Ordinary Time – The Work of Christmas

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

 To heal the broken,

 To feed the hungry,

 To release the prisoner,

 To rebuild the nations,

 To bring peace among others,

 To make music in the heart.

 Howard Thurman

Welcome to ordinary time!  Ordinary time is where the work of Christmas begins.

It is where the rubber meets the road.

What we celebrate in the big feasts of Christmas and Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord we are called to live in ordinary time.

The difference that Jesus makes by being born – God with us – we live out in Ordinary Time.

Our readings today ask a very important question.  What are you looking for?

Everyone gives their life for what they believe in.  Do you agree? 

Some people -- like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- believe in important things –– civil rights, the equality of all people, making judgments by the content of one’s character rather than the color of one’s skin – and he gave his life for that. 

Some people believe in far less important things – like physical pleasure, money, houses, cars, success, accumulating things – and they give their life for that.  But none of those physical things lasts beyond this life.  Reminds me of the line from a country song, “…ain’t never seen a hearse with a trailer hitch!” 

Some people believe in loving God and loving others.  They spend their time loving their family and friends and the people that God has placed in their lives and they give their lives for them. 

All of us have this one life to live.  And when it is over, we will have given our life for what we believe in.  So, what do we believe in?  That’s a question worth pondering.

Jesus asked that question of the two disciples who were following him.  What are you looking for?  And they responded, “Teacher, where are you staying?”  Did that strike you as kind of a strange response?  It did to me and so I dug into it a little bit.  In Jesus time, disciples learned from the Master by spending time with him – living with him. The two disciples stayed with Jesus – because it was already late in the day – 4:00 – and in the morning, Andrew couldn’t wait to find his big brother and give him the news.  “We have found the Messiah.”  Wow! What a night it must have been for Andrew and the other disciple (probably John) with Jesus!   

Jesus asks us that same question.  What are you looking for? That is the ultimate vocation question – and every single one of us has a vocation. By our baptism, we are called to follow Jesus.  We go through the waters of baptism – Reminded of a Catholic church in Paintsville, KY – bought from the Baptists – had a huge baptismal font in the back of the sanctuary – steps going down and coming back up – those to be baptized walked down the steps – under the water and came up the other side. – When we go through the waters of Baptism, we die to selfishness and sin.  We die to all that is evil, and immoral, and wrong.  We come out of the water to all that is pure and good and right. 

Then, God calls us to a life that is uniquely ours.  He gave us a specific set of talents and skills like no one else.  He gave us a disposition and qualities never seen in this exact combination before – and will never be seen again.  And then he calls us to use our talents, skills, disposition and qualities to live a life of love – a life for others.

The readings today are God’s ringtone.  He is calling us. He wants us to answer that call with our whole being.  (In a few weeks, we are going to be baptizing a little baby - Kai- only 10 weeks old. I want to tell Kai, little buddy, but God is calling you. He won’t understand it now, but with is parents and Godparents to help him, he will hear God’s call. They will be like the prophet Eli in the first reading and show him how to listen to God’s call). Isn’t it great in that first reading how God called Samuel four times – he would have called more, but Samuel picked up on the fourth ring.  You see, I believe that God is going to continue to call us – again and again until we pick up or until our life is over.

There is a shortage of priests and religious in our culture today not because God has stopped calling, but because we have, as a culture, stopped listening.  As a culture, we are failing to respond to that primary vocation – the call of our baptism.

We need to say, like Samuel, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” 

What is it that God has put before me today? 

Who has God put in my life?

What does God what me to do? 

If more of us were asking those questions, some of us, especially some of our young people, would experience a call to make the religious dimension of our life so uniquely important that no other life commitment would be possible. There would be a culture of vocation. They would be drawn to a consecrated life like Mother Mary Catherine– or a life in the ministerial priesthood – like Fr. Tom – or a call to the Diaconate – Not everyone is called to these vocations – but some are! 

The call from our Baptism is a call to follow Jesus.  Those of us who have taken the vows of marriage – need to live those vows deeper and with more fidelity and greater self-giving love every day of our lives.  Our families need to be places where our kids see the love of Jesus Christ in us.  For those who are single or widowed, or divorced and single again, you, too, are called by your Baptism to live a life glorifies God – that others may see the good that you do and give glory to God. 

And all of us, together, collectively, by our Baptism, are brought together as the Body of Christ, That’s why we come here each week.  We have not bought into the myth that being spiritual has replaced being religious – the myth that each person figures out their own relationship with Jesus without any connection to his Church – his body!  We need our community of faith and we need Jesus in the Eucharist. 

Jesus said: What are you looking for?

Today we respond: Where are you in our world today?  Where are you in my life?

Jesus said: Come and see?

Come and see.  Enter into that personal relationship with Jesus.  But don’t stop there – enter into a communal relationship with his Body –the Church.

Come and see – like Andrew -- and that will change everything.

We, too will run back to those we love and exclaim – “We have found the Messiah!”

Deacon Tony