Calling part 2

OK, so I've been thinking about this thing. I believe we have been called to many things. We've been called to the Cross of Christ, to come and die to ourselves. We've been called to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind". We have been called to "love one another" just as Christ has loved us. Jesus said later on in John 13, that is how "all men will know you are my disciples". Some of us have been called to be husbands, wives, fathers, mothers,. Some of us have been called to be single. I guess what I am trying to say is that our "big calling" is actually to become children of God through Christ Jesus and to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." and to "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39)

So now that we have that established, I want to look at some of the stuff in John 13. At the time I was reading this and God began speaking to me through this passage, I was having a rough time processing some thoughts about my own calling to Worship Ministry and where I am right now in relation to that calling; physically, emotionally, spiritually. It has been a wild past 4 years or so. Lots of joys, lots of pains, lots of questions. Lots of questions without answers.

John 13. So we open on a familiar scene from the Bible. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you have probably heard this story. The story of Jesus washing the disciples feet. What an amazing example Christ has set for us through the washing of feet, but I think we may tend to gloss over the first part of this story (maybe not you, but at least I have in the past). The Bible says that "Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father." Man, what an important time! How would you feel if you knew that. All the things that would be going through my mind. All the things that I felt like were left undone or open-ended would probably send me into a frantic overdrive. But not Jesus. It goes on to say that "he now showed them the full extent of his love" (NIV). Other translations say that "He loved them until the end." Do we love like that? When its time to move on, when its time to go to the next phase of life or ministry or calling? Or do we take our focus off of the who, what, when, where, and why of now; where God has placed us now. But you may say "I am not even sure how I got here now. It just seems like one crazy screwed up time." I know the feeling, but do you think all of this, our situations or circumstances, is a surprise to God. Did this catch Him off guard like it did us? I think we both know the answer to that.

Speaking of situations catching us off guard, have you ever had a friend that you hung out with and shared life with and served side by side, and even served them on occasion only to find out later that they had betrayed you in some way? Think of how that made you feel, and oh if we had only known we wouldn't have been so nice or serving or lenient. Or if we had known, armed with the power of knowledge, we probably would have put a stop to their betrayal or even disassociated ourselves from them. But lets look back at John 13. Verse 2 alludes to the fact that Jesus already knew that Judas was going to betray him, and later on in chapter 13, Jesus reveals that he does in fact know who it is.

So let's think about this here for a minute. Jesus knows his time to go back to the Father is at hand. He is about to leave this world. Now he also knows that Judas is about to betray him. Verse 3 tells us that "Jesus knew that the Father had put ALL THINGS under his power, and that he had come from God, and was going back to God." (emphasis mine)

Verse 4 "So......". So......, put yourself in Jesus shoes, er, sandals. What would you do at this point? What would I do at this point? It's easy to determine what we should do, but it is sometimes difficult to determine to do it. v4-5 "so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him."

He did what? Jesus knows its about time to go back to the Father. He knows someone in the group is betraying him. He knows that all things are under his power. And He does what? Check out the picture here. Jesus is in this intimate setting with his closest disciples, and one of them is about to betray him, and the Bible says he takes off his outer clothing. The way that appears to me is that it is almost like saying "until now, you have seen me in a certain way, but now let me expose a deeper level of love and knowledge to you". Most of us would never think of serving or exposing more of our true selves. Especially to our betrayer. What beauty there is in this. But like I've heard some one say before, "we are all Judas Iscariot". Romans 5:8 says this: "But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners," still enemies of God, still betraying Him, "Christ died for us."

So, what has God called you to do? Maybe you are in a spot like I mentioned earlier; some place that seems a little (or a lot) off track and you are not quite sure how or why you got there. Or, maybe you know exactly where you are and where God has called you to. In either case, look to the example Christ has set for us. It could just be that this your time to show some folks "the full extent of your love". It could be that its time to serve those around us, even if we are in a place that seems vulnerable and unsure, or even counter productive in light of the circumstances and your percieved destination. It could just be that in doing so, you are closer to God's calling on your life than you realize.