pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: Call


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When He Calls

“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance…” (verse 34).  On the day you stand before the Lord, do you hope to hear those words of acceptance and inclusion?  I sure do.  But today’s parable is about how some who think they are “in” are sent away from heaven and into eternal punishment.

Evidently the filter for our eternal destination is not totally about whether or not we believe in God or Jesus.  It is not about the career we had or how much wealth, possessions, or status we accummulated.  It is not even really about if we were regular chuch attenders or consistent givers to the church.  Instead of caring about who we were or what we had, Jesus appears to be more concerned about how we live our lives – about the condition of our hearts.

In today’s parable Jesus chooses serving the poor and powerless as the filter.  The inheritance we all want went to those who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited the prisoner.  And moreso than if we did any of these things, Jesus is concerned with how we did them.  When one works with another in need, is it out of love and compassion, so you see them as Jesus did?  Or is one there because they have to be or because it is the ‘right thing to do’?

“Whatever you did not do to the least of these, you did not do for me” (verse 45) was Jesus’ response to those who thought they were “in” but were not.  It is not that we all have to be in full time ministy to the poor, but it is really about how we respond when God calls.  Are we willing to lovingly serve those God places before us or to give our time or gifts when they are needed?  Do we hear God’s voice speaking through the Holy Spirit?  Do we answer His call?  And most importantly, when we do answer, do we see Jesus in all we meet and in all the situations that God calls us to?

Scripture reference: Matthew 25: 31-46


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God Partner

God is a giver.  God is a creator.  God calls us to partner with Him, to work along with Him, and to be faithful to Him in how we give and create.

God, as creator of life, gives us children as a gift and as our heritage.  Within the miracle of birth, we have a role to play.  Together with God we collaborate and cooperate, but it is God alone who plants the divine spark within us.  Then as parents, teachers, mentors, and as fellow Christians, we work together with God to nurture this spark into a life lived for God.

God, as creator of new life, gives us opportunities to be in ministry to those around us.  Again, we do this in collaboration and cooperation with God’s guidance and efforts.  Just as we seek to bring our children up in the faith, we also seek to share our faith with others.  In our work and social circles we are called to respond to the opportunities God provides.  Sometimes this is to bring healing or hope; sometimes to bring encouragement or blessings; sometimes to build up or to help; or, sometimes to simply be present or to listen.

God prompts us through the Holy Spirit to recognize and respond to His activity in our lives and in the world.  When we do so, we partner with God to bring and make His divine love real in the world.  Through us, our colleagues and friends can begin to experience self-giving love – both God’s and ours – as their initial call to faith or as a way to again begin to walk with God in their life.  In this, our role is vital.  Lord, make me willing and obedient to Your call today.

Scripture reference: Psalm 127


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Call in Faith

In the New Testament we encounter people such as Bartimaeus – people who come to Jesus to find healing.  They do no come hoping He can heal them. They come knowing He can heal them.  There is a big difference.

In a lot of these cases, Jesus assures them that it is their faith that has made them well.  It is the difference between hoping and knowing.  He reassures them that it is their faith that has brought them to Him and their faith that has driven the healing.  Like the man by the pool, like the woman with the bleeding problem, like the centurion, Bartimaeus did what he needed to do to be close enough to Jesus to find healing.

Two thousand years later many people still long for Jesus’ touch and for healing from Him.  We cannot be physically touched by Jesus but in faith we call on His name and know that He will draw near.  In faith we ask Jesus for those things we need to find healing and wholeness.  When we experience His presence and healing, it is still for one of the reasons people in Jesus’ day did: to restore them to a full life or to begin them on their journey as a new creation in Christ.

When we pray to Jesus for healing or to restore a broken relationship or… , sometimes the healing in physical. sometimes it is emotional, sometimes it is spiritual, and sometimes it is a combination of these.  Whatever the case, in faith we call out and in faith we know that Jesus will draw near.  It is through His presence in our times of need that we grow in our faith, just like Bartimaeus did.  In faith, call on His name – shout it out if you have too – and lean into His arms.

Scripture reference: Mark 10: 46-52


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Come

“Son of David, have mercy on me!”  That was blind Bartimaeus’ call that day as Jesus was passing by.  We do not know if he was in his usual spot to beg or if Bartimaeus was there on purpose.  If so, we can assume he needed help getting there.  We can also assume that Bartimaeus knew that Jesus could heal him.  But first he must gain an audience with Jesus so he calls out as he senses Jesus drawing near.  When he is rebuked and told to be quiet, Bartimaeus shouts all the more.

At times we are in Bartimaeus’ position.  Maybe we are not physically blind but we maybe have a physical need or maybe we need a relationship healed or maybe we need a situation fixed.  Although Jesus is not physically present to us today, we often will cry out to Him.  And we can do so at any time because Jesus is always present to us!

Bartimaeus was bold in his request.  He made enough of a commotion to be heard and for Jesus to stop and call for him.  Then he told Jesus his desire: to see again.  Bartimaeus had enough faith in Jesus already to believe that He could restore his sight.  He was persistent enough to get Jesus’ attention.  Jesus probably knew all of this before He called for Bartimaeus.  After being healed, Bartimaeus joined in and followed Jesus down the road.  Jesus probably knew that this would happen too.

When we call out to Jesus, do we too expect that He will give us an audience?  Do we truly believe that He can do what we are asking?  Jesus will respond according to the will of the Father.  He is faithful and true.  He hears all of our prayers and callings.  We simple need to continue to do what He calls us to do: come.

Scripture reference: Mark 10: 46-52


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Along with Christ

It is a holy and sacred privilege when we are able to minister to someone.  This can occur in the pastor’s office or in the front pew of the church.  It can happen at the break table at work or on the bleachers at the soccer game.  While it is true that the pastor receives a call from God to minister to the people, all Christians are commissioned by Christ to share the good news found in faith in Jesus Christ.

On the cover of our bulletin it lists Greg and I as ‘pastors’ and lists the congregation as ‘ministers’.  In some cases the situation at hand calls for one specifically trained for just such a time.  Yet in some cases it is one’s life experiences that qualify one to offer ministry to another in their time of need.  The pastor can offer care and empathy to one who has lost a spouse, for example.  But a fellow Christian who has walked through that can offer this and more.

In those times we feel led to come alongside one another and to offer love, support, encouragement, … we must also remember that we do not walk alone.  Jesus is also with us.  The incarnate Christ walked this earth and experienced life.  In those sacred moments when we are called to minister to one another, Christ walks beside us too.  His love, care, presence, and power flow through us and into the life of the one in need.  In faith may we respond to His call, offering the love and light of Jesus to one in need.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 5: 1-10


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God > world

Sometimes God picks people we least expect.  God sees in a way that we usually do not.  His vision for all that could be far exceeds our limited vision for the future and for the possibilities that could be.  His practice is also to develop those He selects.  He did not choose David and make him king immediately.  Over time God slowly developed this young shepherd.

Although God does not call you or me to be a great king, He calls us as surely as He called David, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Saul, Peter…  And He will continue to call us.  He will call as many times as it takes.  God has a purpose for our lives.  It may just to affect and witness to one person or it my be to many.  Maybe it is just to our family and a few friends.  We will never know until we faithfully respond to the call and step out in a faith that shows we know God is in control.  In a willing servant, the Holy Spirit can and will do a mighty work.

God also calls groups of people.  This could be a family, a small group, or a church.  The promise is that where two or more are gathered in His name, He will be present.  God has visions and plans for each of the groups we are in and especially for our churches.  While God desires our praise and worship, that is certainly not all that He calls the church to.  If it ends there our churches are just a shell of what they could be.  A faithful response is all the God seeks.  It is all He needs.  Like with David and many others, God will lay the groundwork, raise up and develop the right leaders, and will take us to great new ministries.  Holy Spirit come.  Lead us and our churches.  Come!

Scripture reference: 1 Samuel 16: 8-13


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Answering the Question

Most of us do not have a vision experience like Isaiah – winged creatures, smoke filling the room, trembles that shake the foundations.  For most of us, our encounters with God tend to be on the quieter side.  We do not hear an audible voice asking the question: “Whom shall I send?”  But we do often hear the question.

For many of us though, we are adept at acting like we do not hear the question.  Like a phone ringing that we choose not to answer or a text message that we choose to ignore, it can be easy to avoid responding to the question.  We certainly could not avoid the question if our call experience was like Isaiah’s.  And for some, God’s call approaches this scale.  But for most it does not.

God continues to actively call each of us.  It could be through something we see on TV or read in the paper or observe out in the world.  It could be through the words of another who encourage us or ask us to join them.  It could be through an encounter with someone that somehow strikes a passion within us.  God speaks to us in many ways.  He calls for us to minister to His people over and  over and over.

The voice never goes away.  He never ceases to ask the question.  The call never ends.  But the more we hear it, the more we have the opportunity to tune in and to hear God.  Funny thing though, saying ‘yes’ does not make the call go away.  It makes the next call clearer.  It helps us say ‘yes’ quicker next time.  When God asks “Whom shall I send?”, the answer is clear.  In each case, God already knows the answer to the question.  May we respond with the answer He longs for: “Here I am.  Send me.”  For where He leads we are to go.  And where we go, He will be there too.

Scripture reference: Isaiah 6: 1-8


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Thank You Prayer

Thank you for faith.  Thank you Lord for being a part of my life, for allowing me to live in a time and place when and where I can know you.  It is a blessing not only to have the opportunity to know you but to also be able to publicly worship, proclaim, and follow you.

Thank you for your Spirit.  Thank you for giving me your Spirit to dwell within me, for the wisdom and revelation that it brings me.  It allows me to be your disciple.  It allows me the ways to come to know you more.

Thank you for your call.  Continue to open my eyes and soften my heart for the things that break your heart O Lord.  Help me to cling to the hope I find in this love and in the eternal life which you promised to all who believe.

Thank you for your mighty power.  Thank you for your great power which works in the world and in my life. This heart that struggles needs your strength every day.  Fill me with the courage to live each day knowing your power and authority is all that matters.

Thank you for being the head of the church.  In you alone is the example of true servant leadership.  Bind my will to yours.  Place all of my desires behind yours and those around me each day.  Fill me with you in every way Lord Jesus.  Amen.

Scripture reference: Ephesians 1: 15-23


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Faithful to Our Call

After the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus the disciples were told to wait.  The Holy Spirit had been promised to them by Jesus, but it does not come right away.  Fresh from seeing and learning from the resurrected Jesus, they must now wait.

As a few moments turn into an hour and the hours stretch into days, the waiting must have gotten harder and harder.  plus they must have been filled with excitement over what was to come.  Can you remember waiting and waiting for something promised that just never seemed to come?  For myself I best relate this waiting for a child to come home from a night out.  Eleven becomes twelve and twelve becomes one.  The cell phone is not answered.

In those instances of waiting, God calls us to be faithful.  As I wait for a child, I pray for them.  I place my trust and them in God’s hands.  In these moments we pray, but we may also read scripture, sing a hymn or song, and pray some more.  God does not expect or want us to be idle as we wait for Him to act in our world.

As the disciples waited on the Holy Spirit’s arrival they did not wait either.  One of the twelve, Judas, was no longer with them.  Peter urges them to appoint a new disciple.  Peter encourages them to choose one who has been with them from the beginning right through the present time.  Being present from John the Baptist through the miracles, teachings, death, resurrection, and ascension are the requirements of the job.

Of course we were not there for all of these events, but we can read of them.  We can come to know Jesus and His example.  We can put these things into practice in how we live our life.  We can live as Jesus did, pray as He did, honor God as He did.  May we be faithful to our calling.

Scripture reference: Acts 1: 15-17 and 21-22