Have you ever been called by God?
This is one of the questions that came up during last week’s
Tuesday morning bible study. We were
reading the story of Samuel’s call from God-- the same story that we heard this
morning in our first reading-- and the question came up: have you ever been
called by God? It’s a question that
comes up a lot in church life as we try and determine what to do next as
individuals and as a church. It comes up
every time we try and puzzle out what it means to be a Christian and what it
means to be the church in the 21st century.
Have you ever been called by God?
Perhaps some of us find this a difficult question to answer. After all, not many of us have had the kind
of dramatic call experiences that we read about in the Bible. Perhaps one of the most quintessential call
stories in the entire Bible is the story of God’s call to Moses— a big booming
voice coming out of a burning bush in the middle of the desert. It’s a cool story, and it’s great Sunday school
material, but how many of us can actually relate to that? If that’s what a call from God looks like, then
I suspect our answer to this morning’s question for most of us would be a
resounding no. We hear these stories in
the Bible about a God who calls people in extravagant and fantastical ways, and
we notice the lack of such extravagant events in our own lives, and maybe we
are left wondering-- is God really still speaking to us? Is God really still speaking to me? And if God is in fact calling me to do something--
how on earth will I know?
Well I think Samuel’s story is a pretty good place to start
in answering some of these questions. Because
unlike Moses’ call from the burning bush, Samuel’s call was much more ordinary,
and much less clear. As far as Samuel
could tell, it wasn’t God’s voice at all that he heard, but rather the voice of
his mentor Eli coming to him from the next room. In Samuel’s story, we can begin to see how
understanding and responding to God’s voice is sometimes a process of trial and
error. Three times Samuel hears God’s
call, and three times he jumps up from the temple floor, running to Eli in the
next room, not recognizing that the voice calling to him was in fact coming
from God. Like Samuel, our process of
discerning God’s voice amidst all the other voices clamoring for our attention
is often a process of trial and error. It
may require us to strike out a few times, to risk imperfection or failure, to
jump up and head in the wrong direction before figuring out where we need to
go.
I came across a great quote the other day from a fellow
pastor who said that: “creating opportunities for failure is major preparation
for success.” I think that’s a great way
to think about call. Because sometimes I
think we expect that God’s voice will be the voice that
tells us exactly what to do, exactly how to do it, and exactly when to begin. We
think that if it’s God’s voice calling us, there will be no room for ambiguity or
uncertainty.
For a long time, this is how I felt about starting seminary. I thought to myself— “well, I’m not going to
go until God provides me with a clear path forward.” Eventually I realized,
after several years had gone by, that if I was waiting for God to make
everything crystal clear for me, I would actually never go. I needed to take a risk. I needed to jump up and say, “here I am Lord”,
even though I didn’t know exactly what to do next.
Understanding our call is often like this-- a process of
trial and error—of steps and missteps.
We can’t expect that our calls will be completely self-explanatory and
perfectly laid out for us. Notice that
when Samuel first received his call from God, there were no instructions
attached. There was no grand plan laid
out for him. It was simply a moment of
God calling Samuel’s name— trying to get his attention. I think oftentimes this is exactly what it
looks like when we first receive our call from God. It’s those experiences we have of God getting
our attention— snapping us out of our complacency— even if it’s only for one
moment-- in order to feel something extraordinary. And then it’s up to us to take the next step
and respond. To listen for what may be
coming next. And to take a few risks
along the way.
Have you ever been called by God?
If you’re still not sure about the answer to that question,
let me put it to you another way:
Have you ever had an experience of being filled with God’s
unfailing presence and love? Perhaps in
a time in your life when you really needed it?
Well then, you have been called.
Have you ever heard about a problem in your community and
been moved to want to help— even if it was just in a small way? Have you ever heard about an injustice
somewhere and thought to yourself— “that’s not right, what can I do?” Well then you have been called.
Have you ever sat in church and felt inspired to live
differently? Have you ever thought to
yourself: there is more to this life then what the mainstream culture has to
offer-- with its focus on climbing the ladder of success and its tendency to
discount those who don’t quite make it all the way up that ladder? Well then guess what— God is calling you my friend.
We may be tempted to think sometimes that if we aren’t
somehow out there doing extraordinary things and garnering all sorts of
attention for our work, that we aren’t really called by God. But if that is what we think then we would do
well to remember the words of a very wise woman who once said that “we can do
no great things. We can only do small
things with great love. It’s not how
much you do, its how much love you put into it.” That was Mother Teresa.
The truth is, we don’t really know what will happen when we
decide to follow our call. It may just
be that extraordinary things do happen when we start to do small
things with great love. Or it may be
that ordinary things happen-- but that they have an extraordinary effect on
someone, somewhere. And we may never
even know about it. And like Samuel, we
may falter a bit at first. We may jump
up and say— “Here I am Lord!” Only to be
faced with a brick wall or a frustrating road ahead. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t called. It just means that we have to keep on listening. We must continuously present ourselves before
God, and respond just as Samuel himself responded—by saying “speak Lord, for
your servants are listening.”
This week, I have an experiment for you to try. When you wake up in the morning, or when you
go to bed at night, say these words: Speak
Lord, for your servant is listening. Then—and here is the most important part-- actually listen. Listen for God’s still small voice. Try this every day for a week. And see what happens.
Speak Lord, for your servants are listening.
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