“CALLED!”

Have you ever heard the expression, “Now that man has been called to preach?”

Usually this is a reaction to a favorable sermon with which one agrees; at least ninety-nine percent of what was said and especially if the preacher has delivered the sermon simply and with dispatch.

There is much more than an ounce of truth to this statement.  There definitely exists within the Christian faith, an innate feeling that we know when the message is real - is it divinely inspired or is it canned? 

It takes a lot of pure raw guts for anyone to make the decision to be a spiritual leader, a preacher, clergy or whatever, in the universal church of Jesus Church.  Most of us are not psychologically equipped to handle such a task but we must try our best to trust and understand the people that do.  Scripture seems to be the best source to clearly understand this duty and responsibility of the laity within our churches.  They too are ministers of

this same Great Commission.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountains where Jesus had told them to go.  When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.  Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”   Matthew 28: 16-20.   

Jesus was the first one to make this decision.  In essence, he was our first Christian. We tend to forget that Jesus was a human being just like you and I.  This world did not know much about this man called Jesus until he publicly made the decision to respond to the voice of God and that he, through his ministry, would later to be recognized as the Messiah.  We do know of his birth and early childhood, written as a matter of historical retrospective afterthought, but most of his life is simply a matter of speculation.  What we know about this man Jesus is only those things that are essential for God’s plan of salvation for mankind.

We know Jesus was an educated man; we know why, but we don’t know how or when.

We also know this man Jesus trusted and loved his God with his all his heart, soul and mind.  We can only surmise that Jesus knew what His Messianic ministry would entail, when he stepped his foot into the Jordan River with John the Baptist.

Immediately after his baptism, Jesus spent forty days and nights preparing for His Ministry.  When Jesus told the devil, “Away from me, Satan! For it written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” in Matthew 4-10, I consider this one of the most defining moments in the history of mankind.  Let us remember, Jesus always had the option on whom to serve. The devil left him, and the angels came and attended him. 

Jesus then began to preach.

When we look at the eleven disciples Christ originally chose and later entrusted and relied upon to initiate his Great Commission it gives us pause to wonder.  These men were ignorant, uneducated, ambitiously self centered, prejudiced, and superstitious; yet they were simple as dirt.  Why these men?

With all these faults and even though they were slow to understand, they were willing to follow Jesus Christ and sincerely believed that Jesus was the Son of God.  Their were expecting an earthly kingdom and they left everything to follow him and done so willingly; and in the end became servants for life.  It is amazing, many of them, taught by Jesus, wrote several books, scriptures of the New Testament.  Many of them lost their lives for the cause of Christ.

There were some of them that fell away therefore we must learn from the example of Judas. If an apostle could betray Jesus we must be careful to remain faithful.  Judas was an enigma to the end.  Either he was an instrument of Satan from the word go or we can expect to find him in heaven.

Another enigma, the 13th apostle, the tentmaker Saul of Tarsus, later know as Paul, seems to have been an afterthought (possibly as a result of the known doubters) of Jesus while initiating his summons for the Great Commission in their meeting within the mountains near Galilee. 

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go, this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name

before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”  Acts: 9-15.

Once a believer, Paul never doubted that he was Christ’s chosen instrument.  Seldom, if ever has anyone received such a dramatic call to do God’s bidding.  He too, had the option to deny God’s request yet he remained loyal unto death.

God does not strike most of us down on the road to Damascus.  He gets our attention  through the Holy Spirit, some other way.  As we have seen with examples of his apostles he is not particular whom he selects.  Believe me, he has a calling for each and every one of us.  Belief is the simple answer to salvation of mankind.  Our callings are also just that simple.  Inspired or canned; doesn’t it depend upon the listener?

So, how powerful is our Christian faith?    

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew: 19-26.