Sermon Exodus 20, Philippians 3:1-14 – The Heavenly Call of God

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
Sermon Exodus 20, Philippians 3:1-14 – The Heavenly Call of God
October 5, 2008

This morning we are gathering together with saints from around the world to celebrate World Communion Sunday. Christians from every nation, race and class are approaching God’s throne to be in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of us are responding to God’s call to be here today and to accept our own identities as Christians. This is a most awesome experience because responding to God’s call is the most important we do in our lives. So as we gather around this table today let us bow our heads and pray that today we will hear and respond to God’s call.

Father in heaven your servants have come here today to approach you just as the Hebrews approached your mountain long ago. We have come here today to listen for your voice so that we may respond to your call. Call us, we ask, to lives of obedience and service so that we may glorify you. And we pray all of this in the name of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Philippians 3:4-14 If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

When God was ready to call the Hebrews to a life of obedience and service she did so in a big way. God has already redeemed his people from slavery and humbled them by forcing them to depend on her divine providence for food and water while wandering in the wilderness. Now God was really ready to get their attention. The people were already aware of God because they saw the pillar of cloud and fire as they moved through the wilderness. But now God had a far more spectacular show in store for them. He appeared on the top of a mountain in the midst of an exploding volcano and hurricane. It is hard to miss God’s call when she does something like that.

Once God got the people’s attention he blessed them by giving them instructions for leading a good life. God has created us in very specific ways and as our creator, God know exactly how we operate. So God gave us the Ten Commandments as an instruction manual for humanity. Just as the Ford Motor Company puts an owner’s manual in each car with instructions not to put transmission fluid where motor oil should go so too does God give us a manual for living our lives. Lying, stealing, killing, adultery, drunkenness, and worshiping other gods have much the same effect on us that putting water in the gas tank would have on a car. It gums up our works and we don’t operate as planned. From the top of the mountain, God called his people to lives of obedience and service because lives of obedience and service are exactly what God created us to have.

God’s call to Paul was a little more subtle. There was no volcano or hurricane. Paul was already supremely confident in his relationship with God. He grew up in the care of obedient parents who took their eight day old baby for the required circumcism. As Paul grew older he recognized that even though he was a citizen of Rome his heart was still with the Hebrews, the people of God. Paul developed a strong love for God’s law and was sent to Jerusalem to continue his education under Gamiel, one of the great teachers of Israel. And with great zeal Paul defended his faith against heretics from the new sect of Jesus followers called Christians. Paul had done everything right. He was always obedient to God’s law. Paul saw all this as a great accomplishment and the wall of his office must have been filled with certificates and diplomas. But when Paul heard God’s call through the voice of Jesus coming from a great light he realized that all of these achievements of his were worthless because of the great value of knowing Jesus Christ.

Shortly we will gather around this table for World Communion. Celebrating this sacrament with us today are three Doctors of the Church, two ordained Ministers of the Word and Sacrament, and a couple of Candidates for the Ministry of the Word of Sacrament. Like Paul all of our walls are all filled with diplomas and certificates of achievement. Like Paul we have all tried our best to lead obedient lives. And like Paul we are all discovering that all of our accomplishments are worthless when compared to the new lives given to us by Jesus Christ.

Five years ago I was living a comfortable life. I had lots of friends, a successful business, and a loving family. I was active in my church and taught adult Bible studies for many years. But something was missing. I didn’t have enough diplomas and certificates of achievement on my wall. So I enrolled at Fuller Seminary to get an additional Masters diploma and a Certificate of Ordination from the Presbyterian Church. After years of work I finally got those two pieces of paper and they are proudly displayed with several others on the wall of my office upstairs. But as I have pursued ministry here at Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church I have come to realize, like Paul, that those pieces of paper are worthless when compared to a life of obedience and service to Jesus Christ. Let me tell you what has happened in my year of ministry that has caused me to think this.

Last year I began my ministry here at Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church with a call to make the church grow. So I did all the things I was supposed to do. I put banners on the building, started a new ESL program, passed out fliers, and launched an International and Contemporary Worship Service on Sunday evenings. My hope was that families in Eagle Rock would start coming to this church. What I did not know at that time was that Christ was calling me to a completely different kind of ministry than I had expected.

It started last winter when God began sending some of the poorest people in our community to our evening service. I began to meet people who live on the streets right here in Eagle Rock. Others were living in a dormitory for people suffering from mental health issues. Most of the people I met were desperately trying to find affordable housing. At first I worried that these people were coming just for the fellowship dinner we were servings after worship. But I quickly realized that almost all were coming to worship as well. They were participating in worship, small groups and prayers. Christ was calling those who live on the margins of society to worship God in this church. And they were responding by volunteering their services to the church and with pennies in the collection plate. I realized that Christ was calling me to be the pastor for the poorest people in our community. How was I to respond?

Nothing in my experience or education had prepared me for a ministry to the poor, homeless and marginalized of Northeast LA. So I got involved with a group of people from area churches who gather together to discuss homeless issues. I have talked with retired pastors and seminary professors about how to do this kind of ministry. I have thought about how to finance this ministry because of the strain it puts on church and my personal finances. And now Christ has given me the opportunity to talk with you, the combined churches who worship here in this sacred place.

If there is anything that World Communion Sunday teaches us it is that we are all united in the one mission of Jesus Christ. We are all called by God to a ministry of justice and righteousness. This means that all of us are called to a ministry for the poor, the marginalized, the displaced, and the homeless in our community. God has called us to this ministry by bringing the disadvantaged right here to this sacred sanctuary every Sunday evening.

We are all God’s people. Our time of worship, the name of our church, and our ethnic group have no value in God’s eyes. We are all called to lives of obedience and service. And though God’s actions in our evening worship it is clear to me that we are all called to a ministry of service to poorest in our community. So I challenge both Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church and Filipino Community Presbyterian Church to respond to God’s call to serve those who come here Sunday evenings for both real and spiritual food. Respond to the needs of the neediest in our community with your money and your time and your prayers. This is your calling from God.

When Paul responded to God’s call with a life of obedience and service he found that he was blessed more than he ever expected to be. He experienced a new and restored relationship with God and the power that comes with the knowledge of the promise of resurrection from the dead and new life. And even though he endured suffering because of his relationship with Christ he knew that Christ was faithful. So, with supreme confidence, he could live a life of obedience and service suffering death if necessary because of the promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

This promise is sealed upon us as we gather around this table today. As you come forward listen for the voice of the Jesus calling you to life of obedience and service. Be transformed as you eat the bread and drink the juice. And then respond, confident that Christ will be with you every step of the way, to the desperate needs of the poorest people in Eagle Rock who also will gather around this table today.

Holy Spirit, fill our hearts with your love and transforming power. Help us to hear God’s Heavenly Call through the voice of Jesus Christ speaking to us through the sacrament today. Guide us as we lead lives in obedience and service to those in need in our community. Fill with confidence that even though we may experience suffering we will remember that we are heirs to resurrection of the dead, so that in Christ we have nothing to fear. We pray this in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.