Everyone Who God Calls

As I transition out of my worship leadership ministry at my home church I’m aware of wanting the words in Joel 2 to manifest in my congregation and the whole church.

When I preached about this passage, it occurred to me that we’ve heard the words, particularly from verses 28 and 29, so many times that we’ve lost sight of how revolutionary they were. When Joel was writing, it was still a predominantly patriarchal culture. The temple and synagogues and really pretty much all areas of society were run by older men. The role of women was to rear children and maintain the household. They were property far more than partners. Imagine the people hearing that God’s Spirit would be freely poured out on not just old men but young men as well, and not just males but females. Then, most startling of all, that the Spirit would come to servants and slaves, those without status or value.

These words would have been shocking, and likely upsetting to the establishment, while being liberating to those whose voices were not considered worthy. The God of the universe valued all people regardless of their spot in human-made systems and hierarchies. Visions and dreams would come to challenge and lift them out of the space they were in to new possibilities in line with God’s will and purposes. The day of a single all-knowing prophet communicating God’s message would be gone. Instead God’s Word could come from anyone who God called.

If we truly believe this, in tandem with Peter’s assertion about the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:4-5), how much would the church and individual congregations change? It’s funny how language can tie us up in knots in our religious structures. For example, the word “ordained” is pretty loaded. Clergy are accorded esteem and assumed to be closer to God than most, if not all, people not identified that way. As a professional layperson of 20+ years I’m frequently told that I’ve “done a good job” rather than that I’ve “ministered well” or "provided helpful ministry”.

We can get so concerned about the weight that people’s voices should have based on how long they’ve been around or how sacrificially they’ve served or how much they’ve given. At a zoom congregational meeting this spring, a woman who has only known us since Covid and requested our video links spoke up to share her opinion about something and ask questions. Most people had no idea who she was but she contributed something of value. I wondered how ready people were to hear from an unknown voice. And yet, she could have been a prophet placed in our midst.

In my sermon I asked whether we would be ready to accept God’s words from someone who is poor, or a child, or who we don’t agree with. It’s easy to receive a message that resonates with us, but one that calls us to account or asks us to change? Often that message is given more scrutiny and even dismissed. We don’t like to feel uncomfortable, and prophets often make us uncomfortable.

God speaks and moves through unlikely people and often in unlikely ways. The church is in a time of reformation and re-formation, not unlike the early church or the return of the exiles. The priesthood of all believers, those whom God has called, have an important role in its reshaping.

May we be ready to hear the message and to welcome the Spirit’s call to us, especially when it’s through unlikely prophets.