Title: Called
Theme: God’s Call on and for our lives.
Text: Galatians 1.11-17
Time: November 7, 2010 (Communion and All Saints Day)
Task: To encourage people to live out God’s Call on their life.
“I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.” (Galatians 1.11-17, NIV)
Never in his wildest dreams did Paul think that he would find himself telling others that Jesus was the Messiah and that they should make the decision to follow him. Prior to this, Paul was a Jewish Pharisee who was passionate and radically orthodox when it came to practicing Judaism. In Acts 8-9 Paul is like a Jewish bounty hunter looking to arrest and punish other Jews who dared to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. His reputation among the messianic community was such that it struck fear in their hearts. But one day that all changed. He was on his way to a bust in Caesarea when he walked into a “set up” by Jesus that transformed his life forever. Jesus convinced Paul that he really was the Messiah. And that he wanted Paul to use that same zeal and skill set he had used in persecuting messianic Jews to proclaim and publicize that he is the Messiah. This is the call that Paul alluded to in his letter to the Galatians.
The Call is a word or a phrase that refers to the act of God tapping someone on the shoulder and saying, “Hey, I have something I want you to do.” “I have something I want you to give your life too.” “There’s this need, and I want you to be part of the solution.” “I want you to use your work life to foster your life’s work.” The life’s work being God’s call upon every believer to help connect people with Jesus.
Writing to the Christians in 1 Corinthians 7.17 Paul wrote, “Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.” (NIV)
I remember when God called me and I suppose I was just as surprised as anyone. The call came when I was attending Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. At the time I was wondering and wandering about what I should do with my life. I wandered between Hotel and Restaurant management, Forrest Ranger in the Rockies, teaching high school, radio broadcasting, law enforcement and a couple of other possible vocations. As graduation loomed on the horizon I honed in on becoming an Illinois State Trooper.
But something didn’t seem right. My heart was conflicted. Somewhere and somehow the idea of being a pastor in The United Methodist Church crossed my mind. Troubled I looked to God for consolation and confirmation and did what many people do. I followed the example of my patron saint, Saint Gideon in Judges 6.
Looking for confirmation from God he put a fleece out at night asking God that if he was hearing him correctly, that in the morning when he woke up that the ground would be wet from the dew but that that fleece would be dry. And when that happened he asked for confirmation again by asking God to make the fleece wet and the ground dry the next morning. God did so.
So I threw down a fleece. Basically I said, “Lord, if you want me to enter “The Ministry” let me get a B on the upcoming test in Communications. I received a B. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a coincidence so I asked for further confirmation. End of semester tests were coming up and I hadn’t studied. And so I asked, “God, if you’re calling me to the ministry, then let me get an A on my test without studying.” I received an A. Still not fully convinced that it wasn’t coincidence I asked for one more verification. “Okay God, if you’re telling me that I am to go into “The Ministry” make it uncontestable, incontrovertible, indisputable and irrefutable to me.” A few days later I shared my testimony in chapel about how Jesus radically altered my life. After the service several different individuals came up to me and said something to the effect of, “Bryan, it’s really too bad you’re going into law enforcement, I think you’d make a good minister.”
When I told mom and dad about my decision they weren’t as surprised as I was. Mom went on to tell me about a day when she and I had gone to the church during the week for something. I was about four or five years old. As we walked out of the church that day she said I looked up at her and said, “Someday I’m going to be a pastor like him.”
For some reason God called me to the ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church. A calling where my primary task is making more and better disciples of Jesus the Christ by proclaiming Jesus, teaching the scriptures, serving the Sacraments and providing oversight to the body of Christ helping them to live a life worthy of their call.
Yes, I said “their” call. Every believer is called to the full time ministry, just not necessarily The Full Time Ministry. Writing to the Christians in 1 Corinthians 7.17 Paul wrote, “Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.” (NIV)
Paul is not addressing a congregation comprised of full time licensed or ordained pastors. He is addressing laity encouraging them to live out God’s calling on their life.
That’s what Paul did. We tend to think that Paul made his living as a full time minister of the gospel. The truth of the matter is that Paul was what we call bi-vocational. Paul made Jesus known but he never abandoned his trade to do so. Paul was a leatherworker and made tents. That’s how he supported himself. He used his work life to support his life’s work, his call, of sharing the gospel of Jesus.
And that is something each one of us is called to do. I came across a sermon that was delivered by a laymen to a United Methodist Congregation in Hudson, Colorado in 1989 when Pastor Charles Thompson invited him to preach. That lay person was my dad. He wrote, “Every one of us as laypersons in our churches is called of Jesus Christ to do God’s work wherever we are. Too many of us have developed the concept that God calls the Charles Thompsons to preach, but he doesn’t tap the shoulders of laity to do special tasks for him. Each one of us are assigned to fulfill the Christian mission after we leave this service as definitely as any ordained clergy. As a layman you are to live within listening distance of the Holy Spirit so that you can always hear his voice giving direction in your business, in your community, in your home, and in your personal witness.” (Newton Fink, A Layman Who Knew The Score”, April 30, 1989)
Writing to the Christ followers in Ephesus Paul wrote, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” (Ephesians 4.1, NIV)
How are you doing when it comes to living out this calling? Has it been a worthwhile endeavor or is it something to seek forgiveness for? Are you uncertain about what that call is? Need some clarification and confirmation? Then why not do what Gideon did? Throw out a fleece or ask God for a sign. If you’d like someone to pray with you about this let us do so during the singing of the last hymn.
If for some reason God has made his call on your life clear and you want to respond and affirm it by committing yourself to serving him in that way, come and let me consecrate you to that calling. If that happens to be some form of “church related ministry” be sure to let me know that as I bless you.
Whatever your calling is – embrace it and live a life that is worthy of it.
