Bill’s Musings for the Day

Hi,
Welcome to my new Blog site. I am new to this game, but will work to give you vital information about Wilson Memorial Presbyterian Church and discussions on issues of faith, justice, and peace. I hope you will come back and visit my blog on a regular basis. I have committed to posting at least twice a week with musings and thoughts that are timely and challenging.
For the last several weeks we have been hearing stories about being called by God and how we respond to that call.
Calls are difficult to describe because each call is different. Some may hear a voice calling them to take a stand on an issue. Others may have a vision of God’s presence that changes the way they see the world and their role in it. Some hear God speak through the word of scripture and follow.
In the texts for this coming Sunday we hear once again the call of God being given to individuals. Isaiah has an awe inspiring encounter with the divine presence in the temple and is commissioned to speak judgment on the people of Israel. In the gospel, Luke gives us a picture of Jesus calling Simon, Andrew, James and John. Each of the individuals called speak of their inadequacy to be in the presence of God and to do what God has asked. But as with all calls, God is relentless. We may make excuses, but in the end God wins.
We love to make excuses when it comes to doing what God wants us to do. We feel we don’t have the skills or the knowledge. We wonder why someone else can’t do it. We say we don’t have the time or the means to do what God asks. But God’s word is a dynamic force that stands in opposition to our whining and excuses, the inertia and the status quo of our lives, our culture, our politics. It is God who ultimately calls us to use all our gifts in the service of the common good. Neither our achievement nor our confidence qualifies us to answer God’s call. But God still calls and it is God who prepares us to live out the vocation to which we have been called. We may feel inadequate, but God is always with us refining and using our interests and abilities.
Ultimately our faith is evidenced by what we do and what we say. It is not in the clothes we wear or the facade we put on when we interact with others. It is in how we treat one another. We are asked to see in every person the image of God, to see them as a member of God’s own family, our family. We are called to treat them with respect and with dignity. We are called, through our various gifts, to work for justice and to confront evil in all its myriad forms. We are called to instill hope and love to all of God’s children and to love God with our whole heart soul and mind.
Take time today and listen for the call of God, it may be that all God is asking you to do is to love, to pray, to serve, to listen, or maybe to write a letter, hold a hand, or cry with a sister or brother who is hurting, lost, alone. As followers of the Christ, we are to as St. Francis of Assisi, said “Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words.”
Are you ready to answer the call?

Pastor Bill