Year A (Proper 5)

Readings: Genesis12: 1-9 & Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Because of our flawed nature, we humans live with the urge to become better people. We grasp for perfection, for the urge for something that hovers beyond our reach. And throughout our lives we search for fulfillment for our hungry souls. God continues to call us into a closer relationship – one that will satisfy those longings. Such a call is certainly one of sacrifice – not just of things that we can afford to expend, but of things that are important to us. What does it mean to be faithful to God's call? For that matter, what does it mean to be called by God? How are we called? Who is called? In the readings today we have stories of four faithful people who took a risk and answered God's call.

The first of those calls came to Abraham and Sarah. They were called by God to leave their own country and set out for an unknown destination. This is not a young couple moved by inner restlessness, ambition and thirst for the new and undiscovered. In fact, at the age of seventy-five moving was probably the last thing on their mind. This is an older couple, settled and comfortable. And God disturbs that comfortable existence with a promise that they are to be the beginning of a great nation. We don't hear the conversation that went on between the two. We don't hear the excuses. We hear simply that they gather all of their possessions together and follow God's call.

The second story is that of Matthew who leaves his job to follow Jesus. Matthew who became one of the twelve was a tax collector, a social outcast. He was outside of the law, despised not only because of his position, but also because of how he used it to make money for himself. Jesus sees him sitting at the tax booth. Had Jesus talked to him before? Perhaps! The fact is that God's call came to a very unlikely, rather shady character. And he responded. He simply got up from what he was doing and followed Jesus.

The third story is that of the leader of the synagogue. His daughter has just died. In his grief and anguish, he asks Jesus to come and lay hands on her and make her well. Jesus goes to his house, and despite the jeering of the crowd who are sure that there is no hope, he goes in and heals her.

And finally there is a woman who has suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. Her illness has made her unclean in the eyes of all in her society. She is banned from the synagogue. She is not able even to cook a meal for her husband. She longs to ask Jesus for a healing touch. But it is a touch that risks making him unclean. Yet she is determined to be whole. She reaches out in the crowd and this one who is on the very fringes of society dares to touch the fringe of his cloak. Jesus is not defiled by her touch. "Take heart," he says. "Your faith has made you well." With those words of comfort he brings healing.

Each story is the story of great faithfulness to the call of God. Each story carries with it the risks of faithfulness. To respond to God's call is often costly, even lonely. Abraham had to turn his back on the familiar and face the unknown. Yet it became a blessing to him. Matthew had to give up a life of ease and face up to what people thought of him. A social outcast became an apostle of Christ. The leader of the synagogue had to put aside his pretensions, humble himself and ask for help. He experienced a great miracle in his life. The woman with the hemorrhage had to risk rejection. And God made her whole.

There are many risks to those who would be faithful to God's call. For such a call is not an invitation to casual acquaintance or weekly worship. It is not an offer of help when we are in trouble. It is a call to follow, to love and to serve. When we talk about call it is usually in connection with ordained ministry. Yet we are all of us, called by God. What are we called to do? The fact is we are called to do anything that pleases us, but we are called to do it and belong to God. In fact, God does not simply call us once and forget about it. There are particular calls to faith and to ordained ministry. But God calls us also to communities and to particular tasks within them. God calls us into relationships. We are called to seek God wherever God may be found. Sometimes the call is as clear as a bell. It leaves no doubt in our mind. Sometimes the call is barely audible. It takes the discernment of the whole community working together.

People respond to the call of God in various ways. Some respond by seeking ordination. Some dig in their heels or stick their heads in the sand. But most of us seek to answer the call of God by changing the way we live our everyday lives. That, in a sense, is the most difficult call of all. It is the call that Abraham answered to leave everything behind and go into uncharted territory. It is the call of Matthew to change the old way of living for a new way. It is to seek just ways of living our lives in an unjust world. It is the call of the leader of the synagogue and the woman with the hemorrhage – a call to face our fears and to reach out for help.

The most astounding, incredible fact of all history is the call of God to each of us. It is a call to be in relationship with a loving God who cares enough to be one of us. It is a call to follow and love and serve.