CMLC 2026-01-18 Sermon

Let me ask you something. How many of you are

still following your New Year's resolutions?

Okay, okay, we got a few and we gotta laugh.

Okay, good. How many of you had to modify the

New Year's resolutions a little bit there? Okay,

okay, we got one over there. Okay, that's honest.

Okay, how many of you completely gave up on the

New Year's resolutions? Okay, good. And how many

of you just think that they're stupid? Okay.

All right. That's the rest of y 'all. Okay. Good.

There you go. There you go. Okay. Now, we're

awake. You are among friends. All right. Now,

I'm going to tell you this, y 'all. I did get

to lose the Germany five, those five pounds that

I managed to find with all of the schnitzel and

the good brews. I know, right? Yay. The rest

of what I was planning to lose is still there,

though. So, see, that's the thing is that that

part worked, but... That does not mean that this

trip and everything else, that everything else

has magically fallen into place. You see, taking

a chance for vacation and being able to step

away and enjoy the time, this can be good. I

know I felt a reset, a space to breathe, space

to step back, space to see things just a little

more clearly. But it didn't turn me into a different

person. It didn't erase all the old habits. It

didn't fix everything. It just gave me some fresh

eyes. And I think that that's where many of us

are right now. As we are looking forward into

2026, many of us are still struggling with how

we see ourselves. Because for many of us, we

are still measuring progress. We're still wondering

whether we're moving forward or if we're quietly

falling behind. We're still trying to figure

out whether God's grace is something that we

rest in or something we feel we need to catch

up with Somewhere along the way in our life.

We we face the fact that habits will slip Motivation

fades the follow -through does not last Failure

starts whispering a familiar message that maybe

Maybe all these ideas you have where you want

to be, maybe this just isn't who you are. But

scripture tells us a very different story about

who you are. Isaiah says, before I was born,

the Lord called me. Before your efforts, before

your obedience, before your success, but also

before your failures. God did not wait to see

how you were going to turn out. He did not discover

your weaknesses later and then be like, You know,

I'm going to reconsider my plans for you. He

knew you fully, even in the womb, your limits

and your strengths. He knew the ways that you

would stumble, and yet still, He called you to

be His own. And for purposes that we don't even

know yet. Who we are and where we are going has

been known by God long before we could even imagine.

And that does not mean that our lives are scripted

in some way that are supposed to control us like

machines, that's not what Scripture speaks. What

it does tell us is that God sees more than just

the moment we're standing in, and still chooses

to work through us. He knows where we hesitate.

He knows where we resist, and He knows where

we fail. And even with that knowledge, God prepares

lives and futures that make room for exactly

who we are. See, Isaiah was not written to people

who had it all together. It was spoken to exiled

people. Israel was called to follow the Lord,

to trust Him, to be shaped by His Word, but as

a whole, they did not. They chased other gods.

They relied on their own strength. They ignored

justice and doing what was right in God's eyes.

They forgot mercy and showing fellow human beings

grace. See, the exile they were in, it was not

an accident. They had earned it. And yet within

their 70 -year failure and even more, there was

a remnant. people who endured, people who still

prayed, people who still remembered the promises.

There were those who still desired to follow

after God. And yet, even that remnant, they were

not ready. They were wounded. Hurt on the inside.

They were bitter about the situation that they

were in so often. And they were tired of feeling

rejected. You are the people of God, and yet

here we are, taken away from our home. Unsure

whether they even had a place in the world anymore

at all. And their faithfulness, it was not enough

to bring them home because their endurance was

not going to earn a return to Judah. Isaiah makes

this clear. They're not restored because they

are ready. They are restored because God is gracious.

God does not say, well, now you've learned your

lesson. He says, I have not forgotten you. He

says, I have formed you. He says, I will bring

you back. Their return is an act of mercy. It's

not a reward. Because a reward would mean that

they had earned it. See, that's why Isaiah is

turning our attention not just to Israel, not

just the remnant, but to the servant. Israel

failed to live its calling fully. Even the faithful

remnant fell short. So God sends one who will

embody Israel's calling perfectly. Before you

leave the exile to get over here, I am telling

you there will be one who will be there that

will be my servant. The servant listens when

others do not. The servant trusts when others

turn away. The servant becomes a light not only

for Israel, but for the nations. It's not about

replacing Israel. It's about fulfilling what

Israel could not complete on its own. And this

is where the church needs to be honest with itself.

We are called. We are marked by God. We are sent

by Him into the world. And we regularly fail

to live that calling fully. And that matters

when we look at the disciples that Jesus calls,

because these are not the confident, qualified

candidates. Many of them, they were already passed

over, okay? Because they were not chosen to follow

a rabbi earlier in life, at the stage whenever

they would have tried to study and to be prepared

for a rabbi to let them follow after, they were

rejected. Not the first cut. Not the first string.

Not the obvious choices. And there are plenty

of reasons, frankly, for them to believe that

they were disqualified. There were tempers. There

were insecurities. They had a lack of fancy words

and political skills and how many of them did

not have the money to convince a rabbi to let

them study. But Jesus calls them anyway. Not

because they're impressive. Not because they're

ready for anything. Not because they have it

all figured out. Each one of them, they have

a part to play. Not alone, but together. None

of them are interchangeable. You can't just switch

one for another. Each one is necessary. And none

of them are carried simply just by being close

to the right group. Let me give you a picture.

Imagine two grown men standing on a platform

in Germany trying to figure out whether they're

getting on the right monorail. The sign looks

right. It's in German. It looks right. The map

mostly makes sense. But one of them is overly

confident while the other is not confident enough

to say it with authority. So they hesitate. They

second -guess. They question. And by the time

that they almost agree, One of them is stepping

onto the monorail while the other one misses

it altogether. Clearly, I'm not talking about

anybody that I know. It's ridiculous really.

Both are capable adults, but neither fully trust

what they're seeing or each other. But here's

the thing. These are two different people with

different strengths. One notices details, the

other sees a big picture. One wants the certainty,

the other is willing to move and adjust. And

then just when you think you have it figured

out and the next day begins, the roles reverse.

And the other one wants certainty and the other

and the first is willing to adjust. And instead

of recognizing that those differences are meant

to work together, they treat them like obstacles.

They are not on the trip so that one of them

could have it all figured out while the other

one always has to follow. They were meant to

see more clearly together. That's how God works

so often with us. See, Jesus does not say, explain

things to me correctly once you have it all figured

out. Instead he says, come, follow me and see.

to a community that needs one another to truly

believe. Andrew and likely John are the ones

that are listening to John the Baptist and they

are prepared to notice that John is finally appointed

to a Messiah. And when they do, what do they

do? They tell the others. Andrew goes to his

brother Simon. John goes off to tell James, which

raises the question, would Peter and James have

followed without Andrew and John first saying

something? Peter and James needed Andrew and

John to be ready. But Andrew and John would have

the times when they would need Peter and James

as well. Because they had businesses, families,

responsibilities. Leaving all of this was not

impulsive. There were these repeated encounters

over and over and listening and seeing nets overflow

and realizing this is from God. He is from God.

You see faith, it grows in a relationship. See

calling is awakened in a community. There are

no elite followers who can be the perfect servant

of the Lord alone. If you think you are the one

to fulfill the place of the servant, I can guarantee

you are wrong. Because so often people resist,

we turn away, we reject what God has in mind

even after giving their hearts over to God. Whatever

you have accepted, God knows how much we will

butcher the whole thing, but He doesn't reject

us. He invites. See, you are baptized into God's

kingdom not because you understand everything

about it. You never will in this world, but because

you are loved. Not because you'll never fail,

but because failure does not have the final word.

Most of us don't struggle with Isaiah's idea

that God could call us before birth. That's not

as big of an issue, though we spend a lot of

time politicizing it more than hearing that it's

calling more than anything else. But we do struggle

with the idea that God could call us with water,

wine, bread. Spoken forgiveness Because that

would be too passive. It'd be too difficult to

define to understand to control But scripture

never separates the grace of God from whatever

means he chooses to use for us Because God knows

that speaking into the darkness We each need

it in a different way Whether as a community

or an individual you see Nothing about this life

of faith works very well alone. Sorry, introverts.

See, that's true of New Year's resolutions and

it's true of faith. The church exists not to

erase the individuality that we have, but to

sustain us because we can't do it on our own.

It's not about replacing your response. You are

still called to respond, but to support each

other as we do. To remind you who you are when

you forget, because let's be honest, how often

do we forget what God has called us to be? To

speak hope when the discouragement takes over

and we cannot see that we are God's child. In

Isaiah, the people, he's speaking into the exile

and God says, you're still known, you're still

called, you're still part of my plan. The people

cannot make themselves righteous. They cannot

rescue themselves from exile. The king out of

nowhere just decided to let them go. And that's

the thing is that God speaks. I have called you.

I have formed you. I have not forgotten you.

And He grounds that promise in His servant. The

one who will be faithful when Israel failed.

The one who will be light for the nations. Even

when God's people failed to be servants, the

true servant does not fail. When I was a teacher,

it was easy to become aware very quickly of how

much I did not know. How often we would be doing

a lesson and a student would come up and say,

did you just learn this yesterday? And I'd be

like, no, absolutely not. And they knew me well

enough to enjoy the sarcasm because What was

the point of pretending that I knew everything

in advance? See, I did not go to school to be

a teacher. I did not have the same training.

I didn't know always how to prepare or how to

plan. And there were plenty of moments where

I felt behind before the day even started. But

there was also a deep sense, a quiet conviction

that for whatever reason I was meant to be there.

to mentor the young men, to transform the math

department, to lead the outdoors program, to

share the gospel because the opportunity might

come up. See, I was supposed to be a part of

that community, and I was meant to be a blessing

in that place, even though I didn't always see

how. And there are frustrations, okay? There's

ups and there's downs. There are days when I

was wondering if I did any good at all, and the

kids would be talking in class about which favorite

teacher they wanted to speak at graduation, and

you're just finding yourself wondering, does

that list include me? Or am I just getting in

the way? And in many ways, that experience mirrors

what we see and live out in this faith community

quite often. Am I just getting in the way? We

do not always believe that You've got it figured

out Okay, we're not expecting that all of your

plans are fully formed and that everything's

figured out that everything is cleaned up and

settled We do not expect that you're gonna do

it right all the time We do not expect you can

handle everything exactly as you should that's

never been the requirement But there are times

when it does mean to slow down There are times

when we do have to say this is not the moment

this is not the place This is not the way, even

without Baby Yoda. Not because there is no calling,

not because there is no purpose, but because

sometimes the calling may need time to be revealed

for you. Maybe it needs to take shape differently

than how you imagined. I mean, I see that in

myself. I can look back and see all the support

that I've needed. How much help that I've depended

on, how the context needed to be in community,

even during moments when I know I've resisted,

I didn't want to hear it. People were still encouraging,

walking alongside, helping me to stay grounded

when I felt unsure. And that's what this community

is meant to be about. Not because any one of

us has it all together, not because we've got

it figured out. The path was prepared before

you were born. You do not see all of it yet You

just don't but you do not walk it unloved or

unnamed or alone Because grace is not a race

that you run on your own It's a relay together

and it is lived out in the middle of everything

we do together and that tension between who we

are Who we wish we were and who God says we already

are is exactly where today meets us, but even

as I may have been called in that community.

I also knew that there was something bigger and

deeper to move into. Because that's what all

of us have. Because that's how Christ sends his

people. It's not because we're complete or confident

or mastering every path. It's because we're loved.

We're not sent away from Christ. We're not like

leaving Christ to go represent him to the world.

we are sent in Christ, carried by Him, shaped

by His Spirit. That's the pattern for all of

us. See, God calls us with our particular strengths

and limitations and then places us in community

where those differences actually matter. They

aren't warts to be removed. We are each needed

and none of us is meant to do this alone. The

church has often struggled here. I'll be honest.

Instead of saying, I see what you're seeing,

how often we rush to, okay, I heard you, now

let me explain why you're wrong. We are called

to be the light of the world, but more often

than we like to admit, we fall short. And even

those who take faith seriously, the ones who

read the Scriptures, the ones who pray, the ones

who know that we are called to care for the widows,

the orphans, the poor, the foreigner, the rejected,

even we still stumble, we hesitate, we fail.

We fear admitting our need for one another Yet

even when God's people fail to serve as they

should the true servant of the Lord does not

Because Christ has already given himself fully

and he remains faithful to us So maybe that's

why God's mission for us feels so intimidating

We feel we're being exposed. We're afraid to

admit we need the same forgiveness as everyone

else We're afraid of being labeled when the truth

is simply that we are sinners, all of us living

by grace alone. And maybe we're afraid because

we imagine being sent to the world apart from

Christ on our own strength. But that's not how

the sending works. We are sent in Christ, carried

by Him, forgiven by Him, shaped by His Spirit.

We always have been. So over this last year,

whether it's been challenges, new efforts, simply

facing your limits, All of us are getting a little

older. Many of us have felt uncertain about the

next step. But even if you're taking something

silly and mundane as going to the gym, you wouldn't

stop at the door and ask whether you belong to

be there. And if that's what you did, go in.

You got the membership for a reason. But we show

up and we see what happens next. We don't assume

we're disqualified before we even begin. We take

what's in front of us and we learn as we go.

And that's our calling in faith. Because even

when others may see our flaws and they will see

our flaws, even when those who know us best know

how imperfect we are, we step into the calling

that God has placed before us. Because our place

in the body of Christ was never earned by having

it all together. We belong because Christ is

faithful. We are included because He is perfect

and He has loved us enough to claim us as his

own. So maybe the resolution before us is not

to figure everything out, but to admit that we

never do. To trust that grace is already at work

and to allow our lives, our community, our calling

to be shaped not by confidence in ourselves,

but by Christ Jesus who calls and sustains and

sends us in his name. So instead of resolving

to have it all figured out, Maybe we resolve

to admit that we don't Because grace is not to

be run on our own The path was prepared before

you were born You don't see all of it yet But

you do not go unnamed Unloved or alone and the

God who called you has not stopped calling you

Thanks be to God