God Calls! — June 7, 2026

God Calls!

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Genesis 12:1-9

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

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Matthew 9:9-13,18-26

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. 

When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread through all of that district.

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I wonder what it was like for Matthew to have Jesus in front of him, calling him to follow. In some ways, it may have been easier than the call that Abram and Sarai received from this God they could not see. In other ways, it may have been harder because there was no denying the fact that Jesus was speaking directly to him.

I remember when I finally listened to God’s call to become a pastor. There was probably never much question of whether I would do it, but rather when. After years of both internal and external urgings, I attended a weekend retreat. I don’t remember much about the sessions or activities because one question consumed my thoughts: Was God calling me to be a pastor, and if so, what was I supposed to do about it?

On the last night, I lay awake in a dormitory full of women sleeping on uncomfortable twin beds. Outside, the city carried on through the night. A trash truck emptied a dumpster beneath my window. As I rehearsed my questions for God one more time, I heard a distinct answer:

“Now.”

God calls unexpected people. 

When I sensed that call, I remember wondering why God would call me. I loved God and I loved people, but I didn’t particularly love school—and I belonged to a denomination that required its clergy to earn a Masters of Divinity. I have never been a prolific or effortless writer, yet clarifying ideas and writing occupy a significant part of my work as pastor. 

And yet God calls.

 In the few verses before we are introduced to Abram and Sarai, the only thing we learn about them is that Sarai is barren – not exactly a likely couple to give birth to a great nation. Matthew was a tax collector, a collaborator with the Roman occupiers and despised by many of his fellow Jews. The father was a leader – traditionally considered a leader of the synagogue whose position would have placed him at odds with Jesus’ ministry. The woman was considered unclean, the girl was dead. 

And yet God calls.

God’s call also comes at inconvenient times.

Abram and Sarai had wandered through the desert with Terah, their father, when they had finally settled down in Haran. Matthew had a secure position that provided financial stability and comfort, when others of his nation were struggling to survive. The woman had endured twelve years of suffering and isolation from continual menstruation. The father was consumed by grief. The girl had already died.

And yet God calls.

I had finally been made the Director of Outdoor Programs at the Y. After years of juggling seasonal positions, I no longer had to drive a bus, work the front desk, direct an after-school program, AND coordinate outdoor education all at the same time. I finally had the job I wanted.

I was married and owned a house that was worth less than we owed on it. There was no easy way to sell it or pay off the loan. By all appearances, I was stuck exactly where I was.

And yet God calls.

We imagine that God calls people who are qualified for the work to which they are called. We imagine that God calls those who are ready. 

We imagine that God calls someone else.

But God’s call creates the future that is needed. 

In Romans (4:17), Paul wrote, “God gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” And in today’s Scripture readings, we see exactly what Paul means. 

God doesn’t wait for Abram to become great or faithful.

God doesn’t wait for Sarai to figure out her infertility.

God doesn’t wait for Matthew to become respectable, for the woman to find a cure, or for the girl to raise herself.

Jesus simply says, “Follow me.” God calls.

Jesus calls the tax collector to discipleship. He restores the woman whose life was narrowed by suffering. He takes the dead girl by the hand and gives her back to her family. Abram and Sarai are called to a new future.

Jesus does not offer a detailed plan. He does not explain where the road will lead. He simply says, “Follow me.”

The call of faith is not first a call to a destination. It is a call to a person. Abram was called to trust God’s promise. Matthew is called to follow Jesus. We too are called not merely to a future, but to Christ himself.

Jesus says, “Follow me.” And that is enough. 

The Spirit brings life into places of death. God calls us when all else seems impossible, when we stand at a crossroads and every path forward appears blocked. God calls us when life is at a dead end – calling us not by any accomplishments or worthiness of our own, but simply by God’s promise. 

The good news is that God looks at each of us and says, “Follow me. Yes, you. I know all about your past and your present, and I’m calling you into a new future.”

And here we are now figuring out how to follow God’s call. I was called to be here among you for these last five and a half years and you were called to receive me as your pastor.

Now, I have been called to go from this place, but I am not the only one who is called. Through baptism, we are all called. God is calling you into a future that is not yet fully visible. God is calling you to envision a new way of leadership and ministry in this place alongside Pastor Adrianne.

Even when we trust the One who calls, responding in faith takes courage.

And I often turn to the prayer of Abraham, written by Eric Milner-White, dean of the chapel at King’s College, Cambridge in 1941:

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The good news is not simply that God calls.

The good news is who and when Jesus calls.

Jesus calls people others overlook.

Jesus calls people who are not ready.

Jesus calls people standing in the wilderness.

And when Jesus calls, that is enough. Amen.