Recognizing God's Call
By Rev. Julie Yarborough
August 27, 2006
(First preached on July 11, 1999)
1 Samuel 3: 1-18 and Mark 1: 16-20
sten to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”[1]
In the ancient
days of Eli and Samuel, the Word of the Lord was rare, and visions were not
widespread. In fact, messages from God
were so rare, that it took the high priest Eli quite a while to recognize that
it was God who was speaking to Samuel that night in the temple. We might say that the Word of the Lord is
pretty rare in our day and age, and that visions are not very common. Yet, Frederick Buechner reminds us that all
moments in life are key moments, and that if we listen to our lives; if we
really pay attention, we will recognize the presence of the Holy speaking to us
in the ordinary. God speaks to us in
many different ways, through many different means.
In her book Traveling
Mercies, Annie Lamott recalls an old story about a man sitting at a bar
getting drunk in Alaska. He's telling the bartender about how he
recently lost his faith in God after his twin engine plane crashed in the
tundra. “Yeah,” he says bitterly, I lay there in the wreckage praying with all
of my might and crying out to God to save me, and he didn't raise a finger to
help me. I ‘m through believing in a God
who doesn't care about what happens to me.”
“But you're here talking to me,” says the
bartender, “You were saved.”
“Yeah, that's right,” says the man,
“because finally some Eskimo came along. . . “[2]
God appears to us through many different people and
speaks to us in many different ways. If
we have a preconceived notion of what God looks like, or sounds like, we just
might miss her when she appears! The
voice of God does not always sound like Charleton Heston in Cecil B. Demille's,
“Ten Commandments.” Even Samuel confused
the voice of God with the voice of his mentor, Eli. God calls each one of us,
but we may not recognize God's voice.
When I say that
God calls each one of us, I simply mean that the Holy Spirit has a desire to
lead us and guide us throughout our lives. I don't mean that God is like a
great puppet-master sitting up in heaven pulling the strings and making us
dance around. But the one who created us all gave us different gifts and
desires, and we were given those gifts and desires for a reason. When we dedicate our lives to following
Christ, we are choosing to live as God would want us to live, and to use our
gifts for the greater good. God calls us
to be who we are – to live as authentically as we can. When we follow God's direction for our lives,
we are being who we were created to be.
The word vocation
is derived from the Latin word Vocare,
which means, “to call.” A vocation is a
calling, which sets it apart from being merely a job. Frederick Buechner puts
it this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness
and the world's deep hunger meet.”[3] God can
and does call us at different stages in our lives. For some people, the call is very clear and
there is no question about following it. Simon, Andrew, James and John did not hesitate to drop their nets and
follow Jesus, leaving the lives and the work that they knew well. For most of us, however, God's call is not so
clear and it takes a while to discern just what we are being called to do.
When Parker Palmer
was a young man, he was trying to figure out his own calling. He was trying “to find a vocation that seemed
real and right.”[4] At the time, he was living in a Quaker
community outside of Philadelphia. It seems that whenever he tried to talk to
any of his Quaker friends they told him, “Have faith, and the way will be made
know to you.” He was getting very
discouraged, because he had been praying and listening and nothing seemed clear
to him. One day, he went to visit an
older member of the community whom he admired. “Ruth,” he said, “I've tried many different kinds of work, but nothing
seemed right for me. My friends keep telling me that the way will open if I
have faith, yet I've been praying and the way is not being made clear to
me. Way may open for other people but it
sure isn't opening for me.”
After a moment
Ruth responded, “I've been a birthright Quaker for sixty-plus years, and way
has never opened for me, “ she responded. She paused and Palmer's heart sank. Could it be that the Quaker concept
of God's guidance was all a lie?
Then Ruth spoke
again, “But a lot of way has closed behind me – and that has the same guiding
effect.”
Together they
laughed aloud and in that moment Palmer realized a simple truth that re-framed
his spiritual life. He writes: “… There
is as much guidance from God in what does not happen and cannot happen in my
life as there is in what can and does happen. Maybe more.”[5]
One way that we
can determine call is if we are sensing a way opening before us, or a way being
cut off behind us. My husband refers to
this as looking for signs and blocks. When Jeff was trying to determine if God was calling him into the
ministry, he went to a wise woman for spiritual direction. She told him that if he wasn't sure, he
should try doing something else for a while. If God were calling him into the ministry, he wouldn't be able to avoid
it. When God calls us to be our
authentic selves, nothing else will bring a sense of satisfaction or
fulfillment.
Before I came to
serve Christ Church,
I spent a year working as an assistant manager of a bookstore. I liked my job, but something was missing
from my life. Over time, I became more
and more restless. I missed working in a
church and if I had ever had any doubts, my call to be in ministry was
confirmed for me that year. God not only
called me into ministry: God called me to this church! And I say that with confidence. After the
Christmas rush when I started looking for church positions, a friend suggested
that I call this pastor named Chuck Rush for advice about networking with
American Baptists in New Jersey. We talked on the phone for a while, and
decided to meet for lunch. Then he said,
“I don't know if you'd be interested, but we do have an Associate Pastor
position open here at Christ Church . . .” And you know the rest of the story.
If we want to
recognize the Divine call in our lives, we must first pay attention. We must look
for God in the ordinary, in the every day, and recognize that all moments are
holy and that life itself is grace. We
must be open to the possibility of the Holy
in our lives. We must be open to the possibility of the Holy in our lives! Samuel was tuned in to the Spirit. He didn't recognize the voice of God because
he didn't yet know the Lord, but he did know that the voice that called him was
a voice to which he should respond.
The first key to
recognizing God's call is to pay
attention – to pay attention to whatever is going on around us on the
outside, and to listen to that still small voice within. When our lives are not
fulfilling, or we dread going into our jobs, or even when we get fired, there
may be something better lying ahead, and the boredom, or the dread, or the fear
and anxiety may be just what we need to push us in a new direction.
A second key to
recognizing God's call, and one that is closely linked to the first, is to listen to other people. Samuel didn't recognize God's voice, but Eli
perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Eli gave Samuel instructions about what to do the next time that he
heard the voice. Often other people have
more clarity about what is going on in our lives than we do, because they can
step back and look at the situation more objectively. At times in our lives, especially those times
requiring discernment, it's important to seek out wise counsel. Friends, family members and even strangers
can be messengers for the Divine, often without realizing it! Listen
to other people.
Thirdly, when
attempting to discern whether God is calling you to act, pray about it. After going to Eli a third time, Samuel went back to
his mat and followed Eli's instructions: “Speak Lord, your servant is
listening,” he said. What a wonderful
prayer! If you're at a loss for words
this will suffice: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” If you don't feel comfortable asking for
something, just sit quietly and listen for the word of God. After praying for clarity, go back to step
one and pay attention. Look and listen for the answer. Be open to Holy possibility. Notice your thoughts and feelings. Be aware of signs and blocks. Look for Way to open before you, and notice
when Way closes behind you. Know that all
moments are Holy moments.
Finally, know also
that sometimes God calls us out of our
comfort zone. Quoting Micah 6:8, South African United Methodist Bishop
George Irvine has said, “If it's loving, if it's just, if it promotes right
relationships, and if it scares the hell out of you, it just might be a call
from God.” Samuel was afraid to do what
God told him to do. He didn't want to
bear such bad news to Eli, the man who had been like a father to him. But Eli knew that whatever Samuel had to say
must be said. God called Samuel to be a
prophetic priest, and for the rest of his life, he brought news from God that
the people didn't always want to hear. Samuel was called out of his comfort zone, yet scripture also tells us
that God stood by Samuel for the rest of his life. When we follow God's call, we can be assured
that God will guide us every step of the way. God often calls us to step into the unknown
and do things that require courage and faith on our part. When we are open to the leading of the
Spirit, and allow ourselves to step out in faith trusting that God will be
there to meet us, all sorts of wonderful things can happen.
“Listen to your
life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in
the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and
hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,
and life itself is grace.”[6]
Amen
[1]
Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick
Buechner, (New York:
HarperCollins, Publishers), 1992, p. 2.
[2]
Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies (New
York: Pantheon Books), 1999, p.117.
[3]
Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick
Buechner, (New York:
HarperCollins, Publishers), 1992, p. 185.
[4]
Parker J. Palmer, “On Minding Your Call - When No One is Calling, “ in Weavings,
Volume XI, Number 3, May/June 1996, p. 16.
[5]
Ibid.
[6]
Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick
Buechner, (New York:
HarperCollins, Publishers), 1992, p. 2.
© 2006
Julie Yarborough.
All rights reserved.
