at boundaries as we go through life: times when we are unsure of our direction,

We will be claimed, whether for good or for ill is yet to be played out, but will be claimed.

The Good News of the Day is that there is One who does claim us for good when we step out on that stage of uncertainty.

For right there in the front row is the Lord Jesus Christ who will jump up and say, “Yes, that person is mine.

I put my mark on that person in Holy Baptism.

Remember, you already have a history;

you've been adopted into my family;

you share my history.

Hang onto me; I'll fill you in on what has really been happening, and even more, I'll show you where all of this life is really heading.

I know the outcome.

I'm the Lord of the way things will finally be.

Or, as Isaiah says this morning:

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness

I have taken you and have given you as a covenant to the nations. [42:6]

That is what the Lord Jesus says to us each time we stand at one of those uncertain boundaries.

He says it to Peter who has been agonizing about who should be invited into the church.

No one is to be excluded, Peter hears in a dream.

No one is to be left out of the invitation of the Gospel...even you, Peter, the one who denied Jesus three times on the crucial night!

Jesus claims you, and anyone else who will listen.

And then there are other powers,

powers of evil and darkness that will claim those who do not listen.

One way or the other, each of us will be claimed was we walk along the edge of uncertainty.

One contemporary observer has noted that church leaders and pastors are always complaining about the lack of commitment on the part of members.

He says that the problem is not the lack of commitment, but rather wrong commitment.

Folks today are committed to all sorts of things, some of them things of very little value.

If one will not hear clearly the claim of Christ Jesus, that person will be claimed by and committed to some other power.

As our Bible-study writer cogently says:

You and I are claimed by Christ, and counter-claimed by Satan.

When a family is involved in a property dispute with a neighbor, we know what a mess it can be.

It involves stacks of lawyers, tremendous emotional energy, lots of time and money to defend such a suit and to discern the truth in the midst of claims and counter-claims.

Can you see that as the community of the church, and individuals, and families within it, we are caught up within it, we are caught up in just this kind of struggle.

We have been made by the Lord God and he has put his continuing mark of claim on us in Holy Baptism.

But thru all sorts of wily deceits the powers that deny God are hard at work trying to pull us away.

That we have all bothered to get up , get dressed, and be here together this morning is a sign that we are sensing a little of the claim that Jesus has on us.

Each of us remembers that we once followed Jesus through the waters of Baptism, that event by which he has made a promise to us, and that was the beginning of a different life for us, and a different life for others through us.

Fifteen years ago this week, some of the folks who were visiting that day were from the former St. Paul congregation that had closed, as they were deciding on a new church home.

And we had to remind each other that the boundary was not between St. Paul and St. Mark's, but between the power of God and the powers of evil and darkness.

That is the power that can cause us to say, ”Oh, well, I just won't bother with church or worship right now; I have too many other commitments and interests.”

Or one might join on paper, but not really be involved in worship, study, or service, saying that it doesn't really matter that much, and that it can be left for someone else...

Claims and counter-claims are being made on each of us!

Parents of the young: “they don't really learn much of anything when they are so small anyway...

Sadly, most adults say, “I learned enough years ago and I don't need Christian Education anymore.” (That's a lie, by the way.)

All of us need to ask ourselves consciously throughout the week what we should be doing because we are Christians; because Jesus has put his claim upon us, are there things which I will do and others which I will avoid?

Another word for this is “holiness.”

The German Bishop's Conference has this comment on holiness:

“When Holy Scripture speaks of 'holiness', it does not primarily mean ethical perfection, but rather being singled out from the domain of the worldly, and belonging to God.”

And this does not change as we age.

There are things that seniors gradually have to give up: quick mobility, career, relatives, certain foods, some activities such as bungee jumping, driver's license, etc.

But what we don't ever have to give up is this connection with the Lord Jesus and with his body, the Church.

All of us walk along a boundary.

Voices call from this way and that; the air is filled with competing claims.

We're invited to follow the voice which says,

“You are my Son, the beloved...

the Body of Christ, given for you...

Come, follow me.” Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.