>>Called by the Lord. Called to be disciples of the Lord. That primary call began for all of us as we were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. To come and to follow in the life of Christ.

All of us have a vocation in life. The word vocation comes from the word, the latin ‘vocare’ which means “a call and a call to follow.”

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Martin Luther King’s holiday. A man who had a call and a mission to follow in the way of Jesus. To proclaim justice for all of God’s people. To lead by commitment and by example. A calling, a vocation to follow as a disciple of the Lord. All of us have a vocation in life. A calling to live our life as disciples of the Lord.

In the gospel today, John the Baptist recognizes the Christ, the anointed one. And he says to his own disciples, “You must leave me and go and follow him.”

I must decrease, he must increase. The humility to recognize what the call means to be a servant of the Lord.

In the gospel today, Jesus calls his disciples.

And they say, “Master, Jesus where do you live?”

And He says, “Come and see.” Come and see where I live. I’ll take you to my home. Home is really just an image in the gospel today.

As disciples of the Lord, where did Jesus take them? He took them into the lives of the poor and the rich, of those who were sick and those who were healthy, of those who were powerful and those who were powerless. He brought them and He showed all people. He showed his disciples how to live the compassionate mercy of God. How to bring hope and healing to others. That is the call of discipleship that we’re all asked to follow in.

“Come and see,” the Lord says- as He’s called each of us to follow in his way. He will take us to those same places that He took his disciples, into the lives of others. That we too might bring hope and healing to others. And as we do so in life, where He leads us, where He brings us is into the very heart of God. The very heart of love.

Look to Jesus, you find God’s love. Follow Jesus and you will enter into the heart of God which is love itself. Which we celebrate at this eucharist today.