Listen: The Mystery of Ministry - Eph 4: 11-13

We spend our lives listening to a lot of people and things that talk at us. We listen to our parents. Our spouses. Our friends. Our bosses. To the TV. The radio. To music. But how often do we take time to listen to God? Yes, we certainly talk to God in prayer, but how often do we slow down enough to listen to what God is saying, even if it is not exactly what we expect God to say. 

Whenever we enter into the waters of baptism, promises are made. Promises that folks will look out for us and raise us to accept Jesus for ourselves. Promises that as people as part of the body of Christ, we will nurture people to come to experience the grace of God and lead Christian lives. 

Then when the time comes to become a professing member of the church - either through confirmation or as an adult, we ask this question: According to the grace given to you, will you remain faithful members of Christ’s holy church and serve as Christ’s representatives in the world?

We essentially ask folks how they are going to serve in ministry in such a way that they are the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. 

But in order to enter into that mystery of ministry we need to have one ear to the ground to hear the rumble of opportunity and one ear to heaven to respond to the call of God on our lives.

The apostle Paul as he writes to the church in Ephesus is reminding the people there of something very similar - we all have gifts and calls upon us in order to build up the church and proclaim the name of Christ. And none of those gifts or callings are more important than another. Some are to be apostles. Other’s prophets. Some evangelists. Some pastors. Some teachers, but they all work together for the common goal of building up the body of Christ. 

Growing up, it wasn’t just pastors who spoke into my life, friends. I think of so many other people, who were called for such a time as they served. I think of Paul and Debbie who taught my third grade Sunday school class. In third grade in my home church you were given your adult Bible, but that did not mean that it was easy for third graders to read. Yet, week after week, they encouraged us to show up with those Bibles and taught us how to read them, encouraging us as we stumbled over hard to pronounces words and talking to us about what the text truly means. They were called. 

I think of Sandy and Rita, who invited me to come and teach my first Sunday school class as a high school student. Week in and week out I would watch these faithful women prepare materials for Kindergartners, who were sometimes rambcious. Sometimes not really interested. Sometimes captivated by what they were saying. They were called. 

I think of people I’ve met throughout my time as a pastor who embodied what it meant to be the body of Christ. I think of Mrs. S who spoke words of prophecy over me at my first church, both when I really needed a word from God, but also needed to be encouraged. I think of Steve and Karen who dreamed of a place where college students could not just come and worship, but where they would be deeply cared for and had a home away from home. Of Bill, who started building looms to make prayer shawls. They were called. 

And where did all of those calls come from, Church? From the Lord who has called me and the Lord who has called you. 

The problem is, sometimes we just forget to listen for the call and respond. 

Paul tells the followers in Ephesus that they are to live a life worthy of their calling. Here’s the thing about calling - we all have one - we just sometimes choose to ignore it. While pastors may have a very specific calling to lead the church, everyone who calls them-self Christian are called to some time of servanthood and ministry by way of their baptism. Its just that the calling varies. But in this scripture passage we are told that we all have gifts - its just that the gifting and calls vary.

Have you ever taken time to pray about why you are part of this local body of Christ? Because you aren’t here by accident. You are here, because Christ gives us every gifting we need in each local body to thrive, THRIVE, for the Kingdom of God. Not just get by. Not just meet the budget. But to make a difference in transforming the world.

  Whenever I start to talk about the church, I get passionate. Because the Church is both visible and invisible. Is here in this place and around the globe. Its any place where the Word of God is preached, the sacraments are administered, and there is a presence of people of faith. Not just people but people of faith. People who faithfully want to be the Church. Want to be about something bigger than themselves. Want to be about the mission and work of God. Want to be about reaching new people about Jesus Christ - and move past want to action. In fact, people of faith live a life of holy, active expectancy, meaning that we are aware that God is using us to work in the world for something so much bigger than we could ever grasp.

  Then when I start to talk about how local churches are living into that mission, that vision of being the Church of Jesus Christ I get really excited, and often really loud. While there are many places and organizations that do good in this world, the church is the only one that exists to transform lives both here in the present and in the life to come. Amen! That’s why we reach out beyond our walls - not make more members, but to make more disciples. To connect more people to the person and message and power of Christ! 

  But the Church universal and the local church can also break my heart when we put the wrong things first and don’t listen for the call of God on our lives. When we make it all about us. When we make it about selecting whether we are going to listen to the call fo God. When we make it about what we want instead of about the heart of God.

At Annual Conference this past year, we heard the powerful words that baptism is the ordination of the laity. What was being said? That by virtue of being part of the body of Christ, you are called. Every single one of you. That’s not even a question. The only true question is if you are listening and responding to the call on your life. 

Friends, we are simply going to take time this morning to listen. To listen for the call of God and prayerfully consider our response. Is there something you have felt tugging at your heart that you’ve been avoiding. Bring it to God in prayer. Is there something you are not sure how to take the next step with? Bring it to God in prayer. If you have been making excuses about why you can’t be the one called. Bring it to God in prayer. Trusting that as we open ourselves to listen, God will surely speak….