Loading...I’m not one to title my sermons usually, but for today, the title very easily came to me: Are You Ready?
Or, as my text-message savvy mother would write: R U Ready?
Are you ready to do God’s work in the world?
Are you ready to be challenged?
Are you ready to be changed?
Are you ready to work for God’s people and creation?
Are you ready to learn and to prepare?
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Abram thought he was ready:
he followed God’s GPS directions to a new home in Canaan;
he’d trusted God’s promise;
he would experience a name change real soon.
But, there was a hiccup. Abram wasn’t sure that it was all going according to plan. He wondered to God, “Did I not understand your promise of an heir correctly? I thought you meant that a child of my own would be my heir, but I guess you meant my slave Eliezar?”
No, God says. My promise to you is that I will be your God and will provide for you. I will be God for all of your descendants – as many as there are stars in the heavens. And, you will have a child, your own child.
The promise had been made, and it was reiterated. And, it was fulfilled.
The promise of God is made and renewed multiple times in Abraham’s life and in our own.
We know God’s promise through the baptismal covenant made in the sacrament of baptism:
God claims, gives life to, and gives gifts to you in baptism.
But, not just the once. This promise is renewed and affirmed in confession and absolution, in healing, in confirmation, in community life, in daily life.
Our baptismal covenant and promise transforms our daily life
and invites us into vocation – service, justice, learning, care and work for others, and in our work/school/volunteer spheres.
But,
Do not be afraid, little flock!!
You don’t have to come up with your own vocation.
You don’t have to come up with your gifts and talents and skills.
You don’t have to come up with things that need doing!
Do not be afraid, little flock!
You also don’t have to come up with a fix for the things the need fixing.
You don’t have to come up with your own salvation (or somehow make that happen).
And, you are not alone. God in Christ is with you in the power of the Spirit.
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So we come back to the question “R U Ready?”
Are you ready to be a part of what God is doing?
Jesus asks us to be ready:
“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.”
“Be like those waiting for their master to return” – even if it ends up being in the middle of the night!
What does that look like –
being ready to do God’s work
being ready to live in God’s promise
being ready to live with a sense of vocation and purpose – the purpose God’s given to you?
Here are a couple of thoughts about what that looks like:
Learn.
Learn about what God’s people have done already.
Learn about what gifts God has given you (try out new things, explore interests, challenge yourself).
Learn about what is going on in the world, the injustice, poverty, and violence that is real and happening.
Learn about yourself and about your neighbors and community.
Study peace and justice issues.
Study techniques for serving.
And, listen.
Tune your ears to listen for the Spirit of God.
Tune your ears to listen for God in silence.
Listen for God in the voice of others.
Listen for God in the voice of those who are silenced.
Listen for and to needs in the world.
Prepare. Be alert. Be ready.
Gather your energy kinetically so that when the time comes, the call to serve and act, you can be like a spring ready to sproing!
Prepare. Be alert. Be ready
so that you can spring into action
with healing, justice, grace, mercy, compassion, and love.
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Are You Ready?
What could you do and be a part of if you knew that you’d been given all the gifts you needed for the tasks God calls you for?
What could we do and be a part of if we knew that we could not fail (or, if we did, it wouldn’t matter because God is with us no matter what just as promised?)
What could you do and be a part of if you trusted in God with heart, soul, body, and mind for life, your sense of self-worth, and your future?
What could you do?
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I invite you to turn to a neighbor or two near by you (pew next to you, in front of you or behind you). Talk with one another about what you are ready for, about what you could do with God’s gifts to address needs and concerns of our neighboring community. Share with one another how you would answer this question: Are you ready for the life that God calls you into and transforms you for?
[sing] Take, oh, take me as I am. Summon out what I shall be. Set your seal upon my heart, and live in me. [at least 4 times]
Let us pray,
We give you thanks, O God, that through water and the Holy Spirit you give us new birth, cleanse us from sin, and raise us to eternal life. Stir up in your people the give of your Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understand, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence, both now and forever. Amen (Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Affirmation of Baptism for the Assembly)
