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06.21.09

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

SERMON SERIES: QUESTIONS FOR GOD

SERIES 3: VOCATION/FAITHFULNESS IN LIFE & WITNESS

PART 2: HOW DOES GOD PICK SERVANTS?

EXODUS 3:1-10; ACTS 9:10-19

The Call of God

“Who, me?”

Jerry was a member of my congregation in Ohio

Although he and his wife, Jane, were several years older than Janie and me, having children in Jr. high and high school while ours were infants and toddlers, the four of us became fast friends
Jerry was an elder, taught an adult Sunday School class, and sang in the choir
Jane was active in the women’s group and served as one of our volunteer parish nurses
A large part of their life revolved around the church
When Jerry wasn’t involved in something at the church, he made his living as a department manager at the local power plant

Jerry came to see me one day and it was obvious he had something on his mind

We chatted for awhile before Jerry was willing to talk about what brought him to see me
“Russ,” Jerry said, “I sense that I’m being led to enroll in the new Commissioned Lay Pastor training program the presbytery is offering.”
Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery was one of the first presbyteries in the nation to offer such a program
We talked for a long time about his sense of God’s call on his life and his gifts for this kind of ministry

Jerry was excited yet hesitant, confident yet confused

There were a lot of issues for him to sort through, most of them related to time
We talked about how he would find the time to attend the rigorous training sessions the presbytery required while working his job at the power plant and being a husband and father to his wife and kids
We talked about how this new ministry would limit his service to his home church, which he loved
We also talked about his level of involvement in the presbytery should he decide to become a Commissioned Lay Pastor
Jerry was in his mid-forties—about twenty years away from retirement—and he wasn’t ready to completely walk away from the security his power plant job provided, especially since he had three teenage daughters at home that he’d have to put through college

After a long time of talking, praying and reflecting on Scripture, Jerry left to further ponder our conversation

A few days later, Jerry returned, and in his hand was his application for the Commissioned Lay Pastor program
He asked me if I would sign it and present it to session for their endorsement, which I was more than excited to do
Jerry’s application was accepted, and following the extensive training program, Jerry became the first Commissioned Lay Pastor in Upper Ohio Valley Presbytery
For a number of years, Jerry continued to work his full-time job during the day and serve a couple of small congregations as Lay Pastor part-time on evenings and weekends

The Power of Faithful Living

After his youngest daughter graduated from high school and was well on her way through college, Jerry took an early retirement from the power plant to serve as a full-time Lay Pastor

He was assigned by the presbytery to a small church in Chester,, WV
When he arrived, that church was on the verge of closing its doors
The membership had dwindled, the Sunday School had failed, and the church was struggling to make ends meet
Through Jerry’s devotion to his call and his love for the people throughout the eight years of his ministry there—with the help of the Holy Spirit—Jerry’s ministry transformed that church into a vibrant, vital, and growing congregation

While serving this church as pastor, Jerry died very suddenly in May 2003 of a blood infection

I made the trip from New York to Ohio to participate in the funeral of my friend
In all my years of ministry, I have never conducted a funeral for such a large crowd
The large funeral chapel was filled to capacity and the crowd overflowed into the lobby and out into the street
This enormous crowd of mourners is a testimony to the number of lives Jerry touched through the years of his ministry

Jerry was an ordinary person

He was no different than any one of us
He lived an ordinary life in an ordinary community, facing the same struggles and trials we all face
In the midst of his ordinary life, Jerry received a call from God
Jerry lived his ordinary life in an extraordinary way as he responded to the call of God upon his life, doing his very best to be faithful to that call
Like so many of us, Jerry questioned why God called him to serve in this way
The only answer I could give him was that he had what God needed for that particular place at that particular time

How God Calls

Moses

I have summarized our question for this week in the sermon title as “How does God pick servants?”

The full question as it was submitted was a two-part question: “How does God know who to pick for different jobs in his service?” and “Why does God choose certain people over others for his work?”
The stories of Moses and Saul will help us understand how God works and why God chooses the people God chooses

Moses was going about his daily routine and minding his own business when God broke into his life

As he was routinely tending the sheep of his father-in-law, Moses encountered a bush that was on fire but not consumed
As Moses turned aside to investigate this strange happening, the voice of God spoke to him
As the conversation ensued, God revealed to Moses the purpose of God’s breaking into his life in this way
That purpose was for Moses to return to Egypt and lead God’s people out of captivity
The central verse of this text is verse 10: “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

As the story continues through chapter 4, verse 17, Moses offers a number of objections: “Who am I that I should go?” (3:11); “Whom shall I say has sent me?” (3:13); “What if they don’t believe me?” (4:1); and “I’m not a good speaker” (4:10)

Moses was simply trying to make excuses because he was scared to return to Egypt
He fled Egypt as a fugitive after murdering an Egyptian slave master, and to return there would put his own life in jeopardy
Yet, Moses was the best person for the job God needed done
You see, Moses was a double citizen—he was a Hebrew by birth, but raised as an Egyptian in the house of Pharaoh
He was placed in a basket in the Nile by his mother after his birth to save his life since Pharaoh ordered all male Hebrew babies to be killed, and he was rescued from the river by Pharaoh’s daughter who raised him as her son

Who would better understand both sides of this dilemma than Moses?

He knew the plight of his people and the oppression they suffered under slavery
His desire to protect his people from suffering is what motivated him to kill the Egyptian slave master
And being raised in the house of Pharaoh, he understood the politics of Egypt
This experience made him the best candidate for the job

Despite his objections and his attempts to weasel his way out of his calling, Moses went, with his brother Aaron at his side

The task before him was daunting, but with the power of God on his side he was successful
Because of his faithfulness to God’s call, Moses became the most revered leader in Israel’s history

Saul

Saul was a viscous man who had a passionate hatred for Christians

As a devout Jew, Saul believed his mission in life was to exterminate this new religious sect
Saul was personally responsible for the arrest and execution of hundreds of Christians during the early days of the church
He was a major player in the persecution the early believers faced
On the road to Damascus to persecute the Christians there, Saul was blinded by a brilliant flash of light, and he heard the voice of Jesus say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (9:4)
With his sight gone, he was led to Damascus by his fellow travelers to await further instructions from the Lord

We pick up the story after his Damascus Road experience

Saul is in the house of a man named Judas
Simultaneously, Saul and another man named Annanias had a vision
Saul had a vision of a man named Annanias coming to lay hands on him and heal him of his blindness
Annanias had a vision of Jesus who instructed him to go to Judas’ house to heal Saul
Knowing Saul’s history, Annanias was fearful
Yet, Jesus had a plan for Saul’s life: “Go!” Jesus said. “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.”

Faithful to the Lord’s call, Annanias went, welcomed Saul as a brother, and healed him of his blindness

Faithful to the Lord’s call, Saul’s life was completely transformed, and even his name was changed from Saul to Paul
His passionate hatred toward the followers of Christ was transformed into a passionate love for Jesus his Savior
With the same passion Saul used to persecute the early church, Paul used it to win converts for Jesus Christ, becoming the greatest Christian missionary the world has ever known

God’s Call to Us

How does God choose servants?

Certainly, God chooses them based upon the experiences they have had and the passion they have for living
But experienced and passionate people aren’t the only ones God chooses
Sometimes God chooses the inexperienced to give them an experience with the power of God
Sometimes God chooses hesitant, and even rebellious, people so they might learn how much they can accomplish when they commit their life to God

Always God calls sinners to faith and service

God never calls a perfect person because no such person exists, save Jesus
And God calls sinners so that we might experience the transforming power of God’s love and grace and use our gifts to transform the lives of others with that same love and grace of God
And don’t expect a burning bush or a blinding flash of light because God doesn’t always have a flair for the dramatic
So often, God’s call comes in more subtle ways—during the ordinary experiences of everyday living—just as it was for Moses, for Saul,…and for Jerry

There are numerous factors God considers when God calls people to service, far too numerous for us to even imagine

But we can be sure that the people God calls have the gifts God needs to do the work God wants done in that particular place at that particular time
What is God calling you to do?