Calling
1 Peter 2:4-10
I believe God calls everyone to ministry. It might be a ministry of presence. It might be a ministry of teaching. It might be a ministry of collecting offering on Sunday morning or a ministry of volunteering with an organization that is making our neighborhood better. It might be a ministry of listening, or healing. It might be a ministry that involves excel spreadsheets or sharing kindness in customer service.
You might not feel a call to ordained ministry (if you do, let me know as I would love to hear your story and talk about it more with you) but you are definitely called to ministry.
Sometimes, I think we can get caught up what specific thing God is calling us to do. Some of us might wait around, sitting on our hands, because we never received that divine telegram that says "you need to go here and do this."
As a pastor, I have heard people respond to the question, "What do you think God is calling our church to do," with "how am I supposed to know, aren't you the pastor?!" And as I sit and think about what that answer means, I think it indicates something really important. Namely, that if God calls each and every one of us, have we all been empowered to follow it? Do we feel like we have permission to follow God’s call?
In so many ways, many of us have grown up in churches that might have not offered that permission. I hope that at Lakewood UMC you can hear loud and clear not only that you have permission, but that we need you to be following God’s call. Because the call God has for you? It’s a part of the call God has for our church.
In 2 Peter, the author offers a really gutsy invitation: "Come to Jesus: a living stone, although rejected by humanity yet chosen and precious to God. And are yourselves, like living stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Lot's of words, so let me break down why I think it’s gutsy:
It says we are like Jesus, "living stones."
It claims we are being built into a "spiritual house"
It also claims we are all to be a "holy priesthood."
When I say everyone is called by God, I mean it. And I think that the sky is the limit. No matter what the church has ever said to you about your gender, your sexuality, how perfect your theology is, how you look, or anything else--God deeply wants you in on the fun building a spiritual house together. A house made of living stones.
And we are the living stones!
Now what does that mean? I am not sure what the author's intent is, but that phrase got me thinking of the hymn many of us know:
The Church is not a building, the Church is not a steeple.
The Church is not a resting-place, the Church is a people! [Refrain]
I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus, all around the world,
yes, we're the church together!
Each and every one of us is a living stone that supports the "spiritual house" into which God is making all of us. So, yes, every one of us, from the young to the elderly, are called to ministry. Because if any of us sits back and doesn't help support the house--it crumbles!
And lest you think you have to look a certain way, or speak a certain way, or have a certain credential, or "Rev." in front of your name, I want you to remember something else the author of 1 Peter reminds us: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." No rejection is more powerful than the calling God has placed on your heart!
