Called by Name

Over the past few weeks, I have had the privilege of studying the book of Ruth with a very cool, eclectic group of girls. Last week as we studied, we discovered the significance of Boaz calling Ruth by name as he declared that he was going to marry her, Ruth-the Moabite. We discussed how this is similar to Jesus calling us by name as he declares that we are his own. As we studied, I began to think about what it means for Jesus to call us by name. When he says our names, what is it that he is communicating to us? What does he say when he has our attention? My thoughts led me to a story that I love in the book of Exodus. It goes something like this:

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush. “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here am I.” Then he said, “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” And Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look at God.

~Exodus 3:1-6

I have always loved this story on a surface level because it reminds me that what I think is ordinary is actually extraordinary and that God’s presence is all around us, if only we take the time to turn aside and see. Recently though, while studying the context around the story, I’ve grown to love the passage even more as the Lord has revealed many more spiritual truths through it.

I am particularly inspired by Frederick Buechner’s insight on the story. Buechner seems to believe that God is calling each believer, in the same way that he called Moses. He points out that just before God called Moses, Moses had killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew slave. Now, although we more than likely have never taken someone’s life, surely we have withheld life from someone. Sometimes we know that thing we should do, that phone call we should make, the encouraging word we should speak, the prayer we should pray, and for whatever reason we withhold what little we may have in us to give.

Nevertheless, God desires to use us anyway to accomplish his purposes, just as he did Moses. Ever so often, we are just lucky enough to be given the grace to turn aside and see what God is doing in this world. We’re given the opportunity to listen to his voice, calling us out, by name, to the selves he would have us become, to lives he would have us live. Sometimes the Word comes in a song we hear, or a book we read, or a conversation we have-and then it seems as if the world is afire. Things are alive. There is more going on than what we can physically see. This ordinary life we’re living is extraordinary and shot through with the handwriting of a holy God. We realize that the ground we are standing on is holy because a holy voice is speaking to us on it.

In the moments when we are given the grace to hear that majestic voice calling our names, what is it that he is saying to us? What he said to Moses was,

“I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry…I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them…”

~Exodus 3:7

So the Lord says he will come down to deliver suffering people. There’s just one catch, the Lord doesn’t have a physical body-so he’s going to come through Moses.

And the Lord goes on from there to tell Moses that he [Moses] will go to Pharaoh and tell him that he is there to deliver the people from the oppression they’re facing. God will use Moses to be his hands and feet in the world.

Today, I think perhaps when the Lord calls our names he is calling us too, to be deliverers of those who are under the weight of some type of oppression. Rob Bell in his book Jesus Wants to Save Christians gives some statistics about our world today:

•  there are 27 million slaves
• 840 million go to bed hungry
• 1 million commit suicide every year
• 4,500 people in Africa will die of AIDS today.

I am grateful to my friend, Ben, for reminding me that these numbers are important for urgency, but they can be overwhelming. There is so much work to be done, and one individual can only do so much. But when we turn aside and listen, God can and does call us to focus our energy, to help those he places right in front of us, to learn to love each individual person, to know them by name.

I’m grateful to God for providing opportunities for my friends and I lately to be his hands and feet. From making phone calls to invite people to church, to leading retreats, to inviting the neighborhood to Bible study, to taking the time to pray aloud with patients in their distress, we are finding that when Jesus said he came to give us an abundant life, he meant it. When we are obedient to let him work through us to deliver others, to love others, to help those in need, we experience a joyous freedom in him, a desire to love and serve him more.

When God called Moses, at first Moses wasn’t sure if God had picked the right person. His answer was somewhat like, “Excuse me, God, you don’t really mean you want ME to do THAT?” We’ve all had that awkward moment when someone waves our direction and we wonder if they’re waving at us or the person in front, beside, or behind us. I think God is waving at us. Yes, he means you. He means me. He is speaking to us. He’s calling our names. We’re standing on holy ground. The life he offers and the work he is doing in the world is abundant and he’s inviting us to join him. He’s telling us to...

Heal.

Deliver.

Love.

Feed.

Invite.

Lead.

Pray.

So the questions are:

Will we listen?

Will we go?