When I was in university back in the 80’s, I would walk to class from my Grandma’s house in the McKernan neighborhood. One day a couple came by and called out, “Lisa! What are you doing back in town? Why didn’t you call us?” I tried to tell them that I wasn’t Lisa, and they got quite indignant. They honestly thought I was pulling a prank on them. I should have asked for their name and try to contact my doppelganger, but I didn’t think of that, and found the whole incident rather disturbing.
Then a few years ago, I got a pile of e-mail resumes sent to me for a daycare down in Texas. Turns out there are several Monica Rosboroughs on Linked In, one of which is a daycare manager in Marshall, Texas! So someone can look like me and not be me, and someone can look nothing like me yet have my name. It’s a confusing world out there at times.
Jesus seems to know not just Nathaniel’s name but also his face, and more than that, his character. He recognized Nathaniel as a faithful and honest man. In some ways, that is the hardest to understand of all. We humans struggle with knowing when we can trust someone. Con artists abound, a testimony to our innate desire to trust people, and we often choose wrong. We also trust too broadly and when someone loses our trust, we can become very judgemental. We can even overreact. If someone like Bill Cosby does what he does, of course he should go to jail. But if someone is late for a meeting or gets angry at something we do, it doesn’t mean that we should automatically convict them as untrustworthy.
Don’t trust me to put together a budget on time and accurately, it won’t happen! But do trust that I will care about how we set priorities and how we worship together. We all have strengths that we are trustworthy with, and wise is the person who knows what they can be trusted to do and what they can’t.
Also wise is Jesus who can see to the heart of someone and call them into discipleship with such clarity and trust. And of course, God is the source of all wisdom, and calls a diverse group of people into service. Last week we learned about John Wesley and his heart being as he put it, strangely warmed. That was his personal call story, how he found himself called into ministry. Today we also hear the story of Samuel, called when he was a child.
Doesn’t Samuel sound like a spoiled kid who won’t go to sleep? Eli was an old man who hadn’t been a great parent for his own sons, but now was stuck raising this kid to be a holy preacher. Sounds more like a holy terror. Kid, get to sleep! Go back to bed! Let me get some shut eye! Eli didn’t trust the boy to know God’s voice, and God shouldn’t have trusted Eli to raise Samuel to be the next religious leader of the people after messing up his sons. But God gives second chances and calls young and old into new lives and new adventures. Sometimes it’s with words, sometimes it’s with feelings, sometimes it’s just the logical thing to do.
Everyone is called to different tasks, and everyone’s call is unique. It doesn’t matter if they look similar to someone else or share someone else’s name, their call is unique to them. Hearing the call is one thing, understanding it is another. Many are called but not all answer. Some folks don’t recognize that tug on their heartstring as a call, some find it too scary to contemplate and they give up. Some feel crippled by their lack of self-esteem. Moses almost walked away from the burning bush because he felt so inadequate, Jeremiah almost quit because he felt too young even though he was older than Samuel. I often hear people apologizing for not having the gifts they feel they should have.
“I should know how to knit”, they say “so I could also make prayer shawls”, or “I wish I could speak in front of people” when they really don’t want to do such a thing. Sometimes God calls us to do things that are hard and take a good deal of fortitude, but more often God calls us to do something which gives us great joy! And it may be something we already enjoy doing! One little boy was so inspired by Samuel that he and his grandma collected enough bottles to buy a ghetto blaster for his grandma’s Sunday School class. That’s hearing the call!
Maybe it’s phoning people who are living alone, maybe it’s being a walking buddy for someone who needs encouragement. Maybe it’s starting a petition for our parks. Maybe it’s a letter-writing campaign to a government official. Maybe it’s going back to school or taking lessons on something that has been haunting you for a while. Maybe it’s sharing the Zoom link or YouTube video to our church service with a friend who talks to you about faith. Maybe it’s finally calling a mental health hotline and getting support for yourself in these difficult times. Test it with the Wesley test – is it logical, does it fit my experience, does it resonate with my faith and does it feel right emotionally? Share it with a wise friend whose advice you have found to be helpful in the past, then take even a tiny step towards that action. Whatever you are feeling called to do, be it big or small, old or new, scary or joyful, take time to pray about it, then trust that God will guide you and call you into a new and renewed sense of your own discipleship. May it be so for us all!
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