So many stars aligned for me to preach the Gospel in a room full of many people who have watched me grow, inspired me, mentored me, and supported me in the Rocky Mountain Synod. I'm grateful to share these words and continue to ruminate on how powerful it is when we come together as a community to envision what God is already up to in our lives.
Ephesians 4:1-16 (I'm attaching only a snippet, 1-6, of the text)
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Parent of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
Have you ever walked a
labyrinth? Raise your hand if you have.
Labyrinths- ancient
Christian tradition of walking a path that leads to a center and then
out again.
For anyone that has not
experienced a labyrinth, let me take us all into one.
|
Mercy Center labyrinth, photo credit Connie Winter-Eulberg |
Imagine your feet
firmly planted on solid ground, with a slight spring breeze swishing
on your skin.
A path lined by stones
lies at your feet, the path looks to be winding back and forth as if
it is a maze.
You can see the center
of this maze from where you stand and you long to plant your feet on
that patch of dirt.
Take a breath, and lift
one foot to take a step into this path.
Feel the crunch of
gravel as you continue to weave your way on this path of twists and
turns.
You aren't thinking of
the to do lists that are waiting but are focused on placing one foot
in front of the other to reach the center.
Labyrinth walks often seem
to represent the path that we are on in our lives; we enter this path
focused in on the center and continuing to weave around, sometimes
so far from the center that we can't even see the point of being
on the path. Sometimes the path turns in a way that makes us feel
like we are going backward and getting farther away than where we
are meant to be.
In this Ephesians text, we
hear this letter from Paul who is urging a community to lead a life
that is worthy of the calling that they have as a people of faith.
In this we can feel Paul's fervent hope that each of us will live out
and use the gifts that God has given us. Paul speaks to this journey
that we are each individually on as we walk our labyrinths while
calling us to see the ways that we as a community are called to be
unified in the Spirit of God.
Now this community part of
this labyrinth, in which we are all walking on paths that are leading
us to the core of God's calling for us, is the tricky part. Because
it's not just us walking the labyrinth; we share this path towards
the center of God's vision with many others. Sometimes we get hung
up on comparing where we are on our own journey to someone else that
seems to be farther ahead then us, or worrying that we are walking
the path wrong. Or there might be someone next to you who tells you
to be on another path entirely and you find yourself trying to walk
on a path not meant for you in order to fit into expectations.
I walked a labyrinth
this past month and as soon as I stepped in it, I realized
that during my day-to-day life I had been praying so hard to be
anywhere but the path that I'm meant to be on. The further I stepped
into that maze of walkways, I realized that there is only one life
and one path to live into and that's to keep walking on the path God
meant for me.
God is calling us unto
the path that is for us in which our spiritual gifts shine. But
life isn't like being in a labyrinth where you can see the path
curving and shifting towards the center.
How do you can you
discern where God is calling you?
Because God is calling us;
in this Ephesians text we hear that Christ has filled all things with
grace and calling, including us.
What does God's calling
feel like? It might be whisper, it could be a shout, but the way that
I would describe it is a buzzing in my soul.
Have you ever had that
feeling? A moment that stands out to you as one that is precious,
exciting, gave you the goosebumps, or made you feel like crying?
I've had many of those
moments.
Hearing young women
voice their prayers and questions about God as a camp counselor at
Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp and leading a day camp at Luther Academy of
the Rockies.
Or being nominated and
chosen to have a full tuition scholarship to seminary with the Fund
for Leaders.
Or preaching my first
sermon on Maundy Thursday to the supportive community of Bethlehem
Lutheran in Los Alamos.
Or voicing out loud
that God can be described as a Divine Mother for the first time.
Or being in this room,
on this stage, proclaiming the Gospel in a worship service that
includes my father's liturgy and witnessing the next leader, Pastor
Paul Judson, be installed to a call at Lutheran Campus Ministry, my
home faith community.
What do a few of your
soul abuzz moments look like?
When
you feel that tingle or that buzz, that is the call of God showing
you that you are on your path.
Most of these buzz moments
for me include the people that supported me and acted as God's
reminder of the calling that I'm being led to. It's almost like they
act as the stones that mark out the path that God is calling us to.
One of those stones in
my life is my great-aunt Darline, who I got to journey with in
her last years of life. I would cook her dinner and tell her about
my days or worries, and she would look at me and say, “Let go and
Let God.” I will always appreciate her reminder to trust that God
is leading me to the calling even when I cannot see it.
Who are some people in
your life that have guided you?
Let's imagine that as we
have been supported by those guides, we have now stepped into the
center of this labyrinth. Pause to breathe in the core of God's
grace.
Let's try on the call
that God has envisioned for us. Here let's listen to the buzz
that we feel in our souls. We thank those people who have said YES
to us especially because those YESs are not the only piece of
walking on the path.
There are certainly
no's and opposition we come up against when we live into who we hope
to be.
There are many times in
this journey of answering God's call for me in which I have felt
insecure or discouraged and wonder, “Is this worth it? Can I
really do this? This calling is hard.”
And while we have come up
against moments of worry and perhaps even people in power that say
no, I think I've learned just as much from the no's and the
rejections than I've learned from the people who have said yes.
Those no's have given me
the opportunity to listen into the fear and the rejection and respond
by trusting that God is calling and answer the buzz of the Divine in
my soul.
Obstacles on the path that
are just as much a part of our path and calling; together we trust
into the path under our feet and step forward into what we cannot
know, trusting that God is leading us.
One of the most
powerful labyrinth's I have experienced is the one at Bethlehem
Lutheran in Los Alamos. This labyrinth was created on the property
after a forest fire moved through that town, destroying homes and
even came close to reaching the church building. So this community
built a pathway that weaves through trees that were scorched and
blackened by this fire, as if to say that our path is one that has
destruction and pain; we walk on this path to witness to that sorrow,
knowing that in those dark moments, God is there.
I also want to share a
story about an inspiring woman named Jess whom I've met while on
internship in Seattle. Jess experienced the buzzing of her soul a
year as she wondered what a young adult-led ministry could look like
in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle. As soon as she began to
share this vision that God was tugging for her to do, there were some
people who asked her why she didn't just drive 15 minutes to another
ministry that was already happening or checking out a pastor-led
ministry close by. Jess continued to follow that path where she felt
God was leading her and now I can tell you that a group named
Renewal, led by young adults, meets twice a month for worship,
fellowship, service, and pub theology. In this year of ministry, Jess discerned a call for ministry as a deaconness that enriches her passion for environmental justice. When Jess began to tell people about her call to be a deaconness, one of the first questions she heard was: "Oh, but you'll soon get on the track to being a pastor?" Those questions don't stop Jess but rather affirm how vital her perspective is needed in this church. I am so grateful to be one of
the many stones on Jess' path that say yes to where God is calling
her to grow and lead.
In this Ephesians text,
Paul proclaims that some are called to be apostles, some
preachers, some pastors, some teachers, and some evangelists. Today
we hear that all of these roles are needed in our world and that
Christ has filled all things with grace. No gift is better than the
other; each of our paths is important and necessary.
Because Christ has
filled us all with grace, I think there are a few more callings that
can be added to this list. God calls some to be diaconal ministers, some to
be on the altar guild, some to be protestors, some to be church
council president, some to be communion assistants, some to be tenor
in the choir, some to lead overnight lock-ins, some to be on the
outreach committee, some to make the coffee, and the list could go on
and on.
We are called here
together at this assembly as a people of one united body that are
each uniquely called to be on this path. As we have this time set
apart to dwell on hard questions and listen to each other, let us
heed Paul's proclamation to live a life worthy of our calling and pay
attention to where God is moving within you.
Listen to the call.
Listen for the buzz of God's word.
Some of us feel eager to
run towards that call, some of us might feel lost and wondering how
to even get on the path, and some of us are trudging through the call
angrily. God is present in every piece of our calling.
Listen for the buzzing
in your soul because it's time to pick up your feet. God is calling;
the adventure awaits.