I consider Jesus Christ our Lord and his call. If a human leader can have a great appeal to us, how much greater is the attraction of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, our Leader and King! Jesus' call goes out to all peoples, yet he specially calls each person in a particular and unique way. He makes this kind of appeal: "It is my will to win over the whole world, to overcome evil with good, to turn hatred aside with love, to conquer all the forces of death -- whatever obstacles there are that block the sharing of life between God and humankind. Whoever wishes to join me in this mission must be willing to labour with me, and so by following me in struggle and suffering may shre with me in glory" (Spiritual Exercises 95).
In this week (it's actually longer than a full week) we'll be contemplating the life of Jesus and how his life calls us to join him in Kingdom Work. Today we'll be focussing specifically on hearing God's call when it comes and being ready and willing to respond generously to that call.
Using Composition of Place read and reflect on the following passages.
Luke 5: 1-11 -- Call of Peter
Exodus 3 -- Call of Moses
Jeremiah 1 -- Call of Jeremiah
Mark 10: 17-31 -- The Call of the Rich Young Ruler
There's a lot of Scripture here. All of it pertains to our sense of call and vocation. And God can and will speak through all of it, so it's not important to get through all of it. Think of it like a salad bar. You can take a little of each thing, or a lot of one. If you were to take all of everything you be overstuffed.
Questions to Reflect on:
- What role have heroes and heroines played in my life? Who have been mentors and models whose loves and values have inspired me?
- What dreams, values, and issues stir my passionate concern at this time in my life?
- Regardless of all my life circumstances, what freedom do I feel for dreaming and imagining how to extend the Kingdom of God, and Jesus' reign?
- In all honesty, what do I hesitate to give up or to do in order to better respond to Christ's call?
- Of the stories listed above which do I resonate with the most? Why?
Suggestion for Daily Living: Read some classic spiritual works or some biographies of contemorary heroes of faith (The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, Mother Theresa, find out what you can about St. Ignatius of Loyola). Focus especially on each persons passionate desire to follow and serve Jesus.
Click on Comments to review Pastor Mike's Reflections and make comments of your own.
2 comments:
The story I can most relate to, is definitley Moses. When you don't necessarily see great leadership qualities in yourself it's a scary thing to step out in faith and say "Yes, Lord". It's so easy for us to make excuses and turn away from leadership because we feel inadequate. Funny thing is, we are all inadequate! It's only through God that we are able to do great things.
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