The Call

While growing up Lutheran, I always knew that when congregations needed a new pastor, they issued a call. Teachers in Lutheran schools are issued a call as well as other lay professional church workers. But we all get calls.

When Jim Caviezel was being considered to play Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, he got a call. It might have been simply a phone call from Mel Gibson, but it really was a holy call from God. The rest is history. Jim is a devout Catholic and, certainly, a devout Christian.

We are all called to serve for whatever purpose God intends for us. Jim Caviezel knew full well the Theology of the Cross. The Theology of the Cross is about the priceless love of our Lord. It means “not my will, but Thy Will.”

Martin Luther King had a call, but it wasn’t the one he expected. As a Baptist minister, he took a call to serve as the pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. That call would lead him to lead people to march for human freedom and equality.

The apostle Paul was called in the most unlikely way. As a pharisee named Saul, he was bound and determined to destroy the early church and kill all who believed in The Way. But God had other plans. Saul became Paul. The great one became the little one and lives changed.

We all have a call. We have a call to pray. We must pray, not only for one another but for the whole world.

We all have a call. If we are husbands or wives, then we must be the best husbands or wives. If we are mothers or fathers, then we must be the best mothers or fathers. Some are called to teach, and some are called to labor.

God gives us many gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:28. We are all called to use them.

One of my favorite chapters in the Old Testament is Isaiah 42. It really speaks to me in a powerful way. We all have a call. The Mighty God of the universe calls us mere human beings to bring the light of the Gospel to a very dark world; to liberate people from the many things that keep them in darkness; to free them from that which keeps them in chains.

We are called to pray for and help the homeless, the alcoholic, the drug addict, and all those who are hurting from the pains of life. It may be when you meet a woman carrying her son along a railroad line and she bears a tattoo of a cross on her arm and she shares her pain with you. The Mighty God of the universe calls us most of all to share His great love. We are called to hold up the one who is hurting and show them the love that heals all hurts.

Never question God’s calls. Pray without ceasing. In this time of sickness and disease, there is still hope, and we are called to bring that hope to a darkened world.