February 4, 2024 Sermon
“A Voluntold Calling”
Rev. Robert McDowell
Maybe you’ve heard of the story about the man who told his wife that he didn’t want to go to church that morning.
She asked him why he didn’t want to go, and he said, “well, it’s kind of boring and there’s some things I can get done here at the house if I don’t go.” And his wife said, “No, I think you should go to church with me today.” He said, “Give me one good reason why I should go?” And she said, “Because you’re the preacher!” I thought of that joke when I was reading our I Corinthians scripture reading for today.
I get it. As a pastor, I’m supposed to be here. I have a responsibility. We Methodist preachers serve under the appointment of a Bishop.
Our job description includes working on Sundays and holidays. Those are non-negotiable. It’s what we preachers do.
I think this is what Paul means when he writes in verse 16 of our I Corinthians scripture reading this morning; “I’m obligated and would be in trouble if I don’t preach the gospel.” Notice that Paul also uses words like being “forced” to do it and being “charged with a responsibility.”
But I don’t think that Paul is only referring to the obligation he has in being an apostle. I think that he is writing to the Corinthians to have them think about their own individual callings to follow Jesus as well. When Jesus calls someone to be one of his disciples, this means that we have an obligation, an obligation to live out each of our unique callings.
Have you ever volunteered to serve in some kind of ministry in the church? And let me ask you this; have you ever been “voluntold” to serve in some kind of ministry? You know, where someone tells you to serve because you weren’t at the meeting.
Now, this is tricky because while it can be good that someone wants you to get involved, if you don’t have a passion to serve in that ministry or some of the gifts needed for that ministry, that could end up being a stressful experience. Or, who knows, serving in that ministry might reveal a passion and gifts that you didn’t know you even had!
Being voluntold isn’t always a bad thing. It can be the beginning of a fruitful and fulfilling ministry that you may have never experienced without someone coaxing you to serve in that way.
I remember the first time I served on a committee in the church. It was in my home church during my teenage years. After I was confirmed and joined the church, somebody from the Nominations Committee called me to see if I would serve on the Health and Welfare Committee.
They said that this committee was in charge of providing congregational care for those members of the church who were homebound or in nursing homes. My mom was also on the committee, and she probably had something to do with me getting that call.
At the first meeting, we were all given names of people to visit and send cards to during the year. I was paired up with my mom and we went together to visit the people on our list.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed those visits. They also appreciated knowing that the church was reaching out to them. Looking back on that experience, I really think that this was an early seed that God planted in me that would lead to a calling in my college years to become a pastor.
That voluntold experience was an important part of my calling to become a pastor but also in what it means to be a follower of Jesus. It doesn’t always work out this way when we are voluntold and that’s OK. For example please don’t volunteer me to make crafts or to do any home improvements. I’m probably not your guy.
Even though Paul uses words like “responsibility” and “obligation” in writing about his calling as an apostle, that doesn’t mean that it’s not fulfilling or meaningful for him. It very much was!
And what made it meaningful for him is that God had entrusted him to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. This is what makes Paul’s ministry a “voluntold” ministry.
He had voluntarily responded to God’s calling because the gospel changes lives, including his own. The gospel is what frees us from our sins. The gospel is what leads to a life that is filled with peace and hope.
What a wonderful reminder this is for each one of us to remember why we do what we do. Our ministries, as unique as they each may be, are all meant to help the church to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
Ministry in the church can be both an obligation and rewarding at the same time because it is through our sharing of the good news of Jesus that we can be part of the building of God’s kingdom here on earth. And what a wonderful mission to have in life, to be a partner in making our communities and our world a better place.
Joni Mitchell, the 1960s folk singer and songwriter tells the story of a clarinet player she had noticed who was standing by the side of the road in a busy city. She says that he wasn’t like the others who played music in a mediocre and bored sort of way just to get some change from people who walked by.
She said this clarinet player was a brilliant and very gifted player. He would stand there on that busy street pouring out this beautiful music that you could tell was coming from his very soul. And he wasn’t collecting any money. He was doing it for free.
Joni Mitchell says that this experience humbled her because as a professional musician, she has been used to singing in big concert halls that comes with a large car to take her back and forth as well as all the money people pay when purchasing tickets to hear her perform.
Seeing that very musically gifted clarinet player playing beautiful music without any intention of earning a reward showed her an authenticity which she fears, her own work had been starting to lack. Here, he was playing for free and and she noticed that maybe his music was echoing, embodying, and celebrating a deeper freedom as a result.
I believe this is a little of what the Apostle Paul is describing when he writes about being free in order to share the good news of Jesus with others. His work as an apostle wasn’t just an ought and a should. His work as an apostle was deeply meaningful and purposeful.
Paul’s ministry can be described as a wonderful blend of both responsibility and freedom where like the violinist, his ministry was echoing, embodying, and celebrating a deeper freedom as a result.
This freedom in living out his calling is why Paul writes in verse 19, “Although I’m free from all people, I make myself a slave to all people, to recruit more of them. I act like a Jew to the Jews, so I can recruit Jews. I act like I’m under the Law to those under the Law, so I can recruit those who are under the Law.”
Paul calls his ministry to both Jew and Gentile“recruiting” but maybe we can also call it “voluntelling,” because Paul was wanting as many people as possible to know, embrace, and live out the good news of Jesus Christ.
Maybe this is why we sometimes find it difficult to find enough volunteers to serve. We’re good at volunteering people, but not so good at helping people to see how serving in ministry that matches your particular gifts and passions is one of the most fulfilling things we can ever do.
I remember hearing about a church that was in need of a new Holy Communion steward at their church. Their current communion steward had served in this ministry for the past several years and she felt led by God to move onto a new ministry in the church.
Her job was to fill those little cups with grape juice and prepare the communion bread by cutting it into several bite-size pieces. And since this was a large church, this project took a couple of hours because of all of the cups and pieces of bread she needed to prepare each time they had communion.
The church put an announcement in the newsletter about their need for a new communion steward but there was no response. They ran it again with still no response. After the 3rd time without a response, they had the pastor announce this need during worship and still no volunteers.
The pastor then thought of a great idea. Holy Communion is too important to not have this role filled so he asked the current steward if she would write a little personal article about what preparing for the Sacrament of Holy Communion has meant to her over these years.
Here is what she wrote:
“For the past ten years, I have had the privilege to prepare the Sacrament of Holy Communion for our congregation to receive each time it is available during Sunday worship. This ministry involves coming to the church the day before to fill up all of the little communion glasses and slice several bite size pieces of communion bread so it’s ready for Sunday morning.
It has been a joy to do this all of these years because I can’t think of a better way to serve God and the church then by preparing this holy meal that will help the people who receive it to know that Jesus died on the cross for them. I love seeing the smiles on the faces of the people as they receive the Sacrament. And to think that I had an important role in helping to make this possible has been an incredible blessing to me.
Contact me if you are interested in serving in this ministry.”
That week after her article appeared, several people volunteered to be the new communion steward.
Sometimes, all we need to do is to share the why behind the ministries that we do. And how wonderful it is when new ministries get started.
I’ve heard something similar from volunteers who cook meals for the needy, tutor children in schools, take a meal to someone who is grieving, send out cards to people just to remind them the church is praying for them, trim bushes around the church building, make worship banners for the sanctuary.
A voluntold calling is when we find a ministry that matches our gifts and passions and enables us to serve in such a way that we know, embrace, and live out the good news of Jesus Christ.
While cajoling, elbow twisting, and even pleading, might lead us to say yes to serving the Lord, what’s even better is when we experience a freedom in living out the unique calling that God has placed on our hearts.
It’s a freedom that led Paul to write these words in verse 23 of our I Corinthians reading: “All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel, so I can be a partner with it.”
What a joy it is to be a partner for the sake of the gospel.
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