The inauguration
This is a big week for our country everyone is preparing themselves for the inauguration of our 44th president.
All of my friends leaving for Washington DC
This inauguration is a big deal for everyone. I can’t speak to any one my friends about anything this week, because they have all left for Washington DC
Wouldn’t it Be nice if 4 millions people came from all over the world to welcome you and I to our first day of work. There is only one person on the world who gets that honor.
But our lesson for today is that all of us get an inauguration. A new day a new start. This is the season of new inaugurations. New days are actually quite common and come in many different ways. Days when our lives unfold like a picture and we realize new things.
For Jesus it was his baptism, the day that God spoke to him and gave him affirmation that he was on the right trail.
This week, we have a new inauguration story - the story of Samuel.
This is the day that Samuel recognized God speaking to him.
Scripture points out that not only did God not speak very often to others, but Samuel did not know God either.
He was a young man, he didn’t know his own greatness, or his destiny, nor the urgings of his own heart.
God calling him was the beginning of his relationship with God
Wayne Dyer story
Wayne Dyer tells the story of a family with two small children. One very rambumcous 4 year old boy – who was always into everything. When his little brother was born, he was a little happy, but he seemed to think he was a toy to play with. There didn’t seem to be any acknowledgment that the younger child was a human, until one day the mother found the 4 year old sitting over the crib talking with the child. He was asking the baby to remind him of what heaven was like because he was beginning to forget. Children have a special connection to God, as we get older we get more attuned to what is happening in front of us, and we forget to look within ourselves to talk with God.
St. Augustine’s quote also
St. Augustine went on the say that God is within us, but for some reason as we get older, we start to step outside of ourselves our hearts in order to please others. This puts us out of touch, with the one thing that we are looking for – our relationship with God.
The point is that Samuel as a young child, was beginning to look within himself – to be quiet to learn to listen to what God was telling him.
Samuel went on to become the greatest prophet God ever knew, leading them into a new era.
His Journey Started with addressing the situation. He Addressed the sinful nature of his life and the world.
Eli was well intentioned, but his sons had forgotten what it meant to serve God and were literally taking advantage of others, by being priest.
We are good at addressing sin in others, but we are not good at identifying the sin in ourselves.
Paul helps us with that. This is not my favorite verse, but I think one of the most important – summarizes our life at a Christian.
As a Christian, I can do whatever I want, there is nothing wrong, but there are some things that are not in my best interest.
Our bodies are a temple of God, honor it. But not just our bodies, but our minds and our souls. It is our thoughts that determine the state of our minds and souls, and it is the state of our minds and souls that determine what we do with our bodies.
Sin, missing the mark, not doing what is in your best interest is what stands in the way of our relationship with God, our call in the world.
Can’t get rid of sin unless we address it honestly and we realize that our bad behavior is only a stand in for good intentions. We all mean well, we just don’t always do well. Why we need to be willing to listen to God’s call to us.
Paul makes one more important point about the Christian life.
Being called by God is not about you- or what you think is right. Being called by God is about God. A lot of us misunderstand that.
If you find that you are the hero to your own story – you are not being called by God. If you are convinced that you have all of the right answers to someone elses life you are not being called by God. If you are more concerned about taking away the pain of others – not called, if you need to build yourself up by intentionally discrediting others you are not called by God.
Living the Christian life is never about you – it is about the good of the community. Salvation is being reminded that you are absolutely nothing without being connection to the entire body of Christ.
Mother Theresa’s call
Mother Theresa speaks of her call to go out into the streets of India to help people who had literally been thrown away by society. There was a voice who told her that it would be much easier to just go back to her convent and live in peace for the rest of her life. But she listened to the voice which told her these people needed her, and that she needed to be there for them, to help and heal them and make sure that they knew that no matter what their circumstance they were children of God.
Borden’s call story
William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school in the 40’s. as a graduation present, his parents gave him a trip around the world. He was heir to the borden dairy fortune. While on the trip, he was introduced to the living conditions of others around the world – and he decided that the had to become a missionary. When he went to seminary, he wrote in his bible about his call – no reserves. He had given his life to God. As he graduated, he started bible studies all over America, and still travelled throughout the world – he wrote again in his bible – no retreats. No matter who hard things got, he was not turning around. He served all over the world – in Egypt he acquired spinal mennengiitis. Months before his death at 25 he wrote again in his bible – no regrets. He call led to sacrifice, pain and eventually death- and yet he knew he was willing to follow Christ wherever it led, even to death.
Being called by God is never an easy job.
Called by God there are a lot of days when you don’t have all of the answers, lots of people who are convinced that if they were in your shoes they could do ten times better than you, lots of days when you find that you fail more often then you succeed. All good indications that you are following God.
But through it all – you know that no matter what – you will be faithful and continue to God calling in your heart.
When we live life for others, when we answer their questions, when we take away pain instead of giving them the tools to live for themselves- we deprive them of listening to their call. Of their relationships, and from coming up with the answers for themselves.
God calls us all to be – our best selves, in our best relationship with God. A journey we take together, but we can only take walking on our own two feet.
Final word – not God or Samuel – but Eli – the sinner, the one blind and unable to hear
It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.
The Lord is here – doing what seems Good to him –How are we responding.
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