St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church

Message for Sunday, February 9, 2003

Fifth Sunday After Epiphany




February 9th, 2003

Be All That You Can Be

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work" -Thomas Edison

Inspiration comes in many forms and today’s message has to do with some struggles that I have had lately in my personal and professional life. I was telling a close friend of mine that I felt I was cheating when using experiences from my own life situations, but he said that it is OK, what – or who - do I know better than myself and my own situation? What better way to teach than telling how God’s word works for you (me)?

The fact is, that God loves us regardless of where we are at, but that He has expectations for us.

So, what are God's expectations for us? What does He want us to do? How do we apply who we are into this world and into this life in loving, caring and kind ways that will connect us with our destiny and what we are created to do? How do we discover our calling?

Begin by asking yourself a few questions, for example:

1.      What am I deeply passionate about?

2.      What do I do well?

3.      What energizes me?

4.      Where have I received praise or affirmation in the past?

5.      What is my heart telling me?

6.      What is God calling me to?

In James 1:5-8 it says: “If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him, and He will gladly tell you, for He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him; He will not resent it. But when you ask Him, be sure that you really expect Him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind, and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way, and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.”

The actions of our faith are not to win favour with God - we already have that. We often get stuck in life. We are afraid of moving forward but we are scared to stay the same and miss our destiny or calling.

Our minds can often get us stuck and the “rut” or the limitations that we sometimes get confined in are related to how we think about life…and, by extension, how we think about life often become life –

Do what you’ve always done and you’ll get what you have always got!

I pray that there is – in all of us - a sense of holy unrest and evaluation of who we are and where we are; what is the place where we really discover where we can serve and love others and in doing so discover our destiny. This is a call to conscious servant hood so that we do not just go through life as a numb automaton - just doing what we think we are supposed to do. Surely there are more fulfillments and more juice to life than just existing, just getting through.

I want to plant a seed in all of us – a seed to look for how all us can be more. We ARE pure capacity for God. Every single one of us can be more. There is potential within us and we are not maximized in terms of our abilities and capacity for God's delight for service and fulfillment. We all need to be provoked at times to come to a new place.

It is amazing what happens when you follow God's lead. God never calls us to a fair battle. He never calls us to something that is easy to do within our own strength.

How often don’t we struggle with our esteem, circumstances that don't seem to match up, feeling like we are less than, not qualified, or that someone else can do it better? God is calling to each of us to really fill up our lives and maximize the potential we have. A big part of life is discovering our talents and utilizing them to the best of our ability. Figure out what your talents are. What will you do with the gifts God has given you? We are called to know and to use our talents. In Matthew 25:14-18 we find a parable of talents telling us clearly that if you don’t use it – loose it!

A lot of us feel that we are not that smart, intelligent, clever or that we don't have that much to offer. We tend to compare ourselves with people with bigger and brighter gifts and therefore feel paralysed. We tell ourselves that that person or that one can do it much better than we can – and so we do nothing. We don't get engaged in the sense of calling that God has for us. The parable tells us to find out what our gifts and talents are and to use them.

 

Father Pat, an Irish Priest said it this way:

“Everybody Knows:

                        You can't be all things to all people.

                        You can't do all things at once.

                        You can't do all things equally well.

                        You can't do all things better than everyone else.

                        Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.

 

                       

 

  So:

 

                        You have to find out who you are, and be that.

                        You have to decide what comes first, and do that.

                        You have to discover your strengths, and use them.

                        You have to learn not to compete with others,

                        Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.

 

                        Then:

 

                        You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.

                        You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.

                        You will have learned to live with your limitations.

                        You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.

                        And you'll be a most vital mortal.

 

                        Dare To Believe:

 

                        That you are a wonderful, unique person.

                        That you are a once-in-all-history event.

                        That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.

                        That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.

                        And we'll be able to stay one up on what used to get us.

 

                        May God bless you and keep you safe,”

 

                        Father Pat

 

 

It is by serving that we discover a sense of our own destiny. It is not just by being or by getting.

Ultimately we discover significance through love -the love that God has given us that we can give to others through the very unique gifts and talents that we have as individuals. The parable in Matthew’s chapter 25 is a warning as well as an invitation.

We need to challenge the 'stuckness' in our lives and discover our destiny and how we can serve.

And by that “be all that we can be”.

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.

 

Let us pray:

 

 

Our Father in Heaven, This is the beginning of a new day. You have given us this

day to use as you will. We can waste it or use it for good. What we do today is important because we are exchanging a day of our lives for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that we have left behind...let it with Your help be something useful and good.

 

In the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.

 

 

With Thanks to Senior Pastor Tom Morris, Westside King’s Church, Calgary for many inspiring thoughts on this subject.

 

 

 

 

Anne Jorgensen.

Anne Jorgensen

February 9, 2003


Prepared by Roger Kenner
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal
February, 2003