02-11-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
February 11, 2025
On Sunday, I discussed a topic that seemed to resonate deeply with a handful of individuals. As I had suggested, excuses often, although not always, come from feelings of inadequacy—a sense of not measuring up to some self-imposed ideal of good, skilled, or special. Yet when God calls us to do something, why is it that we should second-guess God? Don’t get me wrong, I have done it myself. In the call story of Jeremiah, a calling that came at a young age, Jeremiah’s response sounds sort of familiar. He said, “Lord God, I don’t know how to speak because I’m only a child.” Had he not been young, I’m pretty sure he had another excuse close at hand. Of course, Jeremiah knew very well the powerful prophets that had come before him, while also knowing just how dangerous the calling of a prophet was. Many of us, if we are honest, might have run away before we even gave an excuse. Of course, we need to remember Jonah who ran away when God called. Funny thing about God is that God is extraordinarily persistent, and of course, God eventually got Jonah to go to Nineveh… reluctantly. What is your go-to excuse? When is it that you most often reach for that excuse? Why is that? These are important questions for us to ask.

Continue to build within me, Most Good and Gracious God, the capacity to hear your call upon my life and trust you to be my guide and my strength no matter what I might face. Amen.