Call and Response
Posted on Mon Feb 08 2010
Kelly Sasser
Call and Response
Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 4:21-30
A Sermon by Kelly Sasser
Watts Street Baptist Church
February 7, 2010
In the midst of these days of cold weather and “wintry mix”, our two lectionary texts invite us to gather around the fire of God’s call to each of us. The fire of God’s call is warm and inviting and draws us in…and yet it can also be hot and dangerous and quite frightening to us. On the one hand, it is a tremendous honor and privilege to be invited to be a part of God’s kingdom work. On the other hand, it is a terrifying responsibility and overwhelming challenge to be faithful to that commission. This tension is what we wrestle with today. God’s call and our response.
Let’s begin with the notion of God’s call. First of all, the very idea that the God of All Creation would invite people like you and me to help accomplish God’s purposes is one of the greatest mysteries of the faith. We could certainly argue that God doesn’t NEED us to do anything. And it sure seems like things would be so much easier and more efficient if God said, “You know what, you guys don’t worry about it, I can just take care of this by myself.”
But the scriptures point out over and over again that, for whatever reason, God actually CHOOSES to work through humankind. We’re a stumbling, bumbling, fumbling people…yet God continues to call us to join in God’s work in the world.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”, God tells the prophet Jeremiah in our text today.
Growing up in church, I heard over and over again that God has a plan for each one of us. And despite the mystery of why God would WANT to be so involved with us, here is something I truly believe with all my heart: God has a plan for each one of us and is calling us to a life of ministry and service. In the youth discipleship class, held ever year around this time, I often begin by asking the youth, “What is your purpose in life? Why are you here? Why do you exist?” (You can tell we start with the really easy questions first!) We usually conclude that we exist to serve and honor God with our lives and to be a part of God’s work in the world.
And so, I want to say today, loud and clear, for all to hear, that God has a plan and a purpose for each and every one of us. God’s call is not reserved only for Old Testament prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah or first century disciples like Simon Peter, James, and John. God is calling God’s people for God’s purposes TODAY. God is calling you and me.
God’s call may or may not be related to our vocations, our jobs. It may involve our relationships with family, friends, neighbors, or even enemies. It may involve speaking truth to power…or it may be a call to pray, sing, encourage, show hospitality, or offer friendship. As is often said, the place where your greatest gifts, talents, and passions meet the world’s greatest needs, there is your calling. The key is that God is calling us to something more than self-actualization, self-expression, or self-fulfillment. God’s purposes are bigger and they are eternal. And as we say in our church covenant, it is in obedience to God where we find life’s highest purpose and richest meaning.
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Now, if your response to the notion of God calling you is to immediately start making excuses, well, you are not alone. Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, whimpered, “I do not know how to speak. I am only a child!” Meanwhile, the prophet Isaiah initial response to God was, “Woe is me! I am lost, I am a man of unclean lips!” At the burning bush, Moses cried, “But who am I to lead your people? I’ve never been any good with words.” And when God sought to create a nation from Abraham and Sarah, they laughed and said, “we’re too old”. But in each case, God saw past the excuses and called forth the gifts and abilities needed to accomplish the mission at hand. As Samuel said before anointing young David as king, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7)
Recently, the elementary aged children in our church were each given $10 for the Children’s Mission Offering Challenge. They were invited to invest or spend the money on a mission project of their choice. I hope you have been reading their reports in the WattsLine: They have been helping a person in recovery buy a coat, supporting a college student on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, feeding the hungry at the Food Bank, buying animals for the poor through the Heifer Project, delivering games and puzzles to the children’s hospital, and sending money to help the people of Haiti.
The goal was to help the children learn about stewardship and missions. But the children are also teaching us about responding to God’s call. One of our second graders, Emma Hitchings, wrote about feeling sad after watching TV and seeing the people in Haiti suffer following the recent earthquake. She immediately went to her room and picked out some of her things she could sell. She held her own yard sale and raised $22.60. To this amount, she added her $10 mission money. Her parents were inspired to add even more money and Emma ended up sending $100 to Partners in Health to help the people in Haiti. And it all started because a child responded when she heard the voice of God through the cries of the poor.
For many of us, the excuse is not that we’re too young to respond to God’s call…it’s that we’re too old. But God’s call can come at any time.
Because of our partnership with Emmanuel Baptist Church in El Salvador, our congregation has learned a great deal about Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of El Salvador from 1977-1980. We know that he was assassinated after he stood up for the poor and called for an end to the violence and oppression in his country. We know that he is now considered the patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador. We know that books and poems and songs and movies have been written about his faithfulness and his stand for social justice.
But did you also know that it was not until age 60 that Oscar Romero experienced his calling to speak out on behalf of the poor? For his first sixty years, Romero was cautious and conservative. He quietly moved up the ranks of the Catholic Church leadership. When he became Archbishop, many people saw his appointment as a way to maintain the status quo and turn a deaf ear to the poor. But not long after he took office, as the violence continued and he saw the face of God in the suffering of the Salvadoran people, this shy pastor was “pulled” into his true calling: speaking out for peace and reconciliation and the conversion of both rich and poor to the demands of the Gospel. But note: everything we celebrate about Oscar Romero occurred in the final three years of his life.
Maybe our excuse for not responding to God’s call is not that we’re too young or too old but that our lives are already too full. Our path is already established, our routines are set, we’ve put our roots down with family, a home, and a career. But then there are those “holy interruptions” that sometimes come our way…
Before the age of 30, Millard Fuller was a successful businessman and lawyer and a self-made millionaire. But with long working hours taking a toll on his health and his marriage, Fuller heard God’s call to a life of Christian service. He and his wife, Linda, did the unthinkable: they sold their possessions and gave up their wealth. In 1968, they packed up their children and moved to Koinonia Farm, the interracial farming community in southwest Georgia, founded by Clarence Jordan in 1942. It was here, working on the farm and reading the Bible with Clarence Jordan, that Fuller discovered his true mission in life: building affordable, no-interest homes for low-income families. This was a vision which blossomed into Habitat for Humanity and later, the Fuller Center for Housing.
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These remarkable stories, along with our two scripture texts today, illustrate the romantic notion that God is calling each of us to be a part of God’s work in the world. But these stories also remind us that God’s call is accompanied by something very un-romantic: significant personal sacrifice and a change to our personal plans.
Jeremiah knew that his calling as a prophet would not be easy. Especially, when the message involved calling out his own people for the sin of worshipping false idols. On top of that, Jeremiah was to tell them that because of their disobedience, disaster was imminent. The kings and people of Jeremiah’s day might have preferred their prophet deliver words that were a little more comforting and assuring. But before there could be any rebuilding, God instructed Jeremiah that there first had to be a time to “pluck up and pull down, to destroy and to overthrow”.
Likewise, Jesus’ words at his inaugural sermon were equally unpopular as he revealed that those who thought they were on the inside of God’s grace might actually be on the outside while those who thought they were outside might actually be on the inside. The crowd was furious at Jesus’ references to Elijah and Elisha offering care to foreigners, and they were ready to ride him out of town on a rail.
Both Jeremiah and Jesus were significantly at odds with their audience. And when we respond to God’s call, we, too, may face challenge or resentment from a variety of sources. In fact, maybe we should even expect it, because God’s kingdom is at such great odds with the kingdoms of this world.
As Mel likes to say, that’s why when a new Mission Group forms at Watts Street, we often ask those three difficult questions: Is this good news? Does this mission seem impossible to accomplish? Is there a good chance we will fail? If we can answer “yes” to these questions, that’s a good sign that the Spirit of God is leading us to undertake the mission.
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So, how do you respond when God calls? How do you feel about trading in your plans for God’s plans? Can we trust that God’s plans are infinitely better and more significant than our own? Can we have the courage to believe that God will provide us with everything we need if we simply make ourselves available?
In response to Jeremiah’s excuses and fears, God said, “I will put my words in your mouth.” The message is: when we put our trust in God, what have we to fear? In the prayer of Oscar Romero on the cover of our bulletin, we are reminded that we only have to take a step along the way to “create an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.”
Friends, God is calling each of us to join in God’s work in the world. The call may be as grandiose as building houses for the poor all over the world. The call may be as simple as offering a word of kindness to a co-worker or neighbor. God’s call is both a sacred honor and a terrifying responsibility.
How will we respond?
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