“Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” (Luke 6:12-16)

“When he chose his own apostles who were to preach the Gospel, [he chose those] who were sinners above all sin, so that he might show that he came “not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Pseudo-Barnabas, A.D. 120 – 130)

We often think that one hour of worship in prayer, praise and thanksgiving is a great feat. I once sat beside a man in a church choir who, if the service was approaching one hour, would constantly look at his watch and frown. To him, a worship service should go no longer than 55 minutes.

Christ spent whole nights engaged in prayer, praise and thanksgiving. Our concern should not be to count time in worship but to make the best of the time that G-d has given to us. The twelve apostles are called not because of the skills they possessed but because Jesus saw something in each one that gave them potential. And then Jesus gave them all the time they needed to learn from him.

Many in our society come a long distance to hear Jesus — it is indeed worthwhile to go a great way to hear the word of Christ. Therefore it is a great disservice to all in worship to focus more on the clock than on the word, teachings and grace of Jesus. After all, which is more difficult for our society, diseases of the body or diseases of faith? Coming out of this pandemic we will see many changes in the way we worship and the way we gather in the name of Christ. It will become more important for the church to teach members to expand their minds, hearts and schedule books – for scripture teaches us to think differently than our society.

Pastor Dave

“After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up, left everything, and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27 – 32)

“Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world…if you do so, you are insulting yourself.” (Bill Gates)

It was a wonder of Christ’s grace that he would call a tax collector to be his disciple and follower. It was a wonder of his grace that the call was made so effective, that the presence of Jesus so undeniable that “he got up, left everything, and followed him”. It was a wonder of his grace that he came to call sinners to repentance, and to assure them of pardon. 

It was a wonder of his grace that he called whom he chose to call no matter their status, their past or their situation. Jesus withstood the ridicule of the religious leaders for being with sinners when others had given up on them. If Jesus would have allowed the pressures of society or his religious compatriots to affect his decisions, the whole makeup of the disciples would have been dramatically different.

Jesus led the disciples and taught them, and they had trouble understanding and coming to grips with the implications of his teachings. But he also helped them see their own strengths and giftedness. We should copy Jesus’ example in dealing with the stranger, the sinner, the weak in faith, or the tempted believer.

Pastor Dave