We have all been there. You are sitting in a room, maybe even in church, and someone stands up and asks for volunteers for a role or a project. Almost everyone, including you, looks down or stays quiet, hoping someone else will step forward first. Most of the time, the reason we do not volunteer is not because we do not want to help. It is because we do not think we are capable enough or worthy enough.
But everything changes when someone personally invites you and says, “I believe you can do this.” All of a sudden, you start to see yourself differently. Confidence grows. Your mindset shifts. And before you know it, you are stepping into something you never imagined you could do.
That is exactly what happens with John in this Sunday’s Gospel. Imagine if Jesus stood in front of a crowd and said, “So… who wants to baptize me?” Would anyone have volunteered? Probably not. Instead, Jesus goes directly to John. John’s first reaction is, “I should be baptized by you, not the other way around.” He does not feel worthy. But Jesus makes it clear that John is exactly the one who is called to do this.
There is a popular Christian saying that captures this moment well: “God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called.”
So often in ministry (and in life) we underestimate ourselves. We assume someone else is more talented, more holy, or more prepared. But again and again, God chooses ordinary people and invites them into extraordinary things.
At our churches, we are always in need of people who are willing to step forward, whether as lectors, singers, greeters, catechists, festival helpers, AV ministers, or countless other ways of serving. I would love to have more singers in the choir, but it is difficult to make personal invitations when I am sitting at the piano and cannot exactly walk around the church listening to everyone’s voice.
So please consider this a genuine and personal invitation.If you have ever felt a nudge or a sense that maybe you could serve, remember this: You are worthy. You are capable. You are called. Not because you already have everything figured out, but because God makes you worthy.
