Jeremiah had an unlikely calling. Only a child when God called him to be God’s prophet to the nations, Jeremiah was uncertain about God’s unlikely calling as he told God, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”
God was certain about God’s unlikely calling of Jeremiah as God told Jeremiah, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.”
Unlikely callings.
The apostle Paul, who wrote the scripture passage from I Corinthians, had an unlikely calling to share the message of Jesus Christ. He was a persecutor of the Church. People had died because of his zeal to destroy the Church, but in the midst of persecuting the Church, Paul heard God’s unlikely call to be a leader of the Church. Here is the story of Paul’s unlikely calling from Acts 9:1-6:
Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
Unlikely callings.
Jesus was called to be an unlikely Messiah. In Jesus’ day, Jewish religious hopes were based on the expectation that a powerful Messiah would lead a revolution for freedom. There was no room in this expectation for a Messiah who would walk on a path that led to the cross. Had Jesus, at the height of his popularity given the word, thousands of swords would have been raised and a revolt would have begun against the power of Rome. What a foolish Messiah Jesus was perceived to be as he walked to his crucifixion. The sign of a Messiah or “Christ crucified” on the cross was an unspeakable offense.”
- 29, Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 10
Bob Harrington, in his book Faithful to the Lord, wrote about the forsaken path that Jesus chose to travel in the shadow of the cross.
Whenever Jesus Christ preached, he could get 5,000 people to listen to Him as long as He fed them! When Jesus cut the food and simply preached, only 500 showed up. One day Jesus said, “I’m not going to preach; all I want to do is come together and pray,” only 120 people showed up.
One day Jesus tried to recruit people who wouldn’t hear a sermon but would simply go out in pairs and to knock on doors. Only 70 showed up. … Jesus … recruited [people] who would let evangelism be a full-time job. Only 12 responded and even one of them was a reject.
One night Jesus said to the 11 He had left … tonight evangelism is going to get a little touchy. We are going to be witnessing to soldiers who are going to be trying to kill us. Only 3 of the 11 went with Him that night. Finally, Jesus said to the three, “This time our evangelism is going down a dead-end street. At the other end of it there’s going to be a cross.” Of the three, only one went with him – John.
Think of it – of the 5,000 who ate, and the 500 who listened, and the 120 who prayed, and the 70 who went, and the 11 who worked, and the 3 who dared, only one went with [Jesus] all the way to the cross.
- 43-44, Faithful to the Lord, E. Stanley Williamson, (Nashville, Boardman,1973)
God’s unlikely callings are the story of biblical faith. They are the story of our faith in Jesus as we confess our faith in God’s presence
The following question was posted on The United Methodist Church Facebook page: “When have you felt the presence of God in your life?”
Trelia Blades responded to the question by writing, “Sometimes I have felt his presence but other times I haven’t. I wish I could figure out how I can feel his presence all the time. I believe and love God with all my heart.”
In reflecting on this response by Trelia and other responses, Rev. Ryan Dunn states that the common response was the experience of a presence they could not always explain but gave strength to their living – not always restoration but presence. One person said she experienced God’s presence through other people. Some people trusted in God’s presence in a sense of peace. Some experienced God’s presence through a new sense of hope for their lives. Some experienced God’s presence as they hung on to their beliefs in some of the darkest moments of their lives.
In reflecting on the responses from people about why they believed in the presence of God, Rev. Dunn writes, “I’d like to spare you from the platitude that suggests you’ll feel God more when you seek God more. … God is with you when times are dark and when they’re light. God is with you when you are looking and when you’re not. God is with you when you feel God’s presence and when you don’t.”
Umc.org/surprised-by-gods-presence
Unlikely callings. The story of biblical faith. The story of our faith as we realize that God’s call to follow Jesus is God’s call to believe in the presence of God in our lives.
Unlikely callings as we accept God’s story of Jesus as our story. Our calling as we realize that God’s calling is not a goal for our lives or a philosophy for our lives, but instead a life to be accepted and lived as we believe and proclaim Christ crucified.
Unlikely callings. Our callings as we proclaim that the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Unlikely callings. Our callings to believe we are being saved, not by the power of our own living, but by the living power of God as we believe in the presence of a God whom we cannot see, believe in the power of a Savior who was nailed in weakness to a cross, and believe in the possibility of the impossible as we live with faith in times that are unimaginable.
Unlikely callings. Our callings as followers of Jesus in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Unlikely Callings
by Pastor Marc Brown
March 20, 2022
Accompanying Scriptures: Jeremiah 1:4-10 and I Corinthians 1:18-25
Fort Hill United Methodist Church
Order of Worship for March 20, 2021
Scripture Lesson Jeremiah 1:4-10 and I Corinthians 1:18-25
The Good News “Unlikely Callings”
Music “Show Us Christ” by Doug Plank
Prayer
Blessing
Closing Music “Lamb of God” by Lloyd Larson
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