I wonder do you ever think 'what have I achieved in my life' and what is the purpose? Why am I here and would I be missed if i wasn't. Whilst Christmas is over - I love the film 'it's a wonderful life' where the star after wishing that he hadn't been born, soondiscovers with the help of the angel Clarence that had he not been born, lots of peoples lives would be so different. It is a good old tear jurker and in the end the junior angel recieves his wings.
Maybe, almost childlike, we think - i still want to be something when i grow up and never reall feel we are fullfilled and even though we are already grown up we dream of what might have been or what we would like to be. Maybe at times in despondency we resort to self pity and wish we hadn't been born. But this is the life we have been given and as people of faith we are called to live that life.
The West End Musical Avenue Q in the opening song asks 'what can you do with a BA in english' and maybe we think like Princeton the puppet, if only i had done something else the road would be so much different now. Maybe our dream is of making millions but reality dawns in that even a significant bank balance might not bring happiness but rather a different type of problems.
So what is our purpose?
In Luke 4 Jesus announces his manifesto to the synagogue "the spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the good news, to bind up the broken hearted, to bring freedom to the captives....."
What an amazing calling and what an amazing role. Called by God to bring healing and to give purpose. But if that is the purpose of Jesus, then we as his followers are called to be Christ and to have the same calling. We are called by our life and our actions to preach, bind up, to bring freedom and release to those we meet. We might meet the same hostility that Jesus encountered even to the point of crucifixion but our path surely must be that to which God is calling us - however that might require a bit of faith on our part!
We might think - but who am I? I am not a priest or not important? I can't pray in public or do a reading. So I am exempt from all this stuff - but as St Paul reminds us in today's epistle no matter how insignificent the body part is - all have a role. And as the body requires all its parts to function so the body of Christ requires all its members to function. So what is God calling us to be?
On Sunday the 24th we had a christening at St Anne's - that adult can't be allowed to believe he is a junior Christian with no role but rather he too has a part to play in the life and minstry of the Church of Christ in Soho. All have a part.
Epiphany is about Christ being revealed. We all have a role in revealing Christ in our time. We can show him to those around and by our actions we can show the year of the Lord's favour.
Too often in the church, we are so much like a football match, where the action of a few needing a rest is watched by the majority who sit back and do nothing, yet they need exercise!.
All are called to live out their faith in action. We are called to be Christ in the community and to recognise no matter how small a part we have and how insignificant we may think we are, we are an intricate part of the body of Christ.
So what is our calling - have we fulfilled our purpose - or is it still waiting there to be grasped by us?
The Church of Christ can be so powerful if we as Christians take our responsibilty seriously and like our Lord fulfill that to which he has called us to do.
May we be given grace to fulfill the year of the Lord's favour.
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