St Andrew’s Sermon (Jan 14th, 2024)
What is Our Calling? (John 1: 43-51)
Good morning, St. Andrew’s family.
Reflecting on today’s readings there appears to be one clear theme that stands out – and that theme is “Calling.” Our calling is something that many in the church struggle with today……What is our calling?
It is important to always remember that before being called to do, we are called to be.
Our primary calling is to be in a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us clearly that God has called us into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. Our primary calling is not tied to our employment or vocation. God values us for who we are, not for what we can produce or achieve within work. God's call to us is an eternal one, that encompasses and transcends our temporal activities.
Our work, or vocational calling, is one of our secondary callings. Our vocational calling is a summons from God to use our gifts in this world, whether it be within paid employment, the home, or volunteer activities. These and other things are always the secondary, never the primary calling. They are callings, rather than the calling. They are our personal answer to God's address, our response to God's summons. Secondary callings matter, but only because the primary calling matters most.
I would call the primary and secondary calling(s) together - ‘the fullness of our calling.”
Let me use myself as the example:
Primary calling: Fifteen years ago, through a series of afflictions and trials, God called me to himself to have a personal relationship with him though faith in Jesus Christ. Through this personal relationship, God drew me to the church to serve and worship him with a united body of believers. This changed my life in many ways that included: my lifestyle, my priorities, and my purpose transitioned to having a Kingdom focus rather than a worldly focus.
Secondary calling: After God called me to himself through his Son, I remained for a time in my secular job while becoming heavily involved in missions. This was certainly my secondary calling for a time as I grew in obedience, love, and faith by jumping into the deep end of my relationship with God. However, during a trip to Greece in 2016, God summoned me to become a Pastor and has paved the way step by step ever since (often in miraculous ways).
Everyone’s story is unique and our gospel reading today gives a wonderful example to help in discerning and receiving the fullness of our calling. Whether you are still seeking your primary calling, or someone seeking your secondary calling(s), my hope and prayer is that today’s sermon helps you in some way.
So together, let us take a closer look at our gospel reading.
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Our gospel text opens with Jesus calling a new disciple name Philip.
In verse 43 we read “The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, Follow me.”
Jesus took the initiative, coming to Philiip with a remarkably simple command: ‘Follow me.”
This is a call that the Lord presents to us all. And Philip did just that. In the following verses we see immediate results in Philip’s life. He followed and had a burning desire to share the gospel. One lighted torch can easily light another, so Philip went forth to share the gospel, and soon he found Nathanael. Philip’s immediate response of his heart resonates with the words of Samuel in out OT reading “Speak for you servant is listening.”
Philip was excited! His words must have tumbled out of his mouth when he pronounced to Nathanael, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote.”
Nathanael had not heard about Jesus, but he knew his Old Testament. He knew enough to know that Bethlehem was named as the birthplace of our Savior, not Nazareth. Besides, Nazareth was just four miles form Cana, which was Nathaneal’s hometown, and since there was a little rivalry between the two places, he just had to challenge this by saying “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip gave him the best and only answer. He said, “Come and see.” We all need to make a similar response when we are tempted to argue, or others deny the truth we share. We follow Jesus in a way that draws attention to Him.
The ensuing encounter between Jesus and Nathanael reveals the spiritual realities already at work. Jesus emphasized that Nathanael was a transparent and honest man. Nathanael spoke what he thought, in which we saw in his previous response to Philip. Nathanael owned up to this with Jesus, he was indeed a man without deceit and spoke his mind (to his own peril at times).
With Nathanael’s mind whirling, our Lord continued to astonish him. In verse 48 we read, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” This is one of the most cryptic statements of all the New Testament. For centuries, many have tried to decipher the symbolism of the fig tree. In some passages it may be a symbol for peace, in many others passages it is a symbol for a home, or it could just be taken to mean a literal fig tree. But what is important here is that Nathanael had an experience that only Jesus knew about. The point being: Nathanael had a spiritual experience under a fig tree and Jesus was saying “I know about the experience you had that you shared only with God.”
Nathanael was not only without deceit – he was also quick witted and was able to put two and two together quickly. He knew what Jesus was saying here. He knew that only God was omniscient (all knowing), and he realized that Jesus’ statement demonstrated this omniscience. This meant that this man in front of him, had to be God! He was/is the God that we read about in our psalm reading today – the God that formed our ways.
Consider Nathanael’s response “Rabbi (Jesus), you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” What an incredible answer! Nathaniel was prepared to come to know God, and when he witnessed Jesus’ omniscience, he responded and believed. Jesus met him where and how he needed. Nathanel did a complete 180 degree turn and enthusiastically confessed that Jesus was the Son of God, all because he had experienced the reality of Jesus’ divinity.
When we follow Jesus, we are doing so because we are acknowledging him as our Lord and King. Our calling then becomes the privilege of living our life in faith and obedience to the One true God.
Jesus then takes things to the next level be telling Nathanael that he has not really seen anything yet. It is significant in verse 51 that he switched from the second person singular to the second person plural, making his word universal in meaning. ‘Truly, truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”.
This statement would have immediately taken Nathanael back two thousand years to the time of Jacob the Patriarch. As Jacob dreamt one night exhausted, frightened, and lonely after a long journey, God comforted him with a vision/dream. A dream where angels were ascending and descending on a ladder. This was a vision of encouragement to encourage us all that we are not alone. That was the dream that Jesus was referring to when speaking to Nathanel in our gospel reading.
It becomes clear to us today that Jesus is that ladder. What a tremendous truth, the ladder is Christ! Jesus is saying to Nathanael – as you enter the fullness of your relationship with me, and as your spiritual vision and understanding of who I am calling you to be is broadened and understood, you are going to see swarming angels and hear that rustle of their winds as they move on that ladder between heaven and earth for you.
And this is what happens on behalf of believers today. We need to hold on to this, understand it, and believe it.
Jesus’ words bring into our lives the stunning realities that were Jacob’s! God is often the closest when he seems farthest away. If our eyes could be opened, sometimes we would see the sky full of angels.
Someday we will see Heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on Jesus. All who are in Christ live in the suburbs of heaven. We are fellow citizens with the saints who are already there. All the blessings are ours – the ministry of angels, our heavenly citizenship, the closeness of heaven.
There is also a promise of growth implicit in Christ’s words to Nathanael: “You will see greater things then these.” We will experience ongoing growth and increasing understanding of the heavenly realities all around us.
As we spend more time being in our relationship with God, amazing things happen. God makes good things Godly. As we seek God in our daily lives and everyday encounters – he opens doors. The more obedient we become the more we witness God in all things. The more then that we see our purpose in our daily lives. Our secondary callings will then become clearer to us. An obedient missionary gets called to the priesthood, a police officer becomes the unit’s spiritual mentor, an office administrator becomes the office prayer warrior, the local baker becomes the neighbourhood spiritual advisor, the stay-at-home mom becomes the leader of the neighbourhood bible study.
God is infinite and his infinite love will unfold for eternity. We will always be surprised and will keep growing into new knowledge of his love. his power, his mercy, his strength, his transcendence – all these things will keep unfolding for eternity. All these infinite experiences are bound up in Jesus’ statement to Nathanael (and to us). We will see greater things.
Today there is a tragedy of much modern Christianity. We have limited the supernatural life to the extent that we do not see God! God is in this place, yet much of what we do does not indicate that we know it! We go to work and do not know it. We go to school and do not know it. We have personal relationships and do not know it. All the time God is with us, but we do not know it! God is doing amazing things in every place. We need to keep our eyes and hearts open to what God is doing – or we may just miss out on the fullness of our calling.
This mentality has even imposed itself into the church. We sing the great hymns, pray together, and worship together, but do we truly acknowledge or fully grasp that Christ is here. We hinder the fullness of God in our worship and our daily lives. Therefore, making it hard to recognize and receive the fullness of our calling.
We focus so much on good things, rather than God things. As our NT reading reminds us “many things are lawful but not beneficial to us”. We need to focus more of God things by being in relationship with God. What a difference it would make if we acknowledged and invited those spiritual realities all the time. There is so much more for all of us.
We believe it, but do we believe it? May God help us to see and appropriate these realities.
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Conclusion
Within our gospel story today, we witness the calling of both Philip and Nathanael.
We see that:
- When Jesus called them to follow, they responded and were changed.
- We see a clear acknowledgement of Jesus’ sovereignty in their lives (Lord and King).
- Both went forth and received the fullness of Christ in their lives, which lead to their secondary calling as two of the original 12 disciples.
Similar for myself:
- I answered God’s call and came to be in relationship with God through Christ.
- I accepted Jesus’ authority as Lord and King of my life.
- This helps to receive all that he has for me and seek each day the fullness of my calling.
If you do not know Jesus Christ, there is a promise to you if you will respond to him – you will begin to see the unseen. The heavens will be opened, and the angels of God will be ascending and descending upon our lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. Jesus (our ladder) has his feet planted on the earth in his humanity and divinity in the heavens. You can know that reality.
Do you know how to get it? The same way Nathanael did. Nathanel answered him saying – Jesus you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel! Jesus is our Lord and King.
You can say those words and not believe. But if you can say them truthfully with no deceit, with a heart full of faith, grace will be poured upon your life. Your calling will become clear and will be active, brilliant, exciting, all because of Jesus. May God give us all grace to receive his truth and vision for our lives.
If you are a follower of Jesus who is struggling to find your place, know that you have already found your most important calling! You can live this calling even if you are unemployed or in work that does not fit you well. The more diligently you are seeking to live your primary calling, the more effectively the Lord can guide you in finding your secondary – vocational calling (that is, work that fits your gifts and brings a deep sense of purpose and significance).
The moment Jesus brings us from death to life, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Every spiritual blessing, everything we need is provided to us. We will never be able to completely understand the fullness of God here on earth. However, we can best experience what God has for us by living in obedience and devotion to the finished work of Christ and being faithful to the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.
There is nothing more for God to give us than God himself residing in our hearts- leading us, convicting us, and encouraging us to be more like Jesus. The only thing we must do is live a life worthy of it, in submission and trust in God alone (the very best we can).
When we do so, we can then truly chase after the fullness of our calling.
AMEN