“We are never too young or too old to respond to God’s call and ministry.”
These are the words of Reverend Nigel Kelaepa in his sermon at Saint Barnabas Provincial Cathedral on Sunday 24th August 2025.
Reverend Kelaepa was reflecting on the theme, Christians are called to faithful obedience and service to God by ministering God’s liberating power in Jesus Christ toward others and ourselves.
This theme was extracted from the Bible readings; Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; Hebrews 12:18-29 and the Gospel Reading from Luke 13: 10-17.
Reverend Kelaepa said the Old Testament reading from 1:4-10 spoke of Jeremiah’s call to be a prophet.
“Jeremiah tells us that in his vision, the Lord touched his mouth (vs. 9) and told him that he had been appointed and set apart as a prophet even before he was born. This means that God had a special purpose in mind for Jeremiah’s life.
“That purpose was for Jeremiah to serve as God’s prophet and therefore as God’s spokesperson, which meant that he was called to proclaim God’s word to the nations,” Reverend Kelaepa said.
However, he said Jeremiah did not immediately embraced the claim that God had made on his life and instead protested, “Sovereign Lord, I don’t know how to speak; I am too young”.
According to Reverend Kelaepa at this stage in his life, the young Jeremiah felt that he had the basis for his hesitation and protest – that he was too young, too inexperienced and not properly trained to do the task God asks of him.
“As we consider Jeremiah’s response to the Lord, we notice the two sides to it.
“The negative side to such hesitation is that he may be trying to shy away from the responsibility that God is placing on him.
“The positive side to such hesitation is that it could demonstrate his humility in the realization that he was indeed ill-equipped and unskilled for the task of becoming Gods spokesperson – he was too young, he has no experience to do the task God calls him to do, and he lacks the necessary training to speak for God,” Reverend Kelaepa said.
Relating this to us and to the church of today, Reverend Kelaepa said we should accept with appropriate humility our responsibility to be obedient and faithfully serve God.
“We should recognize and acknowledge our limitations but at the same time we must accept that we have a task and a mission, and therefore must not withdraw or hide ourselves from the call that God has placed on our lives unto faithful obedience, faithful service and to faithfully proclaim His word and message to the world,” Reverend Kelaepa told the Sunday congregation at Saint Barnabas Cathedral.
He said God’s response to Jeremiah then was that he should not focus on his youth or inability but on obedience and dependence on God.
“That is, he should do what God tells him to do, and he should do so with trust that God will accompany him in his mission and deliver him from his opponents (vs.7-8). And then, God does something to make it clear that He empowers Jeremiah to undertake and fulfil his commission.
“In a visionary and symbolic action, the Lord touches Jeremiah’s mouth and puts the Lord’s words in his mouth.
“God also tells Jeremiah that His words working through Jeremiah will contribute to the uprooting and pulling down, the destruction and overthrow, but also the building up and planting (rise) of nations.”
Reverend Kelaepa said today, God also puts His word in “your mouth and my mouth, in the church’s mouth”.
“We proclaim that word, which we know most fully and experience most personally in Jesus Christ, with our words, with our perspectives, with our attitudes, with our relationships, and with our actions.
“We can’t know how God will work through God’s word as it flows through us to the world, but we can know that it will accomplish God’s purpose (Isaiah 55:11…the word that I speak – it will not fail to do what I plan for it; it will do everything I send it to do). We can trust that God is empowering us to effectively proclaim His word to the world.
“In light of all that friends, we have no more excuses to give especially you young people out there. In God’s scheme of things, we are never too young or too old to respond to Gods call and ministry.
“…we can never be too young or too old for the mission and service of God.
“Only be open, willing and obedient to the call and service of God for his people.
“Nor can we say we are unskilled or untrained.
“Only be open, willing and obedient to the call and service of God for his people and God will touch your lips and my lips and put his word in our mouths as he did for Jeremiah, to proclaim his word and message.
“God will make skills, God will give wisdom and God will provide opportunities for experience.
“So much so brothers and sisters, that as Isaiah speaks of the salvation of the Lord, Ezekiel of the glory of the Lord, Daniel of the kingdom of the Lord, and Jeremiah incessantly proclaiming the Lord’s judgment, we (you and I) the church of today can be all of those to our nation and people, and to the world today.
“Only be obedient, open and willing to serve, and God will make it happen,” Reverend Kelaepa stated.
In the Gospel reading of Luke 13:10-17, it spoke of a woman who had been crippled for eighteen long years. She was bent over, unable to look up, weighed down by her serious illness and affliction. But when Jesus saw her, He called her forward and said: “Woman, you are free from your illness.” He placed his hands on her and immediately she stood up straight and praised God (vs.12-13).
Reverend Kelaepa said this is what the liberating power of Christ looks like — chains broken, burdens lifted, and dignity restored. This is what we are called to do brothers and sisters in Christ, to Minister God’s liberating power and freedom to others, and to the world.
“Yet notice the reaction of the synagogue leaders: instead of rejoicing, they complained that Jesus healed on the Sabbath, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!” (vs.14). They valued rules more than compassion.”
Reverend Kelaepa said to follow Jesus means confronting rigid legalism and adherence to laws that prioritizes rules over human need such as in the Sabbath story and to demonstrate that such times are occasions and opportunities for compassion and liberation, not strict adherence to rules that prevent acts of mercy.
He said to follow Jesus is to be always aware of the spiritual battles going on behind the scenes between Jesus and the forces of evil, and that we must be discerning of these battlegrounds and be ready to demonstrate the power and authority of Jesus Christ to liberate those held captive by evil and the devil.
“To follow Jesus means showing that God’s kingdom is present, here and now, by our healing actions – actions that signify a time of restoration, of healing, and of freedom from bondage; actions that shows the Kingdom of God as not just a future hope but a present reality of transformation and liberation, such as manifested and experienced by the ‘bent-over’ widow in Jesus’ healing action in our gospel passage today.
“In our Solomon Islands today, there are many “bent-over” people — not only physically, but also mentally, spiritually, socially, economically and politically. People bent down under the weight of poverty, unemployment, addictions to drugs and compulsions of many kinds, corruption, violence, or fear of the unknown future.
“The Church, and each of us as Christians, are called to be like Christ: to speak and act with Christ’s power and authority so that others may stand straight and tall again in God’s freedom, even when such action actions goes against established human-made norms and mores, and customs and traditions,” Reverend Kelaepa stated.
“In our obedience and service for God, we must be active and courageous, not timid and fearful.
“For as the writer to the letter to the Hebrews tells us, we are no longer under the Old Testament and Covenant at Mount Sinai, trembling in fear at the utterance of the Law of Moses from the mountain, but we are now at Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of living God, and under the New Testament and Covenant ushered in by Jesus Christ the Son of God, and who is God himself, and where we have now become part of the unshakable and everlasting kingdom of God, a Kingdom of Grace, of Love and of Healing, through the one and the same Jesus Christ.
“Our nation faces many challenges today — poverty, corruption, land disputes, lack of opportunities for young people.
“Many feel trapped with little hope for the future. The internal politicking in our nation, the geo-political tug of war around our region is not being helpful either – China, the US and its allies, naval exercises and stories in international media about missiles launched and landing closer to our shores – are we still alright bros & sis?
“Are we still in control of our nation, our islands, and our resources?
“The Church must stand as a community of liberation. We must speak for justice, care for the vulnerable, and be the voices and builders of hope amidst the uncertainties of the unknown future.
“Each of us is called to be an agent of God’s freedom — whether by helping a neighbour in need, by standing against dishonesty and corruption, by mentoring our young people in service for God and country, by offering compassion and healing to the forgotten, or by bringing God’s liberating power to bear upon all those in need,” Reverend Kelaepa said.
