Meant to Be

In my mind, one of the greatest moments in a character's story is when they are challenged to become what they were meant to be.

When Peter Parker swings across the page or screen in the blue and red tights for the first time.  Or Bruce Wayne pulls the cowl and cape on and leaps into the night as Batman.  Maybe one of the most iconic is when mild mannered Clark Kent rips open his dress shirt in the phone booth revealing the red and yellow 'S' shield of Superman.  There are hundreds more across books, film, and real life.

Please feel free to share your favorite "meant to be" moment in the comments!

For me, one of the most impressive "meant to be" moments is in The Return of the King.  (I'm talking the film adaptation not the classic book for this example.)  Aragorn, the long lost descendant of the royal line, is for lack of a better word, still lost.  He does not want to assume the mantle of king.  Why?  Because his ancestors were weak.  They failed the world when they were needed most.  They were seduced by power, and fell.


Aragorn does not want to be like them.  So he avoids the responsibility.  He is still noble, and brave and acts with courage and a good heart, but he avoids what he was born to be.  His moment comes at what would appear the worst time.  A massive army has been gathered to battle great evil.  He is looked at as a hero and captain among them.  In the night he is summoned to meet a mysterious stranger.  This stranger is revealed to be his foster father, Elrond.


Elrond holds in his hands the reforged sword of the kings, a blade that is rightfully Aragorn's.  It had been broken for generations, but was reforged for him, now.  With a simple statement Elrond challenges Aragorn,

"Put aside the ranger. Become who you were meant to be."

 A challenge he accepts, and rises to.  He succeeds where his ancestors failed and he becomes a good and just king.


There is a moment in every Christ follower's life like this one.  Where we are challenged to become who we were meant to be.  Jesus didn't come to earth, live, die and rise so that we could live our lives in quite exile, working from the shadows, and being less what he called us to be.


When he gathered his disciples he said, "Come, follow me.  I will make you fishers of men.  Leave behind your nets and boats and follow me.  Become what I am calling you to be, what you were meant to be."


I'm not getting into destiny and fate and all of that, but if you call Jesus 'Lord,' he has called you to be a fisher of men.  So put aside the accountant, the CEO, the janitor, the housewife, the athlete, the artist, musician or whatever you 'are.'  Put that aside, and become what you were meant to be, what you were called to be by Jesus.


A disciple.  A fisher of men.


Someone who follows after Jesus with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loves their neighbor as themselves.  Some one who does as Jesus talks about in Matthew 25: 35-36

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Becoming who you were meant to be is a life long task.  To follow after Jesus and learn what he taught, how he lived, what he did, and putting those things into action.  To feed the hungry, clothe those who need clothing, look after the sick and so on.

It's not just a magical moment, frozen in time.  The decision is.  But the becoming goes on long after.  You can't be a disciple if you don't learn.  If you don't learn how to disciple, you can not be a fisher of men.  If you can't be a fisher of men, you can't be what Jesus meant for you to be.

I'm not writing this as someone who thinks they've 'become.'  I'm still on the path, I'm still learning.  I'm still becoming who I was meant to be.  Who Jesus wants me to be.

So I challenge you to hear the words of the Messiah, Jesus, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." 

Put aside the _(fill in the blank)_ and become who you were meant to be.

Grace, peace & hope
-Jersey

Uninvited

Have you ever planned a party or event just to have no one you invited show up?

Yes?  Good then I'm not alone in that department.  If your answer is 'no,' well, keep reading anyway.

Jesus gave his disciples a parable that featured this concept.  It was an allegorical story painting a picture of the kingdom of heaven.  I want to point out that the phrase kingdom of heaven is lowercase here, so it's not a physical place we can go to.  It's more like a state of being.  A way of life.

In Matthew 22 Jesus tells this great story about a king throwing a wedding banquet for his son.  He sends out invitations and prepares the event.  When the time came he sent his servants to gather those who had been invited.  They refused to come.

So the king sent more servants.  They were to let the invitees know that all was prepared, the food was ready and all that was needed was their arrival.  The still refused to come and mistreated and killed the servants.  (They really didn't want to go!)

Then the king says to his other servants, "Those who were invited did not deserve to come, go out into the streets and invite anyone you find there."  So they went and brought anyone they found to the wedding banquet, good and bad, and filled the banquet hall.

Now the story goes on (follow the link above to read all of it) but I will stop there for now.

I know this parable is not directly tied to discipleship but it has a principle we can apply to that concept.  When we want to disciple, we might want to reach out to those we know, those we would invite to a party.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  We should reach out to those we know.  But they refuse to come, time after time, stop spending time trying to get them to come and move on.

Invite those you don't know.  Reach out.  Be bold.  I know that it's easy to say that sitting behind a computer screen, but it's not impossible.  To go with Jesus' parable, if you're the servant getting sent to invite someone to the banquet, you know it's going to be a good time right?  Of course.  So why not tell others about it?

The challenge is determining how to invite those you don't know.  How to approach them and share with them what you know to be good.  There are many ways to do so.  Check out M28's website for more info and ways to do this.

And for those who refuse the invitation, remember this, we are not the king.  We don't have the final say.  So don't give up on them in your behavior.  Keep praying for them.  Keep showing them love and kindness.  But you don't have to keep 'barking up the same tree,' for lack of a better expression.

Reach out to the uninvited.  You may be surprised what doors God opens up in their life, and your own.

Grace, peace and hope
-Jersey

COME IN…GO OUT…FIND PASTURE…GO! Part II

John 10:1-10 (NLT)………….They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

GO OUT…the sheep were never expected to stay in the sheep pen for ever. Food would become scarce pretty quickly because this was only designed to provide safety and rest for a time. Tempers could get out of control because of the limited space to move about or work. Chaos could even be a threat to the peace and safety of the pen.
Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
The reason the laborers are few is the sheep pen has become too comfortable for the sheep. Routine and complacency replaces vision and energy. Rejuvenation comes to fulfillment. There is a sense of completion, purpose and fulfillment OUTSIDE the sheep pen…in the harvest field (the world).

FIND PASTURE…The sheep don't leave the sheep pen on their own. The shepherd walks AHEAD of them and they FOLLOW by listening to his voice. As we go into the harvest (the world) we are fed and energized to continue doing the work God has called us…no, has MANDATED us to do. Together, we work the fields alongside the Owner of the field. Paul tells us “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. (1 Cor 3:7-9) We don’t have to wander aimlessly, confused, hopeless. People are waiting, ready to receive…but we MUST get out of the sheep pen.
“For everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? (Romans 10:13-15)
I find it interesting that immediately following COME IN, GO OUT and FIND PASTURE is the warning, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

…The thief will ALWAYS try to steal the results of the COME IN. Steal the release, the freedom from our past bondages, misconceptions, control, pride, indentifying our worth with our works. Confusion of God’s yoke (teachings) to be hard, unattainable rather than easy, times of doing at times instead of times of just being.

…The thief will try to kill the joy of “going out.” He will put fear into our hearts. Fear can kill. Fear can be masked as inexperience, I-don’t-know-the-bible like so-and-so, arrogance or condescension “they will never receive what I have to say, or they are too bad a person.” The enemy is the wolf that attacks the flock, scatters and kills it through jealousy or entitlement.

...If we listen and follow the doubts the enemy attacks us with, the pastures…the privilege of the harvest we have been called to could be destroyed. While we each are accountable for our actions and decisions, I fear the day I am chose inaction, when I should have spoken a word and I didn’t. What excuse could I give that is greater than obedience? This is destruction at its core.

This is the promise after the warning:
“I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL.”
The only way we are going to have life and have it to the full is to get out of the sheep pen EXPERIENCE
the energy and food of the pasture, EXPERIENCE the harvest.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO… Therefore GO… 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

REFLECTION:
Our walk with God is a process, none of us ever "arrive" at a point where we can go it alone, we need each other. Where are you in this process and where do you want to be? How can we journey together out of the sheep pen and into the harvest?
A fellow sojourner who sometimes needs a kick to GO,
Kay