Bishop’s Lent Sermonette
- Paulina Hławiczka-Trotman
- Mar 6, 2024
- 4 min read
Bishop’s Lent Sermonette
Bishop Paulina Hlawiczka-Trotman, Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain
“1 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. Thenext day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over toPhoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo… 7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied… 15 After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples.”
What is your call?I am asking you! Yes, you, who is reading this reflection at this very moment.
A call is unique for every person, it is not only reserved for Clergy. Most of our callings are connected with travelling, journeys, long tiring walking paths, transferring to other places and serving different groups of people. It brings joys and disappointments, good and bad moments.
The Bible is full of call stories, God called Noah to build an ark. God called Abraham and Sarah, when they were old, to leave their home and go on a journey to found a nation. God called the boy Samuel out of a deep sleep. God called Esther, telling her she was made “for a moment like this” (Esther 4:14). God called Jonah, who turned out to be a reluctant prophet, even after spending a few days in the belly of a fish. God called Mary, a teenage girl, to give birth to the Saviour, Jesus Christ. God called Peter to be a rock upon which a church could be built. God called Paul on the road to Damascus and set him on a path that would transform the world.
A call is always personal and tailored to fit a person’s soul. It builds on one’s spiritual gifts; it usually feels urgent and persistent. Ask our pastors about their callings, and you will hear the most incredible stories, each one a great adventure of God’s making! A call is a response to a summons. It is a kind of surrendering. It is a challenge and a pleasure at the same time. Author C. S. Lewis wrote, “To follow the vocation does not mean happiness, but once it has been heard, there is no happiness for those who do not follow.”
The reading from Acts presents the story of movements (lots of travelling), and the story of people, all sorts of people outside of the circle of the 12 disciples, who have been called to God’s ministry. How far did they needed to travel, how uncomfortable some of the places must have been, accommodation and hospitality was not always to the best of standards, as it was not the priority of the call.
I want you to make a timeline of your journeys, make a film of your steps since you have been called. If this is difficult, as some of us may not remember the very beginning, start from a significant moment on your timeline in the God’s vineyard. Or perhaps you are still waiting for your call? Continue in prayer and it will be given to you. But it may not come the way you imagine it. God often surprises us with a new plan rather than fulfilling ours. Allow yourself to be surprised.
I want you to place a few important events on your timeline with God, good ones, great ones, and perhaps those which you don’t remember so fondly. Some hardships, when you felt really lonely, misunderstood, or abandoned. Do it to be able to name it and to own it.
It is not uncommon for people to resist their call. Moses did, quite a few of our pastors did too, including myself; most people do. And the most known excuse is, “I don’t have the resources, the ability, the time, or the courage to follow a calling.” But what’s most important to remember here is that if God calls, God equips, and God provides.
In all this, God calls us to be fully alive, following a thought of St Irenaeus – to take joy and happiness coming your way, to live life to the fullness, and in that living, to grow in faith, serve the people, and transform the world.
‘The Call’
Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life; Such a Way as gives us breath,Such a Truth as ends all strife, Such a Life as killeth death.
Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength; Such a Light as shows a Feast, Such a Feast as mends in length, Such a Strength as makes his guest.
Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart; Such a Joy as none can move,Such a Love as none can part, Such a Heart as joys in love.
(This is one of the poems in George Herbert’s ‘The Temple’, first published in 1633)
If you want to discuss your calling, please speak to one of our Pastors or Bishop Paulina
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