Part 2: Calling
Day 8: The calling of habakkuk
Habakkuk 1:5-11
This Sunday Greg is going to preach on the calling of Jeremiah. So, this week would make a convenient time to explore the callings of other characters in the Bible. It is a theme in the Bible that God would call people in a certain time and place to fulfill different missions on His behalf. Sometimes these callings were a cause of celebration, like John the Baptist and his call to introduce Jesus, or Esther’s call to save the Jews from destruction. What about when the call is not so glamorous? Today we are reading about Habakkuk’s call to foretell the coming of Babylon as an instrument of punishment. The Babylonians are going to be God’s right hand of judgement against his own people. That is not an easy calling. It is probably a calling to be unpopular for telling the truth. Christianity is not just the celebration of what God has done to redeem ugly things in our lives, it is the mourning of the sin in our lives that brings God’s judgment. Thanks be to God that he sent his only son to absorb God’s judgement for us! Though the consequence of our sin is still present, it is put on Christ so we can remain in his presence.
Questions for reflection:
Prayer for a reformer of the church: O God, by your grace your servant Habakkuk, kindled by the flame of your love, became a burning and shining light in your Church, turning pride into humility and error into truth: Grant that we may be set aflame with the same spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Questions for reflection:
- What was a time you had to tell a friend a truth, and they did not receive well?
- Was there ever a time someone had to tell you that you were out of bounds morally? How did you take that?
- What are some hard things God has called you to do? Does obedience come more naturally the longer you follow Jesus?
- When you sin do you remember that it is something that comes at a cost to Christ on the cross? Does that make you feel differently about your sin?
Prayer for a reformer of the church: O God, by your grace your servant Habakkuk, kindled by the flame of your love, became a burning and shining light in your Church, turning pride into humility and error into truth: Grant that we may be set aflame with the same spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.