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 Prophet...a spokesperson for a cause, group, or movement; a person who speaks for God, as though under divine guidance. Called...to be summoned for duty.

Called to be prophets: to be summoned for duty as spokespersons for God. Quite an awesome responsibility, isn't it. Is it even possible? What does it mean that we have been asked to fulfill this role that we have been called?

As I study the examples of both the Old Testament prophets as well as the New Testament apostles and of the Great Prophet, Jesus, I find it interesting to note some of what I will call lessons in calling.

I believe one of the understandings basic to calling is that we all are called. We are not all called to the same thing; we are not all called in the same way; we are not all called for the same reason. But we all are called. We are called in our diversity. We are called wherever we are. We are called in our own time and place. But we are all called.

Why are we called? How are we called?

Some of us are called because we have been open and searching for a long time. For others, the call catches them more off-guard. Some of us are called in a very dramatic way; most of us experience a more gradual sense of our calling over time. Some of us are like Samuel who, when we finally figure out who is calling, will say, "Speak to me, Lord, because I am listening." Others of us, when we hear the call, are more likely to react like Moses and make excuses - "I am too young. I am too old. I can't speak fluently. I don't have the right things to wear. I'm having a bad hair day." (Well, no, I guess Moses didn't say all of those things but don't such excuses sound familiar today?)

Some of us are called because we are bold, like an Isaiah, a Jeremiah, or an Amos. We are the ones who feel comfortable being radical, being in-your-face, who believe in openly challenging the system, who feel comfortable breaking with tradition and pushing the issues. We are the ones who feel comfortable going to Rome and nailing our beliefs to the Vatican door. God calls us and uses us. Others of us are called because we feel more comfortable working within the system like an Elisha, working in a quiet way to bring about change, feeling less comfortable being up-front or in-your face. We are the ones who bring about change through more of a process of education. We are the ones who feel more comfortable dealing with people on a one-to-one basis and slowly building relationships rather than dealing with whole groups. And God calls us and uses us.

Some of us are called because we have the gift of writing or of music or of organization. Others are called because we can cook, we can decorate, we can raise money or provide leadership in other ways. As gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered people, many of us are called because we have been among the marginalized and can share the message of love from personal experience. We each are called because we have something special, something extraordinary to share with the family of God.

Why are we not called?

None of us is called because we are perfect; none of us is called because we have all the answers or be- cause we are necessarily spiritual giants. We are not called because the message we need to give is popular nor are we called because giving it will be easy or make us popular. Give witness to the harsh messages of Amos, of Jonah, of Elijah, and of Jeremiah as well as to the persecution of the prophets, the apostles, of Jesus. The prophets in the Bible rarely enjoyed official status, but rather lived on the margins of society. Elijah and Elisha are both forced to hide from authorities from time to time because people did not like the truths they were called to proclaim. The same still holds true for today. But just as the messages of the prophets, the apostles, and of Christ were crucial for the world then, so our messages are crucial for the world today.

We are not called because being a prophet is a comfortable thing to do; we are not called because God wants us to stay in the same place in our lives.

Sometimes that may be a call to move politically, spiritually, vocationally or geographically. God not only uses the call to benefit God's kingdom; God also uses the call to get us out of our comfortable niches and to bring growth to our own lives. In some lives the transformation is slight; in some it is dramatic. But just as Christ came as a result of Ruth answering her call and going to a new land, so God can also make dramatic things happen when we answer our call.

We cannot avoid our calling; God will not take "No" for an answer. Give witness again to God's pursuing of Jonah or the extent to which God transformed Paul. God has heard the excuses and is willing and able to break down any resistance that we want to offer to our call.

So to what are we called?

We are called to be imitators of Christ. Even more, we are called to be Christ to the world, to give witness to the love and power of each of our lived experiences in Christ. We are called to give witness to the love between all people, whether that be members of the opposite genders or the same gender. We are called to give witness to the compassion of the Christ who stoops to soothe the sores of the leper, the lesions of the individual with AIDS or the woman suffering from breast cancer.

We are called to be the friend to that individual who is first coming out, who is afraid to walk through the doors of a church or a meeting space to her first Dignity meeting. We are called to give witness to the inclusivity of the body of Christ, whether lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or straight. And just as Christ minced no words in dealing with the Pharisees or in throwing the money changers from the temple, we too are called to challenge the Church when it is attempts to keep anyone from full participation in the body of Christ. We have as much right to claim the role of both prophet and priest as any man or woman who ever put on clerical robes. We are called to bring society up short when it allows prejudice and discrimination to go unchecked in any form. The old phrase, "None of us is free until all of us are free" rings as true today as it always has.

If we are to be those prophets, it is also absolutely necessary that we model what we are professing, what we are asking other people to do and be. It is incumbent upon us that we not lose sight of our calling as prophets to each other as well. How can we ask the church to be inclusive when we are not willing to be so? How can we ask society to care if we are only willing to care for those who are young, who are beautiful, who are mainstream lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered? Ageism, sexism, transgenderism, or any other kind of discrimination has no place in our family if we are to truly be that prophetic family of God.

I think it is also significant that, when God calls, God calls each of us by name, "I have called you by name and you are mine." God does not issue a cattle call where there is a mass roundup and some of us are sent one place and some sent another regardless of our individual gifts and abilities. God calls each of us for a reason and gives us a particular job to do based on our individual gifts. And once we accept the call, God is also present to support us, to give us the tools to answer that call. "I will never leave you." "You are mine."

For many years, I think we in Dignity have avoided our call, or at least not believed it. One of the things that I have come to clearly recognize during my time on the Board is that, although many of our peers across the country see the members of Dignity as prophets, we haven't yet bought into our calling our- selves. Like Moses, we have given excuses - we don't have enough money, we're too busy, we're just a small organization, we only operate with volunteers, we can't all agree on what our mission should be. While being realistic about our resources, our time, and our money, I also believe it is time for us to claim our call to prophethood, to make our vision reach beyond what we think is possible, to claim what God has told us is possible. It's time for us to claim God's vision for Dignity, to not be limited by what we see. Much of what the prophets were able to accomplish in God's name was done because they allowed them- selves to reach beyond their own limits, to be used by God in ways that many of them never thought possible within their own limited vision. They stopped making excuses and were willing to say, "Here I am, God, use me." Many of the recommendations of the Basile Ryan report about which you have heard quite a bit during the last year is not asking us to do anything radical or new; rather it is asking us to act like the prophets that we already are. Are we ready to be used? Are we ready to be called?

We are all called to be prophets...in our own time, in our own place. We are all called to be prophets wherever we are geographically, politically, spiritually, vocationally, in our own coming out process. There will always be someone else who is in that same place, who needs each of us right where we are at that particular moment. God calls us because God sees individuals who are right for God's purposes.

In closing, let me share a short story that I think illustrates the point I am trying to make about each of us having a prophetic calling. It was taken from a Catholic church bulletin and is written from the point of view of the pastor's parakeet. Some of you may be at a disadvantage in understanding this piece since there are a number of sports references but do the best you can or ask your favorite lesbian.

"Being a run-of-the-mill parakeet has never been my life's ambition. I thought for a long time I was des- tined for greater things. One of the charms of a pet is mimicking people, so I thought I could make it big by following the paths of people who made it big. I immediately limited the field to politics, religion, sports, and sex.

For years, people have looked upon birds as being a bit seedy, so, what the heck, I threw my head feathers into the political arena. What a mistake! I was immediately plucked of my unique parakeetness. I had to choose between the right wing and the left wing, which is really sad considering I need both to fly. De- spite being a parakeet, some insisted on classifying me as either a hawk or a dove. It didn't take me long to realize that politics didn't need me and I didn't need politics. There were already too many bird-brains in the field already. I moved on to religion.

The only reason I consented to live in the rectory was in hopes of trading in my blue and white feathers for red. I wanted to be a Cardinal. I soon realized that ambition and true faith don't mix. Politics again were involved, so I moved on.

With the contracts that some athletes were signing, I thought sports would be an excellent field in which to spread my wings. But I was soon turned down by the Seahawks, the Eagles, and the Falcons. The Cardinals and Blue Jays wouldn't even give me a try-out in baseball. I found birdies were welcome in golf but only on scorecards and not on shoulders. The Flyers, Penguins, and Red Wings skated right by me and the NBA didn't want anymore fowls. I gave up.

To really be the King Fisher, I felt I needed a macho image. After all, who would know more about "the birds and the bees" than a bird or a bee. I discovered sex is not for the birds. Anyone who thinks other- wise never sat on an egg very long.

So here I am, still caged, still flying, and still happy. After experiencing the turbulence of my earlier years, I now know that I don't need to be anything else except the parakeet that I am. I'm not a hawk, dove, cardinal, eagle, kingfisher, or ostrich. The beauty is, they're not parakeets either."

Wherever you are, whoever you are, with whatever gifts you bring, God calls you, God needs you, God will use you to act with justice, to love tenderly, to serve one another, to walk humbly with God. God's world awaits your answer. We are all called prophets to that world.

As a reminder of your calling, as you entered tonight, each of you received your own stole. The stole is normally worn by the priest and is a sign of the prophetic nature of the priesthood. The tradition of the stole is taken from the prayer of the prophet. In the prayer, Jeremiah addresses God, speaking of the grace that God poured upon him as a prophet in his time. The prophet prays, "Oh God, you have poured out your grace upon me and it runs from my head down to the hem of my garment." Witness also the passing of the mantle from Elijah to Elisha as Elijah ascended to heaven, symbolizing the passing of the prophet's spiritual power. It's special symbolism for the Dignity Boston Convention, Prophets to the World, is that each person who attends has been called to this prophetic role. Each one of us has been called to prophecy in her or his own voice, with her or his own talents. We invite you to wear the stole at all "spiritual gatherings" during the convention as a sign to ourselves and the world around us that we have accepted this prophetic call by our very presence in Dignity, and that we all participate in the prophetic nature of the priesthood. Recently, a church in Rochester, New York, was denied the services of a lesbian pastor by its parent denomination. That community of faith then decided instead to employ Janie Spahr as a "lesbian evangelist" to preach the gospel to the whole church. Every member, from age six to eighty, embroidered a line or two on a stole for her to wear when celebrating Communion on her missionary journeys.

The stoles that you receive tonight symbolize the gift of spiritual power shared by all of us in the family of Dignity. At this time I invite each of you to partner with someone near you and to share our gift of power by placing the stole on the shoulders of that individual. Use their name and tell them that they, too, have been called. May God bless us all as we continue to share our gifts.

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