Embrace the Call
We all have different journeys. Different cards we
are dealt. Each of us, because of our upbringings, have assets and gifts that
we bring to the table from our personal histories. We also have challenges and
limitations we face based upon our personal histories.
God was good enough to bless me with a wonderful
wife, two super cool little kids, and a dog named Jake. Now, I don’t worry too
much about the dog, but I do, at times, get concerned about my wife and
children.
One of the things that I get concerned about from
time to time is how their life has been altered because of my choice to accept
the call of Christ to full-time Christian ministry. Sometimes, I believe it is
an asset to be in a preacher’s family. Other times, I believe it is a burden
that has been placed upon them.
With Jennifer, I worry about expectations people
have for her. You know the expectations. Big poofy, bouffant hair. Perhaps a
beehive. Playing the piano. Having a southern accent. Dressing her husband in a
shiny suit with a pinky ring. Making sure his toupee is on just right. All
while playing the piano perfectly. And, of course, Jennifer fits none of those
expectations.
Then there are the kids.The other day, Karis and I
were playing on the floor. “Pastor,” she said, “could you come here for a
second.”
“Don’t call me ‘Pastor’ Karis, call me Daddy,” I
said.
But she kept insisting. PASTOR. PASTOR. PASTOR.
Jennifer asked, “What does Pastor do?”.
“He talks to people, and tells them what to do,”
she said.
The conversation went from there. I thought I was
in some clerical twilight zone, where my child was having some alien, aberrant
experience on Planet Pastor. It was creepy.
I think of my friends who are PKs. One is a
fundamentalist pastor in the country near Kannapolis, NC. He and his brother
married sisters from one of the countries that lived on the Eastern end of the
former Soviet Union. The other two are atheists.
I say all of this concerns me at times, and it
does. But I am also aware of this, God has called me for as long as he has
called me to do full-time Christian ministry. And that will have its challenges
and its joys for all of us. But, it is our job to EMBRACE THE CALL. The call of
God to say what he wants me to say, to go where he wants us to go, and to do
what he wants us to do.
Jeremiah was a son of a priest. He grew up in a
town called Anatoth. Anatoth was known for having a priest that was on the
wrong side of a battle for who would be king three hundred years before
Jeremiah was born. The priest Abiathar, after David died, stood on the side of
Solomon’s brother in his quest for the Kingdom of Israel. When Solomon took
power, he banished him from Jerusalem and sent him back to Anatoth.
Jeremiah grew up a pastor’s kid. And then, while
he was young, perhaps in junior high, he hears God call him into the ministry. God
says from the moment he was conceived God had a plan for Jeremiah. He was to be
a prophet to the nations. He was to tell people God’s Word, often stepping on
their toes, and he was to say what God told him to say whether the people who
listened to Jeremiah wanted to hear it or not. And almost immediately, Jeremiah
balks.
“Ummm. God…first of all, I am not a good speaker.
Secondly, I am too young…” You see, Jeremiah was a priest’s son. He had seen
the life prophets had. He had been the preacher’s kid, and so he was making the
excuses on why he could not do what he felt God calling him to do.
I know how he feels. Why would God call me? No
matter how much I try and improve my voice, I am still going to sound like I
grew up among a bunch of loggers and mill workers in Southern Oregon. I am fat
and balding. There is no way I am going to have that glossy, full-head of hair
like Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, or David Jeremiah.
“Don’t say, ‘I am too young’” God replies in the
middle of Jeremiah’s excuses, “you are going to say what I want you to say, you
are going to go where I want you to go, and I am going to be with you” He
actually says that he would rescue Jeremiah, which if I were Jeremiah I would
start to have questions about what I am going to be rescued from.
God tells Jeremiah he is going to be used to
uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant. His
words will be powerful Words. Hard words. God’s words.
God’s call comes to Jeremiah. It is not an easy
call, but he has the courage to take it on. He embraces the call of God.
Now, with churches that have positions like a
pastor, as ours does, or elders, or bishops, or deacons, it can be easy to
think only some special ones of us are called by God. The rest of us, well, we
are just along for the ride, trying to do what that strange creature called the
“Pastor” tells us to do.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The truth is that each and every one of us, as we
began this summer discussing, has gifts from God, to be used in God’s service, to
bring God glory.
Each and every one of us, Psalm 139 says, was knit
together in our mother’s womb. Each and every one of us has been given skills,
abilities, as well as gifts from God to serve Christ and his kingdom. Each of
us has also been given opportunities, whether we feel gifted or not, to do our
part to be a signpost for God, speaking his word, pointing with our lives like
an arrow to heaven.
The book of Revelation calls us a kingdom of
priests. Each with a unique call that God has given us, to be who he has made
us to be. He calls each of us into small and large acts of obedience in service
to his church and his kingdom. I challenge you: EMBRACE THAT CALL.
You know that person you have been avoiding,
because you know if you say hi to them or drop by their home they will be
talking with you for an hour about every ailment they have and every difficulty
everyone around them is going through. You know God is leading you to visit
with them, because you know they are lonely, and they need your attention and
your Christian love. Obey that prompting of the Holy Spirit. EMBRACE THE CALL.
You have thought about going on a mission trip for
years. Maybe to Haiti. Maybe somewhere else. You are nervous about travelling.
You are afraid you are going to get sick. You wonder if the people you are
going to work with will like you, or want to deal with you. You think maybe you
are too old for such ventures. STOP with your EXCUSES. If God is leading you to
go, EMBRACE THE CALL.
You work with this person who has gone through a
lot in the last year. And because they have had to struggle with a lot, they
are beginning to wonder if there is more to life than just working, eating,
running errands, and going to sleep. You sense that they might be open to
hearing about Jesus Christ, and how having a personal relationship with Christ
can change their life for the better, adding hope and joy and purpose to their
lives. You are nervous about sharing your faith. You are wondering if your
friend would think you are a freak, or you worry that you will not find the
right words when you need them. Put your excuses behind you. EMBRACE THE CALL.
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