Have you ever gone back to a high school or college reunion? I have never done that. Somehow, I have never felt comfortable going back. While I have great memories, I’m the kind of person who likes to live in the present. I do not focus too much on the future, which is an occupational hazard, nor too much in the past. I stay pretty much focused on the present moment.
This fall I am going back. I am going back to the church where I felt my call to ministry. It happened in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. I have not been back to that church since I graduated from college, when part of my college graduation gift was a trip to Maine. I am a little nervous. While the majority of people there will probably not remember me, some of the people will. It will be a reunion of sorts. I am not sure I am good at reunions. I do not go to them.
I was called to ministry when I was just a youth. Some people in Cape Elizabeth remember me standing up and proclaiming that I felt called to ministry. They saw that Sunday and my call, as did I, as a holy, sacred moment. It was huge for me and for that church. Someone in their midst felt called by God to go into ministry. Me, of all people, a kid, was proclaiming my call from God to follow God wherever God may lead.
I am not sure they know all the details of that call. I will explain that to them on the Sunday that I preach. I pray that God will use me. I pray that I will be a vessel that God will speak through to this congregation, but I have my worries. Going back has a bad rap sometimes.
Jesus went back. Jesus went back to Nazareth to preach one week. The congregation at the synagogue was amazed. They couldn’t believe their ears. Then, he proclaimed that he was the Messiah. And, again, they couldn’t believe their ears. This couldn’t be – not Mary and Joseph’s son, not this kid from Nazareth. For this perceived blasphemy, they were ready to kill him, to stone him to death. Jesus barely escaped with his life. I pray this doesn’t happen to me.
While I don’t even consider myself to be close to being the Messiah, I do believe I was called by God. I believe we are all called by God. All of us has calling no matter how young or old we may be. We are called to follow God and seek God’s ways. God calls us into ministry in a myriad of ways, calling us each to vocations of service and love. God didn’t call just me in that Cape Elizabeth Church. God has called every person who has ever stepped foot in that church or in any church and even beyond the church. God calls you.
That is my message. It may be a radical one and it may not. I hope it doesn’t get me thrown out or killed. I have never gone back. I am not good at reunions. I pray that this one will be special.
Michelle