Second Sunday of Easter 2009 Sermon
Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 02:01PM Verse: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." (John 20:21)
Preacher: The Rev. Dirk C. Reinken
An exploration of the meaning of Christian vocation. Vocation comes from the Latin vocare, which means to be called out. Christian vocation is God's call to each of us to go forth as servants of the Gospel, as ministers.
We are each gifted by the Spirit to participate in Christ's ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation means, in its broadest sense, the building up of community - breaking down barriers, overcoming divisions, drawing together.
In discerning our vocation, Frederick Buechner's words describe it well: "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." This Easter season, framed as it is by the giving of the Holy Spirit on Easter Day in John's Gospel, and on the 50th Day (Pentecost) according to St. Luke, is a time for us discern our vocation, how God has gifted us in baptism, and called us to use that gift in service to the ministry of reconciliation in the world.