THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY 2002

Fr. Bill Wipfler preached this sermon on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, January 20, 2002.

I know you have all had this experience. The phone rings! Until comparatively recently I would rush to answer it, wondering who it might be. The voice of a member of my family or of a friend, would immediately inspire enthusiasm even though I had no idea why they were calling. On the other hand, the voice of a telemarketer would be met with much less tolerance, even though I might ultimately respond to the offer being made.

When I purchased a new telephone a couple of years ago, I decided to go with "caller ID." But as time has passed I have become aware that many of my friends and many telemarketers now show up on my ID screen as "Private Caller" or "ID Not Available." So it is still hard to know which caller might have the more important message.

We have an inner phone that rings also, for deep inside each of us is a calling. We may respond to it in the work we do or in a hobby through which we express ourselves. It might be on hold, waiting to be fulfilled in the future. Or perhaps we have decided to abandon it as impossible. Some define it as vocation, others identity, and others self realization. Regardless of the label, we know it by the stirring and, sometimes, the passion it arouses within us. It is alive with its own distinctive melody.

That concept of inner calling, of vocation, appears in all of today's readings. They demonstrate the unique way we all have been sculpted by God as God's instruments. Isaiah[49:1-7] tells of how he was shaped by God, in the womb, and blessed with a special purpose and message. The Psalmist[40:1-12] writes of God's putting a new song in his mouth and opening his ears to hear. Paul[ICor.1:1-9] talks of being called by God to be an apostle and of the Corinthians call to be a holy people. And in today's gospel, John[1:29-42] speaks of John the Baptist's calling to identify and reveal Jesus to Israel, of the disciples' calling to follow Jesus, and of Jesus' own calling.

In each of us lies the capacity for fulfillment and self-realization when we honor our calling. For many of us, however, there is a repeated struggle to discern what the calling is, what are the unique gifts with which God has endowed us, what God calls us to do or to be so that our gifts may be shared. Sometimes the voice calling to us is loud and clear, and other times it is faint and garbled, like those moments when we pass through a dead zone while using a cell phone.

If we struggle to hear! struggle to accept! struggle to follow! we will find ourselves on the path that enriches our humanity and our spirituality. It is the path to discernment.

First: Hearing the Call
Our inner phone rings! The question is whether we can hear it over the other sounds in our life?

What are the expectations that were put upon you by others, almost from the time you were born, as to who or what you would become and what you would do with your life? Or, what were the limitations that were assumed about your life's path because of your socio-economic, or racial, or cultural or sexual status?

Or is your inner call at great odds with the outer one? You may have heard that call and decided that the time isn't right to put it into action. The job you have is too secure. Perhaps the call should be put on hold until the kids grow up, or the mortgage is paid, or you have retired. Or perhaps you have hung up so many times that you no longer hear the call.

It may be time to screw up your courage, quiet your inner space, struggle to hear, and recognize the call is for you.

Second: Accepting the Call
Once you hear that inner call there is an instinct of recognition. The innermost place in your soul, that sanctuary that is sculpted in the image of God, is stirred. You will recognize that God has spoken to you there before. It arouses a yearning to get started.

The hardest part is to accept the "nowness" of the call. It is not a reminder to be put on a memo for future reference, but a challenge to follow now. Most times there are obstacles. It is not easy to change whatever our life's vehicle is in midstream. You are successful or satisfied in what you are doing, how "right" would it be to change the life conditions of your family?

Accepting God's call can be tough, uncomfortable, easy to put off for a more convenient time. You may even need to grieve the loss of your self-satisfied self in order to begin any change.

Third: Following the Call
This is probably the most difficult part, because having heard and accepted your own calling, that awareness has to be converted to action. There is no insurance policy to guarantee how firmly you will land from your leap of faith. Doubt can be a constant companion. But once you start on the path you will never be the same.

As the song in Sound of Music tells us: you have to begin at the beginning. It requires you to take possession of each minute of your life and be responsible for how it is spent. Make changes little by little. No matter how long it takes to come to oneness with your own purpose in life, it must be a commitment between you and God. Each small action transforms you and makes the next step possible. And page by page you write your book of life.

Do you hear your phone ringing?