Our Calling

Jeremiah 1: 4-10
Luke 4: 21-30

The two texts we read today are about a person’s calling. For Jeremiah, he could not believe that the Lord was calling him to be a prophet and for Jesus, he always knew he had a special destiny to fulfill. Today’s Christians are no different than these two men. We all have a calling by God to fulfill, and some of us have always known what it was while others have trouble believing God would consider them to do anything.

What is a calling by God? How do we recognize when God is speaking to us? How can we answer the call and still have free will? These three questions have been asked by millions of Christians over the years and we each struggle with the answers. The truth is that the answers are not the same for all of us just as each of us may be called by God, but we are not all called for the same purpose.

Jeremiah is what we could call an every person’s prophet. Jeremiah did not think himself worthy. He had real fears and anxiety. Throughout the book of Jeremiah he resists God’s call upon his life and even resents what God has asked of him. That is why we consider Jeremiah an every person’s prophet. We all have experienced doubts and fears, resistance to what we know God wants us to do in our lives because it is hard or overwhelming or we plain just don’t want to do it.

A calling isn’t always as grand and big of a job as what Jeremiah and Jesus were called to do. I am not standing here telling you that every single one of you need to become pastors or lay leaders or evangelists. God calls us to use our strengths and even our weaknesses to witness. That is what a calling is about. We can witness to God’s kindness for the world through the kindness you show a stranger on the street when they drop their suitcase and papers spill everywhere.

We can witness to God’s dedication to the world by making sure to show up to meetings on time and volunteering for tasks that others will not do. We can witness to God’s compassion when you take a moment to visit a sick friend, call a loved one, or when you spend time helping someone on your day off when you’d rather be drinking a beer and watching the Super Bowl game. We witness to God’s love when you help at the local food pantry, attend civic meetings, help out at church functions, visit shut-ins, and go on mission trips that in no way benefit you personally, but instead help others.

All of those things are part of our calling as Christians. Each of us has gifts that we can use to make the world a better place. Sometimes it takes a lot of discerning to figure out where we are best able to help others. Maybe you are the patriarch or matriarch of your family and your calling is to keep that family together despite the family spats and feuds. Maybe your calling is that at work you are the peacekeeper. You are the one that everyone comes to when there is a problem because you think clearly in times of crisis. Maybe your calling is in your ability to make people laugh even when they are on the verge of tears. Maybe your calling is to help your spouse raise responsible children and grandchildren.

Maybe your calling is in the way you weave words and so God has called you to share the stories of faith that are all around us. Maybe your calling is that you can talk anyone into anything, and God has asked you to use that gift to get people to volunteer in various projects. Not everyone is called to be a preacher or evangelist or missionary. Not all of us are called to travel the world, instead most of us are called to stay right here in our little area and make a difference.

And you do make a difference.

In Jeremiah’s case, he was called to be a prophet and to speak out against all the evils committed by his countrymen and women. They were ignoring God’s laws and desecrating the temples with idol worship. Jeremiah was told by God to do some radical things that probably had many calling him a fool, and as much as Jeremiah secretly agreed with all of them, he still did them. Jeremiah may have felt that God should not ask him to do anything because he was far from the perfect prophet, but God knew that had nothing to do with it.

Throughout the Bible, God picks the most unlikely people. He picks an elderly couple like Sarah and Abraham to give birth to a nation of people. He picks a swindler and a liar like Jacob to help carry on the task of creating Israel. He picks a man like Noah who is a drunkard to build an ark to save the whole world. He picks the youngest and weakest boy like David to become the greatest king Israel will ever know. He picks a prostitute named Rahab to help hide Joshua and make it possible for a small group of men to defeat a whole army. Jesus hangs out with prostitutes, lepers, and tax collectors who were all reviled in that time. And yet, each of these unlikely and unsuitable people has a hand in bringing about God’s vision for the world.

Look around this room. Look inside yourself. It is very easy to talk ourselves out of being important. It is very easy to come up with excuses about why we cannot change the world. It is very easy to forget that God does not care about our inadequacies because God knows what each of us is capable of with Jesus by our side. We love to throw around the words, “With God all things are possible”, but we forget the true power in such faith and belief. With God, you can make a difference. With God, you can help change the world or your small portion of it. With God, it does not matter how sinful you were or are, all that matters is your willingness to listen and follow where Jesus is leading you.

Calls from God are scary. Tell someone that God spoke to you and everyone will think you’re crazy. However, not all calls are a voice clearly saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.. I appointed you a prophet to the nations”. Sometimes it is a thought that we cannot get rid of that seems a little bit crazy and irrational. We try to ignore the thought but it seems to be there again and again.

The owls that bring Harry Potter invitations to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are like a call from God. Harry’s less than kind foster parents try as best they can, to destroy the invitations. They even try escaping to a remote cabin on an island. Finally the umpteenth letter arrives personally delivered by an angry giant of a man named Hagrid. God’s call was like this for Jeremiah – it was relentless and inevitable. Here is the secret – we do not choose God, God chooses us.

God has chosen you. You are here for a purpose and if you’re not sure what that is then you need to listen a little harder. God is the voice that does not go away. God is the one that keeps talking and banging His fist against the door of our will until we let down the barriers and accept Him inside. You may be right that you’re not trained for this or you’re not good at working with people or you have no influence in the world, and no one ever listens to you when you speak. Maybe that’s all true. And God won’t lie to you about your qualifications, but always you will be told, “Do not be afraid for I am with you.”

That’s what we need - God by our side in our attempts to do good works. God does not tell us it will be a cakewalk or a party, God merely tells us that we should not cower in fear because Jesus has our back. No matter how far we go from the call of God, no matter how many reasonable excuses we may offer, God is there watching out for us and even giving us the words to say.

No one knows you’re a Christian. Most of us do not wear signs that proclaim it or even a cross that might tell another we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our faith is shown by what we do and what we say. Our call to God is to speak the truth and do good things in our daily life. We are asked to respect every human being, while resisting evil, and bringing about justice to an unjust world. Our calling will never be easy if it is God’s true purpose for us. But your life will never be more satisfying than when you do God’s work and answer Jesus’ call to you.

Amen.