I Hear You Calling, Lord
Sermon text for June 3:
Matthew 4:18-22; Jeremiah 1:4-10
He was just a kid spending the summer working in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This job certainly wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to become a millionaire and already had the rudiments of a business plan down on paper. But this job working in a mission for the summer came open and since he didn’t have another job lined up he packed a bag and headed for the mission in the mountains.
Sometimes when he thought about it he cracked a smile that was so wide it ended in a laugh. He wasn’t at all sure that he even believed in God anymore, and there he was working for the Church in a mission. The joke was definitely on them! On those who pursued him and hired him. It wasn’t that he didn’t care enough to do a good job. He liked the people and he could definitely do the job. It’s just that there wasn’t any money in it.
Almost every afternoon at about 2:30 a thunderstorm rumbled up the canyon. Often the noise was so loud that everything vibrated with the sound. Sometimes he was pretty sure that he could see where the lightening struck an instant before the thunder exploded. He loved the intensity and power of the storms, and as often as he could he sat on the porch with his back to the adobe walls just to watch and listen. And one day in the midst of the storm, he heard the most amazing, ridiculous sound. It wasn’t really words, but he knew what the sound meant. “I want you to go into the ministry.” The voice was both powerful and gentle at the same time. “This is the work I want you to do. This is where you will find fulfillment.”
The thought was startling. He didn’t know any millionaire ministers. And he had other plans. Ministry was okay for other people, so let them do it. Besides didn’t one have to believe in God to be a minister? “I want you to go into the ministry” the voice said, every time he thought of an objection.
For the next few years he argued with the voice. He honed his business acumen and dreamed of money. But at the same time the God he had tried to stop believing in became more real. “I want you to go into the ministry” said the voice.
Jeremiah was a young man when he heard the voice – the same voice that has been heard by countless people down through the ages. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nation.” Jeremiah knew whose voice it was, but it was hard to believe that the words which the voice spoke applied to him. Jeremiah certainly wasn’t equipped to be a prophet to the nations. “Ah Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak for I am only a boy.”
In Jeremiah’s mind, prophets were older men, probably with gray hair and long beards. Certainly they were men with more life experience than Jeremiah. And Jeremiah was ready with an excuse to avoid God’s call. “Ah Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak for I am only a boy.” It seemed as if God was asking a boy to do a man’s job. And it was a dangerous job as well. The winds of war were blowing over the nation as marauding armies from the north were gathering momentum and were devouring small city states on the way to Israel. The Chosen People were experiencing feelings similar to what we experienced right after September 11, 2001. They are angry and so sad that their grief is inexpressible. And God said to the boy, “I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
We each have images of the aftermath of September 11 burned into our psyches. Personally I am haunted by the image of women and men walking around carrying pictures of loved ones, showing them to anyone who will look, hoping that someone has seen them. And with each passing day they become more and more hopeless.
By the time God called Jeremiah the wars had already begun, Jerusalem fell while Jeremiah was in jail for being God’s messenger. When he began to preach, the armies of Babylon were knocking on the gates of the great cities in Israel and Judah. People were angry and sad and full of grief. They walked the streets looking for loved ones and they needed someone who will speak a word from God. This is the context for Jeremiah when he heard the words, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you prophet to the nations.”
“God there must be some mistake. You need a real pro here; someone with wisdom born of age and experience. I am just a boy, why I’ve never even given a speech.” “Do not say ‘I am only a boy’ for you shall go to all whom I send you. And you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”
Jeremiah was about to discover that a miracle happened when he offered his boyish voice to God. Jeremiah and God could do anything. “Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth. See today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms’”.
I believe that each of us has heard God’s call. That is one reason we love to sing, “Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.” The hymn touches us deeply because we know in our hearts that God has called us and touched us. Maybe our call is not to something big and public like Jeremiah. Maybe it is simply to be more faithful at prayer or more ready to share the love of God with a family member or someone at work. If we find the call frightening we might find ourselves with an excuse like Jeremiah’s. “I can’t do what you are asking me to do Lord. I don’t know enough. I’m not good enough. I am retired now let others do it. I’m too busy with my family.” Or maybe it is simply, “Sorry God, but I don’t want to do it now.”
One of the things I am discovering is that our calling can change along with our personal circumstances. Ten years ago I was the pastor of one of the larger churches in Denver Presbytery. Today all that I can do is preach, moderate a session and make hospital calls. The specifics of our calls change, the One who calls us doesn’t.
If you are struggling with the nature of your call, listen to these words in Jeremiah and believe that God says them to you and me as well: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you.”
God had a purpose in mind for us when God made us. Long before we were born God set us aside to do God’s will. Now is our time to answer God’s call and to trust God to help us accomplish whatever we have been called to do or to be. Let the words to the hymn be our prayer for this morning. “Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.”
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
Matthew 4:18-22; Jeremiah 1:4-10
He was just a kid spending the summer working in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This job certainly wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to become a millionaire and already had the rudiments of a business plan down on paper. But this job working in a mission for the summer came open and since he didn’t have another job lined up he packed a bag and headed for the mission in the mountains.
Sometimes when he thought about it he cracked a smile that was so wide it ended in a laugh. He wasn’t at all sure that he even believed in God anymore, and there he was working for the Church in a mission. The joke was definitely on them! On those who pursued him and hired him. It wasn’t that he didn’t care enough to do a good job. He liked the people and he could definitely do the job. It’s just that there wasn’t any money in it.
Almost every afternoon at about 2:30 a thunderstorm rumbled up the canyon. Often the noise was so loud that everything vibrated with the sound. Sometimes he was pretty sure that he could see where the lightening struck an instant before the thunder exploded. He loved the intensity and power of the storms, and as often as he could he sat on the porch with his back to the adobe walls just to watch and listen. And one day in the midst of the storm, he heard the most amazing, ridiculous sound. It wasn’t really words, but he knew what the sound meant. “I want you to go into the ministry.” The voice was both powerful and gentle at the same time. “This is the work I want you to do. This is where you will find fulfillment.”
The thought was startling. He didn’t know any millionaire ministers. And he had other plans. Ministry was okay for other people, so let them do it. Besides didn’t one have to believe in God to be a minister? “I want you to go into the ministry” the voice said, every time he thought of an objection.
For the next few years he argued with the voice. He honed his business acumen and dreamed of money. But at the same time the God he had tried to stop believing in became more real. “I want you to go into the ministry” said the voice.
Jeremiah was a young man when he heard the voice – the same voice that has been heard by countless people down through the ages. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nation.” Jeremiah knew whose voice it was, but it was hard to believe that the words which the voice spoke applied to him. Jeremiah certainly wasn’t equipped to be a prophet to the nations. “Ah Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak for I am only a boy.”
In Jeremiah’s mind, prophets were older men, probably with gray hair and long beards. Certainly they were men with more life experience than Jeremiah. And Jeremiah was ready with an excuse to avoid God’s call. “Ah Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak for I am only a boy.” It seemed as if God was asking a boy to do a man’s job. And it was a dangerous job as well. The winds of war were blowing over the nation as marauding armies from the north were gathering momentum and were devouring small city states on the way to Israel. The Chosen People were experiencing feelings similar to what we experienced right after September 11, 2001. They are angry and so sad that their grief is inexpressible. And God said to the boy, “I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
We each have images of the aftermath of September 11 burned into our psyches. Personally I am haunted by the image of women and men walking around carrying pictures of loved ones, showing them to anyone who will look, hoping that someone has seen them. And with each passing day they become more and more hopeless.
By the time God called Jeremiah the wars had already begun, Jerusalem fell while Jeremiah was in jail for being God’s messenger. When he began to preach, the armies of Babylon were knocking on the gates of the great cities in Israel and Judah. People were angry and sad and full of grief. They walked the streets looking for loved ones and they needed someone who will speak a word from God. This is the context for Jeremiah when he heard the words, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you prophet to the nations.”
“God there must be some mistake. You need a real pro here; someone with wisdom born of age and experience. I am just a boy, why I’ve never even given a speech.” “Do not say ‘I am only a boy’ for you shall go to all whom I send you. And you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”
Jeremiah was about to discover that a miracle happened when he offered his boyish voice to God. Jeremiah and God could do anything. “Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth. See today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms’”.
I believe that each of us has heard God’s call. That is one reason we love to sing, “Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night.” The hymn touches us deeply because we know in our hearts that God has called us and touched us. Maybe our call is not to something big and public like Jeremiah. Maybe it is simply to be more faithful at prayer or more ready to share the love of God with a family member or someone at work. If we find the call frightening we might find ourselves with an excuse like Jeremiah’s. “I can’t do what you are asking me to do Lord. I don’t know enough. I’m not good enough. I am retired now let others do it. I’m too busy with my family.” Or maybe it is simply, “Sorry God, but I don’t want to do it now.”
One of the things I am discovering is that our calling can change along with our personal circumstances. Ten years ago I was the pastor of one of the larger churches in Denver Presbytery. Today all that I can do is preach, moderate a session and make hospital calls. The specifics of our calls change, the One who calls us doesn’t.
If you are struggling with the nature of your call, listen to these words in Jeremiah and believe that God says them to you and me as well: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. And before you were born I consecrated you.”
God had a purpose in mind for us when God made us. Long before we were born God set us aside to do God’s will. Now is our time to answer God’s call and to trust God to help us accomplish whatever we have been called to do or to be. Let the words to the hymn be our prayer for this morning. “Here I am Lord. Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.”
Copyright © 2007 by Dwight R. Blackstock
posted by Dwight Blackstock | 12:27 PM
1 Comments:
A powerful sermon. I'm glad I remember to look at your blog.
djb
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