By Pastor Greg
Everyone seems to make such a
fuss about their calling. I remember the
stress I faced in high school when asked what I was going to do with the rest
of my life. I remember taking these
aptitude tests; exams designed to help you choose a career path. After one test the school guidance counselor
called me to her office to discuss my results.
She said I needed to practice saying "do you want fries with
that"?
Anyway, we kind of do the same
thing in the church. We start asking one
another about God's will. We ask senior
high students about whether they know God's will for their life. We have people take Spiritual Gift tests so
they can learn how the Spirit has gifted them.
And while these exams mean well, they have a tendency to leave a person
saying, "Okay, now what? So I have
the gift of hospitality. How should I
use this?" And even more
importantly, where should I use this?
And I really think that's the bigger question here. I mean, it doesn't take someone very long to
learn that they are pretty good at something or really enjoy doing
something. And a Spiritual Gift
inventory will help someone understand that God has also equipped them to serve
the Kingdom in a unique way. But none of
this answers the question of where.
Where should I serve? Where
should I be using my gifts, talents, and passions? "Lord, where would you have me
go"? This, of course, would be our
calling; God calling us to do something of significance for the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Wouldn't it be nice if God would
clearly say "Go here and do this"?
It would be like God saying "Your mission Jim, if you choose to
accept it", and then we would be given clear instructions (of course, the
tape would self-destruct in 5 seconds).
I mean, He did it for people in the Bible. Why can't He do it for you and me? He did it for Jonah. "Go to Nineveh and preach" (Jonah
1:2). From all of His followers Jesus
calls out twelve for special leadership (Luke 6:13). And what about Barnabas and Paul. God called them out of Antioch as
missionaries (Acts 13:2).
So maybe you’ve been wondering
if God would call you. And if He would,
where would He send you? What great and
glorious thing might God call you to do for the Kingdom of Heaven? But what if He doesn't call? What if God says, “Ask them if they want
fries with that”? What if God does not
call you out somewhere, but instead sends you home, just like the Lord did to
the naked disciple?
In Luke chapter 8 we meet a man
who was demon possessed and lived among the tombs in the land of Gerasene. This was a Gentile territory on the eastern
shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the
story the Lord drives out many demons from this man and cast them into a herd
of pigs. The pigs, now demon possessed,
run down a steep bank, jump in the lake, and drown. This, of course, caught the attention of the
townsfolk, who rush out to the area to see what is going on (read Luke
8:35-39).
The first thing that catches my
attention in this story is how Jesus tells this man that no, he can't come with
them. Really? Why can't he come with Jesus like all the
other disciples? And why send this man
away yet allow Mary Magdalene tag along?
I mean, put yourself in this man's shoes. How would you feel if Jesus told you to go on
home? I'd have thoughts like,
"Maybe I'm not good enough to be traveling with the in crowd. Maybe Jesus sent me home because I didn't
grow up in church. Maybe Jesus sent me
away because of my past." If I were
this man I'd probably be reminding myself that I should simply be grateful that
He freed me from bondage and stop having these lofty ideas about being His
servant. I mean, I'm not someone
significant or important. I didn't walk on
the water. I was simply healed.
Now, I know this is what would
go through my mind. Because I was not
able to serve in the way I wanted, I would take this as the Lord rejecting me
for some reason. Yet this man did
not. Luke says he did as he was
told. He went back home and did as Jesus
had commanded.
The lesson we need to learn here
is that when it comes to being the Lord's servant, a person needs to be
prepared for how the Lord calls them to serve.
We might have ideas and visions of our own. We might imagine glorious things. We determine in our own minds what a
successful calling looks like and then measure our life based upon those
standards. And when these things don't
materialize, we draw the conclusion that apparently we just don't measure up;
that the fault is ours. But in reality
it is simply that Jesus had something else in mind.
The point is this: each of us,
as a believer, has a purpose and a calling in the Kingdom of Heaven. The problem is whether this calling lives up
to our expectations. We expect one
thing, but the Lord gives us something different. It's not because we are less valuable or not
good enough, but because it is all part of the Lord's plan. He has a purpose in mind when He sends us and
to where He sends us. And, as in the case
of this former demon possessed man, He may even send us back home. Not out in the mission filed. Not to pastor a church. Not even to teach a Sunday school class or
lead a Bible study. He sends us home and
calls us to tell our family and our neighbors what great things God has done
for us. It's not a glorious
calling. It won't make us famous. But it does fit within God's plan.
Before I end, I want you to
notice something in this story. Did you
notice how the people reacted to Jesus?
After witnessing the miracle of this healed man, the people asked Jesus
to leave. They were afraid. They wanted Jesus gone. And it was to these very people that Jesus
sent the healed man. “Go back to those
people who are afraid of Me, those people who ran Me out of town, and talk to
them about Me”, the Lord says. Now we
might think this man would accomplish nothing; that his calling would be
pointless and meaningless. Yet if we
jump ahead a few months we see Jesus returning to this region (Matthew
15:29-31). Only this time a great
multitude came to Him bringing people who were crippled, blind, mute, and sick
in many different ways. And when Jesus
healed these people the crowd glorified the God of Israel - this, from the same
people who had earlier chased Him. What
changed? I believe it was this former
demon possessed man who, out of obedience, went back home and did as Christ had
commanded.
My friend, don't ever think that
where the Lord sends you or how He calls you is insignificant. If your calling does not measure up to your
expectations you are still contributing to the work of the Kingdom, just
contributing according to the Lord’s plans.
In order to accomplish His will, the Lord will ask us to serve Him today
in ways that do not make sense. And
there are times He will send us to places where we think it will not make a
difference. Instead of calling us out of
town, He will send us right back to that school or job or career asking us to
faithfully serve right where we are. In
order to accomplish His will tomorrow, the Lord asks us to stay where we are
today. In light of this I think we need
to straighten up the notion that doing the Lord's will requires climbing in a
boat and traveling to some distant place just to tell others about Jesus. No, most of the time we are simply called to
become like the naked disciple - people who remain right where they are and
tell the whole town about Jesus.
Therefore, remain steadfast and
immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; knowing that your labor in
His name is not in vain (1
Corinthians 15:58).
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