Sermon for Baptism of Our Lord
Call Stories
By The Rev. Christie Webb -
In August of 1959, Joan Thatcher, publicity director of the American Baptist Convention, asked Martin Luther King Jr. to compose this statement. In her request, Thatcher noted, “Apparently many of our young people still feel that unless they see a burning bush or a blinding light on the road Damascus, they haven’t been called."
Martin Luther King Jr responded: “My call to the ministry was neither dramatic nor spectacular. It came neither by some miraculous vision nor by some blinding light experience on the road of life. Moreover, it did not come as a sudden realization. Rather, it was a response to an inner urge that gradually came upon me. This urge expressed itself in a desire to serve God and humanity, and the feeling that my talent and my commitment could best be expressed through the ministry. At first I planned to be a physician; then I turned my attention in the direction of law. But as I passed through the preparation stages of these two professions, I still felt within that undying urge to serve God and humanity through the ministry. During my senior year in college, I finally decided to accept the challenge to enter the ministry. I came to see that God had placed a responsibility upon my shoulders and the more I tried to escape it the more frustrated I would become. A few months after preaching my first sermon I entered theological seminary. This, in brief, is an account of my call and pilgrimage to the ministry.” (https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/my-call-ministry)
This is Martin Luther King Jr. Call story. Not dramatic nor spectacular. No miraculous vision. No blinding light. An inner urge. A gradual coming. A decision to finally accept it.
Quite different from the call story we witness of Jesus in this morning’s gospel, which is full of miraculous visions.
It says: In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
That's it. The call story. He goes to be baptized by John. He comes up out of the water. He sees the heavens torn apart. The Spirit descends. A voice comes: You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased. That’s it.
But that isn’t it, there is so much there, so much to dig into, to turn over. What called Jesus to baptism? Was he too in need of the work of turning around, repenting? From what? What did the heavens torn apart look like? What does this mean? Is it connected to the tearing of the curtain in the temple when Jesus dies? What does a torn heaven mean? That God is with us now, even more than before, with no barrier? How does that feel? Good? Or too close for comfort?
Why is the Spirit a Dove? Where does the dove go? It says on him, but every other time that word is used in the original Greek, it means into. So did the Spirit go into Jesus? Is he possessed by the Holy Spirit? We know we talk about people possessed by bad spirits, but the Holy Spirit is good. Is the rest of what comes because Jesus is possessed by the Holy Spirit? Are we possessed by the Holy Spirit?
What did the voice sound like? A deep voice? A peaceful voice? A commanding voice? Did anyone else hear it? How did Jesus know it was from heaven? What did Jesus feel like to hear that voice say those powerful words? You are my Son. Beloved. With you I am well pleased. Those words, they change everything. It's right there, yes, the call: You are my Son. The call on his life is to be God’s beloved Son. Everything that comes after shows that, lives that out, embodies that.
I wonder if Jesus took time to turn this all over in his head, if he came back to that moment again and again in the course of his ministry, in the joys of the days to come, and in the struggles. I wonder if he thought about this moment when he was on the cross. I wonder how knowing this moment, experiencing it, helped him in that awful moment.
I wonder the same about MLK’s call story, if he reflected upon it as he lived out his exemplary life in seeking out and speaking up for justice, if the quiet assurance and urging that this was his path helped him when times got difficult, guided him as he made decisions.
I see in them both the work of the Holy Spirit. Dramatic and flashy in one: with heavens torn and doves descending, voices of God booming. In the other, a push, an urging, almost like the Spirit simply applied constant firm pressure. I look at each of these stories, and marvel at the gifts that flowed through each of these calls.
In seminary, the question: “What is your call story?” gets tossed around all the time. Starting here, some of you asked me that very question, what is your call story? Or in a similar way, how did you come to be a pastor?
My story goes like this: I have always loved church. Church was the place I felt like I could be most me. I got the Pastor’s Award in confirmation and enjoyed the learning involved so much that when I went to school at Cal Lutheran I couldn’t resist the religion classes. I loved them. I found my people in campus ministry there. I attended a conference during seminary where I was introduced to the labyrinth, a way of walking your prayer. As I prayed I asked God to guide me in what I am to do with my life. I got an answer. I heard a voice say “Listen to my people as they walk. Listen to my people as they journey through life.” I’ve tried to do that ever since, first through youth ministry, then on a college campus listening to people discerning their own call. Then I listened to my own life and realized that the gifts and passions God gave me were best used in the work of pastoring, and I was ready to follow that call. That is my call story. I suppose some parts are flashy and transcendental, and other parts are due to that constant urging of the Spirit.
I wonder what your call story is? I know, not many of you have experienced the call to pastoral ministry. But you are called nonetheless by the gift of your baptism. The Holy Spirit has come into you, and is active in your life. You have a story to tell. Maybe it's flashy. Maybe it's simple. In the coming weeks we will listen to the call stories of the disciples, of Samuel, of Jonah, and others who served God. Each story we hear helps us to consider our own stories, and to keep listening for where and how God is calling us.
Because God calls you, my dear friends, you too are God’s beloved child.
Amen.
The Rev. Christie Webb
Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Sermon for:
January 14, 2024
