Psalm 139:1-16; 1 Peter 2:9-10
Sermon preached at Barclay Church, Edinburgh by Dr Fiona Tweedie
4 May 2003

INTRODUCTION

In the last few weeks we have seen our world at Barclay turned on its head with the announcement that our minister and his wife, Graham and Mary Leitch, will be moving to Pathhead, to the charge of the Tyne valley parishes.

Many people here today will not have known this church without Graham and Mary - each person here will have memories, whether of special events - your wedding, your child's baptism or the funeral of a loved one. A sermon that reached out to exactly where you were that Sunday - a visit or a phonecall that was perfectly timed and raised flagging spirits.

We'll only realise the full extent of the work that Graham and Mary did for us and with us now that they are leaving. But perhaps we were too comfortable with them and all the work they did - Alpha course? "Oh yes - Mary likes doing those", "the minister will see to it". We've had the privilege of their teaching, their service, their compassion, and now the three congregations that make up the Tyne Valley parishes will have that privilege.

For us, at Barclay, it seems as though a stick has been stuck in our wheel, and I certainly felt as though I had been flung over some handlebars when I learned that Graham and Mary would be leaving. But Graham and Mary have been CALLED, they're not just going off because they got fed up, or someone offended them - God called them to their new charge. We should give thanks and praise to God for this exhibition of God's care and purpose for us. The God who created our universe, who called Abram out of Ur, Joseph out of Canaan, Peter and Andrew out of their fishing boats and Paul out of his mission of persecution, this same, eternal, God has called Graham and Mary out of our fellowship, and *will be calling another in to it*. This God who, in the Old Testament, chose the Jews, has chosen someone, we are yet to find out who, and he is raising them up to be our new minister. There is a "God at Work" sign on our steeple.

You see, God is interested in the work that WE do - he WILL provide the right person to lead our congregation forward in the 21st century in to a Church Without Walls.

I'd like to consider two aspects of God's interest and care for us this morning. Firstly, and this will be the main topic of this sermon, God is interested because he cares for the individual Christian, for each and every one of us – God cares for you and God cares for me. Secondly, God is interested because he cares for his church – we aren't just individuals striving separately, we're called to work in teams, congregations, churches, as God's family on earth.

GOD CARES FOR US INDVIDUALLY

God is interested in what we do, because he cares for the individual Christian - for each and every one of us - God cares for you, and God cares for me. This is not a vague "you" – don't think it refers only to the person sitting next to you - don't think you can sit quietly in the pew and God won't notice - don't think that because you haven't been into a church for ten years, God has forgotten you. As we heard a few weeks ago, "We know God has a tattoo and we know what it says" – "I have written *YOUR* name on the palm of my hand" [Isa 49:16] YOUR name is there - God cares for you.

GIFTS

God has always cared for you - As we heard in Psalm 139, God "created our inmost being", he "knitted us together in our mother's wombs", each of us is "fearfully and wonderfully made" (v13-14). As we were crafted, gifts were added, some gifts to you, some gifts to me. But we were ALL given gifts - Peter's first letter states "EACH of you should use whatever gifts he HAS RECEIVED to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its *various forms*".

God's grace has many, many, various forms, and we are the ones who have to show this grace to the world. So we have many, many various gifts, from the ones listed by Paul to the first century Corinthians, to more contemporary ones that we might not consider a spiritual gift.

In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul lists some of the spiritual gifts; wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, and so on.

Some have gifts of organisation and management, of people, of projects or of money. Some can handle technology, from sound systems and slides to web pages and lighting systems. Some have gifts of hospitality, of cooking, of homemaking. You didn't think cooking was a spiritual gift? Look at the Alpha course - how many people are being reached through meals at those? Others have gifts of music, of art, of design. Still others can reach out to young folk, old folk, folk in the street, folk in the universities. The list goes on and on, because the forms of God's grace go on and on.

Some gifts we might not consider to be gifts - as Christians we are not immune to trials, illness, hurt. Yet these experiences might also be considered gifts, having had a miscarriage and subsequent hemorrhaging, I can reach out to friends going through the same. Without that so-called "gift" my testimony would be greatly lessened. One translation of Romans 8:28 gives "For those who love God, no evil may befall them which God *cannot* use for their growth and glory. God does not will all things, but *he is at work in all things*."

God knows who you are (your name is written on the palm of his hand) - God knows what gifts you have been given (he gave them to you) – God knows what experiences you've been through (he was there with you). The psalm George read tells us that God "knows when we sit and when we rise", He "perceives our thoughts from afar", "discerns our going out and our lying down". God knows which hole in the jigsaw of his church you fit, and there is a hole that is YOUR shape. He is longing for you to fill that hole in his church, to fulfil YOUR purpose within his body.

HOW DO WE FIND OUR PURPOSE?

So, each of us has a purpose - a way of using our personal, unique gifts. But how do we identify our purpose? How do we know what we are CALLED to do?

We could try to work it out for ourselves - speculate, theorize, conjecture; after all, don't I know me best? don't you know you best? don't I know what's best for my life, don't you know what's best for yours? my plans are for me to decide. But someone knows us better – the psalm starts "O Lord you have searched me and you know me" [v1] - someone already knows what will happen, whether you plan them or not – our reading ended "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.".

We could try to work it out for ourselves, but God has already worked it out, and you were designed - "fearfully and wonderfully made" – for those plans. Rather than speculation, then, we should turn to revelation, our relationship with God.

As Christians, we have a personal relationship with God - if you have not yet entered into that relationship, all you have to do is ask - God is waiting for you to turn to him, to talk and walk with him. You don't know who you are or what you're doing? "It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for." God will tell us what we are living for – he will guide us - it doesn't matter who we are or where we go – the psalm says "If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even then your hand WILL guide me, your right hand will hold me fast" [9-10]

We have to ask - ask that our purpose, our calling, will be revealed to us. We have to ask prayerfully, consider an evening or weekend set aside to talk with and to listen to God.

We have to watch - watch for the so-called "coincidences" that are leading you to your purpose. One event may be interesting, two a coincidence, but when it gets to seven or eight, it will feel as though someone is hitting you on the head!! We have to watch prayerfully - ask that the Holy Spirit will make us notice the things that are important. Your purpose, your calling, might not be quite what you expected, but very often people can look back at their lives and see how previous, apparently unrelated events have worked together to fit you for your purpose.

WHAT WILL IT DO FOR US?

Knowing your purpose gives meaning to your life. Newspapers and magazines are full of people looking for meaning in their lives. Unsolicited emails, spam, offer meaning through todays gods of money and sex. People rush to try the latest ways to find meaning - Feng Shui, crystals, horoscopes, tarot cards - yet what a damning indictment of our witness in society it is that they never think about Christ or the church. CHRIST IS OUR MEANING - "All things were created by him and for him " Col 1:16b. and "his works are wonderful" [v14].

Knowing your purpose makes life simpler. Twenty-first century life seems to consist of juggling yet more balls in the air - you throw one up and another is crashing to the floor, you rush to catch it and another three seem to fall at the same time. Yet God doesn't want us to be inept circus performers - he wants us to walk with him. It's impossible to juggle all the balls people expect you to. Knowing your purpose gives you a clear basis on which to decide which balls to catch and throw again, and which to let drop. Just ask "Does this ball - this activity, help me fulfil my purpose?" If not, let it drop, if God wants it done, someone else will pick it up and juggle with it.

Knowing your purpose focuses your life - it is much easier to juggle well with two balls than half a dozen. Stopping desparate catches to maintain the juggle allows you to concentrate on two or three, and juggle them well!

Knowing your purpose motivates your life. Having meaning gives you something to get out of bed for! Having an inspiring boss or team of co-workers in the office encourages better work, motivates you to try harder, to excel. Knowing your purpose motivates you - you have something to work towards, and you are working towards it WITH God. You are a co-worker with God, in his office, on his team, doing his work.

Knowing your purpose prepares you for eternity. Paul tells the Romans, "we will ALL stand before God's judgement seat [and ...] EACH of us will give an account of himself to God" [14:10b,12]. Meeting budget targets at work, having a spotless, beautiful house, driving a luxury car, will not feature near the top of God's to-do list. Throughout the Bible we are reminded that life is a temporary assignment. We are reminded that we are foreigners, strangers in a strange land. We WILL be called home and we WILL have to give account - what you do in this temporary life will determine that account. Did you gain temporary wealth, temporary success? C. S. Lewis wrote "All that us not eternal it eternally useless" God will show you the way to eternal wealth, things that are eternally useful. God will show you your purpose, he will guide, he has already been guiding, you to it. All you have to do is ask.

GOD'S PURPOSE FOR THE CHURCH

We don't live in isolation, we are a people. As Christians Peter reminds us that we are a “chosen people” We have been called from a purposeless existence of darkness into his wonderful light, and our purpose. We each have our own purpose, but they are designed to be woven together with other people's purposes. Before our relationship with Christ we were not a people, but merely disconnected individuals milling around. Now we are the people of God working together as a team with complementary purposes. We are like a jigsaw – each of us has a unique space to fill, a unique role to play. Only God sees the big picture, what the jigsaw looks like. If we all had straight edges, there would be no middle of the jigsaw, if we were all corner pieces, there would be no edges. Paul asked “Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing?” Our God loves unity, not uniformity – he has given us our own individual purpose and He knows how our individual purposes fit together to be the purpose for our church and for our land.

In Barclay we are about to move into a vacancy period. Now, more than ever, we need to ask God to identify our purposes and to weave them together as a congregation. God HAS plans for his church, and we need to move “Forward in Faith” together to put them into practice.

CONCLUSION

Fulfilling your purpose, your calling, is to do the very work of God. Ask God to show you YOUR purpose, your calling. May God be at work in our church, in the lives of Graham and Mary, and especially in our lives. May we have "God at Work" signs over our steeple, and over our lives.

Amen