What is it that we must do?

Here's the sermon that I shared this morning at St Andrew's Wickford:

I wonder what are the things that you feel you must do? I wonder whether those are also the things that you feel God is compelling you to do?

Jesus was so greatly appreciated by the people in Capernaum that when he went to a deserted place in the wilderness to pray, the people followed him there and tried to persuade him to stay with them rather than moving on somewhere new (Luke 4.38-44).

People's appreciation is a lovely thing but, in this case, was a distraction from the task Jesus needed to complete. ‘He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.’

What is that we must do, that we are compelled to do and does that accord with what God wants us to do?

On Sunday in our joint service, Emma Doe, our LLM, spoke about her calling and the ways in which she had known God was calling her to licensed ministry but there were all sorts of reasons why she didn’t follow that call initially. She was speaking to and for all of us, as there often are ways in which we hear the call of God on our lives but don’t or don’t fully respond, whether that is about moving into some form of authorised ministry, as was the case for Emma, or simply feeling God prompt us to go and help someone else because they are in need.

I wonder whether you can think of times when God may have prompted you to offer help to someone else and you have found reasons not to do so or to offer some help but not all that was required.

In today’s reading we see Jesus being sure of what he is called to do – ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also’ – and being absolutely committed to doing so – ‘So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.’

Later in his ministry when he approaches the time of his crucifixion, we see again this same combination of knowledge and commitment in Jesus. On Sunday, the message Emma preached on was about Jesus knowing that he had to go to Jerusalem to die and his absolute refusal to be distracted from that task even when his own disciples were appalled at the prospect and Peter actively opposed him (Matthew 16.21-28).

In Chapter 9 and verse 15 of his Gospel, Luke notes that “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem.” Jeremy Berg writes that “Many have made a connection with Luke’s mention of Jesus ‘setting his face toward Jerusalem’ with Isaiah’s account of the Suffering Servant who ‘sets his face like flint’ toward his own suffering.” Isaiah spoke of one who offered his back to those who beat him, his cheeks to those who pulled out his beard; who did not hide his face from mocking and spitting, and who set his face like flint towards these things knowing he would not be put to shame.

Jesus’ commitment to God’s plans and purposes for his life is absolute. Our faith is unlikely to be as strong and our knowledge of God’s plans and purposes for our lives may well be less well developed and sure. Nevertheless, the example that Jesus sets is one that challenges us to learn as fully as we can about God’s plans and purposes for our lives and to being as fully committed as we can to his calling on our lives.

I wonder what is that we must do, that we are compelled to do and the extent to which that accords with what God wants us to do? May we all seek to bring those two things as close together in our lives as we can. Amen.

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Michael McDermott - But For The Little Moments.