Not Just a Job, But a Calling!

Comedian Garry Shandling once commented on the phenomenon of wake-up calls in hotels. He says:
“Here’s a little tip from me to you as an experienced traveler: Wake-up calls--one of the worst ways to wake up.
The phone rings; it’s loud; you can’t turn it down.”
Then with impeccable timing Shandling adds,: “I leave the number of the room next to me, and then it just rings kind of quiet, and you hear a guy yell, ‘What are you calling me for?’
Then you get up and take a shower. It’s great.”
Then there’s this story.
A man had fallen away from his church.
A friend of his decided to give him a call about a tennis match they were scheduling later that week.
The friend called from the phone at: “Christ the Lord Lutheran Church” where the friend was attending a meeting.
His friend looked at his Caller I.D. and it said, “Christ the Lord.”
He thought Christ was calling for him. This turned out to be a wake-up call for him.
From time to time, we get wake up calls in our lives. They can be dramatic or subtle….
But help us in one way or another to go a different route, to try something else, to follow Christ more closely…
In our passage for today….we see
Four men, fishermen by trade, WHO GOT A WAKE UP CALL!!
They were toiling at the nets beside the Sea of Galilee when their whole world was turned upside down.
Some might think it would be great to earn our living doing nothing but fishing.
Except, if we had to do it to earn a living, we would probably find it was like a lot of other jobs--repetitive, demanding, often boring…maybe dangerous . Ever see those shows on TV of fishing in Alaska? Very hard life….
Still, it was a way for many in ancient times…even unto the present..,,,,to earn a living.
I wonder how many of us define ourselves by the work we do.
Often the first question we ask in casual conversation… “What do you do?”
But, Could it be that work was never meant to be at the center of our lives? Could it be there is something more? Are we as wise as these four disciples who figured this out?
How did it happen that these four men made such a radical change in their vocations--from being fishermen to being disciples, and then apostles? And what can we learn from them?
First of all, of course, they had an encounter with Jesus.
They didn’t attend a seminar on how to find a better job. They didn’t read a book. They didn’t even have a forced exit…like being fired or laid off…..,
No, they encountered Jesus, and it changed their lives and even changed their vocations.
I pray that our church can be a place where people encounter Jesus.
I don’t want to be just another social organization, a club, a fraternity.
These all have their place in society, but the church ought to be something different. This ought to be a place where people meet God.
Secondly…., they responded to Christ’s call. They did so immediately. They didn’t procrastinate. They didn’t make excuses.
Christ said, “Follow me,” and they did just that. Very few people actually make that kind of commitment.
Supposedly….one who had a “wake up” call and followed immediately…was rock singer Bono. (lead singer of U2)
Here is what Bono had to say:
“A number of years ago,” said Bono, “I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord’s blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it . . . I have a family, please look after them . . . I have this crazy idea . . .
“And this wise man said: stop. He said, stop asking God to bless what you’re doing.
Get involved in what God is doing--because it’s already blessed.”
Get involved in what God is doing.
What a radical idea. Don’t spend so much time asking God to bless what you are doing. Rather, ask God to show you what God is doing, and join in.
Bono believes God is calling him to be an advocate for the poor and is quoted as saying…
“Well, God, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing. And that is what He’s calling us to do.”
There was an immediacy to the decision of the fisherman that day.
They dropped their nets and followed. Might we decide as well?
Finally…. in answering Christ’s call these disciples chose not just a job, but a calling.
Not just work, but mission. Not just vocation, but passion.
As Winston Churchill said:…… "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give."
Life & Faith are not just about a job, but a calling…
There’s a story that Andrew Young tells…
He is a former congressman, former ambassador to the United Nations and former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.
He is also an ordained minister.
One day Andrew Young’s daughter came home from college. She said to him, “Daddy, I heard a missionary talking about ministry in Uganda, and I’ve done a lot of praying about this, and I think God wants me to take a year and go to Uganda as a missionary.”
“Well, honey,” her father replied, “You know that’s all well and good, but there’s a lot of poor people right here in Atlanta that need you.”
She said, “Daddy, I know that, but I really believe that God is calling me to Uganda.”
“Honey, it’s dangerous over there in Uganda,” Andrew Young pleaded, “you could get hurt.”
“I know that Daddy,” she said, “but I could also get hurt right here.”
He said, “But honey you could be killed there.”
“Daddy, I could be killed at any time, anywhere. I really believe that God is calling me to go to Uganda,” she said.
Andrew Young thought and prayed about it, and finally he gave her his blessing. “When my daughter walked onto that airplane,” he said later, “I realized that in baptizing her and raising her, what I said I wanted most for her was that she would become a Christian. But I wasn’t prepared for her to become a real one!”
His daughter found a calling. Not just a job, but a calling. Not just a vocation, but a passion.
Not just work, but a life. She too, had a wake up call. Just like Bono. Just like the Disciples.
Do you hear yours today?
Do you hear Jesus say…. “Come follow me”?
Stop, listen, pray. Yield yourself into Divine arms and you will be led.
Yield yourself into Divine arms and you will discover not just a living….but a life! Amen.!