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