How do you recognize the voice of God? How can

you know—really know, know for certain—when God

is leading you in a new direction? When you are

inundated by a cacophony of conflicting cries, how do

you listen for that one clear strain, the whispers of the

Spirit? How does God call?

The question feels particularly urgent in consequential

moments of our lives. Those life-defining moments.

Those moments of deepest and broadest significance.

Moments when big decisions must be made. Have I

chosen the right profession? Am I preparing for the

right vocation? With whom should I choose to spend

my life? How should I spend my resources? How

do I respond to a friend in crisis, a friend in despair,

a friend in need? Whom should we choose as our

leaders? Which values will have highest priority in our

lives? Why did God put me on this planet?

The good news is that our sacred scriptures are filled

with stories of divine call and human response. When

you reflect on these narratives, an interesting pattern

begins to emerge. Take Jeremiah for example. The

word of the Lord comes to him entirely unannounced

and without warning. God says before he was even

born, he had been called by God as a prophet. Later

at the end of the chapter, as the encounter ends, he

is given a pair of promises. These two. Number One:

“The people will fight you…” Number Two: “But they

won’t prevail.” That’s cold comfort if you ask me.

Why will they fight him for following God’s call?

Because the prophetic word Jeremiah must deliver is

a hard word. It is a word of judgment, and the people

who must hear that word are his people. Jeremiah’s

aunts and uncles, neighbors and teachers. Jeremiah

will proclaim God’s disappointment with all who

call themselves righteous but leave their faith at the

doors of the sanctuary. Yes, they are ostentatious in

worship but fail to listen and live the truth of their

performance. Jeremiah must tell them they are

moving too quickly down the wrong path, and they

are headed into exile in Babylon.

And here comes the pattern. Jeremiah resists God’s

call. We see it over and over again in scripture. Like

Moses and Jonah, Isaiah and, yes, some of you, this

young man attempts to reject the call of God.

Too hard. Too scary. Not me. Not now.

In Jeremiah’s case, his novel excuse is that he is

too young to speak for God. Literally, Jeremiah

says, “God, I am only a child.” For his part, Moses

memorably rejects God’s call five times when he

is spoken to from the burning bush. He uses every

excuse in the book. He brings up his lack of oratorical

skill, the fact that he has no credibility among his

people. And his final protest is my favorite one. It is

the most desperate and the most refreshingly direct.

Moses says, “O Lord, please send someone else.” He

even has a candidate in mind: Aaron.

Have you ever found yourself in such a spot?

Questioning a divine call. Wondering if the voice

you hear is in fact the voice of God. Or perhaps

just asking to be left alone or begging God to send

someone in your place.

Too hard. Too scary. Not me. Not now.

But here’s the thing. When it comes to the call of God,

there is no one else. No other person on the planet

possesses your unique combination of gifts. No one

else in the history of humanity has fit the puzzle in the

spot God designed for you. In my experience, despite

our attempts at resistance, God’s pursuit is patiently

persistent, and there is no substitute for you.

This can be comforting when making those

significant, life-altering decisions, to know that there

is a spot designed for you. But we are still left with the

questions: How do we know for certain? How do we

recognize God’s voice?

And when we consider the question of God’s call to

Jeremiah, we might wonder if his is a model for us.

Yes, God pursues Jeremiah before this young man has

a chance to consider other options, or call his parents

for advice, or read the fine print in the contract. Yes,

he is given work that will be difficult, demanding. It

will ask so much of this young man. But there is, with

the call, a simple assurance. It flies by so quickly in

the text you may have missed it altogether. It comes

in verse eight. It arrives in the voice of God. It is this:

“Do not be afraid. I am with you.” That’s all. And for

Jeremiah, that is everything. All he needs to hear.

Confident in God’s companionship, he embarks on

this new journey. One of my friends, reflecting on this

passage, wrote, “the presence of God…renders every

perceived inadequacy irrelevant.” God believes in you.

This, it seems to me, is the crucial step in recognizing

and responding to God’s call. We are often so attuned

to our weaknesses. We are so captive to the voices

telling us what we cannot do that we miss the

awesome power of God at work within us.

Ultimately it is less about our ability than God’s

presence, which renders every perceived inadequacy

irrelevant. Time and again, God must overcome the

self-doubt that holds us back.

My favorite insight on the question of call comes

from the mystic and theologian Howard Thurman,

who gave us this wisdom: “Do not ask yourself what

the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come

alive. Because what the world needs is people who

have come alive.”

I believe this is the purpose for which each one of

us was created: to come alive. To discover what it

is that brings you an undeniable sense of purpose

and passion, and then pursue it with everything you

have. The promise of God is not that following God’s

voice will lead to a simple, easy, straightforward life

without suffering or pain or struggle. It is only this:

do not be afraid. I will be with you. Let go of your

insecurities. Release your hesitation. Run toward that

which brings you to life.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been so inspired

by the stories of these Olympic athletes who have

overcome incredible adversity, drowned out the voice

of cynicism, and persevered toward audacious goals.

I think you can see it in their eyes and hear it in their

voices what life abundant looks like.

So, this is no rhetorical question. What makes you

come alive? Where have you felt the subtle, persistent

tug of the Holy Spirit? Where do you find that sense

of purpose in that cacophony of cries? When do you

hear in your heart the clear strain, the whisper of the

spirit saying, “This! This is it. This is it”? Whatever it is,

you were meant to follow that passion with faith and

courage. God believes in you.

But wait, there’s more. As you follow, never forget

this: this call on your life is about more than your life.

You will discover your deepest joy when you pursue a

purpose greater than your own success. I’ve met more

than a few souls over the years whose tireless pursuit

of achievement, accomplishment, accolade, and

abundance have left them feeling empty at the core.

Sensing that there must be something more than this.

I’m not sure exactly why, but I keep hearing the

same ad on all of my favorite podcasts. They must

assume that this ad appeals directly to people like

me who listen to these kinds of podcasts. I can’t

even recall what it is that the ad is promoting, but

the opening line is this: “we all deserve to live

happier and more productive lives.” Now this is

certainly one measure for our decision-making.

“We deserve happiness. We deserve productivity.

And therefore, we should make choices that

increase those values, beginning of course with the

purchase of the product being advertised.”

Perhaps you can sense in the tone of my voice that

I am utterly unconvinced. Our decisions are about

more than our happiness and productivity. We,

who spend a little time here together each week,

must use a different standard of discernment and

decision-making. I recently heard an interview with

an author and influencer whose many books on selfimprovement and personal empowerment have sold

literally millions of copies. And at one point in the

conversation, the author talks about her decision to

leave organized religion after writing for many years

about its positive impact on her life. Here’s how she

summarizes her rationale, “I didn’t want anyone to

tell me what to do with my life anymore.” Now what

struck me about this response was not the rationale.

The truth is I’ve heard it hundreds of times—there is

nothing innovative about leaving church in pursuit

of your perceived absolute freedom. What struck me

in this case was how naïve it is to assume that faith

makes the only claim of such authority over our lives.

And this from someone who calls herself an influencer!

It’s precisely what she’s trying to do! Help people

decide how to live their lives. I found myself thinking,

at least religion is honest about its influencing.

Yes, we want to tell you what to do with your life

because we believe that God cares about what you

do with your life. We believe that there are better and

worse ways to live. We believe that the decision is not

whether you will choose to be shaped or left unshaped,

but rather which voices you will allow to shape you.

The practice of listening for the call of God means

letting our lives be shaped by the values of faith and

by this community that surrounds and supports us.

It means trusting that there is deeper joy in following

God’s voice than blazing your own path. It means

believing that life can be about so much more than

personal advancement or acquisition.

I close with a personal story. When I decided to go

to seminary, I was profoundly influenced by a letter

which was written to me on May 1, 2000, when I was

seventeen years old. I had just preached my very first

sermon on Youth Sunday at Vandalia Presbyterian

Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. This note

still moves me by what the influencer says and

what he does not say. In my father’s nearly illegible

handwriting, the note reads:

Dear Chris,

I am so very proud of you in so many ways. I hope you

know that. I was so proud of you on Sunday. You spoke

God’s word from your heart—expressing your faith…

Chris, I have never—and will never—“push” one of my

children into ministry. I heard again after church the

comments of, “Chris should be a minister.” I believe you

have the gifts to do so, but that may not be the direction

God is calling you. I pray that you will always listen to

God’s leading—as I believe you have been doing. Again,

your mother and I are deeply proud of you.

Love, Dad

A quarter century later, I remain persuaded that God

speaks, that God calls, that God’s voice asks us to come

alive to something far greater than we could imagine

on our own. In the end, all we have are these precious

lives, this priceless gift offered for a fleeting moment.

And, we have a choice to make. We can allow our

inadequacies to hold us back. We can invest our time

in mountains of things that will only rust and fade

away. Or we can listen for the voice of God and run

after abundant life. It’s a choice we make every day.

For God’s sake, don’t miss your call.

For all our sake, don’t waste your life. Amen.