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"Are You Taking Calls?"

photo: Anne preachingSermon by Dr. Anne Ledbetter
on Jeremiah 1:4-10
given January 28, 2007
at the 9:00 and 11:15 a.m. services

Chances are that Jeremiah was a teenager when he experienced God's call to be a prophet to the nations. In the blink of an eye, the lad's troubles went from fighting teenage acne and finding a date for Saturday night, to heading for Congress and Parliament, and on the U.N. Assembly to deliver a word of judgment to the nations.

Jeremiah knows the trials that such a life will mean and he's no fool, so he pleads immaturity. "I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth."

Like an exasperated parent God replies, "Don't say: 'I am only a boy.' I'll tell you where to go and you'll go there. I'll tell you what to say and you'll say it." Then, with compassion God adds, "Don't be afraid of a soul. I'll be right there, looking after you." (1)

Jeremiah tries to reject, or essentially sidestep God's call, but discovers that it's impossible to bargain with God and win. Dodging God's call is a recurring theme in scripture. Moses tried to convince God that he was not the best choice to stand up to Pharaoh. Jonah accepted God's directive to go to Ninevah, but then ran in the other direction. You might recall that his escape turned out to be simply a long detour through the belly of a whale. There are exceptions, like Abram and Sarai, who left Ur when God said, "Go, leave your home and family, and I'll make you a great nation." Of course, God's plan for them was a tad more appealing than it was for Moses, or Jonah, or today's teenager Jeremiah. The Bible contains countless examples of people trying to elude God's call, but we like them, find it's a losing proposition.

Our baptism signifies that each of us has been called by God to follow Christ, to love our neighbor. Thankfully our mandate does not sound as ominous as Jeremiah's. We do not have to go to Washington, or risk public humiliation on behalf of God's word. Yet Jeremiah's call might translate into something like this in our context: to pluck up poverty, to pull down prejudice; to destroy injustice, to overthrow oppression; to build Christ's kingdom and to plant justice, love, and peace. Inspiring words, but also an overwhelming mission is it not? We know in our hearts the life God calls us to live, but it feels daunting and even dangerous. And so we act just like our forebears in the faith, and set about trying to avoid God's call. We raise excuses just like Jeremiah: But I'm only a retiree; or My plate is really full right now; or, I'm on a fixed income; or, I have a bad knee; or, Not right now, try me again in a few years.

Another strategy is to avoid the call altogether. It's what we do with Caller I.D. At our house, when the phone reads "out of area" we do not pick up because we know it's a telemarketer. When Mom and Dad call their youth's cellphone after curfew on Saturday night, and the teen doesn't pick up, they know in their bones that their call is being ignored if not outright shunned. Perhaps during the Stewardship Campaign last fall, when the caller I.D. said "Westminster" you did not answer so you would not have to talk about your financial commitment to the church. Then later you discovered it was simply that dogged Dave Stabler calling to schedule your photo appointment for the new church directory!

An avoidance technique learned as children and honed as adults is selective hearing.

  • A second grader does not hear the teacher's whistle to end recess, but sits at the ready for the final bell to ring to end the school day.
  • A daughter never hears her radio alarm in the morning, but is the first to catch the snow report of school closings.
  • A spouse is loathe to hear the plea to take out the garbage, but never misses the call to dinner.

When it comes to taking God's call, we use all of these tactics.

We make excuses. We employ avoidance techniques. We use selective hearing. Friends, I suspect we all spend a lot of our lives avoiding God's call to discipleship. For some it feels too challenging, for others too serious and not very enjoyable. But guess what? There's no tricking God. The Holy One who is all-seeing and all-knowing, is wise to our ways. And God being God – the One who made us and knows us, who loves us as blessed children, is not deterred by our sly tactics and slick maneuvers.

God said to Jeremiah, "Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you; before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you – that is, I designed a purpose for your life. I had you in mind to be a prophet to the nations." (2) God speaks the same words to us today, "Before you were born, I knew you through and through." This Hebrew verb translated "knew" means an intimacy like that of lovers. God loves us intimately, and knows what is on our minds and hearts. God's plan for each of us is unique – whether it is to be a teacher, or an artist, a lawyer or a nurse, a parent or a or a pastor. The call that all God's people share is to love God and one's neighbor as one's self. But God also calls us to particular tasks and ministries.

Last week Westminster elected new church officers – deacons, elders, and trustees. Next Sunday they will be ordained and installed. Through God's Spirit the church has discerned that these folk have gifts for Christian caregiving, for leadership, and for financial oversight. We rejoice in their God-given gifts and willingness to serve the church. But today let us also remember that God has a unique purpose for each one of us. We will uncover and discover that personal plan at different times and in different ways: one person may hear their special calling while in school, while another may recognize God's call while hiking in the State Park or running 5 miles in their neighborhood. Some people will feel God's push while engaged in prayer or Bible reading, while others might get God's message through conversations with a close friend. There are those who hear God's whisper from within while brushing their teeth, and others whose heart and ears are most open in times of crisis or grief. God's call may come in a bolt of lightening, or a faint whisper, or a persistent dream. How can we know when it is God's call?

Frederick Buechner says that a good rule for determining whether or not it is God's voice calling you is to consider this: God calls us to (the kind of work) that we most need to do, and that the world most needs to have done.(3) Some people cannot live without singing, and goodness knows there a places in the world deprived of song. There are those who long to be parents, and there are children who have no one to love them. Someone who thrives on reading discovers that he can record books on tape for the Association for the Blind. As Buechner says, "'the place God calls us is the place where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." (4)

You see, accepting God's call is not really a losing proposition, but a winning one. For in losing our life, we find it. That is, we discover the abundant life springing from grace. God's call is not so much something which acts upon us, as something within us that longs to be liberated. Parker Palmer recalls a time of disorientation in his own life, of depression, that he described this way: "the life I was living was not the life that wanted to live in me."(5) It's Christ's life that wants to live in us, and Christ will continue to nudge and cajole, to push and prod until we submit to his call and embrace the abundant life of service.

Our hunger for God brings us back each week to this sanctuary. Our spiritual thirst leads us to this table.

God told young Jeremiah,

I formed you ...
I knew you ...
I consecrated you ...
I gave you as a prophet to the nations.

Likewise, at this table we acknowledge that

God has taken us,
blessed us,
broken us,
and given us as Christ's body to the world.

Are you ready to respond to God's persistent nudging that comes from deep within? Is your heart open? Are you taking calls? Amen.

NOTES

  1. Jeremiah 1:7-8, The Message, by Eugene Peterson. (2003)

  2. Jeremiah 1:5, The Message, by Eugene Peterson. (2003)

  3. Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking. (New York: Harper & Row, 1973) p. 95.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000) p. 2.

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