Called By God

Psalm 40:3-10; Isaiah 49:1-7; John 1:29-42; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Piney River Baptist Church—Lowesville, VA

20 January 2008

All four readings today are about people who have been called: called to go and tell others the story of who God is. In Isaiah, God tells his servant that recovering the tribes of Jacob isn’t a big enough job. The servant’s job is to be “a light for the nations so that [God’s] salvation becomes global!” Salvation wasn’t to be just for the servant who already knew the story. It was to be for the whole world! It was to be for those who would be hearing God’s story as told to them by the servant called by God to tell God’s story.

The Psalm for today says, “I’ve preached you to the whole congregation, I’ve kept back nothing, God – you know that. I didn’t keep the news of your ways a secret, didn’t keep it to myself. I told it all, how dependable your are, how thorough. I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth for myself alone. I told it all, let the congregation know the whole story.” (Psalm 40:9-10; The Message)

When Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, he reminds them of his having “been called and sent by Jesus” and speaks of the evidence, or story, of Christ that had been “clearly verified in [their] lives.”

Our Gospel reading today begins with John’s story of being called by God. When John saw Jesus coming towards him, he called out “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” He told his followers that God had called him to prepare Israel to recognize God’s son, and then said that HE didn’t even recognize God’s son until baptizing Jesus and seeing the Spirit of God come down on Jesus. Again, John affirmed that Jesus was the Son of God.

The very next day, John was talking with two of his disciples and saw Jesus again. “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb,” John said, again. The two disciples immediately ran after Jesus. After spending a little time with Jesus, Andrew ran off to find his brother, Simon, to tell him that they’d found the Messiah. He then led Simon to Jesus. From our knowledge of the Biblical story, we know that both Andrew and Simon Peter were called to become disciples of Jesus.

The servant we heard about in our reading of Isaiah, the Psalmist, Paul, the Corinthians, John the baptizer, Andrew and Simon were all special people, called by God to tell His story – to be the ones to show all people God’s salvation.

That’s great! But what does that have to do with us today?

We also are called by God to show all people God’s salvation. Each and every one of us has been called. This isn’t a job that God only called the pastor to do. It isn’t a job that God called the deacons of the church to do. It is a job that every person who has ever accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of their life is not only called to do, but expected to do.

Many of us have a hard time with this.

It’s hard enough to pray and read the Bible daily in the privacy of our homes, and to do all the good things that we know we ought to do
—— without thinking about being someone like John who, in the middle of a crowd that doesn’t know him (or even want to hear him), starts yelling out “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” —— without trying to imagine going to people of other nations to tell them about God’s salvation so that salvation can become “global” like it said in Isaiah. —— without having to stand up like a preacher in front of a whole congregation and tell them EVERYTHING about God. —— without having to be like that “weirdo” who carries his Bible with him everywhere he goes and prays before all his meals

It’s hard!

But, you know, I think most of us feel inadequate most of the time.

When I was eight years old, I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. It wasn’t long after that I had my first experience in trying to help someone else come to know Jesus as THEIR personal Lord and Savior. I went to church so much that I jokingly told people that the church was where I lived! I read my Bible, I prayed, I looked over my Sunday School lessons and tried to learn the verses that we were supposed to memorize.

Our youth group went to Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center one year and the pastor gave an invitation specifically for people who felt called to go into missions. One of my friends went forward to say that she felt that God was calling her into missions. When she stepped out into the aisle, she looked back at me. It took every bit of strength I had in me to NOT go forward. I felt God’s call but I knew that I must have been imagining things. All of my inadequacies and fears, kept me from responding to what I knew God wanted me to do.

Every one of you has probably felt many of the same inadequacies and fears I felt. Many of us keep them well hidden, like I did and still try to do.

I knew that God wasn’t calling ME to do anything for him because
—— I couldn’t memorize scriptures and ANYone that is called by God has LOTS of Bible verses memorized. —— I was scared to death to get in front of people and talk and ANYone that is called by God has to be able to talk in front of people. —— I did too many things that I knew were wrong and ANYone that is called by God hardly does ANYthing wrong.

Well… Guess what?

I STILL am lousy at memorizing scripture. (I might could sing it for you in Spanish or Portuguese!) I STILL am scared to death to get up in front of people and talk. (Could you tell when I first got up to speak, or did I do a good enough job of hiding it?) I STILL do all kinds of things that are wrong. (Just ask my husband or children!)

But, it doesn’t matter. God still called me, and he is still calling each and every one of you who has accepted him as Lord and Savior.

Paul said it perfectly for me, and for each of you…

“Just think – [I] don’t need a thing, [I’ve] got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of [me] as [I] wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep [me] steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got [me] started in this spiritual adventure, shares with [me] the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on [me]. Never forget that.” (1 Corinthians 1:7-9; The Message)

“He will never give up on you. Never forget that.”

—©2008 Karen E. Goforth Harbin