Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral, Newark NJ
May 8, 2021
The Ordinations of Carrie Cabush, Katherine Rollo, and Lorna Woodham
Jeremiah 1:4-9
Psalm 84
Acts 6:2-7
Luke 12:35-38
God’s Inconvenient Call
It’s always a good idea to begin with gratitude, so I want to say thank you to Bishop Hughes for inviting me to preach at this wonderful and sacred occasion, here in our cathedral where, like many of the clergy gathered today, I was ordained a deacon.
I had not expected that I would ever again have the chance to offer a sermon in this place, but we all know that God is always full of surprises.
And, we give thanks for all of the people who have supported Carrie, Katherine, and Lorna on their long and winding journeys – giving thanks for family and friends and mentors, and, let’s not forget the members of the Commission on Ministry!
And, we surely give thanks to God for our three soon-to-be-deacons, who have listened carefully, worked hard, prayed even harder – who have already been a blessing to so many throughout this time of preparation.
Today we make official what has been quite obvious to many of us for a long time: you have been called by God to ordained ministry.
Of course, during this time of preparation you have been engaged in the hard work of discernment.
Like a lot of us, when I first started to consider pursuing ordained ministry, I got very interested in the practice of discernment – listening for God’s call.
And, I think like a lot of us, I struggled with it. I wondered, how do I know that the call I’m hearing is from God and not just from my own will or my imagination?
I remember early on in my time at seminary I took a class on Discernment, hoping that this would help me figure it out, so I could cross discernment off my to-do list, settle matters once and for all.
Well, it was an excellent class, but discernment is never really settled – it’s always a lifelong process.
But, I have become sure about two principles of discernment.
First, we know from the Bible, and from history, and from our own experience that God seems to delight in calling some of the seemingly least likely people to some very big jobs.
We heard that dynamic loud and clear in today’s first lesson. After hearing God’s call, the soon-to-be-prophet Jeremiah protests that, I’m sorry but there must be some mistake, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
But, God knows what God is doing, just like God knew what God was doing when God chose a poor public speaker to lead the Israelites from slavery to freedom, just like when God chose a shepherd boy to become Israel’s greatest king, and just like when God chose a poor young peasant woman to carry the Son of God into the world.
So, Carrie, Katherine, and Lorna, if right about now you’re feeling a little unlikely – or if this whole event feels a little unlikely – well, I’d say that’s a good sign, and you’re in very good company.
But, there’s something else about God’s call: it tends to be inconvenient.
God’s inconvenient call.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that if God’s call seems to be really convenient – really matches up with what you feel like doing – then it’s probably not a genuine call.
No, the God of surprises is always calling us out of comfort, always calling us to step out into the uncertain and the unknown, inviting us to trust that God will be with us, just as God was with Jeremiah during his many troubles.
God’s inconvenient call.
We see God’s inconvenient call throughout the gospels, as Jesus gathers his disciples.
The fisherman brothers James and John are called away from their boats and nets, called away from their livelihood, from probably the only work they had ever known, called away from their father who watched his sons, his future, walk off in a wildly unexpected direction.
God’s inconvenient call.
And, although inconvenience doesn't quite capture it, think of Mary Magdalene in the garden on the first Easter morning, exhausted from horror and grief, and now stunned by the unexpected best news of all time. Probably all she wanted to do was to sit for a bit, to cry, to hear more words from the Risen Lord, to try to make sense of what made no sense, but instead she is immediately called to be the apostle to the apostles, which sure sounds great to us, but she must have known that nobody would take her word for it.
God’s inconvenient call.
And, in today’s gospel lesson, Jesus promises even more inconvenient calls, warning that the master isn’t going to return at a civilized hour that fits our schedule, not going to return during regular business hours, but in the middle of the night or just before daybreak, when we’re bone tired and just want a few more minutes of sleep.
God’s inconvenient call.
From my own experience, I can tell you that it’s when I’ve been inconvenienced – when I’ve finally managed to block out some time to write my sermon and then I open my laptop, ready to begin – and then the phone rings – it’s then, in that moment of inconvenience, that I’ve often encountered God at work in my ministry.
God’s inconvenient call.
Since Lorna has done her field education in my parish, I’ve had the privilege and joy of getting to know her. But, I’ve had to ask some of my colleagues about you, Carrie and Katherine.
And, what I’ve learned is no surprise: all three of you are deeply faithful, compassionate, creative, hardworking, and persistent.
You really have already been gifts to the Church.
And, I have been totally unsurprised to learn that your calls have often been inconvenient – that this was not necessarily the way your foresaw your life unfolding – that your journeys have taken unexpected, sometimes unwelcome, twists and turns that have required you to be patient, that have called for some real faith and sacrifices on your part.
I don’t know how you feel about all of that, but I think this is all very good news, for you and for us.
When I was ordained a deacon – right over there - fourteen years ago, wise and well-meaning leaders of the Church had already been talking for years about how we could no longer do business as usual and that we needed to take the Church back out into the world.
But, while sometimes we did do business a little differently and every now and then we took the Church out into the world, for the most part not too much changed.
Let’s face it, with our beautiful buildings and lovely traditions, it is especially easy for us Episcopalians to get very comfortable.
I mean, if you’ve been around the church for any time, you’ve no doubt heard some of the many jokes that end with the punch line, “Because we’ve always done it this way.”
And then the pandemic struck.
Like Julian of Norwich, who we honor today, we have been living with plague, trying to remain faithful when so much that we counted on and took for granted seems so insecure.
Of course, it’s been a time of deep fear and heartbreaking sorrow.
And, for us in the Church it has also been really inconvenient.
But, the God of surprises never misses an opportunity.
So, suddenly, business as usual was no longer an option.
Suddenly, we really did have to take the Church out into the world, or at least onto Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube
Suddenly, much of the injustice and suffering that many of us usually dismissed and ignored has been made plain for all with eyes to see and ears to hear.
My sisters, this is the Church and the world that God has inconveniently called you to serve in a new way.
And as we begin to come out of this terrible plague, no one knows what the future will bring. We don’t know what the Church will look like, though I’m sure – as Bishop Hughes has repeatedly warned us - there will be a push to somehow try to go back to the way things were before.
So, here’s my hope and my challenge for you:
Answer God’s inconvenient call by continuing to inconvenience us.
Let God use you to inconvenience us.
Yes, as deacons part of your job will be “waiting tables,” but don’t forget your call to “serve all people, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely.”
As deacons, inconvenience us by pointing to the suffering all around us, challenging us to love and to help, rousing us from our comfort and complacency.
As deacons, inconvenience us by calling us out when we shrug and say, “But we’ve always done it this way.”
And, God willing and the people consenting, when you are priests, keep that diaconal spirit of inconvenience alive in your priesthood, alive in your heart, always.
So, today we give thanks to the God of surprises for so much – especially for Carrie, Katherine, and Lorna.
And, we give thanks for God’s inconvenient call – the call that always invites us out of comfort, inviting us to step out into the uncertain and the unknown, inviting us to trust that God will be with us, no matter what.
Thanks be to God for the inconvenient call to new life.
Amen.
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