Called to be new people

There are lots of things in our readings today and perhaps one of the important themes is the idea of being invited to ‘come and see’. It’s what John the Baptist says in a way to some of his followers to whom he is pointing out Jesus. It’s what Jesus himself says to his new followers and it’s also what Andrew says to his brother, Simon…

It reminds us of the importance of inviting people – of the fact that nothing can beat a personal invitation for doing something whether it be inviting people to a social event or out on a date or to join a club… or of course, to take a closer look at Jesus…

And today I want to think primarily about the idea of being called and what we are called to be and the Collect today offers a hint to start – ‘Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new; transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory…’

In our relationship with God we are called to be new people, transformed by the riches of God’s grace. And then, when we are starting to be new people, starting to grow in our faith, people are to see in us something of the glory of God…

At its strongest the church has always been fairly counter cultural – living and being a bit different from society, but, and perhaps it’s only a coincidence but I doubt it, as the church has tried to fit in more and more with the expectations of the society around us, we have struggled and numbers in many parts of the western church are in decline…

We shouldn’t despair about this though – in many parts of the world the Christian faith continues to grow rapidly and what we must do is to examine ourselves honestly and see what impact we are making as a church…

And as we do that we have to recognise that we are called to be new people, transformed by God, and through our words and actions revealing him and his love to others…

In the reading from Isaiah (49:1-7) there is reference to God calling someone before they were born – and that is something God is still doing. He calls each of us into a relationship with him.

He knows our every thought, every need, every deed and he loves us… This idea of being called before we were even born reminds us of how precious we are in God’s sight, how loved we are and of how we are created for a relationship with God…

Whilst maintaining a good deal of humility and a fair bit of dignity (!!) each one of us can walk tall because we are loved by and precious to the king of all kings, the creator of the universe, the saviour of the world – whatever title we may use for God, we must know we are loved by him…

And then we heard from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1:1-9).

He is writing to the church in Corinth which is in its very early stages and struggling to make sense of who they are and what they are there for, and they’re struggling with different thoughts and ideas coming in from outside this busy city…

Early on in Paul’s letter he, like Isaiah, also mentions being called as he writes that the church are called to be ‘saints together with every Christian’, and a little later he writes, ‘God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ…’

He is reminding the church that they are to be saints reflecting out into that city God’s love and doing so in fellowship with one another… One of God’s great gifts is the people that he puts around us to support us and encourage us, to guide us and to love us… Just as Paul wrote that to the Corinthians he writes it to us… We are called to be saints living and working in fellowship with others…

Many things in the world have changed in the last 2,000 years but God’s love remains unchanged and we, like the Corinthians, must focus our lives on God through our relationship with him and our relationship with others.

Called to be saints we are called to be transformed, called to be new people, called to share through our words and actions God’s love…

And so each of us is called by God who loves us, who wants us to be changed – not into some kind of Christian robot where we all look and act the same, not into some kind of permanently smiling clean cut perfect person, but into someone who is confident that we are loved by God just as we are…

And someone who knows the peace of God in our lives that can transform us so that when life is wonderful we know who to thank and praise and when life isn’t so good or we’re worried about something or someone, we know just where to turn…

So we are called to respond to the personal invitation God gives us to allow him to transform our lives to become the people he wants us to become… it’s a decision that is left on the shelf for so many people, even sometimes people who have been in churches for years but who are worried about what that step of really allowing God to be at the centre of our lives means…

Well he intends only good for us ! As the perfect father who loves his children he wants the best for us, he wants us to know the fullness of life Jesus came to bring and so we are called to respond…

And in our gospel reading (John 1:29-42) there is something about someone acting out their calling and others beginning on their journey of discovery of life with Jesus as they respond to the invitation to ‘come and see’…

John the Baptist was called to prepare the way for Jesus, to speak about repentance and implicitly about forgiveness as people responded to his message by seeking baptism… but he was also very clearly pointing people to Jesus – John had an incredible calling but he wasn’t the one for people to follow…

Our gospel reading describes how John points out Jesus and two of John’s followers decide to follow him straightaway. One of those was Andrew who responded to Jesus’ invitation to come and see and after spending time with Jesus went back and excitedly told his brother that he had found the Messiah, and he took his brother Simon to see Jesus who looked at him and said, ‘you are Simon, son of John. You are to be called Cephas (which is translated Peter)…’

And there began the response of Peter who played such a massive part in the early church. But that massive part wasn’t without it’s ups and downs – Peter, like all of us from time to time, made mistakes, some of them pretty big ones as well…

But this was the person that Jesus chose to be the rock upon which the church would be built… Often the people that God calls to certain roles are not the people we expect, but they are people that God knows he can use to share his love, people who are willing to be shaped and transformed…

Are we willing to be those people ? Because that is the thrust of our collect and readings today :

Firstly we are to recognise that we are called into a relationship with God, that we are precious to him and loved by him just as we are.

Secondly we are called to allow God to work in us and through us – to not just stay how we are but we are called to allow him to transform us by the riches of his grace so that we may more effectively reflect the image of his glory to others.

And finally, we are called to be the people offering invitations to others through our words, through our actions, through our whole lives – invitations to share in God’s wonderful kingdom (with us !), offering love, peace and hope….

Can we go to the front of our news sheets and pray out loud together the Collect we heard earlier :  “Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new:  transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.”