Jesus Does Not Work Alone

      Do you ever wonder why God chose to involve humans, the most fallible of all the creatures of his great creation, to be partners with him in the restoration of his earthly kingdom? Because God is God, he could have created and planned things so differently. God could have put into motion a world in which the humans whom he had created were merely spectators with no active role in a relationship with him, or with other humans. However, God chose to use his created beings to work side-by-side with him in building his eternal kingdom. God sent Jesus to show us how the work would be done, and we find Jesus, early in his ministry, quickly gathering his helpers and beginning his kingdom work.

      Jesus, our Savior, refuses to work alone. He chooses to use us, his creation, to work with Him in the job of redeeming a lost world. From the very beginning of his ministry, we find Jesus reaching out and placing His hand on the lives of other people, ordinary people, for work in his kingdom. You and I, as disciples of Jesus, are delegated to work with him in his mission to the world, his mission becoming our mission, our only mission. Jesus tells us in John 20, “…as the Father has sent me, I send you.” We are “sent” people, but we do not go alone, Jesus goes with us.

      Jesus knew at the age of twelve that he had work to do. It is interesting to read how Jesus began to gather his disciples around him so the work could begin. Jesus’ first priority was to make disciples. Before Jesus began any of his miracles, preaching, and teaching, he calls everyday, ordinary people like us to work with him. Then he places within each of those “called” disciples, each of us, a desire to call others and tell others about the miracle that Jesus can work in each heart and life. That also becomes the mission of the church.

      For three years, Jesus’ disciples went through daily training so that one day God’s work could be continued. But it wasn’t until Pentecost that their human spirits and Jesus’ spirit were united in such a way that the work of the church could begin.

      Once we have allowed Jesus to move in with us and make us disciples, amazing things begin to happen, greater things than ever before. We begin to see “God things” happening in our lives and in the life of the church. We realize that Jesus has given his work to people like us, so we begin to look around and see the work that God has for us; physical work and spiritual work, work for his kingdom. It is revealed to us that Jesus does not work alone. We are members of the body of Christ, and there is work for us to do, with him.

 

Rev Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC, November 4, 2012