God's Calling ~ Isaiah Part 5

 

Another month winds down and wraps up.  So does the Calling Sermon Series.  This coming Sunday in worship we will honor our Saints.  There is a great line in the hymn, I Sing a Song of the Saints of God, that goes, “And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green; they were all of them saints of God, and I mean, God help me to be one too.”

 

That is what our calling is all about.  Letting and lending our light to this world.  Opening our whole-created-in-God’s image self.  Finding our voice (remember vocation comes from the world voice) and sharing/singing/participating in the world today.

 

Look back with me at where we have been.  God’s call to Abraham and Sarah to leave behind the familiar; Moses to go back to the place he fled from; Jeremiah to preach to people who were hurting; Jonah to go to his sworn enemies.  Hannah praying her heartfelt prayer – we heard Isaiah doing that this week.  Samuel is befuddled by his call and Mary bravely, bolding embodying her call.  Taken together, God’s calling will disrupt any carefully constructed life we had.  God’s calling will upend, send us in new directions.  And…and God’s calling will draw out the Divine image, the Eternal energy within each of us to get caught up in God’s liberating love for the sake of the world God so loves. 

 

I hope you re-read that last sentence many times.  Responding to your calling is not all chocolate rivers and good times.  Rather, God’s calling will cause our hearts to sing in new ways we cannot rationally explain to others.  I believe your calling; my calling does change.  I believe your calling; my calling is never finished.  As long as we have the breath of God, God is moving us to be God’s presence in this moment.  I do believe your calling can go through seasons of growth and times of feeling dormant.  The calling persists and insists in a vast variety of ways.  Your calling may not meet expectations or be exactly what we want.  But, when we, like Isaiah can respond, “Here I am, send me,” God can work through that and through us.  When we say, “Here I am, send me,” we are inviting God to be the collaborator and co-author of our life.  I believe deep in my heart we need people to courageously, curiously, and faithfully say, “Here I am, send me,” now more than ever.  So may your calling find new ways of expression.  May your calling have moments of thriving and resting.  May your calling be willing to explore and experience new expressions.  May your calling follow the holy manna bread crumbs of God.  And may you find JOY…abiding joy… in living your calling in these days.  Amen.