Isaiah 6:1-8; Luke 5:1-11
The picture was unambiguous–God seated on a high and lofty throne. Isaiah knew exactly what he was seeing. He knew exactly what he was hearing: the singing of the heavenly host, and then the voice of God calling him. Isaiah had many questions about this calling: why would God choose him? how could God send a man of unclean lips? How would he know what to say? But Isaiah had no question about whose voice he had heard: he was absolutely certain it was God.
It might have taken the fishermen a little bit longer to reach that level of clarity, but they too knew who was calling them. They knew because of what they had experienced: the miracle of the catch of fish, and something inside themselves that was drawn to Jesus. They shared the same questions Isaiah asked–am I really good enough for this holy work? how can I do what you are asking me to do? Later on, I suspect, they began to have other questions as well. As they came to realize how much Jesus was asking of them, did they sometimes wish they had ignored his call? When they watched as Jesus was arrested and killed, did they wonder whether they had spent the last three years following the wrong person? And when the resurrected Jesus challenged them to continue his ministry, did they question their own ability to respond to their calling? Whatever questions they might have asked themselves as they tried to follow Jesus, in that moment, at the lake, they knew that this strange teacher was speaking God’s word.
Occasionally, we experience moments as dramatic as Isaiah’s visit with the heavenly host, moments so awe-inspiring we know God is behind them. Occasionally we witness miracles as amazing as that boatload of fish, miracles that assure us God is at work. In those moments, we know God is speaking to us. Most of the time, though, it’s not that clear. We are bombarded by bright lights and bold promises coming from all different sources. We are overwhelmed by noise. In the midst of all the voices that call out to us, how do we hear the voice of God? How do we distinguish the voice of God from the many other sounds that fill our days? Isaiah and the fishermen heard God calling them, and they knew what they were meant to do with their lives. How do we know what we are meant to do with our lives?
There are no easy answers to these questions. There is no simple litmus test to determine when and how God is speaking to us. Instead of trying to provide an answer, perhaps it is more helpful to offer some additional questions to consider. From my own experience, and borrowing from the words and work of others, let me suggest three questions which I find helpful as I try to discern how God may be calling me.
The first question I borrow from Fran. In her work with seminary students trying to understand the nature of their calling, Fran often asks, “What makes your heart sing?” Implicit in that question is an understanding of who God is and how God works. God is at work inside of us, in the depth of our being, and God speaks to us through our deepest longings. God is a God of joy, who calls us to do work that fulfills those deep longings and leads our hearts to sing. Listening for the song in our hearts means going a step further than simply asking ourselves what we like to do; the song in our heart reflects not just what we enjoy but what brings us true joy. So the first question: Does it make your heart sing?
The second question comes from a book I read some years ago: Evensong, written by Gail Godwin. In this book, a young woman studying for the Episcopal priesthood writes to a dear friend, a mentor and priest who eventually becomes her husband. In her letter to him, she struggles with the chaplaincy training she is doing in a hospital, with her experience of seeing people suffering and wondering where God is in all that pain. She asks the classic faith question, “Why does God allow such suffering?” And then she follows it up with a more personalized question, “How do I know if this is what God is calling me to do?” Her friend responds to the latter question with his reflection on what he calls “vocation”: “Something’s your vocation,” he writes, “if it keeps making more of you.”
Those eloquent words echo a much more down-to-earth comment an elderly gentlemen made in a Bible Study I led decades ago at the UCC church in Malden. “If it’s easy,” he said, “it isn’t a calling.”
Both of these statements reflect my own experience of call. As a college freshman, I found myself perplexed by what I sensed was the voice of God calling me to ministry—speaking through the words of a good friend, revealed in my own journaling, coming from somewhere deep inside. I was confused, because it seemed to make no sense in terms of what I felt I was good at. I was better with books than with people, more comfortable with ideas than with feelings, and in the midst of a period of questioning my beliefs. But that sense of calling persisted, compelling me to struggle with my faith with a new honesty. Perhaps even more importantly, it pushed me out of my books and led me to work on developing aspects of myself I hardly knew were there. Ultimately, I came to trust that this calling really was from God, because I could feel it “making more of me.”
We sometimes assume that God would only call us to do something we are good at. But God is more insightful and more creative than that. God looks past what we understand to be our talents and sees our hidden potential. God calls forth gifts we didn’t know we had, gifts that will “make more of us.” God’s call is never easy, because God calls us in ways that challenge us to grow and change. So the second question: “Does it make more of you?”
The third question is the most important one: “Is it in the service of love?” We worship a God of love. When God speaks to us, it is a voice of love—a voice that offers comfort and assurance and that sometimes challenges us to change, a voice that speaks out of deep, deep love for all that we are and all that we are meant to be. When the voice of God calls us to act, it is always a call to act in love and for love. If you think you hear a call to write or paint or make music, does it have the potential to bring beauty and truth to our world, to offer even a moment of hope or laughter or joy? If you feel challenged to start a business or inspired to volunteer for a local organization, can you see the possibility that what you do, in some very small way, might contribute to making the world a more just place?
This is not always an easy question to answer, because sometimes the work we are called to do seems several steps removed, background work that paves the way for compassion and love to bear fruit. And there are many different forms that expression of love might take: an offering of beauty, an act of compassion or justice, a challenge to ourselves and to others to change our ways, a strengthened commitment to family or friends. This is not an easy question to answer, but it is an absolutely crucial question to ask. Is it in the service of love?
God is speaking to us—a voice welling up from deep inside when we slow down enough to listen to our souls, a voice that comes to us in the cry of a stranger or the words of a friend or something we read in the newspaper, a voice that whispers to us through the words of scripture and the beauty of a hymn. God is calling each one of us. God may be calling you to something that turns your life upside down. God may be inviting you to take one small step in a new direction, God may be urging you to delve deeper into what you are already doing.
God is calling each one of us—and if we dare to listen and respond we will each have to ask ourselves, “How do I know if this is God speaking to me?” We will join the noble struggle of faithful people throughout the ages who have sought to discern God’s voice and respond to God’s will. It is a lifelong struggle; it is a struggle that is worth engaging, because it will lead us to rich and fulfilling lives.
I pray these three questions will offer a helpful starting point for this process of listening and responding to God’s call. Does it make your heart sing? Does it make more of you? Is it in the service of love?
May you know the deep joy that comes from hearing and responding to God’s call. In the name of Jesus, who called the fishermen, who calls us. Amen. ful