I believe in you
Commentary
Object:
Most of us have heard many times in sermons and church school lessons, "Believe in God," "Have faith in God." And indeed we should. Nothing is more important for a meaningful life.
However, what we are not often told is this astounding fact: God believes in us! God has faith in us! Part of the tremendous message of the Bible is not just "Believe in God!" but that "God believes in you!"
The Bible is more the story of God's faith in human beings than our faith in God. Read story after story in it about how God believes in people in spite of their lack of faith in God or themselves! Consider the very first book -- Genesis. There we read about the risk God is forever taking with humanity -- of trusting us, of believing in us. God said to Adam and to each of us, "Here is the world. You may have dominion over it. I have entrusted it into your care. Care for it as I would myself. I believe in you." If someone leaves you in charge of something pretty important -- say, the world -- I would say that person has faith in you.
Look wherever you will in the Bible -- Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Samuel, the prophets, Mary, Joseph, the disciples -- and what stands out is God's faith in ordinary people. All that is distinctive about these ordinary people is a result of their response to God's faith in them. Indeed, God's faith in ordinary people enabled them to do extraordinary things.
Consider the disciples Jesus chose. There was nothing extraordinary about them. In fact, they were not even ordinary -- some were outcasts, of questionable character to many of the religious folks of the day, like Matthew the tax collector; others were poor, uneducated, rough-living fisherman; a zealot who wanted to overthrow Rome... and the four gospels are often far from flattering in their descriptions of Jesus' disciples. They are often shown as misunderstanding Jesus, of twisting his words to suit themselves, of seeking their own glory and honor. All of them ended up betraying and deserting him in one way or another. These were the very last people many would have trusted. Yet, to such untrustworthy people Jesus said, "Follow me." He picked them out, relied upon them, and believed in them to continue his work. And the great people they became and the great things they accomplished were the result of the faith of Christ in them!
Consider Simon. He was a poor, hard-talking fisherman. He would never amount to much in most people's eyes. But one day Jesus caught him in a net and did you catch what Jesus said to him?
"So YOU are Simon, son of John. You will be a rock!"
Jesus saw who he was -- Simon, a lowly fisherman -- but Jesus didn't stop there. He saw who Simon could be -- Peter -- a great rock, a pillar in the church Jesus was building. I suggest to you that it was this faith in Simon that enabled him in time to become Peter.
And to each of us this very same Jesus is saying, "I believe in you!"
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
If you are not familiar with the story of Hannah and Samuel, or it has been some time since you read it, read 1 Samuel 1-2 and then read the third chapter. Come back to the exegesis afterward. Always read the passages first, and in fact read them a couple of times. You will find that they throw much light on the exegesis.
Young Samuel (we surmise he was but a youth here) came to live with Eli, the priest at the shrine in Shiloh, as promised by his mother Hannah. Recall how Hannah was barren and prayed to God for a child. She promised that she would dedicate the child to God if God would grant her this her heart's desire. When this prayer was granted and Samuel was old enough, she sent him to live with the priest Eli and in essence become a priest-in-training or at least to assist the elderly man.
Now Eli did have two sons -- Hophni and Phinehas. In a way, they were the first corrupt television evangelists because they turned the shrine there into a virtual brothel and were greedy. To his credit Eli does say something to them (1 Samuel 2:22ff) but it's too little, too late. As a result, they would not be allowed by God to continue on in Eli's place (see 1 Samuel 2:27ff). In fact, the death of these two sons is predicted. God then promises to raise up a "faithful priest." This is the setting for the call of Samuel in today's passage, as we come to see that Samuel will be that faithful priest.
Verse 1 is interesting. It talks about how rare it was then to hear a word from God or see a vision. Is this because God was not speaking or rather that no one was listening? Certainly the sons of Eli were not listening. But Samuel would listen. He was in that spiritual state of being open to and desiring to hear God speak. That's a key thing for us as well -- a receptiveness, an alertness to God's voice, a desire to be called and used by God.
The story is simple and straightforward. Samuel is sleeping one night in the shrine at Shiloh (Shiloh had long been a sacred site for the Israelites). He is near the ark of the covenant, the most sacred object they had. It represented the very presence of God. When one lives each day and spends each night with a deep desire to be close to God, it will not be too difficult to hear God's call when it comes. Of course, the real message here is that God knew Samuel, even though Samuel may have not known God (see v. 7). Still, Samuel's heart must have been a seeking one, one open to God's call.
Young Samuel is awakened by a voice calling his name. He thinks it's Eli calling him for something so he goes and asks Eli. Eli says that he didn't call him. This happens two more times and Eli eventually suggests that its must be God who is calling him. He recommends that Samuel respond by asking God to speak, for he was listening. God answers by confirming that all God had said about the fall of the house of Eli would happen.
The next morning Eli forces Samuel to tell him what happened. Samuel is reluctant, as you can imagine. The news was not good. Eli, however, accepts it. Chapter 4 shows how the words came true in the deaths of Eli's sons and his own death.
There's a warning here that I think I do not much like. As much as I would like to think that I am indispensable to the kingdom, I am not. God surely has called me but God wants and needs faithful servants. If I will not be that, God is certainly capable of raising up someone who will be.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was greatly honored in Corinth. She was the daughter of Jupiter and was said to have sprung from the foam of the Mediterranean Sea. Her Greek counterpart is Aphrodite, whose temple stands atop the Acrocorinth looming over the city. In fact, the temple had 1,000 slave girls, prostitutes, who descended from the temple each night into the city where they practiced their trade. No wonder Paul speaks so much about sexual immorality (see 1 Corinthians 5, 6:12ff, and 7). Well, Corinth was the kind of city the sons of Eli would have loved and, in fact, were creating in their own way.
Throughout this whole passage and elsewhere Paul verbally jabs at the Corinthians, "Don't you know... Don't you know... Don't you know...?" Obviously, they don't! Paul contends they ought to know better than to live as they do, so he tells them what they should know in order to change their behavior.
The first portion of the passage (vv. 12-17) is cast in the form of a diatribe, a popular style of debating or arguing in those days wherein one quotes and argues against an imaginary opponent. We hear Paul quoting the Corinthians who say, "All things are lawful for me." In turn, Paul answers, "But not all things are beneficial." Again, we hear from the Corinthians, "All things are lawful for me"; to which Paul replies, "But I will not be dominated by anything."
Literally rendered, the Corinthians' slogan says, "All things to me are permissible." Anyone who has read Paul's own letters for example, Galatians 5:1a ("For freedom Christ has set us free"), can believe that the Corinthians may have learned their slogan from the apostle himself. Notice how Paul allows the correctness of the slogan but qualifies it. For the Corinthians, what they knew had given them an abstract principle that could and did produce less than desirable results. Freedom, Paul insists, is characterized by pursuing what is best, and Christian freedom does not lead to a new form of slavery.
The Corinthians claim an inner freedom that places them above the mundane realities of the world. They apparently delight in demonstrating this freedom in their outlandish behavior in relation to food and sexual activity. (This may have also grown out of their general disdain for the body, which many considered just a tomb, so why not let it have its way, for the spirit is what matters most. The body is of no importance then and it doesn't matter what you do with it.) Paul's critique of the abuse of freedom calls the Corinthians into a responsible relationship to "the Lord." In 6:16b-17 the apostle quotes Genesis 2:24, first to denounce involvement with prostitutes, and second to set up an explanation of the nature of spiritual union of the Christian(s) with the Lord.
Verses 18-20 inform the Corinthians of the limits of their freedom. Believers are not purely independent in their freedom. Why? Because, as Paul says, they were bought with a price. The apostle teaches that freedom comes through redemption. The metaphor here is that of a ransom, and Paul employs it as a loose undeveloped traditional image. Paul's point is this: Christians belong to God and that relationship is the ultimate qualification of freedom.
One other thought: The image of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit is a powerful one. A temple was a sacred place and could not be used for just anything. Likewise, the body, the whole person, is sacred as well, wholly dedicated to God. It is to be used in a way that honors God and brings God glory. (This ties in with the Psalm 139 reading today that speaks of the body as being "fearfully and wonderfully made.") In fact, we do not even belong to ourselves but to the One who made us. The image Paul uses is that of a slave who has been ransomed. The slave is not his own but belongs to the one who ransomed him. In this case, the one who ransoms us is God and that is not slavery but freedom, freedom to become all God calls and wants us to be.
John 1:43-51
This passage should also include verses 35-42, as they deal with the call of the first disciples of Jesus. Many other lectionaries include them.
Several things stand out in the call of the first disciples.
John the Baptist had disciples himself, that is, followers and would continue to have these, especially those who thought he was the Messiah and there are still those who follow John and believe this about him. But John points his disciples away from himself and to Jesus, who he refers to as the "Lamb of God." The image is right out of the sacrificial rites. A lamb without blemish is sacrificed for atonement from sins. Jesus, for John or at least the writer of the gospel, is the One through whom salvation and forgiveness will come into the world for everyone through his sacrifice on the cross.
Who are these two disciples John points toward Jesus? One is Andrew and the other is not named. They both immediately go and begin to follow Jesus. They are invited to "come and see" for themselves who he was and who they could become.
Andrew goes immediately to his brother, Simon, and persuades him to also come and see who this "rabbi" was. Simon agrees or at least is curious. And for the first time, Jesus and Peter meet. The greeting Jesus gives him is one that implies Jesus already knew him, knew him so well, in fact, that he could see what was sin in him, who he could be -- Cephas -- a rock. So here again we see the theme of God knowing people. Also, Jesus knows Nathaniel (v. 47) and it astounds Nathaniel, who replies, "How do you know me?" For Jesus saw him from a distance sitting under a fig tree, but the image of sight is more than just physical. Jesus saw who he truly was and could become.
Another theme here is the role others play in helping us come to know that God knows us and hears our call. Eli, though an imperfect father, as we all are, plays an important role in the life of Samuel. He guides Samuel in how to answer the voice Samuel hears. Young Samuel needed that. John the Baptist pointed his disciples in the right direction. One of them, Andrew, then plays a vital role in gaining one of the great leaders for the church -- Peter. In the verses that follow, Philip follows Jesus and then gets Nathaniel to do the same. This passage calls us to remember and give thanks for those who helped point us toward the Lord and challenges us to take that role for others. God truly does know and love each person, but God needs you and I to help others see this. As Godet said, "One lighted torch serves to light another."
Application
"Where Somebody Knows My Name." Some years ago there was a popular TV show, Cheers, that was set in a bar. Each episode began with a catchy song that said, "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...."
I couldn't help but think of that when I read the readings for today, for they are all about Someone who knows your name and calls you by name.
In 1 Samuel God knows and calls young Samuel by name. Though young, God knows Samuel and has work for him.
In the Psalm 139 reading God knew us before we were born and calls to us. This reminds us of Jeremiah saying that he felt called to be God's prophet even before he was born.
In the gospel text Jesus knows people, like Nathaniel, and they are astonished by his knowledge of them. Indeed, it is fascinating to read through any of the gospels and take note of the insights Jesus has into each person he encounters. Recall the story of the woman at the well, for example.
God knows you, knows your name, is calling your name too. Are you listening? What's God saying to you right now? What do you most need to hear? Maybe it's just your name. Maybe it's just the fact that God knows and loves you. Imagine this -- the Creator of the universe knows and loves you. You are known by name!
An Alternative Application
"See a Need, Hear a Call." Sometimes we tend to think of "the call of God" as something mainly for people like Samuel or Jeremiah or one of the twelve Apostles, you know, someone really important. Yes, God makes those calls all the time. But I have found that quite often God's call comes in little, small ways each and every day.
A friend of mine is fond of saying, "To see a need that you can do something about is to receive a call from God." I have found that to be true and have seen it answered so many times.
A member of a church I served became aware of a neighbor who lived alone. The man had no one else in the world to take care of him. He needed help with bathing and shaving, not to mention someone to get his groceries. My friend took it upon himself to do these things for this man. He saw a need and heard in it a call from God to serve.
Another man I know who lived in a large city became aware of the homeless and many runaways (even young teens) living on the streets. He shared this with his church and they opened a safe house and this man became the head of it. He not only saw to it that they had a roof over their heads and food but that they contacted their families, many of whom had been greatly worried about them. He was given the name "Brother Love." He saw a need he could do something about and in it heard a call from God.
Perhaps the message from our texts today is simply this: don't wait for the government or someone else to do something about a need you see. You do something about it. For to see a need you can help meet is indeed to receive a call from God. What might happen in our community, in our nation, and even within ourselves if we devoted the remainder of this year to being on the lookout for needs we can help meet?
However, what we are not often told is this astounding fact: God believes in us! God has faith in us! Part of the tremendous message of the Bible is not just "Believe in God!" but that "God believes in you!"
The Bible is more the story of God's faith in human beings than our faith in God. Read story after story in it about how God believes in people in spite of their lack of faith in God or themselves! Consider the very first book -- Genesis. There we read about the risk God is forever taking with humanity -- of trusting us, of believing in us. God said to Adam and to each of us, "Here is the world. You may have dominion over it. I have entrusted it into your care. Care for it as I would myself. I believe in you." If someone leaves you in charge of something pretty important -- say, the world -- I would say that person has faith in you.
Look wherever you will in the Bible -- Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Samuel, the prophets, Mary, Joseph, the disciples -- and what stands out is God's faith in ordinary people. All that is distinctive about these ordinary people is a result of their response to God's faith in them. Indeed, God's faith in ordinary people enabled them to do extraordinary things.
Consider the disciples Jesus chose. There was nothing extraordinary about them. In fact, they were not even ordinary -- some were outcasts, of questionable character to many of the religious folks of the day, like Matthew the tax collector; others were poor, uneducated, rough-living fisherman; a zealot who wanted to overthrow Rome... and the four gospels are often far from flattering in their descriptions of Jesus' disciples. They are often shown as misunderstanding Jesus, of twisting his words to suit themselves, of seeking their own glory and honor. All of them ended up betraying and deserting him in one way or another. These were the very last people many would have trusted. Yet, to such untrustworthy people Jesus said, "Follow me." He picked them out, relied upon them, and believed in them to continue his work. And the great people they became and the great things they accomplished were the result of the faith of Christ in them!
Consider Simon. He was a poor, hard-talking fisherman. He would never amount to much in most people's eyes. But one day Jesus caught him in a net and did you catch what Jesus said to him?
"So YOU are Simon, son of John. You will be a rock!"
Jesus saw who he was -- Simon, a lowly fisherman -- but Jesus didn't stop there. He saw who Simon could be -- Peter -- a great rock, a pillar in the church Jesus was building. I suggest to you that it was this faith in Simon that enabled him in time to become Peter.
And to each of us this very same Jesus is saying, "I believe in you!"
1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
If you are not familiar with the story of Hannah and Samuel, or it has been some time since you read it, read 1 Samuel 1-2 and then read the third chapter. Come back to the exegesis afterward. Always read the passages first, and in fact read them a couple of times. You will find that they throw much light on the exegesis.
Young Samuel (we surmise he was but a youth here) came to live with Eli, the priest at the shrine in Shiloh, as promised by his mother Hannah. Recall how Hannah was barren and prayed to God for a child. She promised that she would dedicate the child to God if God would grant her this her heart's desire. When this prayer was granted and Samuel was old enough, she sent him to live with the priest Eli and in essence become a priest-in-training or at least to assist the elderly man.
Now Eli did have two sons -- Hophni and Phinehas. In a way, they were the first corrupt television evangelists because they turned the shrine there into a virtual brothel and were greedy. To his credit Eli does say something to them (1 Samuel 2:22ff) but it's too little, too late. As a result, they would not be allowed by God to continue on in Eli's place (see 1 Samuel 2:27ff). In fact, the death of these two sons is predicted. God then promises to raise up a "faithful priest." This is the setting for the call of Samuel in today's passage, as we come to see that Samuel will be that faithful priest.
Verse 1 is interesting. It talks about how rare it was then to hear a word from God or see a vision. Is this because God was not speaking or rather that no one was listening? Certainly the sons of Eli were not listening. But Samuel would listen. He was in that spiritual state of being open to and desiring to hear God speak. That's a key thing for us as well -- a receptiveness, an alertness to God's voice, a desire to be called and used by God.
The story is simple and straightforward. Samuel is sleeping one night in the shrine at Shiloh (Shiloh had long been a sacred site for the Israelites). He is near the ark of the covenant, the most sacred object they had. It represented the very presence of God. When one lives each day and spends each night with a deep desire to be close to God, it will not be too difficult to hear God's call when it comes. Of course, the real message here is that God knew Samuel, even though Samuel may have not known God (see v. 7). Still, Samuel's heart must have been a seeking one, one open to God's call.
Young Samuel is awakened by a voice calling his name. He thinks it's Eli calling him for something so he goes and asks Eli. Eli says that he didn't call him. This happens two more times and Eli eventually suggests that its must be God who is calling him. He recommends that Samuel respond by asking God to speak, for he was listening. God answers by confirming that all God had said about the fall of the house of Eli would happen.
The next morning Eli forces Samuel to tell him what happened. Samuel is reluctant, as you can imagine. The news was not good. Eli, however, accepts it. Chapter 4 shows how the words came true in the deaths of Eli's sons and his own death.
There's a warning here that I think I do not much like. As much as I would like to think that I am indispensable to the kingdom, I am not. God surely has called me but God wants and needs faithful servants. If I will not be that, God is certainly capable of raising up someone who will be.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was greatly honored in Corinth. She was the daughter of Jupiter and was said to have sprung from the foam of the Mediterranean Sea. Her Greek counterpart is Aphrodite, whose temple stands atop the Acrocorinth looming over the city. In fact, the temple had 1,000 slave girls, prostitutes, who descended from the temple each night into the city where they practiced their trade. No wonder Paul speaks so much about sexual immorality (see 1 Corinthians 5, 6:12ff, and 7). Well, Corinth was the kind of city the sons of Eli would have loved and, in fact, were creating in their own way.
Throughout this whole passage and elsewhere Paul verbally jabs at the Corinthians, "Don't you know... Don't you know... Don't you know...?" Obviously, they don't! Paul contends they ought to know better than to live as they do, so he tells them what they should know in order to change their behavior.
The first portion of the passage (vv. 12-17) is cast in the form of a diatribe, a popular style of debating or arguing in those days wherein one quotes and argues against an imaginary opponent. We hear Paul quoting the Corinthians who say, "All things are lawful for me." In turn, Paul answers, "But not all things are beneficial." Again, we hear from the Corinthians, "All things are lawful for me"; to which Paul replies, "But I will not be dominated by anything."
Literally rendered, the Corinthians' slogan says, "All things to me are permissible." Anyone who has read Paul's own letters for example, Galatians 5:1a ("For freedom Christ has set us free"), can believe that the Corinthians may have learned their slogan from the apostle himself. Notice how Paul allows the correctness of the slogan but qualifies it. For the Corinthians, what they knew had given them an abstract principle that could and did produce less than desirable results. Freedom, Paul insists, is characterized by pursuing what is best, and Christian freedom does not lead to a new form of slavery.
The Corinthians claim an inner freedom that places them above the mundane realities of the world. They apparently delight in demonstrating this freedom in their outlandish behavior in relation to food and sexual activity. (This may have also grown out of their general disdain for the body, which many considered just a tomb, so why not let it have its way, for the spirit is what matters most. The body is of no importance then and it doesn't matter what you do with it.) Paul's critique of the abuse of freedom calls the Corinthians into a responsible relationship to "the Lord." In 6:16b-17 the apostle quotes Genesis 2:24, first to denounce involvement with prostitutes, and second to set up an explanation of the nature of spiritual union of the Christian(s) with the Lord.
Verses 18-20 inform the Corinthians of the limits of their freedom. Believers are not purely independent in their freedom. Why? Because, as Paul says, they were bought with a price. The apostle teaches that freedom comes through redemption. The metaphor here is that of a ransom, and Paul employs it as a loose undeveloped traditional image. Paul's point is this: Christians belong to God and that relationship is the ultimate qualification of freedom.
One other thought: The image of the body as the temple of the Holy Spirit is a powerful one. A temple was a sacred place and could not be used for just anything. Likewise, the body, the whole person, is sacred as well, wholly dedicated to God. It is to be used in a way that honors God and brings God glory. (This ties in with the Psalm 139 reading today that speaks of the body as being "fearfully and wonderfully made.") In fact, we do not even belong to ourselves but to the One who made us. The image Paul uses is that of a slave who has been ransomed. The slave is not his own but belongs to the one who ransomed him. In this case, the one who ransoms us is God and that is not slavery but freedom, freedom to become all God calls and wants us to be.
John 1:43-51
This passage should also include verses 35-42, as they deal with the call of the first disciples of Jesus. Many other lectionaries include them.
Several things stand out in the call of the first disciples.
John the Baptist had disciples himself, that is, followers and would continue to have these, especially those who thought he was the Messiah and there are still those who follow John and believe this about him. But John points his disciples away from himself and to Jesus, who he refers to as the "Lamb of God." The image is right out of the sacrificial rites. A lamb without blemish is sacrificed for atonement from sins. Jesus, for John or at least the writer of the gospel, is the One through whom salvation and forgiveness will come into the world for everyone through his sacrifice on the cross.
Who are these two disciples John points toward Jesus? One is Andrew and the other is not named. They both immediately go and begin to follow Jesus. They are invited to "come and see" for themselves who he was and who they could become.
Andrew goes immediately to his brother, Simon, and persuades him to also come and see who this "rabbi" was. Simon agrees or at least is curious. And for the first time, Jesus and Peter meet. The greeting Jesus gives him is one that implies Jesus already knew him, knew him so well, in fact, that he could see what was sin in him, who he could be -- Cephas -- a rock. So here again we see the theme of God knowing people. Also, Jesus knows Nathaniel (v. 47) and it astounds Nathaniel, who replies, "How do you know me?" For Jesus saw him from a distance sitting under a fig tree, but the image of sight is more than just physical. Jesus saw who he truly was and could become.
Another theme here is the role others play in helping us come to know that God knows us and hears our call. Eli, though an imperfect father, as we all are, plays an important role in the life of Samuel. He guides Samuel in how to answer the voice Samuel hears. Young Samuel needed that. John the Baptist pointed his disciples in the right direction. One of them, Andrew, then plays a vital role in gaining one of the great leaders for the church -- Peter. In the verses that follow, Philip follows Jesus and then gets Nathaniel to do the same. This passage calls us to remember and give thanks for those who helped point us toward the Lord and challenges us to take that role for others. God truly does know and love each person, but God needs you and I to help others see this. As Godet said, "One lighted torch serves to light another."
Application
"Where Somebody Knows My Name." Some years ago there was a popular TV show, Cheers, that was set in a bar. Each episode began with a catchy song that said, "Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name...."
I couldn't help but think of that when I read the readings for today, for they are all about Someone who knows your name and calls you by name.
In 1 Samuel God knows and calls young Samuel by name. Though young, God knows Samuel and has work for him.
In the Psalm 139 reading God knew us before we were born and calls to us. This reminds us of Jeremiah saying that he felt called to be God's prophet even before he was born.
In the gospel text Jesus knows people, like Nathaniel, and they are astonished by his knowledge of them. Indeed, it is fascinating to read through any of the gospels and take note of the insights Jesus has into each person he encounters. Recall the story of the woman at the well, for example.
God knows you, knows your name, is calling your name too. Are you listening? What's God saying to you right now? What do you most need to hear? Maybe it's just your name. Maybe it's just the fact that God knows and loves you. Imagine this -- the Creator of the universe knows and loves you. You are known by name!
An Alternative Application
"See a Need, Hear a Call." Sometimes we tend to think of "the call of God" as something mainly for people like Samuel or Jeremiah or one of the twelve Apostles, you know, someone really important. Yes, God makes those calls all the time. But I have found that quite often God's call comes in little, small ways each and every day.
A friend of mine is fond of saying, "To see a need that you can do something about is to receive a call from God." I have found that to be true and have seen it answered so many times.
A member of a church I served became aware of a neighbor who lived alone. The man had no one else in the world to take care of him. He needed help with bathing and shaving, not to mention someone to get his groceries. My friend took it upon himself to do these things for this man. He saw a need and heard in it a call from God to serve.
Another man I know who lived in a large city became aware of the homeless and many runaways (even young teens) living on the streets. He shared this with his church and they opened a safe house and this man became the head of it. He not only saw to it that they had a roof over their heads and food but that they contacted their families, many of whom had been greatly worried about them. He was given the name "Brother Love." He saw a need he could do something about and in it heard a call from God.
Perhaps the message from our texts today is simply this: don't wait for the government or someone else to do something about a need you see. You do something about it. For to see a need you can help meet is indeed to receive a call from God. What might happen in our community, in our nation, and even within ourselves if we devoted the remainder of this year to being on the lookout for needs we can help meet?
