The Call of God and the Salvation Army Kettle
December 10, 2011
I just returned home from spending two hours at one of our local grocery stores, ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. Our Lion’s Club volunteered to ring the bell on this Saturday and it is a worthwhile thing for us to do. I have found that it helps the time to pass far more quickly if you greet each person as they come in and as they leave the store. That is what I did today, and my greetings were received in a variety of ways.
All this got me thinking about how God calls out to us and the various responses people give to that call. Now, in ringing the bell, I try to keep it up through-out the entire time I am on duty. In the same way, I believe the call of God is constant. As the Psalmist puts it, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world,” (Psalm 19:1-4a, NIV).
Some folks acknowledged my greeting, while others did not. Some ignored me because they were so focused on getting whatever they had come to the store for, they were oblivious to everything else. Others were obviously aware of my greeting, but chose to ignore it. One young lady tickled me in that when I greeted her and her companion, while her friend did acknowledge me, she, on the other hand, looked and looked everywhere but my direction. She pretended as if she was seeking to find the source of the greeting, but in reality, she was choosing to ignore me.
In the same way, it seems to me, there are people who are so focused on the things of this world that they cannot hear the voice of God calling out to them. Others willfully ignore the voice of God by moving on with an occupation with the things of this world. Still others pretend to be involved in a search for God, while, in reality, they have no real interest in acknowledging Him.
But there were those who did acknowledge me and returned my greeting, much like those who do acknowledge the Lord and respond to His call. But as was true with my greeting of the folks in the store today, so it is true that God calls us to not only acknowledge Him, but to partner with Him.
Those who not only acknowledged me but chose to put money into the kettle, were the ones who drew closest to me today. In the same way, those who are closest to God are not just those who acknowledge His call, but who respond to His call to partner with Him in the eternal difference He is making in our world.
