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Sometime between printing
the bulletin and today, I changed the sermon title from "The
Unqualified Twelve" to “Step Right Up.”
“Step Right Up” is a song written and performed by Tom Waits;
it is an irreverent look at the promises that salespeople make, the deals
they offer, the tactic of sales. I first heard this song just a few weeks
back and I thought it was hilarious. Some of the lyrics are likely not
suitable for church, but here is a selection:
Step right up, step right up, step right up,
Everyone's a winner, bargains galore
We got a year-end clearance, we got a white sale
And a smoke-damaged furniture, you can drive it away today
Act now, act now, and receive as our gift, our gift to you
They come in all colors, one size fits all
No muss, no fuss, no spills, you're tired of kitchen drudgery
Everything must go, going out of business, going out of business
Going out of business sale
Fifty percent off original retail price, skip the middle man
Don't settle for less
You can step right up, step right up
That's right, it filets, it chops, it dices, slices,
Never stops, lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn
And it mows your lawn and it picks up the kids from school
It gets rid of unwanted facial hair, it gets rid of embarrassing age spots,
It delivers a pizza, it finds that slipper that's been at large
under the chaise lounge for several weeks
And it plays a mean Rhythm Master,
It makes excuses for unwanted lipstick on your collar
And it's only a dollar, step right up, it's only a dollar, step right up
'Cause it forges your signature
If not completely satisfied, mail back unused portion of product
For complete refund of price of purchase
Step right up
Please allow thirty days for delivery, don't be fooled by cheap imitations
You can live in it, live in it, laugh in it, love in it
Swim in it, sleep in it,
Live in it, swim in it, laugh in it, love in it
It gets rid of your gambling debts, it quits smoking
It's a friend, and it's a companion,
And it's the only product you will ever need
Follow these easy assembly instructions it never needs ironing
Well it takes weights off hips, bust, thighs, chin, midriff,
Gives you dandruff, and it finds you a job, it is a job
It's a redeemable coupon, no obligation, no salesman will visit your home
Receive our free brochure, free brochure
Read the easy-to-follow assembly instructions, batteries not included
Send before midnight tomorrow, terms available,
Step right up, step right up, step right up
You got it buddy: the large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
Step right up, you can step right up, you can step right up
C'mon step right up
When Jesus said, “Follow me”, to the fishermen and the tax collector and the
political malcontent, and the various others, who eventually were named as
the Twelve Apostles, Jesus was not making a sales pitch! No promises were
offered, no cut rate deal, no easy terms! When Jesus spoke there was a very
simple and clear call to a new way of life, a new way of living which the
disciples were expected to adopt. It was quite simple really;
they were to be close with Jesus and they were to
go out in Jesus’ name to
share Jesus’ message.
My friends, this is still the call that Jesus offers. To this day, the call
to be disciples is no sales pitch, to which we can decide if we will respond
when the terms are to our liking. The call of Jesus to us is a commission we
receive from our Lord, a commission to live as disciple, followers,
learners, servants of Jesus, in God’s world.
This is the central feature and focus of this brief passage in
Mark 3. Jesus
is the one who calls, invites, welcomes and sends this hopelessly
under-qualified, entirely never-qualified bunch to continue and spread His
own ministry! The apostles are those who will respond to this call from the
Lord. To respond to the call of Jesus back then, to respond to the call of
Jesus today, means that we need to being willing to do two things:
to hear the word of God and to do the word of God.
To accept and answer the call of Jesus on our lives requires that we make a
move. That we move from where we are, to be with Jesus and so we can go out
into the world on behalf of Jesus.
To be with Jesus, to truly be with Jesus, inevitably means that we will
discover that we will be compelled to share the love of God that we
experience in Jesus with others.
To go and share the love of Jesus with others in words and deeds, in
patience, as we bear the burdens of others, as we befriend the outcasts, as
we eat with the despised, as we drive out demons, as we welcome strangers,
will inevitably mean that we will seek to be with Jesus all over again,
returning to the One who sent us so we can begin to make sense of what we
have seen and heard and done and left undone. We need to be with Jesus again
to be refreshed and renewed and corrected and changed, so that we can
continue the cycle all over again!
As disciples of Jesus, we are commissioned to
mirror the mission of Jesus in
our words and in our actions.
As disciples, in our words, thoughts and actions, we are to mirror the words
and works of Jesus. We are not called to imitate Jesus as a child might
imitate a parent – without sharing the depth and extent of the parent’s
genuine feelings, thoughts or emotions. Nor are we called to obey Jesus
merely in the manner of soldiers obeying a direct order from our superior.
Rather, we are to mirror the words and works of Jesus, as we offer our whole
lives, body and soul, heart and mind, in response to Jesus’ call on our
lives.
To mirror the activity of
Jesus means to respond to Jesus’ words and actions by acting and speaking
like Jesus.
To mirror the activity of
Jesus is to amplify who Jesus is – not that we can amplify in the sense of
improve upon the perfection of Jesus but we amplify Jesus as we express who
Jesus is in the world in which we live. In this way we underline that Jesus
is not past and forgotten, that Jesus is not just for one place and time but
that Jesus is for all, for all time, for every place. Just as before the
days of radio and telegraph, messages could be flashed by mirror from
watchtower to watchtower, covering great distances, so our actions can serve
to spread and enlarge the ministry of Jesus across time and space.
To mirror the activity of
Jesus means that we reflect in our lives what we can never create for
ourselves. Just as a mirror does not create images, but only passes along
what is reflected; just as a mirror has no power of its own to illumine but
functions on borrowed light, so we are called to share not our sense of
self-importance but to let the life of Jesus be seen in our lives as we
mirror the life and love of Jesus that all can come to see and experience
Jesus for themselves.
To mirror Jesus is to let
Jesus set the way things are to be, and then to follow the lead Jesus gives
us!
To mirror Jesus, means that
we are called to attack boldly any and all structures that promote death or
disease or evil - to walk away from violence, to desist from any and all
forms of racism, to stand back from unbridled consumerism. And at the same
time that we work positively for change and all the positive values of human
fulfillment, for things like accessible healthcare and meaningful education
for all God's children.
This Jesus who calls us,
this Jesus whom we name Lord and Savior is the
great disrupter of present
arrangements!
Jesus is the great revolutionary! Jesus is not about tame
predictability, stability, and caution – Jesus, the Jesus who calls us to
lives of faithful discipleship is all about acceptance and attitude, bearing
and beginnings, change and challenge, dedication and devotion, energy and
engagement, faith and friendship, grace and generosity, humility and humor,
imagination and incarnation, joy and justice, kneeling and kindness, longing
and loving, and so on and so on all the way to the end of the alphabet….
The call of Jesus is both
individual and communal. This weekend has been a great demonstration of what
we can do as we work together in partnership and friendship as a church
family. The Kisi people of Liberia in West Africa have a saying: "When a man
steps into the center of the circle to dance and no one claps, he will soon
tire and sit down; but if everyone claps, he will dance all night." So it is
in the church, we need one another, we need one another’s encouragement and
support, so that we can all continue and extend the dance. Walking or
working alone will leave us drained, sad, empty, deflated, but look what
happens when this congregation comes together, with a common focus, a shared
objective, a united desire!
“Jesus went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they
came to him. And Jesus appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be
with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority
to cast out demons.” As believers, as servants, as disciples together this
remains our calling, this is who we are,
this is what our Savior asks and expects of all of us. Amen. |
