For the past few weeks, the theme of our lessons has been the beginning of Jesus ministry and the calling of the first disciples.
Today’s lessons go a bit beyond that and are about God’s authority. About God’s claim on our lives. And the message is simple. We’ve already been called. But now, God speaks and we are called to respond. We’re called to respond to God’s word. To do and to act.
In our first lesson, as the Jewish people prepare to leave Babylon and head home after their exile, God’s word reminds them that there will be prophets to constantly remind them what God wants. God will speak through the prophets and the people will be accountable. And the fullness of that prophecy comes when Jesus stands at the very beginning of Mark’s Gospel today and claims authority over all things.
This is the very story of our salvation history. Genesis One tells us, creation came into being, because of God’s word. Amos and Micah tell us the faithful will struggle for the poor, the orphaned and the alone, again because of God’s word, because of God’s authority. Isaiah and Hosea tell us that we are called into servant community, bound by faithfulness, because we’re told to by God.
And in the act that forever changes us and the world, we are marked in our baptisms with the cross of the servant ministry of Jesus Christ and we are given a hope, a gift of life that is not just for today, but is beyond description. It is for all time.
And that is why these are good lessons for us today, as we gather for our Annual Meeting. It is a day to reminded about our mutual ministry. We are a changed people.