Pressing On to a High Calling

Rev. Dr. DeWayne L. Davis

September 8, 2024: Rally Sunday

Scripture: Isaiah 43:1, 18–19; Philippians 3:12–14

Nearly 25 years ago, the author and educator Parker Palmer published a small volume, Let Your Life Speak, in which he took his readers on a journey of exploring the meaning and purpose of one’s calling and vocation. That journey began with two most oft-asked and pondered questions on a journey of discovery: “What am I meant to do? What am I meant to be?” Over the last couple of years, as Plymouth Church has endeavored to find a new rhythm, bolster our programming, and stabilize our finances after a pastoral transition and the pandemic shutdown, I’ve found myself asking those questions, using them to reflect on our mission, vision, and purpose, asking, “What is Plymouth Church meant to do? What is Plymouth Church meant to be?” These questions invite us to take stock of who we are, who we have been, and what we have done that has led us to this moment in our lives, individually and communally. We all are a product of what happened to us, and this community is the eventuality of all our forebears accomplished and bequeathed us. Our individual and communal experiences, achievements, and disappointments all impact how we see ourselves and our futures. As we officially launch another program year in the life of Plymouth Church, I find inspiration in the witness of the Apostle Paul, who models for us the practice of testimony, discernment, and spiritual aspiration as we press forward toward our calling.

What may be Paul’s most powerful affirmation of his calling is found in his letter to the Philippians. He wrote this letter while confined in prison, his future uncertain and his life and safety precarious. One would forgive Paul if, in those circumstances, he felt compelled to rehearse the negative consequences of incarceration—his fear, regrets, and disappointments, wondering how he wound up where he was and despairing where he might end up. But that’s not the letter Paul writes. No, he is determined to bear witness to the Philippians that his present circumstances were not a reason to despair, give up, or assume that the church was on the wrong track. He is saying this to a church that is also a contested space, with persecution from outsiders and disagreements within, a church that is not sure how to move forward. With their spiritual father locked away in prison, whether they articulated it or not, the church in Philippi is wrestling with those questions, “What is the church meant to do? What is the church meant to be?” And in his uniquely powerful way, Paul invites the readers to reflect on the personal and communal call that life with God places on them.

Paul takes inventory of his gains and losses in life, as well as the high points and disappointments. Losses, unexpected and endured. Gains, pursued, and achieved. And yet, in God, there is so much more to see and experience and so much more to obtain as far as the imagination can soar. Perhaps Paul recalled God’s assurances to his ancestors when God brought them back to their homeland from exile: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing.” (Isa. 43:18-19). Even in the confines of prison, Paul is open to the new thing God is doing and is ready to move forward.

Paul is honest about what he sees and what he aspires to. If his life was about personal achievement, he could boast that he’s “been there, done that.” He embodied every mark of faithful life: circumcised, a member of the tribe of Israel, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, a Pharisee. But none of that compares to the call of God, given meaning and power in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So he is not stuck in the past or anxious about the future. He can forget what lies behind him and strain forward to what lies ahead. All that he has earned and all that he has achieved cannot compare to the experience of knowing Christ and the beloved community that has become the body of Christ. He aspires to live true to that call, not to personal advancement or selfish ambition, not solely to individual accomplishment or vocational success. No, his call is given form by imitating Jesus, “who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself” for a life of service (Philippians 2:6-7). So Paul declares with full-throated confidence: I press toward a high calling in Jesus, which is done in relationship, community, hope, and service. I’m going to keep on keeping on. The call itself is the prize toward which he strives.

On this morning, as we return to our work as beloved community, I hope we remember that God is doing a new thing in our midst, and we get to be a part of it. God calls us by name, beckoning and appointing us to work with God for the future. The prize we seek is our calling in God. Now is the time to listen for it. Palmer invited readers to “listen more closely to their own lives.” Perhaps that’s how we start this new program year. We listen. When we listen carefully, the nature and power of our call become more evident and more inspiring. We discover that it is given meaning in relationship and community, that “we are woven into something vast and eternal.” Paul saw it and wanted more of it. As a congregation, we are on this journey, a journey of hope and motivation and promise and possibility. We press on beyond even the blessed moment we are in right now to a higher calling in God, a calling that inspires us and gives us hope for the future.

God’s liberating presence and prerogative means that we are known, that we have a home with God, that God is less preoccupied with how we fell short than how we embrace the gift of a future, and that the new thing God is always doing awaits us. Paul could see beyond those prison bars and walls because whatever God was up to, it did not end there. The same God who would not allow the Promised One to be locked up and forgotten in a tomb, indeed, would not allow Paul to languish in the snares of imperial bondage. We are not bound to or by what lies behind us. Everything we have and received is now available to us to move forward, to press toward the goal of God’s high calling.

We have heard it said, “You can’t run away from your past.” Some people have allowed their pasts to cloud their future possibilities. I’ve heard some people say that their experiences of hurt and trauma have led them to reject the idea of God and community altogether. God wasn’t there in their most desperate time of need, so they could not depend on God. I’ve heard some people say that their experiences of great material and professional success have led them to put less emphasis on a life of faith or in community with others. They have accomplished all they’ve wanted without any appeal to God. Some people are so nostalgic about a glorious past that they keep trying to recreate a time that’s gone and can’t be retrieved.

Indeed, we can’t run away from our past, but we can confront and learn from the lessons our past can teach us. Paul’s experience highlights that, in Jesus, our past does not have to be our destiny. That whatever we have done and whatever has happened to us, in God’s hands, can become the very material for recovery, restoration, and reconciliation in God, the stuff that gives us the strength and courage to press on to a higher calling. I believe the apostle demonstrates by his own experience and testimony that God’s got a more significant claim on our futures than our pasts do. Paul’s experience shows that God’s got bigger and newer things to do with and through us than our pasts can make possible for us. Whether our pasts are a catalog of the worst sins, failures, and disappointments or a stellar record of outstanding achievement and accomplishment, we now stand on God’s grace and promise of a future of victory. We all can run the race because everyone gets the prize.

So, I pray that we don’t get stuck in the past. I hope that we avoid getting wrapped up in status and religious self-righteousness. I hope our pressing, striving, and running are not solely for personal gain or selfish ambition. Instead, let all our pushing, striving, and running be for the sake of God’s call on us to do good work for the benefit of many. Let our pressing, striving, and running be to achieve all God called us to be. Beloved, we press on to that high calling in God. Get it on your mark! Let’s go!