Theme: Understanding the Call: Powered for Service
Text: Jeremiah 1:4-12; Acts 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:7
Introduction
When reference is made to the call of God it is in simple definition, “an identifiable Spiritual purpose or objective for your life. It is to demand or request one’s presence; to name; to appoint to a specific duty; to invite response.
God’s call on an individual normally goes beyond a person’s background or present state of achievement. It doesn’t matter who you are and where you are from. There is no boundary to the call of God. What God looks for is an available heart.
God calls men and women to places of honor. He called David the Shepherd; Matthew the tax collector; Amos from the herdsmen of Tecoah; Gideon from the threshing floor; Elisha from the plows. D.L. Moody says God never called a lazy man. God never encourages idleness and will not despise persons in the lowest employment. God is looking for an available heart.
The text we are focusing on presents to us a conversation between Jeremiah and God. The passage emphasizes the call of God on Jeremiah and shows the clearness and certainness of God’s call.
Observation
In understanding the call we must:
Understand our context
Every person that has been called by God has been called from one context into another. God was calling Jeremiah from his place of comfort to engage his surrounding by pointing out to them their folly and disregard for the things of God. This is a similar context that you and I have been called into to minister. If you don’t understand your context how can you minister to the people of that context? This is the context we are in:
Our context is highly humanistic (of or pertaining to a
philosophy asserting human dignity and man’s capacity for
fulfillment through reason and scientific method and often
rejecting religion)
Our context has become highly sensual
Our context is one where there is growing disregard for that
which is sacred
Our context is one where young people are searching for a real
God. They want to know that they can touch God and he them.
Our context is one where the church is becoming cold, sterile
and an impersonal corporation
1. The call and God’s sovereignty (v.4-5b)
Seek to know by whom we have been called
There are those of us who hear God speak and think its bishop. There are those who hear bishop and think its God. You must understand the call and where God is leading you before you run out into service.
The calling that we have received is a divinely inspired call. Jeremiah’s story presents to us the idea that God did not arbitrarily pick you. But from the beginning of time he had a plan for your life.
God did not choose you the day you got save, you were chosen before the foundations of this world were laid. He said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;” God is saying to you tonight like he did the prophet, your parents may have had intercourse and you came about, but look it is I who formed you in the womb. When he speaks of knowing the prophet he is saying I chose you.
So before I created you I chose you. When he talks about before you were born I set you apart- he means I consecrated you before your birth. There is no perfect person for this ministry like you. This context needs you.
This because God designed you for it. Your steps are ordered by God. The writer of the proverbs in chapter 20 and verse 24 tells us that a man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way.
You never got here because of your pretty looks, good voice or intelligent mind. You got here because he who is the creator of all things had holy plans for you
2. The call is specific (v.5c)
The call is clear and to the point. God does not call an individual and leave them with many unanswered question. When he called Moses, he called him to go deliver the Israelites from bondage; he called Matthew the tax collector to become a fisher of men; he called Abraham to leave Ur and travel to a land he would give him. The call is always clear and to the point.
When he called Jeremiah he told him he had appointed him a prophet to the nations. All this, God seems to have done before the prophet was born. God told him exactly what he had appointed him a prophet to do in verse 10 of the text. He is to uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow but he is also to build and plant. This is what we are called into as well. There are things that need to be uprooted in our context; things that need to be destroyed. But God also called you to build up. Is that what you are doing? Do you understand what God has called you into? Do you know your role or responsibility within God’s call?
3. The call is unto service (v.10), Acts 1:8; 2Tim 1:7
The call is not something that is to be lauded over others. God never made us Lord over his people. If he wanted to he would have. God calls us to the place of servant hood. We are called to serve and the day we begin to see otherwise it’s the day we mess with God’s plans. Your calling is to serve. God has given us the authority to function, not for manipulation.
In Acts 1:8 the word says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. They were empowered to serve and as they were so have you also been.
In 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline”
The apostle said boy fan into flame what is inside of you, because I know my God has not given you a spirit of timidity.
The Greek word used in the text is deilia and this word means cowardice. The root verb is diliao and this word means to be afraid. Paul was saying to Timothy God did not make you a coward. That which is inside of you is much stronger than the spirit of fear.
The use of timidity by Paul was perhaps to highlight the struggles the young man was facing. He had the heritage as it relates to believing in God, but his situation and surrounding was getting the better of him. Timothy believed but his circumstances made him fearful. He was acting like a coward. He was apprehensive in speaking the word of God to those around him as he struggled.
A. The apostle then reminds him that he was given the spirit of power. The Greek word used is dunameos which means strength, power, act of power, supernatural power, capacity, ability and significance.
Jeremiah was called out to be a prophet. He was called to serve his people whether or not they would welcome him. He went through much pain because of the call on his life. But in the midst of his service he was guaranteed the protection of God. Nothing that was done would be of any great harm to him. This same protection is offered to us. To anyone who dare answer the call on his or her life.
The Lord says in verse 19 of the text to Jeremiah, “They will fight against you, but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord”. Friends what greater assurance could man ask for. The same people he was called to serve would do him harm, but God says even though they will try they will not succeed, because I am with you. The prophet says no weapon formed against us shall prosper.
1. Rough days will come but serve for this is what you have been called to. They will talk about you, but serve for this is what you have been called to. They may pull their support for you, but serve for this is what you have been called to. All Christian service must be done with sincerity- that is out of a true heart and with the purest motives; not to please men or catch their eye but because you truly care and wish to please God (Romans 12:9; Colossians 3:17; 23-24)
4. The call requires accountability (v.11-12)
Every person that has been called must be responsible. The call requires responsibility on the part of the person being called to do what the Lord requires. Since we have been called by God we are accountable to him.
The text lifts out in verse 11-12 a conversation between God and the prophet. Where there is a lack of accountability a person maybe tempted to do his/her own thing and God’s business is left on the backburner. The Lord asks the prophet what he saw to which he responded a branch of an almond tree. It is the response from the Lord that is interesting. The Lord says to the prophet you have seen correctly I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled. Who better to be accountable to than the Lord?
I recently saw a thought that I believe is of importance to those who are called by God to the place of responsibility/accountability. “The price of greatness is responsibility” (Winston Churchill)
5. The call requires authenticity (v. 7-8)
When referring to authenticity we refer to faithfulness. That which the Lord has called us to requires much faithfulness from us. The idea that the Lord was telling the prophet to go to all those he will send him to and not be afraid raises certain concerns for us. He recognized the danger that was ahead but God promised protection and so he remained faithful.
The success and fulfillment of the call on some person’s life is dependent on their faithfulness to God. At the height of the call is faithfulness. Dance all you want, sing all you want, preach all you want, it does not matter what you may do as long as you are unfaithful to God it will affect your calling and ability to minster to God’s people.
Favor for Faithfulness
Favor is the merited blessing of God to those who commit themselves and are faithful to him.
1. Favor is the affection of God towards you.
2. Favor comes through faithfulness
3. God shows favor to those who favor him
4. Favor is an act of gracious kindness
Are you faithful or are you a Sunday best individual. Is it only when the lights are on that you are faithful or act as such?
Walking worthy of the Call (Eph 4:1)
We are called by God (Col 1:25). God has never called anyone to something they are not capable of doing. Your call is not about your talent it’s about God using you. It’s more than knowing we have been called, it’s walking worthy of such call.
It’s more who we are than what we do. The passage in Ephesians lifts out the fact that as we walk worthy of the call we are to do so in humility and gentleness; patience and bearing with one another in love.
As those called by God we are to:
• Be patient- (uncomplaining, enduring) it means we are to be long-
suffering. Things will not always work when we want them to, but
we must be patient, waiting on God to do his will.
• Courageous- Must stand up for God despite hostility. An 18th
century preacher once said the duty we owe to God is higher than
the danger we fear from men.
• Discerning- Eye for the right moment. Know when to speak and
when not to.
• Be attentive- (kind, helpful, caring, considerate and thoughtful)
• Dutiful- submissive to God, loyal, devoted and obedient- a major
characteristic of those who answer the call and follow God.
Conclusion
I close tonight with a thought from the late James Hamill, “I cannot share something I do not possess. I cannot tell until I have been taught. I cannot impart power until I have received power. I cannot assist others in right relationship with God until I have a right relationship with him”
The call is:
1. Sovereign
2. Specific
3. Service
4. Accountability
5. Authenticity
