Introduction: The Kitchen Table Moment
In the late night of January 1956, a young preacher named Martin Luther King Jr. sat at his kitchen table in Montgomery, Alabama. He was exhausted. His house had been threatened, his family was in danger, and he felt like he had “labored in vain,” much like the servant in our reading from Isaiah 49.
In that moment of total weakness, he heard an inner voice say: “Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice.” Today, we look at three stories of “calling.” We see a prophet in the Old Testament, a messy church in the New Testament, and the first disciples following Jesus. Through these stories—and the life of Dr. King—we learn three things about how God calls us today.
- Called Before You Knew Your Name (Isaiah 49:1-7)
In Isaiah 49, the servant says something incredible: “The Lord called me before I was born; while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.” Think about that. Before you had a GPA, before you had a social media profile, and before you even had a personality, God had a purpose for you. Isaiah uses the image of a “polished arrow” hidden in a quiver. An arrow in a quiver is invisible, but it is being kept safe and ready for the exact moment the Archer needs to fire it.
Dr. King didn’t start as a world-famous leader. He was a “hidden arrow” for years, studying and preparing in quiet. God might have you in a “quiver” season right now—a time of school, or waiting, or learning. Don’t mistake being hidden for being forgotten. You are being polished for a target you can’t see yet.
- Called Despite the Mess (1 Corinthians 1:1-9)
Sometimes we don’t answer God’s call because we think we aren’t “holy” enough. But look at 1 Corinthians. Paul is writing to a church that was famous for its arguments and mistakes. Yet, in verse 2, he calls them “sanctified” and “called to be saints.”
Paul reminds them—and us—that God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on our perfection. In verse 9, he says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son.” Dr. King wasn’t a perfect man, and the Civil Rights Movement wasn’t a perfect group of people. They were human. But they were “called to be saints” in the middle of a messy world. God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. He uses people who are willing to say “yes” even when they feel like “no.”
III. The Invitation to “Come and See” (John 1:29-42)
Finally, in John 1, we see how a call actually starts. It doesn’t always start with a lightning bolt. For Andrew and Peter, it started with a simple question. They saw Jesus—the “Lamb of God”—and they followed him. When Jesus saw them, he asked, “What are you looking for?”
They didn’t have a deep theological answer. They just wanted to know where he was staying. Jesus’ response is the most famous invitation in history: “Come and see.”
This is the “MLK moment” for us. Dr. King invited people to “come and see” a different kind of world—one where the “Lamb of God” takes away the sin of racism, hatred, and poverty. MLK “Had a Dream”…God’s way to call each of us…a calling for each of us as Americans to answer: PLAY VIDEO
Conclusion: “Too Light a Thing”
God tells the servant in Isaiah: “It is too light a thing that you should only save Israel… I will make you a light to the nations.”
God’s call on your life is never just about you. It’s never just about your career or your comfort. That is “too light a thing.” God wants to use you to bring light to the dark places in your school, your family, and your world.
Dr. King took the “hidden arrow” of his faith and aimed it at the heart of injustice. Today, Jesus is looking at you and asking, “What are you looking for?” Answer the call. Come and see. Answer God’s call to change our world so we can all sing “Free at Last”