Deacon Tom Writes,
“Called To Be Worthy”
When the phone rings
in the “bull-pen”, the relief pitcher knows exactly what he has to do. He has
to go out to the mound, throw like there’s no tomorrow and get the batter out. That’s
not easy to do, to put your heart into every pitch, but it an essential part of
being a major league relief pitcher. Today St. Paul reminds Christians of their
primary responsibility extolling to, “…live
in a manner worthy of the call we have received…” which he then
expresses as living lives in a spirit of “…humility
and gentleness and patience”. In our efforts to follow Christ’s teachings
we must make a serious effort to, “bear
with one another though love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit. Just
like all successful relief pitchers, we who make a conscious decision to follow
Christ, must put our hearts into every pitch… that is, we must strive to live
each day mindful of the calling we have
received. It is no wonder St. Paul compares himself to the good athlete who
has, “competed well, finished the race;
kept the faith.”
It’s so easy to say, “I’m not worthy” of this call (and that’s so very
true). None of us are worthy! We know that we are damaged goods. We are
fragile, broken, sinful people who often lack humility, gentleness, compassion,
and patience. No argument there, right? What makes us worthy is the One who makes the call. Like the
manager who picks up the phone and dials the “bull-pen”, Jesus has deemed us
“worthy” to share in His love and mission for our world.
A good relief picture doesn’t get to the Major League without a lot of
practice. It is the same for being a Christian. We need to practice every day;
we need to practice being humble; we need to practice being gentle and patient;
we need to practice being generous, forgiving, and long-suffering. There are
many virtues that we need to practice. And the more we practice, the more we
deepen our relationship with Christ and with one another to form “the one body and one spirit”, together seeking
to live lives “worthy of the call” we
have received.
Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom
No comments:
Post a Comment