Loving God, come to each one of us today and speak to our hearts. Above all, help us to hear your message and your call, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today has been designated as It’s Your Call Sunday across the ELCIC. From the Scripture readings for today, you can probably see why. Simon and Andrew, James and John all heard the call of Jesus for them to come and follow him. They left their nets behind and did just that. They become disciples (or “learners”), and later on they serve as apostles and preachers and teachers. God’s call to service comes to them, and they answer an immediate “yes.”

Jonah, on the other hand, is a little more reluctant. He hears God’s call to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, and responds at first by running away. That’s when he runs into the storm at sea and gets thrown overboard and swallowed by a large fish. After being spewed out onto dry ground again, Jonah hears God’s call a second time. This time he goes and preaches God’s message of repentance to the people. The people believe God’s message, and repent, and experience God’s mercy.

Today we are reminded that God does call people to various types of ministry and to various vocations. We are asked especially today to think about calls to ordained and diaconal ministry and who among us might have the necessary gifts. I do not wish to minimize this focus in any way, but there is another topic that I feel the need to address this morning.

I’m just wondering, how many of you are feeling tired? How many of you feel like you’re running on empty and need to find some way to fill your tank again? How many of you are tired of doing what we might call “the Lord’s work”? If you’re not feeling worn out right now, how many of you have been there before?

I have to admit that I’ve been there lately. Renewal and re-fuelling are not always easy to come by! So... might we be able to help one another this morning? Might there be a message for those who are feeling worn down and who need their cup filled once again?

First off, from what you know of the Scriptures, can you think of any people who got totally worn down and frazzled? There are two people who come to mind for me: Moses and Elijah. In Moses’ case, there seem to be many times when he gets totally exasperated by the people of Israel. Moses has been called by God to be their leader – reluctantly, at that! – and the burdens of leadership often wear him right down. And so, in Moses’ case, what was the solution? How did he cope when he got worn down?

There are two coping strategies that are mentioned in Exodus. First of all, Moses gets other people to help him. Whether it is physically holding his arms up for him (Ex. 17) or leading and judging smaller groups of people (Ex. 18), Moses needs other people to help him. If he continues to do things on his own, he will not be able to continue. And so, for those of us who are worn down, what is it that is draining us, and are there other people who can help? Are there people who can support us, and take some of the burden off of us?

The second coping strategy that is mentioned for Moses involves regularly going out to the tent of meeting (Ex. 33). This was the “temporary temple” – at that time, a tent. It was far outside of the camp, and was the place to go to seek God. And so, Moses would go to the tent of meeting and spend time talking and listening to God.

For us, where is our tent of meeting? Do any of you have places that you go in order to talk and listen to God? (Church, “prayer closet,” woods, etc.) We need this time more than ever when there are lots of demands on us and we have too much to do. So: people to help and support us, and going to the tent of meeting. Now, how about Elijah? How did he cope?

As it turns out, in Elijah’s case he got totally burnt out and ran away into the wilderness (1 Ki. 19). We might say that he went on a retreat – and a silent retreat, at that! There are no other people around – only angels, and God. Elijah sleeps, he is fed by angels, and he walks by himself to Mount Horeb, where he meets God. It is in the silence on the mountain that God’s presence is made known to Elijah. Only after this whole experience is Elijah ready to return and continue in his calling as God’s prophet.

Now, certainly not everybody is free to leave everything behind for a while in order to be renewed. Yet, sometimes it becomes necessary. For those who are able, there are silent retreats with spiritual directors. There are also non-silent retreats with other people. For some, these are ways to seek God’s presence and to be renewed. For others, a place that becomes your tent of meeting is far more practical.

One more piece of wisdom from the Old Testament that cannot be ignored is the need for a sabbath rest. The sabbath was to be a day of rest for all – young and old, rich and poor, human and animal. It was to be a day that is different from all others, when business ceases, and all people are free to worship and to be renewed. It was instituted in God’s wisdom because all people need a sabbath rest. We are not built to keep going 24/7. We all need a break.

And so, another mini-survey. How many of you actually take a sabbath day each week? How about a sabbath year every seven years? That is part of the Old Testament wisdom, too (Lev. 25). Every seventh year, the land would rest, and they were to eat only whatever grew all by itself. Hmm. Have you ever noticed that every seventh year, people are supposed to take a break from church council? I’ll bet there’s a reason for that!

And so, taking a sabbath is important – regardless of which day ends up being your sabbath. For me, my sabbath is on Monday, and I really feel it when that day gets taken away. So then the challenge is to find another day that week. I know that many of you face similar challenges. The other things that we’ve learned so far are that sometimes a retreat is necessary, sometimes other people need to help us, and we all need a place to go and meet God on a regular basis in order to be renewed.

As you may have noticed, all of the examples that we’ve looked at so far have been from the Old Testament. Can any of you think of somebody from the New Testament that got tired and worn down? (Maybe Jesus and his disciples -- occasional retreats needed) After Jesus’ death and resurrection, we really don’t hear about anybody getting worn down. Any idea why?

For the most part, we are talking about a relatively short time frame. Those who believe in Jesus and continue his work go all out for a limited period of time with lots of support from one another and daily worship together and the power of the Holy Spirit. They live with the expectation of either imminent death or the return of Jesus. Sustaining their energy over the long term simply isn’t an issue in the New Testament. However, in the Old Testament, people serve God for many, many years. Thus, people were more likely to get worn down.

It seems as though there are actually two messages today, but perhaps that’s okay. There is the call to discipleship and ministry and service which is directed at some point to all of God’s people. There may be some here today who need to hear that call and take it seriously. At the same time, there is need for renewal and re-fuelling in the midst of our lives as disciples, and undoubtedly there are some here today who need to take that message seriously. Either way, God is calling us today to come, and to listen, and to be renewed. Amen.

Epiphany 3(B)     Mark 1:14-20
January 25, 2009     Jonah 3:1-5, 10
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2009 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved