How do you recognize the voice of God? How can
you know—really know, know for certain—when God
is leading you in a new direction? When you are
inundated by a cacophony of conflicting cries, how do
you listen for that one clear strain, the whispers of the
Spirit? How does God call?
The question feels particularly urgent in consequential
moments of our lives. Those life-defining moments.
Those moments of deepest and broadest significance.
Moments when big decisions must be made. Have I
chosen the right profession? Am I preparing for the
right vocation? With whom should I choose to spend
my life? How should I spend my resources? How
do I respond to a friend in crisis, a friend in despair,
a friend in need? Whom should we choose as our
leaders? Which values will have highest priority in our
lives? Why did God put me on this planet?
The good news is that our sacred scriptures are filled
with stories of divine call and human response. When
you reflect on these narratives, an interesting pattern
begins to emerge. Take Jeremiah for example. The
word of the Lord comes to him entirely unannounced
and without warning. God says before he was even
born, he had been called by God as a prophet. Later
at the end of the chapter, as the encounter ends, he
is given a pair of promises. These two. Number One:
“The people will fight you…” Number Two: “But they
won’t prevail.” That’s cold comfort if you ask me.
Why will they fight him for following God’s call?
Because the prophetic word Jeremiah must deliver is
a hard word. It is a word of judgment, and the people
who must hear that word are his people. Jeremiah’s
aunts and uncles, neighbors and teachers. Jeremiah
will proclaim God’s disappointment with all who
call themselves righteous but leave their faith at the
doors of the sanctuary. Yes, they are ostentatious in
worship but fail to listen and live the truth of their
performance. Jeremiah must tell them they are
moving too quickly down the wrong path, and they
are headed into exile in Babylon.
And here comes the pattern. Jeremiah resists God’s
call. We see it over and over again in scripture. Like
Moses and Jonah, Isaiah and, yes, some of you, this
young man attempts to reject the call of God.
Too hard. Too scary. Not me. Not now.
In Jeremiah’s case, his novel excuse is that he is
too young to speak for God. Literally, Jeremiah
says, “God, I am only a child.” For his part, Moses
memorably rejects God’s call five times when he
is spoken to from the burning bush. He uses every
excuse in the book. He brings up his lack of oratorical
skill, the fact that he has no credibility among his
people. And his final protest is my favorite one. It is
the most desperate and the most refreshingly direct.
Moses says, “O Lord, please send someone else.” He
even has a candidate in mind: Aaron.
Have you ever found yourself in such a spot?
Questioning a divine call. Wondering if the voice
you hear is in fact the voice of God. Or perhaps
just asking to be left alone or begging God to send
someone in your place.
Too hard. Too scary. Not me. Not now.
But here’s the thing. When it comes to the call of God,
there is no one else. No other person on the planet
possesses your unique combination of gifts. No one
else in the history of humanity has fit the puzzle in the
spot God designed for you. In my experience, despite
our attempts at resistance, God’s pursuit is patiently
persistent, and there is no substitute for you.
This can be comforting when making those
significant, life-altering decisions, to know that there
is a spot designed for you. But we are still left with the
questions: How do we know for certain? How do we
recognize God’s voice?
And when we consider the question of God’s call to
Jeremiah, we might wonder if his is a model for us.
Yes, God pursues Jeremiah before this young man has
a chance to consider other options, or call his parents
for advice, or read the fine print in the contract. Yes,
he is given work that will be difficult, demanding. It
will ask so much of this young man. But there is, with
the call, a simple assurance. It flies by so quickly in
the text you may have missed it altogether. It comes
in verse eight. It arrives in the voice of God. It is this:
“Do not be afraid. I am with you.” That’s all. And for
Jeremiah, that is everything. All he needs to hear.
Confident in God’s companionship, he embarks on
this new journey. One of my friends, reflecting on this
passage, wrote, “the presence of God…renders every
perceived inadequacy irrelevant.” God believes in you.
This, it seems to me, is the crucial step in recognizing
and responding to God’s call. We are often so attuned
to our weaknesses. We are so captive to the voices
telling us what we cannot do that we miss the
awesome power of God at work within us.
Ultimately it is less about our ability than God’s
presence, which renders every perceived inadequacy
irrelevant. Time and again, God must overcome the
self-doubt that holds us back.
My favorite insight on the question of call comes
from the mystic and theologian Howard Thurman,
who gave us this wisdom: “Do not ask yourself what
the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come
alive. Because what the world needs is people who
have come alive.”
I believe this is the purpose for which each one of
us was created: to come alive. To discover what it
is that brings you an undeniable sense of purpose
and passion, and then pursue it with everything you
have. The promise of God is not that following God’s
voice will lead to a simple, easy, straightforward life
without suffering or pain or struggle. It is only this:
do not be afraid. I will be with you. Let go of your
insecurities. Release your hesitation. Run toward that
which brings you to life.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been so inspired
by the stories of these Olympic athletes who have
overcome incredible adversity, drowned out the voice
of cynicism, and persevered toward audacious goals.
I think you can see it in their eyes and hear it in their
voices what life abundant looks like.
So, this is no rhetorical question. What makes you
come alive? Where have you felt the subtle, persistent
tug of the Holy Spirit? Where do you find that sense
of purpose in that cacophony of cries? When do you
hear in your heart the clear strain, the whisper of the
spirit saying, “This! This is it. This is it”? Whatever it is,
you were meant to follow that passion with faith and
courage. God believes in you.
But wait, there’s more. As you follow, never forget
this: this call on your life is about more than your life.
You will discover your deepest joy when you pursue a
purpose greater than your own success. I’ve met more
than a few souls over the years whose tireless pursuit
of achievement, accomplishment, accolade, and
abundance have left them feeling empty at the core.
Sensing that there must be something more than this.
I’m not sure exactly why, but I keep hearing the
same ad on all of my favorite podcasts. They must
assume that this ad appeals directly to people like
me who listen to these kinds of podcasts. I can’t
even recall what it is that the ad is promoting, but
the opening line is this: “we all deserve to live
happier and more productive lives.” Now this is
certainly one measure for our decision-making.
“We deserve happiness. We deserve productivity.
And therefore, we should make choices that
increase those values, beginning of course with the
purchase of the product being advertised.”
Perhaps you can sense in the tone of my voice that
I am utterly unconvinced. Our decisions are about
more than our happiness and productivity. We,
who spend a little time here together each week,
must use a different standard of discernment and
decision-making. I recently heard an interview with
an author and influencer whose many books on selfimprovement and personal empowerment have sold
literally millions of copies. And at one point in the
conversation, the author talks about her decision to
leave organized religion after writing for many years
about its positive impact on her life. Here’s how she
summarizes her rationale, “I didn’t want anyone to
tell me what to do with my life anymore.” Now what
struck me about this response was not the rationale.
The truth is I’ve heard it hundreds of times—there is
nothing innovative about leaving church in pursuit
of your perceived absolute freedom. What struck me
in this case was how naïve it is to assume that faith
makes the only claim of such authority over our lives.
And this from someone who calls herself an influencer!
It’s precisely what she’s trying to do! Help people
decide how to live their lives. I found myself thinking,
at least religion is honest about its influencing.
Yes, we want to tell you what to do with your life
because we believe that God cares about what you
do with your life. We believe that there are better and
worse ways to live. We believe that the decision is not
whether you will choose to be shaped or left unshaped,
but rather which voices you will allow to shape you.
The practice of listening for the call of God means
letting our lives be shaped by the values of faith and
by this community that surrounds and supports us.
It means trusting that there is deeper joy in following
God’s voice than blazing your own path. It means
believing that life can be about so much more than
personal advancement or acquisition.
I close with a personal story. When I decided to go
to seminary, I was profoundly influenced by a letter
which was written to me on May 1, 2000, when I was
seventeen years old. I had just preached my very first
sermon on Youth Sunday at Vandalia Presbyterian
Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. This note
still moves me by what the influencer says and
what he does not say. In my father’s nearly illegible
handwriting, the note reads:
Dear Chris,
I am so very proud of you in so many ways. I hope you
know that. I was so proud of you on Sunday. You spoke
God’s word from your heart—expressing your faith…
Chris, I have never—and will never—“push” one of my
children into ministry. I heard again after church the
comments of, “Chris should be a minister.” I believe you
have the gifts to do so, but that may not be the direction
God is calling you. I pray that you will always listen to
God’s leading—as I believe you have been doing. Again,
your mother and I are deeply proud of you.
Love, Dad
A quarter century later, I remain persuaded that God
speaks, that God calls, that God’s voice asks us to come
alive to something far greater than we could imagine
on our own. In the end, all we have are these precious
lives, this priceless gift offered for a fleeting moment.
And, we have a choice to make. We can allow our
inadequacies to hold us back. We can invest our time
in mountains of things that will only rust and fade
away. Or we can listen for the voice of God and run
after abundant life. It’s a choice we make every day.
For God’s sake, don’t miss your call.
For all our sake, don’t waste your life. Amen.