- From the Jewish Scriptures: Isaiah 6:1-8
- Psalm 138 (VU p.860)
- From the Jewish Scriptures: Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Hymns this week are:
- #315 Holy, Holy, Holy
- #509 I, The Lord of Sea and Sky
- #562 Jesus Calls Us
- #675 Will Your Anchor Hold
The Sermon title is Why Me?
Early Thoughts: Ever been asked to do something you felt totally unequipped to do? Ever wondered why they didn't ask somebody else?
If so you aren't alone. Just look at the two passages we are reading this week. Both Isaiah and Jeremiah have very valid, in their minds anyway, reasons why GOd should choose someone else. And we find that elsewhere in Scripture. And certainly you find it often in the church. "Why me? There must be a mistake. There must be someone better" is a common response to God's call.
But the result of the story is equally common. In the end the objections are overcome somehow (of course if they weren't overcome we likely wouldn't hear the story I guess). GOd has a way of using people who are unqualified, who don't want the job, who are sure a mistake has been made. ANd sometimes as the story gets told the very thing that a person thinks makes her/him ineligible for the job is the reason he/she was called in the first.
Why me? IT is a valid question, but only if we are willing to explore the possible answers. It isn't valid as a way out. God calls the strangest people to the strangest jobs. OFten they are reluctant. OFten they feel not up to the task. But still God calls. ANd it is my belief that if it is really God who calls then two things are true: 1) there is no escape in the long run and 2) the task is possible.
WE'll explore this some more on Sunday.
--Gord
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