And he called to him his twelve disciples... the names of the twelve apostles are these...
-- Matthew 10:1-2
It is really not the best way to start a movement; certainly not one intended to change a planet.
The roster is missing the names of A-listers. No moguls of industry. No celebrities. No national heroes. No influencers.
Instead, on this list are fishermen - not the kind with TV shows and endorsement deals - but the hard-living, smell-like-fish-innards type. A tandem of power-hungry brothers are on the list; Jesus calls them Sons of Thunder, and I don't think for good reasons. Then there is the smoldering animosity between a nationalistic religious zealot and a tax-collecting sellout to occupying Rome. (And we think our political climate is volatile.) A few other no-names are included. Oh yes, then there is a betrayer.
It is not the best way to start a movement; certainly not one intended to change a planet. But here is something to think on: EACH ONE WAS CHOSEN. Though some of these guys may have stumbled into Jesus' path (from their perspective), Jesus didn't stumble when he walked directly into their lives.
And what was true for them millennia ago, remains true today. We may take a stumbler's walk through life. But Jesus intentionally steps into our path. And he chooses us.
He chose us before we were. Forever ago from the glory of heaven (wherever and whatever that is), he saw us. He chose us. And at the risk of melodrama I will say, hanging from a gruesome bloody cross, he looked down once again - this time through swollen eyes, but with perfect vision - and chose us. And daily as we stumble, he chooses us.
By us, I mean for God so loved the world... US. Not just twelve. Not a select group of super-spirituals or special people. US. All of us, and maybe more powerfully, EACH of us.
It is not the best way to carry on a movement; certainly not one intended to change a planet. Or maybe it is.
God, you chose me, a stumbler. That blows my mind, breaks my heart, and gives me hope.
For now...
D
