"Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling."
"Each one in the calling in which he was called--in this he should remain. Were you called while a slave? Do not let it be a concern to you. But if indeed you are able to become free, rather make use of it. For the one who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freed person. Likewise the one who is called while free is s slave of Christ. You were bought at a price; do not becomes slaves of men. Each one in the situation in which he was called, brothers--in this he should remain with God." 1 Cor 7
So we were called to die with Christ, be buried with him and rise again as the Lord's freed persons from sin and as the Lord's slaves in the His new kingdom which He is bringing. Amen!
So how do we do it? We covered so much last night and it was good and i loved Tom's pointed questions: So what does that look like in our day to day? How do we do that? How do we be honest and humble in the places we are? When i think about what all this means, how life changingly important it is that God himself died for me(!) and chose me specifically even before i was born(!!), it is so tempting for me to think that i should therefore also see some sort of equally bloody revolution in my life, some Damascus road moment that knocks me off my ass (it's biblical, look it up), turns me from my intended destinations and sends me careening off into seven year missionary journeys where i learn six new languages and dialects in order to bring the gospel to unreached people groups wearing loincloths in disease ridden jungles, or that i need to sell all i own and go live with the homeless, caring for them and bringing them new cardboard for their concrete jungle sukhots with Bible verses printed on them, or that's it's time to chuck it all, buy a guitar and become a traveling gospel minstrel, oh, and maybe learn to play the guitar. Or we go home depressed because somehow we have this notion that this life with Jesus is supposed to be like all of that and we know ours will never be. Or we take our plans home only to find our lives waiting for us there with all of our very real but very mundane problems ready for us and Tuesday follows Monday and then it's Thursday before we know it and if we think about this at all it's with tinges of despair around the edges. And we want to cry out, "Isn't it supposed to be different? Aren't we supposed to DO something?"
But is that how it's supposed to be? Is that the abundant life Jesus has called us to? Is that freedom we have found in Christ who has done all things for us and done them well? Is that faith in His finished work? Shouldn't that bring peace? Not existential angst? Is that what Paul was saying to the Corinthians? Paul who had the Road to Damascus moment?
Well, let's look at that real quick. What in Paul's life was changed? He was already employed as a form of evangelizing clergy as a Pharisee. Scriptural purity was his job. He was already so zealous for it that he was taking his little heretic-bashing show on the road from town to town. He was already so on fire for YHWH that he was willing to kill for Him. Jesus didn't have to remake Saul as much as we think. He just had to free him and tweak his theology a bit... like a lot.. like, knock him off his high-ass and get him off the throne of his own life so that Jesus could sit down on it. But then Jesus looked around and said, 'yeah, I can work with this.' Paul stayed true to what God had designed him to be: a man on fire for God, only now he actually KNEW him, the true God. He had been a slave to his own self-salvation plan, his rigid, religiosity and narrow view of Scripture and thus his squinty view of an angry God and now Christ freed him from that and thus Paul willingly became Jesus' slave, joyfully became Jesus' servant, zealously took his evangelizing show on the road from town to town to spread the good news that the Scriptures had been fulfilled in Jesus! Was so on fire for Jesus that he was willing to die for Him! Paul stayed in many ways, exactly what he was when he was called, he just did it now for the right King in the right way for the right reasons. Paul's job description never really changed. He was a traveling cleric devoted to Scriptural purity and the right worship of God when Jesus slapped him blind (or revealed his blindness, but that is a post for another day) and he was a a traveling cleric devoted to Scriptural purity and the right worship of God when Jesus opened his eyes. Heck, he even was a tent maker both before and after, only now he had a new crew to make them with and a new purpose in making them! He was on mission--making tents!
So what does it look like to live simply and humbly before our God for our Savior Jesus Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit in this life? What must we do to do the work of God? Well, what were you doing when he called you, minus your sin of course? It's quite possible that an All-Knowing, Pre-destining God was already preparing you before you repented of your former way of life and were baptized into the new life He had been equipping you for since before He laid the foundations of the Earth. He's kind of efficient like that. He could take a steel soup kettle and reshape it into a glass vase to hold flowers if he wanted, He has that kind of power, and i'm not saying He doesn't call some of us to drastically different roads than the one we thought were were on, cuz He's God and He can do what He wants according to His good will. i'm only saying that historically and scripturally, that doesn't seem to be what He does the vast majority of the time. Because He doesn't need to. He's been doing something far more revolutionary: He's been crafting you from the beginning of time and crafting time to the beginning of you so that in the fullness of time you could display Jesus in your setting, in your manner, with your gifts which He gave you, in your work and your words, with the love he has shown you.
What is your calling? It's you, only better! Because now it's more than you, it's Him in you, through you, for His glory which He is inviting you to share with Him forever.
But don't take my word for it, search His! He is waiting there for you,
softly and tenderly, calling....
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