Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Isaiah 49:1-7; John 1:29-42 January 20, 2008

“Called”
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

Last week we were learning what it meant to be a chosen servant of God. Here’s a quick review: According to Isaiah 42 and Matthew 3, to be a chosen servant of God means you are “upheld by God and delighted in by God. It means your name is being called to go and work for justice in the world. It means you’ve got the Holy Spirit within you, and it means you’re not going to draw a bunch of attention to yourself when things are or aren’t going your way in your pursuit of justice. Being a chosen servant of God means you are committed to caring for the weak, the lost, and the lonely, and it means you won’t quit no matter what. There’s no such word as “retirement” for a chosen servant of God. Being a chosen servant of God means God is your strength, and God has you covered. Being a chosen servant of God means you get to be a freedom rider for those in bondage to the works of the devil, and it means you work for his glory, not your own. A chosen servant is not afraid of the future, for God has promised to prepare us for whatever is coming, and a chosen servant is always more ready to listen to God than to utter a useless phrase. The chosen servant of God is called to obedience to God’s plan, for this chosen servant understands that only in obedience will we fully hear the voice of God to know what’s next in the battle for justice in the world.”
That’s what it means to be chosen servant of God. That’s what a chosen life should look like. And how do you know you are chosen by God so that all those things apply to your life? You are chosen if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 10:9). You can’t confess or believe those things unless God has chosen you. It doesn’t mean you don’t doubt sometimes. But being chosen by God means that in the core of your heart, you believe in the Lordship of Christ because for you, not believing is not being true to what you already know is true. Real peace comes when you acknowledge your belief in Jesus and receive the privilege of mercy, and the responsibility of justice that comes to every chosen son and daughter of God.
Now, chosen ones, let’s listen to what comes next:

Isaiah 49:1-7
Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my cause is with the LORD, and my reward with my God.” And now the LORD says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, “Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

I distinctly remember where I was when I first heard the words of this chapter in Isaiah. Probably over the years I listened to, or read the words in Bible study or devotions, but it was about 4 years ago when I really heard some of these words in a living way. John and I went together to a Wee Kirk conference sponsored by Presbyterians for Renewal. The word “kirk” is the Scottish name for church, and the word “wee,” is a childish word for small.  Here’s the mission expressed on the website of the Wee Kirk Ministry:
Wee Kirk Ministry
Small Churches. Big Dreams.
The purpose of the Wee Kirk Ministry is to inspire, equip,
motivate, encourage and provide rest and refreshment for pastors
and elders of small Presbyterian churches.

That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it, especially since the average church in the United States “attracts” fewer than 100 adults on a Sunday morning. So John and I went, expecting to learn and experience great things. Unfortunately, it was a ‘downer’ for us. Pastors and elders sat at meal tables together and commiserated over the common theme: “Our churches are small, our dreams are big. Oh my, oh dear, oh my.” I don’t know how to describe it, except to say that it wasn’t inspiring, equipping, motivating, encouraging, or restful for us. It was downright depressing. By the second day, we wanted to leave. But, we stayed, trusting that there was something important there for us and for you.
One of the speakers used this passage from Isaiah 49 as his text. He focused in on verse 6: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” He was trying to say to pastors of small churches, “It’s too small a thing that you should only do small, do-able things. Do great things for God – things that only God can do through you!” I heard him – but all the Eeyore’s in the room won the battle for the atmosphere at that conference.
This verse is like saying, “It is too small a thing that we should go to Iraq and free a people oppressed by a dictatorship. Let’s go free the whole world from oppression!”
This is like saying, “It is too small a thing that you would take care of 20 children through compassion international’s ministry. Go feed all the hungry children of the world!”
This passage of Scripture isn’t about what it means to be chosen. This passage of Scripture is moving from being chosen, to teaching about what it means to be called.
Isaiah, now known as a true prophet from God, tells us in this passage that he was called by God before he was born, while he was still in his mother’s womb. To be called by God is to have God give you a name that matches an expressed purpose God has for your life. Listen to what Isaiah says, “He made my mouth like a sharp sword.” The work of a prophet is the work of a sharp sword. The purpose of a prophet’s words are to cut off unrighteousness for the sake of holiness. Before he was born, Isaiah was called to be a prophet. He tells us, “in the shadow of his hand he hid me, he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.” God chose, God called, and God prepared Isaiah for the work set before him. Now, I don’t know how God made Isaiah into an arrow in the quiver, ready to be used at God’s command. But, we do know that Isaiah submitted to God’s preparations by the ministry of prophecy he fulfilled.
If God chooses us, God calls us. When God calls us, God will prepare us to fulfill that calling if we are willing to submit to the process of preparation.
Have you ever wanted to do something, but you didn’t really want to go through all the preparation, didn’t want to submit to the process?
I can’t tell you how many engaged couples have told me about a month or two before the wedding how they wished they had just eloped. The preparations were getting to them.
How many times have little children just tried to get out the door to go play in the snow, without having to go through the sometimes agonizing preparation of the snowpants, boots, coat, hat, and mittens?
This coming Thursday I’m having a colonoscopy. I will be working at home on Wednesday in order to go through the required preparation. I really don’t want to do either.
If God chooses us, God calls us. When God calls us, God will prepare us to fulfill that calling if we are willing to submit to the process of preparation he sets out for us.
Back in the Gospel of John, after the readers have been introduced to John as the one called to prepare the way for Jesus, we read the following beginning in verse 29 of Chapter 1 (I’m going to read from The Message):
The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.” John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.” The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb.” The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, “What are you after?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.” They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, “Christ”). He immediately led him to Jesus. Jesus took one look up and said, “You’re John’s son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas” (or Peter, which means “Rock”).
Oh, there’s so much in there for us to learn! Jesus knows us and calls us by our name of purpose. Simon – Cephas – Peter, the Rock. Now for those who know something about the Bible, we might say, “Peter? The rock? Isn’t he the one who denied Jesus 3 times in a row on the night Jesus was arrested? That doesn’t seem too “rock-like” to me!”
But here’s the thing. Jesus takes the long view for us. He can see where we can go – what we can do – using all the circumstances in our lives for great Kingdom impact.
I’m reading a book entitled, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, by Mark Batterson. It’s a wonderful book inspired by the story of Benaiah from 2 Samuel. The Scripture tells us that Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit, and killed the lion in the pit on a snowy day. This victory gave him a spot on the bodyguard staff of King David! I’m serious! It’s there! 2 Samuel 23:20,21. The subtitle of the book is, “How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars!” I’d like to read several paragraphs from pp. 75 & 76. “For most of us, landing in a pit with a lion on a snowy day would certainly qualify as bad luck. But here is what you need to see: It is adversity [hard times, difficulty] that gave Benaiah an opportunity to distinguish himself as a warrior. No adversity equals no opportunity. Without those extremely adverse conditions, Benaiah would have faded from the script of Scripture. Adversity is often the seedbed of opportunity. Bad circumstances have a way of bringing the best out of us. Wild lions make valiant warriors just like rough seas make great sailors. Adversity is often a blessing in disguise. . . I’m convinced that the people God uses the most are often the people who have experienced the most adversity. Adversity can produce an increased capacity to serve God. What pits have you fallen into? What lions have you encountered? What giants have you faced? God wants to redeem the adversity you’ve experienced. He wants to recycle your adversity and turn it into a ministry. I know many people whose adversity has become their ministry. They go through a painful divorce or the death of a child or a destructive addiction, but God helps them climb out of the pit so they can help others in similar circumstances. God is in the business of recycling our pain and using it for someone else’s gain. . . No one rolls out the red carpet and invites tragedy into their life, but our greatest gifts and passions are often the byproduct of our worst tragedies and failures. Trials have a way of helping us rediscover our purpose in life.”
We are chosen by God to be servants of God in order to serve God and serve the needs of the people around us. God knows not just the name our parents gave us. Jesus knows the name that describes our true calling – like Peter, “the Rock,” who, 43 days after he denied even knowing Jesus, preached the most amazing sermon on the Day of Pentecost after he had learned the lesson of speaking up for Jesus when the opportunity is presented!
How are you doing at discovering and fulfilling your calling? We are chosen, but we are also called. Called to do what? Is it one specific thing? Is a category of things? How can we know?
Let’s go back to Isaiah’s words, remembering that God prepared this servant to fulfill his prophetic calling. God spoke to Isaiah – giving him words of encouragement and a vision for what he would do through him. Isaiah praised God and believed God’s words to make him a light to the nations. The chosen ones in John’s Gospel prepared for their calling by following Jesus. They confirmed their belief in him by the names they called him: Rabbi (Teacher); the Passover Lamb (the one who takes our sins upon himself); the Messiah, the Christ, the One promised from the beginning of history.
Part of knowing our calling, is submitting to who Jesus is in our individual lives as the Teacher, the Lamb of God, the Promised Messiah.
If we really treasure him as the Teacher, we should be spending intentional time listening to him (not just on Sunday, but every day of the week!) We should be studying his words!
If we really treasure him as the Passover Lamb, we should walk gratefully through times on the mountaintop and times in the valley, knowing our destination is assured because of his sacrifice! We should leave behind the grumbling, the gossiping, and the griping. What does it really get us anyway? Why can’t we look for what’s right instead of what’s wrong? If we really treasure him as the Lamb of God, we will live in resurrection hope!
And, if we really treasure Jesus as the only one who can bridge the gap between a sinful earth and holy Heaven, we need to fully submit to his Lordship in our lives through the power and conviction of his Holy Spirit within us. We can’t hang back and only engage on our terms if we’re serious about fulfilling our true calling.

Every chosen servant of God is called by God for a great purpose. Next week we’re going to look more at what God says about our calling – but in this week to come – I pray that all of us would sincerely seek to hear God’s voice through prayer and through the pages of the Bible. Just take the Scriptures we used today: Psalm 40, Isaiah 49, and John 1 – and allow God to speak to you about your specific calling. He can, and does, and will, use even me – and even you – way beyond our wee little hopes and wee little dreams. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). Amen.

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

01-20-08