I) AN INNATE SENSE OF PURPOSE

There are not many biblical accounts of the childhood of Jesus. Luke alone preserves one account of Jesus as an adolescent. Luke says Jesus was twelve-years-old traveling with Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem to observe Passover, as they did every year. On this occasion, however, Joseph and Mary started home thinking that Jesus was with them. Instead, He had remained in the temple listening to and asking questions of the religious teachers. By the time Joseph and Mary realized that Jesus was not with them and returned, Jesus had been there for three days. During this time he astounded the teachers with His depth of understanding and with His answers to their questions.

His parents, like most parents would be, were very anxious and perhaps a bit angry that Jesus had stayed behind and allowed them to travel on without Him. Luke writes in verse 48:

So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously." NKJV

The childhood of Jesus is wrapped in silence. This silence has elicited many questions over the years, and more than a few apocryphal accounts. The truth is that there is more that we do not know than we do know. We know that Jesus took on the full form of humanity. He was born an infant and grew and matured as all babies do. He wasn’t born talking, but cooing and crying, soiling his diaper and so on. Luke tells us in verse 40 that as a child, Jesus “grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

What we don’t know is at what age or time Jesus fully understood who He was and what His mission was. We don’t know if it was a gradual understanding (“grew in and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom”) or if there was a day, perhaps when He was twelve, when it He had an “Ah-ha” moment and He suddenly understood who He was and what His purpose was.

We do know, however, that by the time He was twelve He understood who His Father was and that His mission was to fulfill the Heavenly Father’s will for His life. In response to Mary’s question Jesus replied:

And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" (v. 49, NKJV).

It seems to me that one of the qualities of great leadership is an innate sense of purpose. Jesus was born into a carpenter’s home, and may well have been an apprentice under Joseph, but Jesus never resigned Himself to being a carpenter. He knew His purpose in life would take Him in a different direction. He made a distinction between His adoptive father Joseph and His Heavenly Father and He always placed a priority on the Heavenly Father’s will over that of any other person in His life.

Great leaders, it seems, have an innate sense of purpose. They may take a menial job, but they know that it is only temporary and that they are on a journey toward significance. There is, in the heart of leaders, a sense of destiny and there is an accompanying drive that never loses sight of that purpose even when their lives may seem at any given moment to be far from where they know they are going.

There are some popular books being written about finding one’s purpose and about directing our lives, churches, or businesses according to that purpose. Many people will wait until late in life to ask the question, but anyone who has achieved any level of success as a leader has to come to grips with the question of purpose. Good leaders may develop a purpose out of a mission statement or some personal creed. But great leaders have an innate sense of purpose that begins with a whisper in their lives even at a young age and it becomes clearer and more focused as they mature. Some people never embrace their purpose and simply try to silence the voice in an attempt to be satisfied with good instead of reaching for greatness. Such satisfaction, however, is fleeting and will eventually give way to frustration at having failed to fulfill the purpose of life that was calling them.

If I find myself asking the question, what is my purpose? I know that it isn’t something that I create but something that I remember. It is innate, God-given. It is the will of the Father, the plans He has for me, the destiny He has established for me. Unless and until I embrace that purpose, and by faith walk in that purpose, I will never find fulfillment or satisfaction in life. I must never settle when I have been called to pursue. I can never accept mediocrity when I have been called to excel. I will not trade my purpose for comfort. There is something within me, something that God has placed within me, which calls me to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling.

I’ve met so many frustrated people—pastors who are defeated; business leaders who are burned out; and parents who have given up. It may be that the source of the problem lies in the lack of purpose. How do you discover your purpose? Chances are that you don’t discover, as much as you recover. You have probably had that inner voice, that witness of the Spirit with your spirit, that you have a purpose. The noise of life, the busyness of business, and the tyranny of the urgent have conspire to drown out the still small voice of God who has been speaking purpose into your heart since you were a child. To rediscover and to recover your purpose, you may have to be still and know that God, He is God, and that if you will listen He is still speaking. Hear Him and allow your faith to embrace His plans for your life.


SERMON OUTLINE

BORN ON PURPOSE
By Mark E. Hardgrove, D.Min.
Text: Jer. 1:4-8

Jer 1:4-8
4 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
6 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. NIV

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever felt as though God had a plan for your life? I’m talking about a purpose, a plan, a destiny. There’s a good chance that what you are feeling is God’s calling. When we talk about God’s call we often think of it in prophetic terms, or some type of pulpit ministry. But such narrow view of "calling" leaves many people frustrated and unfulfilled. In fact, God does created each of us with the potential to achieve a destiny that is both fulfilling and inspiring. It may be as a nurse on the pediatric ward ministering to parents. It may be as a teacher in a public school bringing order and hope in the midst of chaos. It may be as a financial advisor helping people plan and prepare for their future. But God’s call certainly isn’t limited to the space behind a pulpit, or even within the four walls of the church. God has a call for people in almost every walk of life.

I) FORMED FOR A FUTURE

God told Jeremiah that before he had been formed in his mother’s womb, God knew him. This doesn’t mean that God knew Jeremiah as a spirit before conception. It means that God knew the plans He had for Jeremiah before Jeremiah was conceived. It means that when God formed Jeremiah as a fetus in the womb of his mother, God formed him with a future. You are not an accident. You are part of the plan of God and before you were even born, God formed you with a future hope, a destiny. I’m not talking about being predestined to hell or to heaven, but about the possibility of a wonderful future that is ours if we will walk by faith and will embrace the plan of God for our lives.

II) SET APART FOR A PURPOSE

God told that Jeremiah that he had set him aside for a special purpose. There were probably many other babies born on the day that Jeremiah was born, but Jeremiah had been set apart by God. His purpose was unique. There is no one else in the world that is exactly like you. Even if you are an identical twin, your experiences and your destiny is unique to you. Jeremiah was not to run with the pack, but to fulfill the purpose for which he had been set apart. There comes a time when we have to break with the pack, to refuse to go along with the flow and step into our unique God-given purpose.

III) APPOINTED AS A PROPHET

Jeremiah had been formed, set apart, and appointed to be a prophet to the nations. God had ordained Jeremiah to fill a specific role and to function in a fashion that satisfied the plans of God. Some folks want to be anointed, but they are not willing to be appointed. They want God’s blessings, but they will not do God’s bidding. We were born with a purpose and we will never fulfill that purpose until we accept our appointment. We talk about ordained ministers, but God ordains people for other ministries as well. He ordains or appoints people in all walks of life to make a difference, to have a positive impact in the kingdom of God. God has an appointment for your life. Don’t ignore Him and wake up to find that you’ve lived an unfulfilled and meaningless life simply because you missed your appointment.

CONCLUSION

Jeremiah, like Moses before Him, tried to excuse himself from his purpose. But God gave Jeremiah a promise, and it is a promise that every child of God can stand on. “’Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD” (v. 8, NIV).

If you will find and fulfill your purpose, God has promised to rescue you, to take care of you, to insure your success in your God-given call. Jesus said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” You were born with a purpose. You were formed with a future, set apart and appointed by God to fulfill a greater plan. Will you embrace that purpose today?