Over the years my wife and I have put together ‘our team’ – the group we want on our side if things ever get really bad. Jack Bauer and Bruce Willis are on it. There’s Matt Damon from the Bourne movies, Robert Duvall as Gus in Lonesome Dove and Hub in the movie Secondhand Lions. There’s Denzel Washington and Sean Connery from a host of movies and even Optimist Prime.
I thought of this yesterday, when reading Luke 5, as Jesus was putting together ‘His team’. He had just healed a leper and paralytic. Today, they would have been good candidates for most teams. Think of the crowds that would gather to hear their story. But Jesus tells them to go home. Instead He picks a fisherman and a tax collector; what’s up with that?
Well of course Jesus knows all things. But as I thought of that, I thought of how we are today. Those first two would have been encouraged to write a book, go into the ministry, or at least travel around giving their testimony. But I saw, among other things, that having the spectacular happen to you does not necessarily make for a calling.
Ministry is hard work. Ministry takes people, like Simon the fisherman, who are willing to work all night, catch nothing, then get up the next day and do it again. Ministry takes those, like Levi the tax collector, who will not be afraid to look you in the eye, no matter what your circumstances, and tell you what you must do.
It is good to remember that when Jesus was here physically, He had physical limitations. He was looking for a few good men for a specific task. Today though, He does not have the physical limitations. He can use all in an endless number of ways. Though the opportunities have now changed, the requirements to fill them have not. He is still looking for a few good men.
Hunger and Thirst 