What Is Calling?

Today I would like to reflect with you on calling. Calling is a hard topic to talk about. If somebody comes to you and asks you, what is your calling? Not many people will be able to say, oh, my calling is this, this, this, very clearly. I don't think many people can do that. What is calling? Why is it important? And what does that calling do to your life? Calling is not simply doing what God asks you to do. Like go to seminary all of a sudden, or go mission or all this particular thing that I want to do. So we think about calling about doing, acting. I don't think that's what calling is. Then what is calling? And I want to reflect with you on this important person and then think about what calling is. His name is Moses. I'm sure that all of you know who Moses is. Moses is the one who made Israel Israel. He gave the true identity to Israel. He's the one who brought 10 plagues in Egypt and he's the one who parted the Red Sea. And Moses is the one who received 10 commandments and then gave to his people. He's probably the most important person in history of Israel. Moses' legacy began into this passage. Moses, whom we encounter into this passage though, is not an extraordinary person. He was just ordinary man. He was not a priest. He was not a prophet. He was a humble shepherd. The ordinary person today encountered the extraordinary situation and since this event, he experienced all kinds of extraordinary events in his life. Moses' life can be divided into three periods. First, 40 and then second, 40 and then third for the last 40 years. What was the first 40 years like? Where was he? The first 40 years. Do you know? Where was he? He was in a palace. So he was a prince. And what does that mean? Oh, he had lots of privileges and power. It wasn't just ordinary life. It was a prince, life of prince. He enjoyed all kinds of good things. His life was not just good. His life was luxurious. He didn't have to do anything. So when you look at first 40 years, you can say his circumstances shaped who he was. His circumstances shaped who he was. How about the next 40 years? Where was he? He was in Midian, very settled with wives and children. He was good life, comfortable and safe life. Green, green grass home kind of life. He was humble shepherd, but he didn't have to be a prince. He enjoyed it as a humble shepherd. Probably he enjoyed his 40 years in Midian more than his 40 years in palace. The first period, the circumstances shaped Moses' life, but in the second period, Moses shaped his circumstances. The first one is circumstances shaped him, but second period, he shaped the circumstances. At the end of the first 40 years, he had a traumatic experience. He was righteous. He wanted to help out his fellow brothers who were fighting. He wanted to help, but it backfired on him. And all of a sudden, he became a fugitive. So first 40 years, the circumstances at one point made him a prince. And the next point, the circumstances made him a fugitive. So he had to run away. So in the second period, he said to himself, okay, I'm not going to get involved. I'm not going to get involved in any dangerous situation. I'm going to make my situation on my own. And I want to make sure that it is safe and comfortable. In the first 40 years, he woke up from illusion. The first 40 years was kind of illusion. And then at one point, he was awake from that illusion. In the second period, he wanted to have full control of his life because he had a wake-up call. He created his environment in that way. He didn't have privileges and power like the first 40 years, but he was very, very comfortable. But unfortunately, in the second or first period, there was no calling in life. He just lived, but there was no calling. Also, God was completely absent in Moses' awareness. Very self-focused life, typical of people who live their lives with fear. Very self-focused life. His comfort and his safety, that was everything. Nothing else matters. As long as I'm safe and comfortable, that's it. No more. I don't even expect anything more. That was his life goal. If the first period was a life of illusion, the second period was a life of denial. So he comes from life of illusion into life of denial. What is the essence of life, my friends? What makes life life? Is it comfort, security, safety, privilege and power? Is that the essence of life? What makes life life? Human beings are created with a sense of calling. We live. We live on our calling. What is my calling to live? When God created Adam and Eve, God gave them calling. Take care of the creation that I created. They had that calling. What were the last four years like? Where was he? The last four years? He was in the wilderness. He encountered all kinds of problems. You cannot say he enjoyed his life in the way we typically use the word enjoy. I don't think he really enjoyed his life in a common, in a usual sense. But he was most meaningful period in his life. The last 40 years made Moses be Moses. He felt the living. He felt the living. He did not just live. He felt the living. And the Bible is not interesting for 80 years. The Bible summarizes Moses 80 years in two chapters. But the last 40 years, the Bible allows 137 chapters. Because the Bible writer, the first two periods was not important. Only two chapters summarized. But the last 40 years wrote 137 chapters. In the last period, he truly met life. He truly met God. His circumstances did not shape his life like the first period. He didn't shape his circumstances like in the second period. The last period, God shaped Moses. God shaped Moses. God led his life. His life was much, much more difficult than the first two periods. But he lived out his full potential. He experienced wonderful things in his life that he never experienced before. And he realized life was much, much bigger than he thought. And he never realized such marvelous things were possible in life. So my friends, just a little bit of experience of life that you have. Don't define life in that way. Don't say that that is what life is. No, that is not what life is. So don't define life by small experience that you had in your life. There are marvelous things that you never experienced before. Life's calling is not what you make up. It's not what you choose. It's not that all of a sudden in the morning you wake up, okay, I want to serve the church or I want to serve this, I want to do this. That's not what calling is. You don't choose calling. Calling chooses you. Jesus said this to the disciples. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last. And so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. In Moses' life, God initiated the whole thing. It was God who called him. It was God who appeared to him and it was God who sent him. Saint Paul did not choose his calling. He was going in the wrong direction, opposite direction, and God appeared and called him. And Jonah, same. He didn't choose the calling. He wanted to run away from the calling. But God made a situation so that he had to live out his calling. Calling is not just about what to do. Calling is your life. In his life of calling, Moses encountered God. He encountered his reality. He encountered his own self. He saw himself. He saw the reality as it is. And he saw God. Oh God. What Moses saw in his life of calling was not all pretty and pleasant. He saw how ugly people were. How rebellious people were. How selfish. And how little faith they had. He saw them all. He saw the ugly side of human beings. And he saw himself how weak he was, how impatient he was. How little faith he had. He in the wilderness, he experienced hunger and thirst. He encountered all kinds of dangers. Every time they faced dangers, people did not trust God. They tried to even replace God with golden calf. He tried to throw away Moses' leadership. He saw it all. But also at the same time, Moses saw God working in this life. God is real. Real. Until then, God was just theoretical. But in the last period finally, God became real. I think that's what's most important. God becoming real. Not theoretical. God protected them with pillars of cloud during the day. And with pillars of fire and night. He gave them manna so that they wouldn't starve. He even gave water from the wall. He felt what God was doing in his life. God was always ahead of them. In every situation, Moses saw God working in his life. In two periods, God was totally absent in Moses' awareness. But in the third period, he felt God in every situation. That is what calling is. You live your life with that feeling of God. Every situation. That's what calling is. It doesn't matter what you do. Day by day, moment by moment, you feel that God is real in your life. And live out that life. That's what calling is. He was so intimate with God, the scripture writer expressed that in this way. If there were a prophet among you, I the Lord would reveal myself in visions. I will speak to them in dreams, but not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he's the one I trust. I speak to him face to face, clearly and not in riddles. He sees the Lord as he is. He sees the Lord as he is. He sees the reality as he is. He sees himself as he is. And he saw God as he was. My friends, calling is not about what to do. When you embrace your calling, your eyes will be opened and you will see what God is doing in your life, in every situation. You're so intimate with God and you feel what God feels. You see God's guiding hand in your life. Clearly, that's what calling is. So calling is a life journey with God. Safe life, there's no such thing as safe life. I'm sorry to tell you. There is no such thing as safe life. It's all illusion. By just one incident, your life can be disrupted. The safety that you have built will just evaporate. Safe life is not there. It's not there. There's no such thing as safe life. You cannot build your life on that illusion of safety. You are shocked by the US tariffs imposed on us. We have friends, we have neighbors. All of a sudden we became enemies. In the name of Ontario, Lake Ontario is threatened. People in other industries, they feel for them. What's my job going to be? All my life I work for this and this is the only skill that I have. What if I don't have a job? What am I going to do? Safe environment is an illusion. Let us trust God. God will provide you with what you need. God will speak to you. God will protect you. And God will guide you. God will protect you. Let us think about those who are suffering and oppressed around us. Let us be in solidarity with them. Let us keep the good faith. That's what life is calling us all about. We don't know what the next 40 years will bring to you. We don't know what will happen to our economy, our workplaces, our families or our communities, graduates, congratulations. But you don't know what's ahead of you. We cannot build a life around the promise of safety. But we can build a life around the promise of God. I will be with you. God said to Moses, I will be with you. I will be with you. On that promise, build your life. No matter what you experience, I will be with you. All the graduates, think about this calling day by day. Walk with God, journey with God. Your life will be all right. The foundation of calling is not your courage. It's not your competence or your certainty. The foundation of calling is in your life.