Will You Answer the Call?

Acts 2:37-39

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.'”

February 1, 2022

“Beech Cumberland Presbyterian Church . . . Hello? Hello?” This is a scene that plays out almost daily throughout the week. A call (or multiple calls) will come to the church, often between 9 and 10 AM.  Fredericka, our church secretary, will answer the phone and there will be no one on the other end of the line.  Prior to the 90s, with the advent of caller ID, prank calls were common.  Now days, we do not deal with prank calls much.  Instead, we have to deal with robocalls.  Because we are a church, we often answer calls from numbers which we do not recognize.  Most people do not answer calls from unrecognized numbers because they are weary of robocalls, telemarketing schemes and phone scams. When we do get calls from an odd number and we happen to hear a welcomed voice on the other end of the line, it can bring joy to our hearts and a smile to our face.

In the verses above, Peter says, “the promise is for . . .everyone whom the Lord our God calls . . .” I understand that he was not talking about a telephone call.  Peter was not even speaking about a vocal proclamation (though that has happened from time to time throughout history – i.e. Moses, Samuel, and Saul/Paul are some examples). This call, though not generally experienced with the hearing ears, is felt by a receptive heart.  This call is worked out in the lives of believers, sometimes in dramatic ways, such as with the radical transformation of Paul, other times it is a slow, steady transformation, such as with the Apostle Andrew.

Regardless of the form, the call was just as valid. The big question is how did the one whom the Lord called respond? Jesus extended a call to some and they followed Him, yet others chose not to.  Some do not want the discomfort of following Jesus and thereby they will not respond to His call.  What will you choose?  Will you choose to answer the call?