Answering the Summons

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to join Tori and co. for Mass at her parish. Oddly enough, that was my first Mass there - I had been to their summer fair, their flea markets, and basically every other event they had...except Mass (but I digress).

One of the hymns we sang was the fairly common tune "The Summons". What's that? You're not familiar with it? Yes you are. You probably just don't recognize it by that name - the word "summons" is only in the song once, buried in one of the later verses. It's one of those ubiquitous Breaking Bread gems that sounds pretty much exactly like half the book, so it's understandable if you don't recognize it. It's even more understandable if you don't actually pay attention to the words.

Don't worry, we'll soon change that.

Breaking Bread's Finest

Before we get started with the song, let's think about yesterday's Gospel and how we can tie them together. If you'll recall, yesterday we heard the story commonly called "Peter's Confession". Instead of copy-pasting, I'll just summarize. 

Jesus and company have just finished feeding the five thousand, and they're just chilling. Jesus asks Peter what people think of him, to which Peter tells him that some think he's a great prophet, others think he is Elijah (who was prophesied to return just before the Messiah came), and others think he is the resurrected John the Baptist. Jesus then asks Peter "Who do you say that I am?" To us, Peter's reply is pretty obvious: "You are the Messiah of God" We'll come back to this later. 

Our Gospel revolved around Jesus asking Peter a question. It's fitting, then, that we sing "The Summons" - a song full of questions. Here's the first verse: 

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?

Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?

Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known,

will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

That's what we're all being called to do. When Peter first followed Christ, he had no idea what it would entail. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was going to do. One thing was certain - he was never going to be the same again. Will we allow God to do the same? These questions are presented to us each and every day. What will our answer be?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?

Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?

Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?

Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

If the first verse was a summary of our mission, the second tells us the challenges that come with it, both external and internal. When we follow Christ, we leave everything behind. We live a life unlike anything most people can anticipate, and so we will attract people (and sometimes scare them away). Notice the way these trials are presented here: usually we see them as a series of "if/thens" - "If you follow me, then you will be persecuted" like an inevitable fact. But here, they're presented as a question. Will you? 

Will you suffer this for me? Will you give up this, or risk this, or endure this? We are presented with the cost of discipleship - a cost that, like any, is a free choice. What will our answer be?

As an aside, there's a lot more I have to say about the last line of that verse. Enough to warrant a separate post. So, this is me telling you I will write about that one later. If I remember. 

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?

Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?

Will you kiss the leper clean and do such as this unseen,

and admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

Alright, so we know what we're going to do, and we understand the risks that go with it. Now we get into the specifics of how. If you prefer, we can call them "the good, the bad and the ugly" - we must help the weak. The blind, the deaf, the lame. But, we also must love the worst of society - criminals and outlaws. Even further, we must love the sick. That one might be the hardest. Picture a leper, covered in sores and blisters. Every instinct you have would disgust you and tell you to stay far, far away. We are called to not only touch them, but "kiss them clean". Being a Christian isn't about helping just the people who are nice to us, or the people that are "popular" to help. Being a Christian means helping and loving everybody, with no exceptions - especially the poorest of the poor in our society. The downtrodden. The hopeless. No exceptions.

Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?

Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?

Will you use the faith you've found to reshape the world around,

through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

So what? So what if we help the poor and lame and lonely. What's in it for us? God will change us. When God calls our name, we will love the "'you' you hide" - the things about us we're afraid to show. Our weaknesses. Our failures. God doesn't just want us to love others...he wants us to love ourselves too. We are made in the image of a perfect God, and that makes us being worthy of love. Will you love the God in you?

We will change the world if we have faith. That's really what we're called to most of all. We are called to change the world one broken heart at a time. Where does it start? It starts with the person right next to you. It starts with the person within you. Changing the world isn't about being famous, or raising the most money...it's about touching people's lives every day. It's about loving the people you meet every day. It's about being a beacon of light each and every day. It's about being full of a love that pours out from you into every life you run across. God fills us with love - so much love that we can't contain it all. That love spills out from our open hearts into the lives of those around us. We are conduits of peace and love and hope and light that is so much greater than our own. 

We are fires in a darkened world. We are warmth in the winter. We are hope for the hopeless and we are love in a loveless world all because God is in us, and we are in God. God is the "sight and touch and sound in you" and we are in him too. 

We are the free, sent to free the rest. We are the light, sent to share it. 

Jesus asks us all today and every day, "Who do you say that I am." We answer that question with our actions...we answer that question and every question in that song every day of our lives. 

What will your answer be?