Sermon at First Presbyterian
Church Lockhart
by James Greene
In today’s sermon we will see in
the texts the dynamics of God’s Righteous Call. This call sometimes comes to the most unlikely of people,
and often times, the ones who seem
to be those most ill equipped, ill
prepared, or the wrong person. Three key
elements that we reflect upon this morning is God’s call upon us to righteousness in our past, present, and future.
During this past week Bill Millin passed away at 88.
He was a Private,
and a Scottish Bagpiper in a British Brigade during WW II.
Before the D-Day
landing, his Brigade Commander Lord
Lovat, asked
him to play his pipes,
when they landed on the beachhead
to raise morale. This was against the British regulations established in
WW I, to keep from attracting enemy fire. When he reached the beach he proceeded to march up and down
the beachhead in the midst of
the German machinegun and artillery fire, as the Brigade personnel advanced through the smoke and gunfire, some dying as they advanced. He was unarmed, as he continued to play
the Scottish tunes with their movement inland off of the
beach. His tunes inspired and reminded the commandos of
home and why they were fighting, - for their lives and their loved ones.
It wasn’t until later, after they
had taken the gun positions,
that they found out that the reason
the Germans had not shot
him,
(quote) was “because they thought he was crazy.”
He had followed the call of his Commander. It resulted in his being able to inspire his countrymen in the battle.
Because of his answering his call, he survived the landing, and the war.
We see in Jeremiah this morning the call of the prophet Jeremiah. This takes is around 610 BC during the reign of Josiah the King. This entire call of Jeremiah is written in the prophetic
style. We can see in the bracketing
phrases “The Word of the Lord”
and “Declares the Lord”. God reassures Jeremiah of His presence and guidance, (“I am with
you and will rescue you”) and that what is spoken
by Jeremiah is God’s Word.
God came to Jeremiah
and called him. He declared him Holy, and set apart, for God’s use and purpose. God’s power was to be made known through Jeremiah’s weakness,- a youth. God
is the author of his life, in spite of his reluctance. God, not
only, works his will
through Jeremiah’s words and deeds, but also uses his life
to touch future generations, in
ways that believers could not
have known. When the Lord touches
Jeremiah’s mouth he is declaring Jeremiah’s words to be holy.
This is reflected with the prophet Isaiah
before him, when Isaiah
is called and anointed with the live coal touching
his lips. Both of their words were to reflect
the righteousness of the God who had called them. 1
Jeremiah
is a prophet to
We
see today,
how God calls
us to him, in spite
of ourselves. There is nothing complicated in the way God calls us into fellowship
with Him. He reassures
us that he will be with us
in his righteousness
and integrity. He comes to us and sets us apart.
In Psalm 71, we the psalmist’s calls
for God’s help: in the Past, the Present, and
the Future. He calls
upon God to deliver, save
and rescue him. Like Jeremiah, he reflects upon his reliance upon God
from birth; how God has been
his rock and fortress in the Past. God
has also been his hope, and confidence in the Present.
He declares that God will also be our hope and confidence for the Future. It is a realization, that we praise God in all times - Past, Present, and Future.
God is his refuge. It is the call of the faithful believer,
upon God, to help him in his existence. He proclaims
that God is the God who delivers
and saves us. It is his trust and confidence in God (in all things) in his life. God is his reason to always have hope,
and the source of his salvation.
This
Psalm is also an overlay of Christ’s anointing
call in the New Testament.
It is in his humanity, that He calls upon God to deliver and to save.
It is His awareness of
His call
to be a witness, and the implement of God’s saving grace and salvation, and His trust
in God’s call on His life. It is God’s call in
our lives. Christ shows in his praise, and declaration, that God will
always be his strength
and refuge. Just as this church remembers its history, we are called to
remember our own history and our relationship with God, who has called us, from before our birth, into His
Righteousness.
In Hebrews, God’s righteousness
is seen as a consuming fire. We cannot bear to be in the presence of The Lord. The passage, where even
the animals should be stoned
that come to God’s mountain, is a reference to Exodus 19:12-13 and Deuteronomy 9:19. They refer to the righteousness of God, and how that righteousness is holy and set apart from the common
and the profane.
Jesus calls us in his righteousness, and in His love. Paul states that,
“you
have come” voluntarily, (to God’s holy city) to Mt Zion, “you have come” to the church of the first born. This is a
reference to Jesus who is the first
born from the Dead. He says
you have come - to Jesus and to
the sprinkled blood upon the alter.
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This sprinkled blood
refers to the sacrifice of the lamb of the Passover, where the blood of the lamb, was sprinkled upon the horns of the
alter, as the atonement
for the sins of the people. This
is referring to the atoning death of Jesus, our savior, for all people.
Hebrews calls us to worship God in his righteousness. We are called by Jesus into righteousness to bring about
God’s Kingdom. We are to
be God’s righteous work on
the earth. We are to reflect God’s love and compassion. We are to
be God’s example of what it is to be called and to be holy, to those
we come in touch with every day.
It is God’s righteous call upon our lives. We are reassured
that God’s Kingdom will not be
shaken.
In realizing God’s Grace and Call, we like the psalmist, worship
God, in thanks, in reverence, and in awe; because his love and his righteousness is a consuming fire in our lives. We, in God’s righteous call upon our lives, praise
God for being our refuge
and salvation, when both the earth and the heavens will be shaken.
We are separated and saved because of the sacrificial love and death of Jesus, who calls us to him.
In the gospel of Luke ,we see, Jesus teaching
in the synagogue. In the middle of his teaching,
he notices and calls a woman who has been crippled
in spirit. He is acting out of
his love, and in his righteous compassion for this
woman. It is becomes a part of
his teaching the congregation
the heart of God’s intent for all people, even the marginal. He is teaching
the example of God’s love for all people.
There
are two results of his call and action in healing.
First the leaders, in their legal
tradition and focus, criticize
Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. It is their belief, that he is violating the law by ‘working’ on the Sabbath. In his
righteousness, he shows them their error.
Second, in Jesus’ ministry of
deliverance and release, the woman’s response, in being called and healed is immediate: In her immediate response is to praise
God for her salvation from being
bound. Just the hymn: it is Jesus who calls us across the tumult of our life struggles and crippled
conditions. He is bringing about
the righteous call of God and the
Finally, God’s righteous call in our
lives yields praise and worship, whether we are the prophet, the psalmist, the Christ, or
those who have come to God.
Weather in our worship, or when we are called and healed through God’s love, there is God’s call upon our lives. Our right and righteous response results in the praise of God for his healing and his salvation in our lives. Just as in Jeremiah, God says he will be with us in our trials
and in our struggles. He is the
source of each blessing and healing. The
praise to the Lord
for his healing and salvation is also the call to us in Psalm 71.
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It is all
about God’s righteous call upon
and in our lives. Just as Hebrews
reminds us of God’s consuming fire, we also must remember that we have been called to righteousness by Jesus in our relationship to God, and to those around
us.
In the both the New and the Old Testament, God calls us, and comes to dwell in our midst. He calls us in his righteousness to be his people. We are called to care for each other, just as Jesus cared for the woman who was bound in her condition.
We, like Jesus, are to bring in The Kingdom through God’s righteous call and healing. We are God’s witness to salvation. It is the call of God through
Jesus, bringing in His Kingdom.
Now is the time for us,- to hear the call of God.
Now is our time,- to respond in righteousness, to his salvation,
In the Name of … the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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