Read Deuteronomy 18:15-20
“Unless someone like
you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.” These
words are found at the end of Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax.” It is amazing how a book
written for children by a man known for his nonsensical writing can produce words
like these that are so simple but also so profound. We as humans are so good at
being able to look around us and see all the evil and wrong in the world today.
We can look and recognize that sad fact that many in our community are poor,
struggling to pay their bills or put food on the table. We can look and see that there is a distrust
in our government and in our politicians. We can look and see that men, women
and children are still dying overseas from diseases such as Malaria and Ebola.
We can even look on this Super Bowl Sunday and recognize that this day is one
of the largest days for Human Trafficking here in our very own country. We see
these things and we recognize that they are wrong, but unless someone like you
care a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”
Over the past couple of weeks we have been diving into
the Bible to see examples of prophets who have been called to do the mighty
work of caring a whole awful lot. We learned about Samuel’s call by God to lead
the Jewish people, and we heard Eli’s call to allow room for it to happen. Last
week we heard about the reluctant Jonah who after fleeing from his call,
becomes so successful at converting Nineveh, even against his own wishes. I
feel though, that as we hear these stories we don’t picture these prophets as
being like us, but instead imagine them as being some extraordinary humans with
some amazing gift that we do not have, doing things that we could have never
done. There is often a disconnect between recognizing God calling these
prophets in the Bible and God calling us here today.
Our Scripture for today challenges this idea a little.
Our scripture is not about some specific great prophet like Jonah, or Samuel,
or Moses or Elijah. Our scripture isn’t
even about some great act that was performed in the Biblical times. Our
scripture is a call for prophets. The
people had been complaining that witnessing the Lord directly was becoming too
much for them, they couldn’t handle the burning bushes, or pillars of smoke, or
great storms and fires that had accompanied God’s appearance to the people,
they said if it kept up they would surely die. And so God tells the people he
will lift up prophets who will be like Moses, who will be able to speak and
share the truth and love of God. This is so opposite of the ways things are
today. We as Christians want those fires, we want the storms and the rains, and
whatever signs we can get to remind us of God’s presence with us. And yet we
would just open our eyes we could see God’s presence all around us, because God
has called his people to be those signs in the world.
What is maybe more shocking is that in our scripture God
says, “The Lord will raise up a prophet
like Moses, from among your own people.” It’s not going to be some outsider or
some particularly special person who will be the one to speak and live to word
of God for others, it’s going to be you; from among your own people. Now I know
in our Scripture God is referring to the Israelites, but I think this concept
can translate to our context now. If we were to think out of your people, let’s
say Christians, I will raise up a prophet, then we start to see and
understanding for ordination and for the role of clergy; that there are those people in the Church as
a whole that are set apart to be leaders. This is all well and good, but what
about a more specific group of people. What if we aren’t saying God is calling
some within Christians as a whole, but that God will raise up prophets here out
of Lambs/ Evington United Methodist Church?
Because its true that I as a pastor bring certain gifts and leadership
to this congregation, but true change, true revival for our Church comes from
you. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get
better, it’s not.”
The truth is that God has called you, out of your own
people, to live and speak the Gospel, to be that person that cares a whole
awful lot and works to see change. Now I see a lot of ducking and dodging, was
he looking at me when he said that?
Often when we hear that God is calling us, we almost act like we’re playing that cookie jar game like we
did as kids. “Who took a cookie from the cookie jar, Daniel took a cookie from
the cookie jar, Who Me, yes you, not me, then who?” We hear that we are being called
and we say who me? Not me, then who.” We always think that is our neighbor who
has the gifts and the talents, and the truth is they probably do, but it
doesn’t mean that you too are not being called.
In psychology we call this the bystander effect. It is
the idea that when there is an immediate need and there are multiple witnesses
or bystanders, that people typically assume someone else will respond. The
classic case of this is the story of Kitty Genovese. Kitty was attacked by a man late one night in
New York City. As she was stabbed she cried out for help. Numerous neighbors
heard the cry, and out of fear the attacker ran away. Kitty tried to get away
for help, but when the attacker realized no help was going, he returned and
fatally stabbed Kitty. When the police interviewed the neighbors they told them
that they heard her screams, but thought someone would have already called the
police; but no one did.
Are we abandoning the call to be Kingdom builders because
we assume someone else will take care of it?
Do we hear that God is calling us, and look over our shoulder because
you most certainly don’t mean me? If our
scripture teaches us anything, is that we hear that God will raise up out of
you people who will speak and live the Good News. Are you willing this morning
to be one of them? Are you going to be the one that cares an awful lot? When we
accept the call that God places on our lives then we may find another Dr. Seuss
quote to be true, “If you never did you should, these things are fun, and fun
is good.”
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