THE TWO BIG QUESTIONS

Dr. Richard J. Henderson August 26, 2007

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Psalm 71:1-6
Jeremiah 1:4-10

Introduction

A junior in college makes an appointment with one of his professors. As they sit down to talk, the student fumbles for words. He speaks in partial sentences, not able to articulate what is troubling him. He starts a sentence, then pauses and drops his head.

The professor, who has sat quietly, finally asks, "What's at the heart of what's bothering you?" The student looks up, staring at the professor, and obviously trying to pull together an answer. "What am I going to do with my life? I'm confused. I haven't done a lot in my life yet, so I'm not really sure what I'm good at. I'm not even sure who I am. I guess I'm looking for some direction in my life."

The professor leaned back in his chair and smiled, "Welcome to life's big questions. You know I can't give you answer. And it won't get answered today or this year; in fact, these questions will be with you for the rest of your life. That's the wonderful adventure of life - discovering more about who you are and what you're supposed to do with your life."

The professor is right; two basic questions of life will always be with us - who am I, and what am I supposed to do with my life?

People ask them most frequently when they are young and trying to begin their journey, but we ask them again when we begin work, revisit them when we start a family, and later in mid-life. We ask those two questions all over again in retirement - Who am I, and what am I supposed to do with the rest of my life?

I

Our Old Testament reading this morning is about those questions. Except that Jeremiah's situation is unique. He is just a young boy when God calls him to be a prophet. He doesn't know who he is or what he is supposed to do with his life. He hasn't given it much thought this early on.

The call that you and I receive in our lives, Jeremiah gets very early in his life. God says to him, "Here is what I want you to do."

It's interesting that God isn't concerned that Jeremiah doesn't know who he is; apparently it's more important that God knows who he is. Jeremiah doesn't have to fully understand himself - what gifts, skills, and abilities he has - as long as God knows what they are. Obviously, you don't have to be a proven leader to be called by God. We don't have to know who we are; we don't have to have a proven track record for God to call for our help.

II

Look at Jesus' disciples. Some were fisherman, one a tax-collector; these were not people trained in ministry. They were ordinary people. Jesus didn't give a screening test or ask for a resume; he apparently wasn't interested in their prior work history. He asked, and they responded. He called, and they answered. All the education and training would be on-the-job.

The first thing Jesus did in his ministry was to call his disciples. He could have done his work all alone, but he wanted disciples to work with him. Jesus said, "Follow me," and these disciples trailed off behind him with fish scales still under their fingernails. Jesus will teach and train them. But it will all happen along the dusty paths of Palestine.

III

When most people think of a "call," they think of trotting off to seminary to be trained as pastors or church leaders. That's only a small part of what God calls people to be - and often not the most effective part.

God continues to call ordinary people to do part of God's work. I believe God calls every one of his people to do something, whether large or small, whether touching thousands of lives or one life, whether well-known or anonymous. Our ministry can be at work, at home, or in our community; it can be in our area of skill or outside it, in our country or elsewhere.

We think of ministry as public acts, but some of the most effective are personal and shared one to one. God calls ordinary often untrained people who are called to act as God's agents in the world. Sometimes the call is to great, publicized actions, and involves world-changing events, like Martin Luther King's civil rights leadership. More often it is quiet, private help offered to another person.

IV

Each of us receives a call - or calls - throughout our lives. Each call is different; no two calls are identical. The way we sense God's call differs from person to person. For some it is clear early on - like Jeremiah's. For others it is a growing sense of something you need to do (though not always something you want to do). Sometimes it is a gnawing feeling that won't go away. Sometimes it's a passion that you feel that you must pursue.

God speaks to us in different ways. But for most of us it isn't nearly as clear as the call that Jeremiah received. For us it tends to be subtle. It is a wondering if this is what I should do. It is the question that keeps coming back - an uneasy feeling. To find God's will takes lots of prayer - listening as well as asking - and patience.

Conclusion

Oscar Romero was a bishop in El Salvador. When the time came to replace the archbishop there, he was a favorite of the government for that position. He was a bland, not very public person, who seemed to not make waves. He looked like the ideal man for the governmental powers to manipulate. In 1978 he was made the archbishop of El Salvador.

Just three weeks after he was installed his close friend, Rutillo Grande, was brutally murdered by the government. That event was a conversion experience for Oscar Romero. He began to speak out against the atrocities of the government. He passionately took on the cause of the poor, abused, common people of his land. He denounced terrorism and the ruthless violence of the government.

Shortly before his death he wrote in his diary, "I express my consecration to the heart of Jesus, who was ever a source of inspiration and joy in my life. I place under his loving providence all my life, and I accept with faith in him my death, however hard it be. For me to be happy and confident, it is sufficient to know with assurance that in him is my life and my death, that in spite of my sins, I have placed my trust in him and shall not be disappointed, and others will carry on with greater wisdom and holiness the works of the church and the nation."

On Monday, March 24, 1980, Oscar Romero was celebrating the Mass in the chapel of Divine Providence Hospital. As he raised the bread and the cup, a shot was fired from the chapel doorway and Romero fell to the floor with a bullet in his chest. He died a short time later in a hospital emergency room.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2007