Trial Sermon

Introduction of family (I gave a few brief biographical statements about my family and what we’ve been up to till this point)

 We are excited to be with you today at Cowan Christian Church. God is at work here and it’s exciting to see what He has in store for East Central Indiana.

The funny thing about this whole day is – I’m not supposed to be here. Now, I don’t mean that I’m in the wrong place. I’m not lost or anything like that. It’s just that preaching is not something I ever planned on doing. You see, growing up, I loved to tell stories. When I was a little boy, I told stories at every opportunity. Anytime I had an audience, I would share another story that I had made up. This love for storytelling quickly translated into a love for films. That love for film continues to this day. There is something about the use of film to tell a story that continues to amaze me. 

As I grew older, my love for movies grew as well. When I reached my early teens, I knew what I was going to be when I grew up – a movie director. This career choice consumed my thoughts growing up, and everyone knew it. In our eighth grade yearbook, they have a section predicting what each student will be doing in the future. I think they called it the class prophecies. Some of the predictions were funny. Some were serious. The authors of the yearbook predicted that I was going to be the next Steven Spielburg. And I was more than fine with that.

My passion for moviemaking continued through high school. I took whatever creative writing classes that would become available, hoping they would improve my storytelling ability. I also took classes in TV and film criticism. 

I tried to do whatever I could to prepare myself for a career in moviemaking. I took a video camera wherever I went. I made all kinds of movies with my friends. I was the first person in our Scout Troop to earn the Cinematography merit badge. I knew I was destined for Hollywood. 

My freshman year in college, I stepped foot on the campus of Milligan College in upper East Tennessee, prepared to earn a degree in Communication. My original plan was to enroll in the world-renown film school at the University of Southern California after graduating from Milligan. My dream was to begin making wholesome movies that told really good stories after graduating from film school. I was going to change the world! Like I said before, I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be out in Hollywood making movies.

But my plans began to change while at Milligan. God grabbed hold of me and began to show me that I am going to spend my life pouring myself into other people. I began to sense a call to serving Christ through full-time vocational ministry.

It’s not exactly what I grew up planning to do. And that’s OK. Something tells me I’m not alone in that. I’d imagine that if we went around the room today and asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, a lot of you would say something other than what your occupation is or what it was before you retired. Maybe some of you have found yourselves looking back at what you’ve done over your life and thought to yourself, “I’m not supposed to be here.” That’s OK. You might be in some good company.

We find all kinds of examples in the Scriptures of how God called His followers to a task that was completely different than what they grew up hoping to do. Take the prophet Jeremiah, for example. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 1. Now, Jeremiah was the son of a priest. From an early age, he began to prepare for life in the priesthood. He knew what his life was going to be like. He had a plan for his life, and he was surely looking forward to living out his days fulfilling his priestly duties. He was happy to serve as a representative of the people before God. He had no intention, however, of standing in front of the people and proclaiming a message from God. That was not a common role for priests in ancient Israel. We think of Israel’s priests a something similar to preachers today, standing in front of the congregation proclaiming a message from God. That wasn’t normally the case. Sermons were delivered by prophets, not priests. Priests were the ones who stood as representative of the people before God. They performed religious duties for the people. But Jeremiah’s plans changed when he had an intimate conversation with God. It’s recorded in Jeremiah 1:4-10.

Read Jeremiah 1:4-10

In an instant, Jeremiah’s life was changed forever. He was no longer going to be a priest of relative obscurity. No, he was going to be God’s representative to his people. He was going to stand before kings and serve as God’s mouthpiece. Surely there were times when he was in the royal court that he looked back on his original hopes and dreams and said to himself, “I’m not supposed to be here.” 

And Jeremiah found himself in a long line of people who were not where they were “supposed to be” after encountering the Living God. Coming face-to-face with the God of the Universe has a tendency to change the direction of your life.

Look at Moses. Now here’s a guy who definitely did not wind up where he thought he was supposed to be. The adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses spent many years in the desert as an outcast. When he surveyed his situation as a shepherd of his father-in-law’s sheep and compared it with his childhood dreams of accomplishing great things for Pharaoh, surely he said to himself, “I’m not supposed to be here.” This was not what he had in mind. But it was at this time that he encountered the Living God in a very personal way. And like Jeremiah, Moses didn’t think he was up for the task. Jeremiah said that he was not a very good public speaker and that no one would listen to him because he was too young. Along similar lines, Moses reminded God of his speech impediment and that no one would listen to him. They didn’t think they were up to the task to which God had called them. And maybe that’s true. On his own, Moses would not have been able to march into Pharaoh’s court and demand the release of his people. On his own, Moses and his people would not have made it very far outside of Egypt before being captured. On his own, Moses would not have been able to lead the people of Israel to the doorstep of the Promised Land. God used an ordinary man with a speech impediment to accomplish a God-sized task.

And then there’s Peter. The man was a fisherman. He probably had dreams of being successful enough in his business that he would be able to take care of his family for many years. One day, Jesus walks up to him and says, “Follow me,” and Peter’s life changed forever. He joined a rag-tag group of men, including other fishermen and former tax-collectors. They followed Jesus for three years, encountering his life-changing power on a daily basis. And after Jesus was crucified, raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven, Peter became a leader of a new group of world-changers known as the church. This uneducated fisherman who had a knack for speaking before thinking became known as the Rock. Looking back on his life, he surely thought to himself, “I’m not supposed to be here.” And God used Peter, with all of his weaknesses, to accomplish a God-sized plan. 

But what about the dreams that these people had? What about Jeremiah’s original dream of serving as a priest? Did he waste his time? Did Moses lose precious years in the wilderness as a shepherd? When Peter spent his life learning how to fish, did it add up to just a bunch of wasted years? Not at all. God used their pasts to prepare him for what He had planned to accomplish through them. It was Jeremiah’s role as a priest that gained him instant credibility in many people’s eyes. It was because of Moses’ childhood in Pharaoh’s palace that he was familiar with the protocol of the ruler’s court and was even able to gain access to one of the most powerful men at that time. Everyone knew Peter was a fisherman with a knack for sticking his foot in his mouth. The boldness and confidence with which he spoke caused people to pay attention to his message of hope and deliverance. God uses past experiences – both good and bad – to prepare us to accomplish his will. That’s good news for me. I believe my years learning to craft a story have helped prepare me to share the greatest story ever told. I’m sure that’s good news for you, too. Regardless of your past, regardless of your current situation, God can use you to help change the world.

The list doesn’t stop with Jeremiah, Moses, and Peter. We could spend weeks talking about examples in Scripture and throughout church history of how God used people in their weaknesses to accomplish His God-sized plans. We could talk about Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. Or we could mention David and his ascent to the throne of Israel. We could talk about Daniel or Esther in foreign courts, or the Apostle Paul’s transformation from church persecutor to Gospel proclaimer. And that’s just the beginning of the examples of God taking people where they didn’t think they were supposed to go.

And that’s exactly what God is doing today. God’s not interested in using someone who can do it all on their own. He is up to something God-sized. He is looking for people who are willing to follow Him and join Him in accomplishing a God-sized task. He’s not looking for superstars. The amazing thing about God’s plan is that He’s looking for regular people – people like Jeremiah, Moses, and Peter; people like you and me with all of our weaknesses and inadequacies to accomplish a God-sized plan. He is calling ordinary people to join Him on an extraordinary mission to change the world. 

Preaching from behind a pulpit is definitely a far cry from directing movies in Hollywood. The plans I had made through most of my growing up years didn’t involve anything close to preaching. So in that sense, you could say that I’m not supposed to be here. But I know that I’m following God’s call and pursuing His glory. And with that in mind, I know there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

God is in the process of changing the world. He is inviting all of us to join Him in the process. The great thing about His invitation is that you don’t have to have some extraordinary talent or schooling to participate in God’s plan. God wants to use you right now; right where you are. You may think you’re the last person God could use to accomplish anything. If that’s the case, you’re wrong. Our examples today show us that God will use any one at any time. He can take all of your passions, your dreams, your hurts and your scars, everything about you…both your strengths and weaknesses…to the benefit of His Kingdom. He will use you for His own glory. What more could any of us ask for than that our lives glorify the King who created us and who loves us? All he asks is for you to have a willing spirit. Be willing to do whatever He asks you to do. God will take care of the rest.

The disadvantage of coming in and preaching a sermon like this is that I don’t know where all of you are in this process. I’m sure there are some of you who have been pursuing God’s will wholeheartedly for many years. To you, I say, “Don’t give up. God is using you. You might not be doing what you’d always thought you’d be doing, but that’s OK. Continue allowing God to work in you and through you. Don’t give up!” Some in this room might have been sitting on the sidelines. It’s time to get up and get involved. There is not a person here who has not been called by God. You may be called to work with the youth ministry here. Or, you might be called to work on the church’s physical facility here, or to help others maintain their houses. You could be called to work with the homeless and the hungry, or to be good accountants, bankers, teachers, and doctors. There’s also a calling to be good moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, and neighbors to those around you. These are just scratching the surface. Whatever you are doing, you can do it to give God glory. That is what we are called to do.

Invitation

Closing Prayer: To You, O God, who is able to do much more than we ask; more than we can possibly imagine; according to Your power that is already so greatly at work within us; to You be glory in us Your church, and in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Both now and forevermore.”