James Meehan - Prayer and Calling
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— Well, welcome to this week of "Switch Uncut". I am here with my friend, Caitlin Caffrey, I am...
— Hello.
— ...James Meehan, and today we're talking about the Bible, faith, following Jesus. We're going to explore, what?
— The eyebrow movement.
— I'm working on it.
— Okay.
— I wanna be an actor, just kidding, I don't wanna do that that sounds awful. If that's your dream, you do you boo-boo, but today what we're talking about is prayer and calling and how those two things go together beautifully because as we are starting this brand new message series on Wednesday nights, "What Difference Do I Make"? we're going to be exploring what does it mean to be a person of prayer and how do we discover and live out our calling? To help us on this journey we're gonna be looking at Ephesians chapter three, and a little bit of Ephesians chapter four, from the Apostle Paul who just does something beautiful. Because if you haven't been able to tell yet at this point, we think the Bible is brilliant.
— It's so good.
— And the more that we are able to learn how to read it wisely, the better we are able to apply it to our lives and the more beautiful we see the truth of God's word play out over and over and over again. And so...
— Yeah.
— With that being said, we're going to explore these passages...
— Yep.
— Looking at those two big ideas of prayer and calling and discovering what is the truth here and how does that affect us in our modern world. So, with that being said, Caitlin.
— Yes.
— Will you please tell us...
— Yes.
— What we're going to read?
— So, as you mentioned, we're gonna look at Ephesians.
— Come on.
— A little bit in chapter three and then into chapter four. So when we're thinking about Ephesians, we're gonna ask those context questions, who wrote it, why'd they write it.
— Come on.
— And who did they write it to?
— Yep.
— So Ephesians is one of Paul's letters.
— Yep.
— And it was written to the church in Ephesus.
— Yep.
— But when we're exploring why Paul wrote it, what would you say is that context?
— Yeah, so Paul's the author, the church in Ephesus is the audience. You know an interesting thing is there's actually some scholars who think the letter to the Ephesians was circulated amongst all of the different churches.
— Cool.
— Which is interesting.
— Yeah.
— I don't know, but I think it's interesting, but it seems to be that Paul's goal, his reason for writing this, was to help these new believers understand who they are because of Jesus and then to draw out the implications of what that means for their daily lives.
— Yeah.
— What's interesting is it's like almost every book of the Bible is trying to do that on some level, help us understand who God is.
— Right.
— Who we are, and the way we've been called to live in response to that truth.
— Yes.
— And this is what Paul's doing in this letter to the Ephesians. The first half of Ephesians is really focused on who we are because of Jesus.
— Yeah.
— And then the second half starts to move into now this is how we live because of who Jesus says we are. And so what we're gonna focus in on is the back half of Ephesians three.
— Okay.
— And then we're gonna move into the beginning of Ephesians four. And what we're gonna see is this is the pivot point where Paul moves from theology, who is God, to application, how are we supposed to live. So Caitlin, will you read for us beginning in Ephesians 3:14-21, but real quick, before you go, here's the big idea for today. If you wanna know what you're called to do start by getting to know the who called you.
— Come on.
— So with that being said, that in mind, Caitlin, take it away.
— All right, Ephesians three, starting in verse 14. "When I think of all of this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources, he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able through his mighty power at work within us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever. Amen".
— Amen. So what Paul just did is he wrote out this prayer that he is praying for the readers of this letter.
— Yeah.
— The readers who existed 2000 years ago at the church in Ephesus, and I think also for readers like us today. He's praying that we would understand, we would have the power to know how much God loves us. And so to get to the essence of that prayer, Caitlin, would you read again verses 18 and 19?
— Yes. 18, "And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God".
— I love this because he's literally praying that we would have the power, the ability.
— Yeah.
— To know how much God loves us and it is actually too much for us to be able to understand fully. But then he's says, at the end of verse 19, "Then you will be made complete".
— Yeah. "With all the fullness of life and power that comes from God". So what Paul is letting us know is that when we experience, and embrace, and understand the love that Jesus has for us, then we will be made complete with the life and power that comes from God. What I think is so important for us to recognize here is that when it comes to understanding the Bible, when it comes to living out our faith, there is nothing more essential then wrapping our minds around, as much as we can.
— Right.
— Because we can't do it fully, how much God loves us.
— Mmm, that's so good.
— That is the most important theological truth you could ever learn...
— Come on.
— Is that you are loved by God your Father, you are loved by God the Son, you are loved by God the Spirit, you are loved by your creator.
— Yeah.
— Because when we can begin to understand that it changes everything.
— Yeah.
— And so the question becomes, how do we actually embrace that truth?
— Right.
— How do we actually experience the power of knowing the love of God?
— Yeah.
— And this is the journey that we've been going on this entire semester in Switch. This is why we started with those six weeks exploring the spiritual practice of silence and solitude, where we make space to experience the presence of God. Because it's one thing to hear about God and talk about God, it's another thing entirely to be still and know who he really is.
— Yeah.
— Then we spent another six weeks learning what it looks like to memorize the words of scripture so that his words will get buried deep enough inside us.
— Yeah.
— That it begins to change the way we think and the way that we live, and now, as we begin this new series, we're talking about prayer and how becoming people of prayer is sort of the final step in that process to help us understand truly how much God loves us. And so as we are going on this journey for the next six weeks, in this series of, "What Difference Do I Make"? that's what we're gonna be talking about every single week, how to become people of prayer. Because in order to discover what we're called to do.
— Yep.
— It's starts by getting to know the one who called you.
— Yeah.
— And the one who called you is the God that Paul just began, or just spent those last several verses talking about how much he loves us.
— Yeah, that's so good. So when we think about calling, it looks like we're gonna transition to Ephesians four.
— Oh, as a matter of fact we are because, you may not know this, but Ephesians chapter three comes right before Ephesians chapter four. You knew that?
— Really?
— And when it comes to reading the Bible, we know that Jesus is king in context, is everything...
— Come on.
— And so if we wanna know what Paul meant, in Ephesians 3...
— Yeah.
— Or what that truth is meant to launch into.
— Yeah.
— Well we just, we turn the page to Ephesians 4. So Caitlin...
— Come on.
— Will you turn the page and read for us Ephesians 4:1.
— Turning my metaphorical page.
— Ooh, well done.
— On my phone. Ephesians 4:1 says, "Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God".
— So Caitlin, verse one begins with therefore, what question should we ask when we see therefore?
— Oh dear. Maybe we should ask, what is it there for?
— What is it there for, this right here what you just heard, is like classic, corny, preacher joke. Every time you see a therefore, you should ask, what is it there for? And the answer is it's to show you.
— Right.
— Based off of what happened before.
— Right.
— Therefore now, because of that...
— Right.
— Here's where we go.
— Right.
— And so what Paul is saying is, hey, because of everything that he just talked about.
— Yeah.
— Because of the deep love that God has for us.
— Yes.
— Therefore, he's begging us to lead a life worthy of our calling because we've been called by God.
— Yeah.
— So, how do you find your calling?
— Mmm, I don't know, it says I have been called by God.
— Okay.
— But it seems like there should be a little bit more there- For me to know...
— Yeah.
— What that calling is.
— My favorite conversation to have with young people, it's teenagers, it's young adults, and it's also like old people too, basically everybody.
— Yeah.
— Is them trying to figure out what they're called to do.
— Right.
— Because we put so much weight and pressure on this idea of calling...
— Right.
— That it can actually become unhelpful, it can become paralyzing.
— Right.
— Because what sometimes happens is people will put so much weight on finding their calling that they get so afraid that they pick the wrong thing that they actually end up doing nothing.
— Right. It's like the paralysis by analysis thing.
— Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's like...
— There's too many decisions and you just get...
— Right.
— Decision fatigue and you just don't do anything.
— Right, there are so many great shows on Netflix, and Disney+, and HBO Max, and Hulu- And every other streaming service you can imagine, Paramount+, we've got that one now because my kid really loves "Blue's Clues".
— Yes!
— And that's why we watch "Blue's Clues," but there's so many options out there that sometimes we just do nothing. And so when it comes to understanding what we're called to do...
— Right.
— How do we discover that?
— Right?
— What we're we're gonna do is allow Paul's writing to help us unpack four big ideas.
— Okay.
— The first one is getting to know the caller, it's discovering who God is.
— Right.
— Because if you want to know what you're called to do it starts by getting to know the one who called you.
— Right,
— The second one is discovering who you are and that's why we are just wrapping up the six-week series, "Who Am I"?
— Right.
— Because if you wanna know what to do it starts by knowing who you are.
— Right.
— Which starts by knowing who God is.
— That's good.
— And then once we know who God is, and then who we are, we can begin to discover the purpose we were created for, this is like the big picture, the vision that God has for our lives. And then from there, with all of those ideas in place, then we can wisely step into...
— Yeah.
— The assignment, the how we accomplish our purpose.
— Okay.
— It's the things that we do on a daily basis to live out the calling that we've been given. Now, a word of warning, is oftentimes when we are trying to find our calling, we put all of our time and energy on discovering the assignment that we skip knowing the caller, knowing who we are, knowing the purpose we were created for, and if you skip the first three, then I'm telling you what, you're gonna have a lot of trouble on the fourth one.
— Yep.
— But if you go in order learning who God is, allowing him to show you who you are, letting him lead you into the purpose you've been called to live, then you'll find that in reality, whatever you do, as long as you do it with all your heart, you'll be operating within the calling that God has given you. And so, in Ephesians 4:1, Paul tells us to lead a life worthy of our calling because we have been called...
— Yep.
— By God. And then I think in verse two, through like six...
— Okay.
— What Paul does there is he starts to lean into the purpose that we've been created for, the big picture why, and then a little bit later, we're not there yet, a little bit later he moves into the assignment, the how, and what does it look like for us to live out our calling as individuals. So Caitlin, will you read verses two through six for us?
— Absolutely. Starting in verse two, "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you've been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and in all, and living through all".
— Mmm, come on somebody, one God, one Lord, all of us are united under that truth and we've been called to one glorious hope for the future.
— Yep.
— So what Paul is doing is he's saying, hey, like the big ideas, the big things...
— Yeah.
— They're pretty clear. We've been called to serve God.
— Yeah.
— We've been called to be a part of his good plans for the future, that's the purpose that we were created for. And then in Ephesians 4:7, I think Paul begins to help bring in a little bit of the complexity that comes from each of us being individuals.
— Yep.
— Having different giftings, experiences, and backgrounds, to show us a little bit of a glimpse of all of the different ways we can live out...
— Yeah.
— That calling, so will you read verses seven and then skip to 11 through 13 for us.
— Okay, verse seven. "However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ". Picking up in verse 11, "Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers, their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's son that we will be mature in the Lord measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ".
— Okay.
— Okay, this is so good, it feels like it's mirroring that prayer...
— Come on.
— That Paul prayed in the previous chapter, the like full and complete piece.
— Right.
— It's so good.
— Well, I think you're 100% right, and that's why we're talking about prayer and calling together.
— Yeah.
— Because I think these things go together just so beautifully that when we become people of prayer, then we will know the one who calls us.
— Yeah.
— And once we know the one who calls us then it's a lot easier to figure out what it is that we're called to do.
— Right.
— And so here's what he says in verse seven. "Each of us has a different gift we've been given". By who? By the caller.
— Yeah.
— By Christ.
— Yep.
— Then, here are the gifts, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Now elsewhere in the New Testament, you can find other lists of the giftings the Holy Spirit has given to God's people.
— Yeah.
— And I think each time those gifts are mentioned, it's not meant to be, this is the only list.
— Right.
— I think it all comes together to provide...
— Right.
— A really full picture of the different gifts each of us as individuals have been given by the Spirit of God...
— Right.
— That is alive in us. Now, what's interesting, is that no matter what the gifts are, the responsibility...
— Yes.
— The purpose, is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
— That's so good.
— So who's the caller? It's Christ.
— Yep.
— Well, who are you, you are somebody who has been gifted by Jesus because of the freedom that is founded in a relationship with him.
— Yep.
— What is your purpose? Well, your purpose is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church. Now, what is your assignment? Great question, I can't tell you.
— Right.
— Because I don't know how the Holy Spirit has gifted you, I just know that he has.
— Yep.
— I know that there is something that God wants to do through you to build people up.
— Yep.
— To bring people to him, to build the church, the body of Christ, so that why? So that we would come to unity in our faith.
— Yep.
— That we would have knowledge of the Son of God, we would know who Jesus is and that we would be mature in the Lord...
— That's so good.
— Measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. So here's what we've done. We started in Ephesians chapter three, this writing from Paul where he is praying for these early believers to understand just how much God loves them, because that understanding changes everything.
— Yeah.
— And then in chapter four, Paul said, hey, because of all of that, because of the love that God has for you, lead a life worthy of the calling you've received because you have been called by God.
— Yep.
— So how do we find our calling?
— Yeah.
— Well, it starts with getting to know the caller then we allow him to tell us who we are.
— Yeah.
— We follow his lead as he shows us where he wants us to go and what he wants us to do.
— Yeah.
— And then we trust in the Holy Spirit and the gifts that we've been given.
— Yeah.
— To discover how we live out that purpose and whatever we end up doing, whatever that assignment looks like, we do it with all our heart.
— Yes.
— Knowing that we're serving God and not people, because when we do that then we're gonna be in alignment with the purpose and calling he's given us.
— Yep.
— And we can experience some of the freedom and fullness that's found in Jesus. So as we talk about all of those things.
— Yep.
— Caitlin, what is your advice? What are your suggestions for the people on the other side of this video as they're trying to wrestle through what it is that God's called them to do?
— Yeah, that's good. I am gonna take it back to that first point, getting to know the caller.
— Yep.
— And a tandem question that I often hear, in relation to this whole process, is well, okay, but how do I know that it's actually God speaking to me?
— Come on.
— Like, how can I recognize...
— Yeah, yeah, yeah.
— His voice?
— Yep.
— And I think the best advice is to, to figure out what he sounds like based on what he's already said.
— Hmm, dang.
— And...
— That's good.
— How we do that is we read his words.
— Yeah.
— And that's why, again, we have built this semester with the spiritual disciplines that we've been practicing...
— Right.
— In order on purpose.
— Yeah.
— And it's like we've just spent the past six weeks memorizing scripture which is really just us playing in the soundtrack of our mind over and over again what God sounds like.
— Yeah.
— And that has been so helpful to me, especially recently in, we are, in distinguishing the voices...
— Yep.
— That we hear on a daily basis because the fact of the matter is you have an accuser, you have an enemy...
— Yeah.
— And he is also going to try to speak to you and to plant thoughts in your mind.
— Come on.
— But we have the voice of God, we have the Holy Spirit who is our advocate.
— Yeah.
— And what I have been trying to do a better job of is recognize those two different voices and choose to partner with the Holy Spirit and what he's saying to me, and to the people around me, instead of listening to the accuser. So what I would say for, on that first point of getting to know the caller, is just like play over and over in your mind what he actually sounds like so you can know when he is speaking to you.
— Dang, that's really, really good. So yes, and then I would encourage you to continue on this journey with us as we discover...
— Yeah.
— More and more of the difference we've been created to make. Every single week we're gonna unpack a little bit more...
— Yep.
— About that purpose, what it looks like, how it all fits together on this journey we've been going on.
— Yeah.
— And so if you haven't been joining us for our Wednesday night messages, that's a really great place to go.
— Yeah.
— Because every step of the way we've also got these Bible plans that we're creating that are meant to be a more comprehensive, in-depth look at the scriptures so that the way that we think can be guided more and more by God's truth.
— Yeah.
— Then, you know, what we maybe ate for lunch.
— Right, yeah, and the last thing is like, I would clarify, again, the fact that we all share this big, capital P, common Purpose.
— Yeah, yeah, yeah.
— Of loving God with all that we are.
— Come on.
— And loving others the same way Jesus has loved us. And I love how Paul describes that and gets to that in the first couple of verses that we read in Ephesians 4.
— Right.
— So, so good. So just start doing that.
— Yeah, yeah, yeah.
— And the assignment...
— Right.
— Will be birthed out of that.
— Yep.
— So it's like get the big P, capital P, Purpose right, and all of the details of how you do that will start to fall into place as you try things.
— Come on 100%. And if you have questions along the way you can always reach out to us we'd love to be able to answer those questions.
— Yeah.
— To be able to pray for you as you go on this journey of becoming a person of prayer who lives out their calling.
— Come on.
— Because that's really big.
— Yeah.
— It's super important.
— That's huge.
— So let us know if you have questions, comments. Like the video if you haven't already. And if there's somebody that this would be helpful for make sure to send it their way and hopefully it can provide a little bit of clarity, guidance, and encouragement to them. Until next time.
— Next time.
— See y'all.
— Bye.