A Lot, Actually

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
September 16, 2007

A Lot, Actually
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
Luke 14:25-33

Did you ever stop to think what might have happened
if Moses had stuck with his “no”
when God first called him to service?
Read through chapters 3 and 4 of Exodus
and you will realize that Moses
was more than a little reluctant, more than a little hesitant,
about accepting God’s call to serve.
Moses gave God one reason after another
why he was the wrong man for the job:
“Who will listen to me?”
“I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“I am not a very good speaker.”
and then finally,
“Please God, pick somebody else.”
(Exodus 3:11-4:14)

Back and forth they went,
Moses coming up with one argument, one excuse,
after another, and God countering every one
with the same promise: “I will be with you.”
Finally, God had had enough and said to Moses,
“Stop arguing with me.
I am calling you,
and that’s that.
I will give you the tools you will need,
I will be with you at all times and in all places.
I need you, I am calling you.
What part of “yes” don’t you understand?”

What if Jeremiah had been firm in his initial no to God?
When God called Jeremiah to serve him,
Jeremiah responded much like Moses:
“I am too young;
no one will listen to me;
I wouldn’t know what to say.”
But once again God assured his prophet that
he would give Jeremiah everything he would need to serve.
Once again, God said, in effect:
“I need you,
you are the one I am calling to do the work
I need to have done.
What part of yes don’t you understand?”

Read through the Bible
and it’s always the same:
Almost every time God called someone to serve,
the person was quick with the “no”,
quick with the “I don’t know if I can do it,
I don’t think I am the right person
I wouldn’t know what to say,
I wouldn’t know what to do.”

And God’s response was also always the same:
“You can do it.
I will be with you.
I will give you the wisdom, the words,
the courage to do my work.
You are the one I need, the one I have called.
Just say yes so we can get to work: you and I.”

When God calls, we should have only response:
“Yes.
Yes Lord, I am ready to serve,
I am willing to serve,
even if I have my doubts about my ability to serve.
With you at my side, why wouldn’t I say yes?
With you guiding me,
why would I hesitate?
So yes, Lord, my response is yes,
for I know that you will be with me.”

What if David had said no to God’s call,
put away his sling, and remained in the pastures,
tending his sheep?
What if Peter had said to Jesus,
“you’ve come at a terrible time:
this is the height of the fishing season;
I will make most of my year’s profit
over the next couple of weeks.”

What if Matthew had said,
“My wife and I want to add to the house,
and we were thinking about taking a vacation,
so let me collect tax revenues for the next 6 months,
and then I will get in touch with you.”

Time and time again,
the faithful have put aside their own interests,
their own concerns,
their doubts about their ability,
in many instances their own comfort,
even their own safety,
and responded to God’s call to service.
Time and again, the faithful have said “yes”.

God calls to each of us time and time again
to serve God in countless ways.
God needs every one of us,
and calls every one of us to ministry and service
in the name of Jesus Christ.

But oh, how resistant we can be with the yes,
as though we think the lesson we should learn
from Moses is that if we are not successful
with five different reasons for why we cannot serve,
we should try 7, or 8 or 10!

A word we hear Jesus speak again and again
throughout the gospels is “repent.”
“Repent.”
When Jesus said, “repent and follow God”,
Jesus was not saying, “confess all your sins”.
The word “repent” means simply, “turn”:
turn from how you are presently living your life
and turn to a new way, a new life,
following God in a new way,
a more faithful way,
with God first,
not second, or third,
after work, sports, school,
other activities.

Michael Lindvall, the pastor at the Brick Presbyterian Church
in New York City,
where I worshiped when I lived in Manhattan,
reminds us that
“God asks for everything.
Everything.
… Faith cannot be one band of interest in our lives…
We are to be turned around toward God at the center.
If we occupy the center, God cannot. …
(A Geography of God, 132).

We need to “repent”
and turn from lives that are filled with so many divergent interests
and make our lives as children of God and followers of Christ
the foundation on which all other parts of our lives are built:
family, work, community, school.
Everything we do, every relationship
flowing from God.

This discipleship business isn’t easy.
It is what Jesus tells us in our gospel lesson.
As he often did, Jesus teaches with hyperbole to make his point.
Jesus doesn’t want us to hate our family,
or live in poverty;
but what he wants us to understand is that
if we are going to follow him,
then God has to come before everything else,
everything else: family, work, possessions, money,
God first.
If we find that unacceptable, Jesus’ response to us is simple:
don’t follow.
Jesus offers us no compromise, saying to us:
“think about what you are doing
and decide if you are willing
to stay with me all the way.”
(Fred Craddock)

All the way.
It’s hard.
Even the disciples who walked with Jesus
did not understand completely.
But that’s what God wants: our all, our everything.
That’s the life Jesus calls us to.
So when a call to service comes at a time
that isn’t really all that convenient,
we should not complain,
and we shouldn’t hesitate:
God first. Service first.

The children of Israel had forgotten this lesson
in Jeremiah’s time.
They were living in a time not all that different from our own:
the people were growing in affluence
with the rich getting richer.
People were focused on money, business,
reputation, comfort, pleasure.
Oh yes, they considered themselves faithful:
they paid their tithes,
and observed the laws,
went to the synagogues and the Temple.
But the very idea of responding to God’s call to service,
if it required sacrifice, was no more appealing then
than it is now.
Is it any wonder that God was so frustrated,
so angry,
so intent on teaching his children
the lessons they needed to learn?

Our Lord reminds us that he came to serve,
and not be served
and if we are going to follow him faithfully,
then we too have to remember
that we are called to serve.
serve whenever God calls us,
regardless of whether it suits our schedule.

Each one of us will someday stand before the Lord in judgment.
The questions Jesus will ask us
will have nothing to do
with how successful our careers were,
how much money we made,
or how our sports teams we participated on did.
No: our Lord will ask us:
did you visit the sick?
Feed the hungry?
Clothe the naked?
Did you create a place of hospitality and welcome
in your church, your home, your workplace,
with strangers as well as friends,
everywhere you went?
Did you work for peace and reconciliation
with family, with workers,
with colleagues and friends,
with strangers,
and yes, even with enemies?
Did you say yes each time God called you to serve?

Most of you have seen the green Time and Talent surveys
our Stewardship Ministry Team has sent out through our Deacons.
We have so many needs here in our church:
we are eager to match needs with interests
so we can do all the things God calls us to do.

Please fill out the form and return it.
If you remember doing this a few years back,
and not getting called, the operative phrase is
“the old ways are past and a new life has begun”:
Ann Curtis and Sarah Slader spent a great deal of time this summer
updating our database to make it much easier for us
to capture information and then use it
so we can make matches.
But even if you don’t get a call right away,
don’t complain; give me a call or send me an e-mail
and let me know where you feel called to serve.
I will help you find your place.

It is easy to say no,
no because you are busy,
or, perhaps because you think,
what difference can one person make?
The needs can sometimes seem so overwhelming
that it is easy to feel that you as one person cannot
really make much of a difference.
But the answer to the question, what can one person do is,
a lot actually.
History is filled with stories of the power behind
one person’s act.
As our Lord teaches us,
with God all things are possible.
With God your partner,
there is virtually nothing you won’t be able to do.

Moses, Deborah, David, Jeremiah,
Peter, Mary Magdalene, Paul, Lydia:
each an otherwise ordinary person,
really not all that different from any of us.
But each repented,
and turned from the way they had been living their lives,
repented and turned to make God the center,
God the focus,
turned to serve the Lord,
serve in all times and all places,

God is calling each person in this room here and now,
calling each to service.
Every one of us.
There is no one God will overlook.
God needs us each and all.

How is God calling you?
Where is God calling you?
Do you hear the call? Do you feel it?

You may not be certain
just how God is calling you to serve,
but give it time, give it prayer,
and you’ll discern your call – it’s there.
And when you do,
be ready with your Yes,
be faithful with your Yes:
“Yes, here am I, Lord.
Maybe a little unsteady on my feet,
a little uncertain of my ability,
but ready nevertheless.
ready to follow and to serve,
ready to follow your call,
as I follow your Son, my Lord,
wherever he leads.”
AMEN