Survive or Thrive

A sermon preached by The Reverend Scott D. Nowack on February 12, 2012

at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas.

“Survive or Thrive”

2 Kings 5:1-11

I Corinthians 9:24-27

Mark 1: 40-45

The leper who asks Jesus to heal him is tired.  He’s tired of living as an outcast.  He’s tired of limited human contact.  He’s tired of yelling “unclean” as he walks down the street.  He’s tired of seeing the horrified looks he receives from those who pass him by.  He’s tired of wondering where and when he will get his next meal.  He’s tired of just surviving.  He wants to change.  He wants to live life differently.  He wants to be healed, so he can thrive and not merely survive.  He believes Jesus can help him.

To survive or to thrive: this is the question before us. 

What does it mean to survive?  We hear this word used a great deal these days.  There are those who survived Hurricane Katrina; there is the million dollar winner who survives on the reality TV show “Survivor”, and the famous disco hit song by Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive”.  A survivor is someone who has been deeply affected by a major tragedy, such as a natural disaster, a major health crisis, a divorce or the loss of a loved one.  The grief and sorrow can be so overwhelming.  To survive is to hold on for your dear life to what you know, to what is familiar. 

There are many of us who, for whatever reason, find ourselves stuck in survival mode.  There are many of us who find ourselves stuck in the past, in the nostalgia of the good old days.  And there are many of us who are just getting by, trying hard to make ends meet, living paycheck to paycheck, meal to meal, and job to job.  You find yourself one step or more behind where you need to be; you’re reactive rather than pro-active.  If you have ever fallen behind paying your bills, you know how much time and effort it takes to catch up.  It can be overwhelming.  It’s a way of living that stifles our spirit and smothers our hearts.

My friends, we were not created to merely survive; to be born, make money and die.  I know each of us can remember at least one time in our lives when we were just trying to survive.  I am here to tell you today that we were not created to merely survive.  We were created in the image of God and put on this earth to live for Him; to thrive and grow where we are planted; to be the full and complete person God created us to be. 

Is there someone here today who is tired of just surviving?  Is there someone here today who has lived in survival mode long enough and like the leper wants to thrive?  The scripture texts today can help us to make this change; to move us from just surviving to thriving.

The first is to live a life of humility.  The leper who Jesus healed put his pride aside and with a humble heart knelt before Jesus.  He doesn’t demand to be healed.  He believes Jesus can do it for him if Jesus so chooses.  After he’s healed by Jesus, he doesn’t keep it to himself.  He doesn’t go back to where he was before.  His sense of gratitude leads him out into unchartered waters to share this with everybody he sees.  He is truly thankful for what Jesus did for him.  Thankfulness is an act of humility.

Of course, we should not forget Naaman.  He, too, has leprosy and needs healing.  With pride and arrogance, Naaman comes to Elisha for healing.  He is furious with Elisha because Elisha would not come out to greet him.  He sent a messenger instead, a sign of disrespect in Naaman’s mind.  By doing so, Elisha puts Naaman in his place, knocks his ego down a few notches, and gives him a cure that sounds totally ridiculous and one only a humble person would dare to try: bathing seven times in the Jordan River.  Naaman shows his arrogance in his reaction to Elisha’s instructions when he says that the rivers of Syria are much better than the Jordan River.  Humbling himself, Naaman does what Elisha instructed and was healed with the skin of a young boy.  In order to thrive and be healed, we need an attitude of humility.

The second thing we need is a purpose or a goal.  I once saw a cartoon showing two men on Mars looking down at the people on Earth scurrying here, there and everywhere.  One said to the other, “What are they doing?” 

The other replied, “They are going.” 

The first man said, “But where are they going?” 

“Oh,” said the other, “they are not going anywhere; they are just going.”

To go just anywhere is the way to arrive nowhere.  In order to thrive, we must live with purpose.  What is your purpose in life?

The Apostle Paul uses two familiar sports analogies in his letter to the church in Corinth to illustrate what living without a purpose can look like: running aimlessly and boxing the air.  Have you ever tried running aimlessly?  Running without direction or a finish line will get you nowhere.  Or boxing the air?  Other than as a little warm up, boxing the air doesn’t get you anywhere either, except maybe a little sweaty.  To thrive we must live with purpose.  We need a clear goal to aim for; a finish line to run to, a person or challenge to fight and defeat.  God has a purpose for your life and God has a purpose for the church of Jesus Christ.  Through prayer and reflection, we can begin to discover what God has in store for us.

The third thing we need is self-discipline.  Paul writes, “Athletes exercise self-control in all things.” (I Corinthians 9:25a)  And he goes on to say, “I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.” (I Corinthians 9: 27)  Paul is telling us we can’t thrive if we lack self-discipline and self-control.  Anybody can set a goal, but unless you discipline yourself, you’re not gonna reach it.  You have to talk the talk and walk the walk.

Humility, purpose and self-discipline will lead us in the right direction.  Do you want to survive or do you want to thrive?  

Many years ago I bought a Duke University t-shirt in a gift shop at the Charlotte International Airport.  This was back when the Duke men’s basketball team won back-to-back national championships.  On the front of the shirt, it read, “You can talk the game, but can you play the game?”  On the back, in large letters, above the school logo, it read, “We can play!” 

Can we play the game?  Are we willing to undertake disciplined training for the sake of the Gospel?  We are called to pay the price of sacrifice and discipline in order to play the game rightly to win the heavenly prize.  We are called to thrive rather than just survive.

We are incomplete and hurting; we’re living in survival mode.  Jesus Christ wants to enter into our lives to heal us from our sins so we can live life differently.  So we can thrive where we are planted, so we can play the game as it was meant to be played, to live with purpose, freedom and discipline; and in doing so we serve to witness to the entire world through our words and actions, the authentic and true power of God in Jesus Christ and God’s purpose for all humankind.  

By serving one another, encouraging the faint hearted, and helping the weak by sharing God’s love with them, we will all thrive!  Amen.

Responding to the Call

A sermon preached by the Reverend Scott Dennis Nowack on February 5, 2012

at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas.

Responding to the Call

Genesis 12:1-9

Matthew 9:9-13

Confirmation Sunday is always a very special Sunday in the life of any congregation. Today is no different. For this year’s class of students, this is a very special day because they will be publicly professing their faith in Jesus Christ, and thus fulfilling the promises made at their baptism. Today is the beginning of something new; a new life, a new faith, a faith to call their own. As much as this sermon is addressed to the entire congregation, it is particularly addressed to each of you.

Consider this your last confirmation class, your final lesson in a journey that began many years ago in church school, choirs and worship services. My final word to you is this: Respond to the Call. The God of the universe wants to do extraordinary things in your life and in the world through you as his disciple. It’s the call that defies logic and reason that requires a faithful response from you and me.

And God is calling you right now because God can call and use anybody God wants to use; anybody of any age, gender, race, creed God calls to live for him. Who is God calling you to be? What will your response be?

The Bible is filled with story after story of people from all walks of life who faithfully responded to the call of God. All sacrificed something to follow God’s call. All gave up something for God.

We read today about the call God had for Abram and Abram’s faithful response to God’s call. While living in Haran, Abram hears the call of God to get up and move; to leave the familiar and comfortable and go somewhere new and unknown. If you’ve ever shown up someplace new and unfamiliar such as a new summer camp or a new school, you know how scary and risky it is: strange surroundings, unfamiliar people, and unknown expectations.

I remember driving to Muhlenberg College, my alma mater, for pre-registration all by myself. I was terrified! It was pouring cats and dogs. I was hydroplaning on the highway. I found myself all alone in a strange, dark dorm room, praying to God to keep me safe through the night. Even though this was very hard at the time, I still went. I didn’t let my fears get the best of me. I trusted that I was doing what I needed to do in spite of the risk.

Despite the risk involved, Abram, without saying a word to God, immediately moves his family and belongings to an unknown land call Canaan. Abram completely trusts in God’s promise. He doesn’t linger or argue or bargain with God – he simply obeys. This is why Abram is the Father of the Faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims everywhere.

We also read about Matthew: a Jewish tax collector for the Romans, a government bureaucrat, despised and hated by his own people, ostracized by the community, an outcast and a sinner. His response is very much like Abram’s. Jesus says “Follow me” and Matthew immediately left his lucrative government job to follow Jesus. With two words, Matthew’s faithful response was to give up the familiar and comfortable, in order to follow Jesus as one of his twelve disciples. That’s how powerful and effective Christ’s call is!

Dr. Donald Bloesch of Dubuque Seminary says, “Faith is not an achievement of humanity, but a gift from God…an inner awakening given to humanity by the Holy Spirit by which one is moved to give of oneself in trust and surrender to Jesus Christ.”

The Good News is that it doesn’t matter who comes to Christ or how we come to Christ, it just matters that we come. We are to respond to God’s call just as we are. It doesn’t matter whether you are an old man from the Ancient Near East living thousands of years ago or a former government bureaucrat of the Roman Empire turned disciple. It just matters that they responded to the call of God.

From age nine or age ninety-nine, it doesn’t matter how old you are for God is calling you. It doesn’t matter whether you have a college degree or not. It doesn’t matter whether you are a new Christian or have been a Christian your whole life or you’re still not sure what you believe. Rich or poor, smart or dumb: it doesn’t matter. God accepts us as we are and is able to make us who we are called to be.

Who is God calling you to be?

Unless I’ve missed my guess, there is someone here today who’s been looking for love in all the wrong places, trying to find a hero to take their problems away. Over and over again you are disappointed, hurt and left feeling hopeless and unloved. You’re right back where you started. You need to know that you are not alone. You need to know you are loved by the great God of the universe. You need to see that our God turns our mourning into dancing; our weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning. You need to understand that there is nothing, absolutely nothing in the entire world that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Who is God calling you to be? What will be your response?

When the people of God come together to serve and love each other and those around us, the Bible says there is nothing God can’t do, for nothing is impossible with God. I pray for the day when each of us can say that we gave our lives serving others. I pray for the day when each of us can say that we tried to love somebody. I pray for the day when each of us can say that we tried to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, build homes for the homeless, to care for the sick, bring hope to the hopeless, and faith to the faithless. I pray for the day when each of us will hear God say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Victor Hugo once said that there is nothing more powerful in the entire world than an idea whose time has come. My friends, our time has come! Our time has come to fight for justice and peace in our world. Our time has come to provide low-income housing for the working poor, to build relationships with churches in Pakistan to fight terrorism and in Africa to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. Our time has come to work to end of all forms of slavery found in nations all around the world. My friends, our time has come! The time to act is now!

God is calling you right here, right now! What will be your response? What will it be?

Listen Up!

A sermon preached by the Reverend Scott D. Nowack on January 29, 2012

at First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas.

“Listen Up!”

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Mark 1:21-28

To whom do we listen?

I remember years ago when mobile phone service was somewhat unpredictable.  All too often I’d be in the middle of a conversation when suddenly I couldn’t hear the person to whom I was talking.  I would move to higher ground and ask, “Can you hear me now?”  If that didn’t work I’d try any number of positions in order to get a clear signal, each time asking, “Can you hear me now?”

Picture a Kilgore High School football game with the bleachers filled to capacity and there’s a ton of noise and cheering for the Bulldogs.  Down in front two people are talking to each other when one of them says, “Well, my broker is E.F. Hutton, and E.F. Hutton says…”  Everything stops and goes silent!  Everyone, even the coaches and players from both teams are listening to what this person is going to say.  “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.”

To whom do you listen?

The Israelites listened to God through Moses as they wandered through the desert.  This passage in Deuteronomy is a part of Moses’ final words to the Israelites, most of them born in the wilderness.  It’s a refresher course: he’s reviewing what God expects of them through the Ten Commandments and other instructions as they prepare to begin a new chapter of their life together as a people: they are ready to enter the Promised Land.  It’s like the review sessions your teachers offered you in high school to help you prepare for the coming final exam.  You were reminded of what you learned in the beginning of the year: some of it forgotten and some of it lying dormant in your brain.  In this chapter, Moses warns the people that they will see a lot of stuff that is strictly off limits for them when they enter the land of Canaan, the Promised Land: black magic, abhorrent practices and the occult.  These distractions will compete for their attention; wanting the people to do their bidding; to buy their lottery tickets; to play at their casino; to indulge in luxury; to get hooked on their drugs; and more.

The Israelites must block out all these distractions for they must be completely loyal to God.  And God explains how he will speak to them.  God will raise up a prophet like Moses “from among your own people” and the people are to listen to this prophet.  God will hold them accountable and will deal with any false prophets that arise.  In the Jewish tradition, the prophet Moses proclaims was understood to be the Messiah.

Moses voices God’s concern about to whom God’s people will listen when Moses is gone.  To whom do you listen?

Listening is a lost art.  I very often hear people say, “I don’t feel like I’ve been heard.” Or “I can’t hear you!  What did you say?”  I think one of the downsides to all our technology designed to help us better communicate with one another is that we aren’t communicating very well or listening carefully to one another.  We’re rushing from one thing to the next, one activity to another, volunteering for this, that and the other thing; over-committing ourselves to the point of hysterical exhaustion, taking trips every time our kids get a day or week off from school, never saying no to a friend or family member in need.  We rush and rush and rush until life’s no fun, we’re in a hurry to get things done and nobody is listening. 

“The Father of the Field of Listening”, Dr. Ralph Nichols, once said, "The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." 

But it’s hard to listen well.  Today more than ever we are bombarded with data from numerous sources.  We have the newspaper, the radio, the TV with 250 channels and nothing on, mobile phones that can do everything under the sun, the internet, with all its web sites and clouds and more.  In the World in 2012 issue of the Economist magazine, there is a statistic that reveals that a “tsunami of data” is coming; data is growing exponentially: the quantity of global digital data in 2012 is projected to hit 2,720 exabytes, in 2015, that figure grows to 7,910 exabytes.  A deluge of information is headed our way.  It’s coming at us like a 20 foot wave from a turbulent ocean as it is about to pounce upon the shoreline.  With so much coming at us, to what are we to give our attention?  To whom do we listen?

Growing up, I listened to my parents most of the time.  I also listened to other adults in positions of authority: teachers, scout leaders, coaches and pastors.  They guided and cared for me as I grew up from a child into an adult.  I also listened to my classmates, both the good and the bad.  Many times I believed the negative things they said when I was teased or they made fun of me.  There was the peer pressure to do any vast number of things that were either illegal or simply bad for me or both.  But I had friends who encouraged me, who built me up, who had my back in times of trouble. 

As an adult, I listen to various songwriters, the authors of books, newspapers and magazines and talking heads on TV.  There was M. Scott Peck with his book “The Road Less Traveled”.  There was first and foremost Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.  I read Robert Fulghum, Frederick Buechner, C.S. Lewis, Philip Yancey, George Friedman and countless other authors from my seminary coursework.  In print media, there was Mike Lupica, Thomas Friedman and David Brooks.  On TV, there was MTV and VH-1: I watched and listened to all kinds of stuff from both of these channels. 

But when I boil it all down to the bottom of the pot and peek in to see what’s left, what still remains, there’s a rock; a rock I can stand on, a rock I can depend on, a rock that knew me from the beginning of time, a rock that gives me abundant life, a rock that is God in Christ Jesus.  All the authors I read, the musicians I listen to, the TV personalities I watch are great in their own ways and they have great gifts and talents from God, but none of them can go twelve rounds in the ring with our God, our Savior, our Christ. 

To whom do you listen?

Unless I’ve missed my guess, we have all listened to any one of thousands of voices making a pitch for their ultimate “coping strategy” for living a full and abundant life.  Have acne?  Use this new medicine for the clear skin you’ve always wanted.  Overweight?  Get the latest exercise routine on DVD and watch the pounds just fall from your body.  These supposed “strategies” influence how we see ourselves, how we view ourselves.  Both examples I mentioned here pertain to issues mainly with our outward appearance.  The message is acne makes you ugly and unlovable.  People who are overweight are treated differently than those who are not in the world.  To be fat is bad, so you better lose weight.  Who do we see on the cover of magazines in the checkout line?  Who do we see when we walk by the Victoria Secret store at the mall?  Too many young women are listening to these messages and are starving themselves because the world tells them they have to be skinny in order to be important, popular and loved. 

The world also tells women they have to be it all; they have to do it all and do it well: have a successful career or business, be a super- mom to your children, and a loving, caring wife at home.  That’s a lot of balls to juggle all at once.  For those who don’t have any of these things, the thought process begins with, “What’s wrong with me?  Why doesn’t someone love me for me?”  The pressure from these societal expectations is incredible.  I don’t know how D’Anna does it.

The world tells men that our identity is based on our achievements.  A man is a failure if he hasn’t acquired vast amounts of material possessions, especially cars, trucks, 4-wheelers, TVs and video game systems.  The world also tells men that real men don’t show or express their feelings; real men don’t cry.  We are to be tough, aggressive, and competitive in all areas of life if we want to be seen as successful by society’s standards.

Our God is the voice of truth.  And the voice of truth tells us a completely different story in the Bible.  Throughout all of scripture, God tells us that he loves us no matter what.  His love is real, eternal and dependable.  God tells us in scripture that we are blessed, chosen, adopted, favored, redeemed and forgiven. 

Scripture helps us think differently.  Scripture helps us hear the voice of God through the prophets of the Old Testament and through Jesus, his disciples and Paul in the New Testament.  Scripture tells us if we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, then our identity is in Christ.  It’s not in our career, not in our spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend, not in our kids, not in our wealth, not in who we know or what we know.  Our identity is in Christ Jesus.  The Bible says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20)  Let Christ shine through you.  Jesus also tells us that we are the salt of the earth, we are the light of the world, we are his beloved creation made in God’s image.

To whom do you listen?  Are you listening to God or listening to the world? 

Listen up!  When God talks, his people must listen!  Can you hear him now?  Good.

A sermon preached by The Reverend Scott Dennis Nowack on January 22, 2012

at The First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas. 

Making All Things New

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

            In the movie, “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” Everett, Pete and Delmar are sitting around a campfire by a river.  While they are there, members of a congregation dressed in white come walking through the woods passing them to get to the river to be baptized.  As they walk by, they are singing, “As I went down to the river to pray, studying about that good old way and who shall wear the robe and crown, good Lord, show me the way.”  Delmar is mesmerized by what he sees and jumps in the river to be baptized.  After professing to his friends that he’s been redeemed and all his sins are washed away, Pete jumps in and gets baptized, too.  “Oh brother, let’s go down, let’s go down, won’t you come on down; down to the river to pray.”

            So let’s go down to the river.  Rivers are often associated with life, with new life.  Rivers bring life to the dry land, rivers slice through the landscape bringing nourishment to parched places.  They nourish the earth so it can bring forth plants and trees; food for all God’s creatures.  But then there are rivers and then there are rivers.

If you go to Baghdad, Iraq, which is on either side of the Tigris River, and go up the river for about 200 miles, on the eastern bank of the river you will find the excavated site of the ancient city of Ninevah, the grand and glorious and idolatrous and violent city of ancient Assyria, the enemy of Israel.

            Even though Ninevah was an enemy of God’s people, God cared for Ninevah.  God was concerned about Ninevah and so God looked around for a prophet to go and speak to Ninevah.  Jonah is the man for the job; Jonah, the son of Amittai, an Israelite.[i]

            God said, “Go down to the river” and Jonah said, “No way”.  Jonah flees to the coast, to the city of Joppa, modern day Tel Aviv, and catches a ride on a ship to the other side of the known world, to Tarshish.  While at sea, God brings about a mighty storm against the boat.  The sailors are terrified, believing the gods are angry with them.  They determine it must be the new guy, Jonah.  “Tell us why this calamity has come upon us.  What is your occupation?  Where do you come from?  What is your country?  And of what people are you?”  And Jonah is forthright and says, “I am a Hebrew, I worship the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.  Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it’s because of me that this great storm has come upon you.”  So there goes Jonah, swimming with the fishes and God provides a big fish that swallows him up for three days and three nights.  After praying, the big fish spews Jonah onto the seashore.  And this is where we find him as God calls Jonah for a second time, “Go down to the river.” And Jonah says, “Okay.  I’ll go”. 

            And so Jonah preached.  He preached along the side of the mighty Tigris River, 200 miles north of Baghdad.  He preached not expecting anyone to listen or take what he says to heart, “Forty days more, and Ninevah shall be overthrown!”  He was not seen as a sidewalk preacher in the big city with his megaphone proclaiming the end of the world.  He was not seen as an enemy of the state.  His phones were not tapped, he was not placed on the terrorist watch list.  He was not arrested for disturbing the peace and thrown in jail.  The people listened to what he said and believed him and repented of their sinful ways.  Down to the river in Ninevah they repented, covered in ashes and wearing sackcloth, the traditional signs of repentance.  Led by their king, the Ninevahites humbled themselves before God assuming no control over God.  The king does not assume that repentance automatically guarantees their rescue from God’s wrath.  He was banking on the belief that God has the freedom to act in an alternative way.

And the king was right.  God was moved by what he saw.  So much so that God “changed his mind” about destroying Ninevah and did not do it.  God made them new through the power of forgiveness.

            Jonah was as mad as a hornet and started raisin’ Cain.  He was madder than a mule chewing on bumblebees.  “I knew you were going to do this.  I knew this is what you would do and that’s why I fled to Tarshish.  I knew it because I know you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” 

What’s the matter with Jonah?  Why is he so upset?

Deep down he was afraid God would actually forgive his enemies, these outsiders from Ninevah.  That’s exactly what God did and after Ninevah repented with an eagerness that the Jews of Jonah’s day often lacked. 

God’s capacity to judge and forgive is unlimited.  One of the core beliefs of the Reformed Tradition, of which we Presbyterians are a part, is that God is sovereign.  God will do what God wants to do.  God is not a prisoner of God’s own previous decrees.  God has the freedom to change his mind and act in an alternative way; God does not have a limited view of things.  The God of the book of Jonah not only gets around, but moreover, has human beings and other elements within creation do his divine bidding.  And what happens in this story is a perfect example of God changing his mind; for once, he is concerned with others more than the “insiders”, that is the “chosen ones” of Israel. 

God is not an uncaring tyrant, and he’s not an automated machine that only does what it is designed to do.  God is a live subject that can and will freely engage and respond to human repentance and change.  The people of Ninevah took Jonah’s preaching seriously because they believed God meant what he said.  God talks the talk and walks the walk.  This is why Jonah is so upset.  Jonah is an “insider” so to speak and prefers for God to be flat, unchanging, and predictable.  God brings in the “outsiders” of Ninevah into the fold of His amazing mercy and grace.

The insiders are surprised by the behavior of the outsiders.  After only hearing a few words from Jonah, probably the shortest sermon ever given, these outsiders repented and cleaned up their act.  The insiders had been listening to the words of the prophets for centuries and the record of their response to those prophetic words was not a positive one.  The attitude of these “outsiders” of Ninevah would be long remembered, and even held up as exemplary (Matt. 12:41).

The message here for us is hard to hear and ponder.  But can you identify with Jonah?  Inside each of us is the cultural, historical, national, economic, educational shaping of our lives and then God taps us on the shoulder and says, “Let’s go down to the river”, and we say, “What river?” 

The story of Jonah asks us as God’s own people, those within the church, about our attitude toward the people of the world; those on the “outside”.  

 This story reminds us that we exist for the sake of the people of the world and warns against an arrogant “insider/outsider” mentality.  It means getting outside our comfort zones, to move into unfamiliar territory.  It means moving our attention outside Texas or Louisiana or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or Los Angles or Kilgore. 

Move?  Move?  But this is who I am.  This is the way I live.  These are the values that I have.  This is the way my family talks.  This is the way we think about the world.  And God says, “Let’s go down to the river, for I make all things new”.

The message of Jonah is critical of those who prefer huddling and cuddling in the safety of our own groups; we who prefer the familiar and what’s always been done before, instead of taking a chance on something new and listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  It teaches us that if the God of all creation is free and willing to change his mind as he sees fit to do, then aren’t we, his creation, made in his image, also free to do the same?  We exist for the sake of the people of the world.

For example, it’s easier to write a check than it is to roll up our sleeves and prepare and deliver meals for Saturday Bread.  It’s easier to do what you’ve always done for the sake of tradition then to strike out and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into new and dangerous places.

Our journeys of faith must be about the task to which Jesus calls us: “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19).  We can never forget that we are ambassadors for Christ, we are ministers of God’s reconciling love in the world.  We exist for the sake of the people of the world; a world looking answers; a world looking for hope, faith and love; a world looking for something to believe in. 

Let’s go down to the river!  The people of Ninevah are waiting for us.

---

A sermon preached by The Reverend Scott Dennis Nowack on January 15, 2012

at The First Presbyterian Church, Kilgore, Texas.

God Is Calling You

I Samuel 3: 1-20

John 1:43-51

            “Out with the old and in with the new!”  That’s what is happening in Israel at the time of Samuel.  The old ways of chaos and conflict under the rule of judges will end.  The new ways of the monarchy with rulers ordained by God will become the new reality.  And it is the small boy prophet Samuel who will be God’s messenger and anointer for this new thing.   

What new thing is God calling you to do as His disciple?

            Our passage today does not emphasize the end of Eli and the old leadership of Israel.  Rather the emphasis is on “the new beginning now to be made by an obedient Samuel”[1].  God claimed Samuel from birth and gave him a specific calling, a specific vocation, to serve God and God’s people.  God called Samuel to be a fresh influence and to help foster a new reality for Israel.  He was a voice coming from outside the conventional  political structure of his time.  God is calling Samuel to minister to the people of Israel to bring a freshness and a newness of life to a stale society.

            Just as Samuel was called by God to be a prophet to Israel, so this same God calls each of us to a particular calling.  Author Frederick Buechner describes our calling as the place “where our deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.”

What does it mean to be called?  What is God calling you to do as His disciple?

            In his book, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life, Os Guinness reviews the theology of call and just what is involved when one is called of God.   Guinness describes the call of God as the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do and everything we have is ... lived out as a response to his summons and service. There are two dimensions to the call of God, the first being our essential role as a disciple of Jesus, and the second being the call to function in the church and the world using the gifts God has given us. When we are faithful to these two callings, God is glorified.

            How do I know what my calling is? 

            When I was living in Syracuse, NY, while others were listening to the local radio stations that played popular music, I listened to a station in New York City with the call letters of WCBS, 880 AM with John Sterling and Michael Kay.  This was the station where you could catch every New York Yankees baseball game.  Now Syracuse is nowhere close to New York City, so the station signal drifted in and out on my little radio. But I learned to listen well and discern the distinct sound on that station from all the other sounds on the radio dial. Even when there were tremendous amounts of static, I could discern the voice of WCBS Yankees broadcasters because I knew the sound and listened hard. I learned how to tune in the station even in the dark. I knew generally where to turn the dial and then to fine tune to separate out the station from all the other competing stations.  We need to learn to listen in such a way that we can discern God's voice in the midst of the myriad of messages coming at us in our society. We can do this by immersing ourselves in the places God has provided for us to hear his word: scripture, prayer, meditation, study, worship, fellowship with other Christians. Down through the years these have been called the means of grace. They prepare us to hear the Word of God that comes directly to us, so we can more easily discern the Voice of God from all the voices that call to us. 

What is God calling you to do as His disciple?  I remember asking myself this question many years ago as I was pondering what my calling was.  I had recently graduated from college and had gotten a job in Chicago.  I joined the Fourth Presbyterian Church located in downtown Chicago.  Fourth Church is a very large church that offers numerous opportunities for service and study.  I wanted to get involved in some way in the life of the church because of my growing dissatisfaction with my work.  Amid all the possible ways to get involved, I felt drawn, or maybe the better word is “pushed & shoved”, to volunteer in the tutoring program.  They were looking for adults to tutor grade school kids from the nearby Cabrini-Green housing projects.  As a tutor, you were assigned one student for the whole year and you met with him or her once a week for two hours at the church.  Although I was a bit intimidated by the idea, I signed up anyway.

            I remember the first night.  I was assigned a 6^th grade boy named Alvin.  As I walked into the church that night, I was terrified!  I had never done anything like this before.  I didn’t know what to expect.  Would I be good enough?  Would I be knowledgeable enough to help him with his studies? 

That first night was awesome!  We found a quiet place to do his homework.  We finished early and played Math Blaster in the computer lab.  In the remaining time we played Scrabble with some other kids.  After I said good-bye to him that night, I was overcome by true joy.  It overwhelmed my senses.  I hadn’t felt that joyous in a long time.  I felt I did something positive for once in my life.  I wrote about this experience that evening.  I wrote, “This is definitely something I want to keep doing.  I want to keep giving of myself and my time.  For the first time, I have felt true tears of joy.  For the first time, I feel the Holy Spirit within me.”

In that moment, God had lifted away all my fears and concerns and anxieties and I felt like a whole person.  God called me to do something new with my life, to minister to one of his flock.  I took a leap of faith, followed God’s call, and it paid tremendous dividends.  For that first night of tutoring was the beginning of my new vocation as a Christian: to reach out and touch people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through bible study, fellowship and eventually as an ordained minister.

Our calling is about more than what we do for a living; it’s about more than our career aspirations.  In his book entitled, “The Wisdom of Tenderness: What Happens When God's Fierce Mercy Transforms Our Lives” Brennan Manning writes, “Everybody has a vocation to some form of life-work. However, behind that call (and deeper than any call), everybody has a vocation to be a person to be fully and deeply human in Christ Jesus.”

Many of us have a career, a certain vocation, to which we have given a great deal of our time and energy.  These careers of ours have blessed us immensely with roofs over our heads, food on the table for our families, and clothes on our backs.  And this is all great.  God does grant us various gifts and has called us to different types of work.  But God also calls us to go one step further, to do more than just work.  God calls us to minister in His name as His disciples.  God calls us to serve and love one another, friend and stranger alike.  God calls us to love the unloved, to care for the needy, and to humbly walk with Him.

Before co-founding Habitat for Humanity, Millard Fuller was a successful businessman who followed his estranged wife Linda to New York to try to convince her to come back to him. She was not easily convinced that he could turn back from his headlong rush for material wealth. Millard recalls: We were in a taxi right after Linda and I had a very tearful session. We'd gone to Radio City Music Hall and they showed the movie Never Too Late. It was about a woman's getting pregnant after she thought it was too late. The message was that it's never too late to change anything. I had a sensation of light in that taxi. It was not anything spooky. All I can say is it just came into my head: Give your money away, make yourself poor again and throw yourself on God's mercy. I turned to Linda and said, 'I believe that God just gave me the idea to give all our money away; give everything away.'  She said, 'I agree. Let's do it.'  And the rest is history.

All of us are called to some form of ministry.  We are all called to be ministers to the world and one another.  God has a plan for each of us.  A plan that is bigger than ourselves, our friends, our jobs, and our families.

There is one calling that we all have: to shift the focus of our faith from being passive church members to active disciples of Christ by inviting others to church. The oft-repeated phrase for calling disciples in the gospel of John is stunningly simple: Come and see. Most of us can manage that. (Something wonderful is happening, come and see!) It is not up to us to make people come. It is only our responsibility to extend an invitation, to provide hospitality when the invitation is accepted, and allow God to do what he wants to do.

The journey of those who follow Jesus Christ begins not with our decision, but with his decision to call us.[2]  This calling, this invitation, can be daunting and intimidating.  It can be dangerous and uncomfortable, but following God’s call will produce fresh fruit for you personally, the people of God and for our society as a whole. 

This is what we are called to do as disciples of Jesus Christ.  I pray that each of us may have the ears to hear and the eyes to see what God is calling us to do in the name of Jesus the Christ.  Amen.

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[1] Walter Brueggemann. First and Second Samuel. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990) p.26.

[2] Sermon at National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. Contents reprinted with permission of Craig Barnes, Senior Pastor. February 25, 2001, quoted in The Presbyterian Layman, May-June 2001, 4.