The startling call of God


The stories of Christmas tell of God's call. Ordinary people are called to do extraordinary things- perhaps none more so than the teenage Mary, visited by an angel. The early chapters of Luke's gospel shimmer with angels- speaking to Zechariah in the temple, announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary and filling the skies above the Bethlehem shepherds. Unmistakeable signs that God was at work in His world, speaking to his faithful people. Calling them to lift their eyes from their everyday tasks, from their plans and their purpose, from what disappointed them and what they thought would get them through the next day, to a bigger vision of what life could be.

 Simeon says
'For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all the nations:
a light for the revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.'
                                                           (Luke 2: 30-32)

 God's call on Paul's life was just as dramatic and unmistakeable. When the light shone on the Damascus road and he heard a voice, he had no doubt that it was God. When Paul describes his experience to Agrippa at the end of Acts, he uses words very similar to Simeon:

 The Lord said 'I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
                       (Acts 26: 16-18)

 The season of Advent reminds us that God speaks into the lives of His people- both those who are listening intently and those who are trying their best to ignore Him! 

 What might God be saying to you this week? Look out for the shimmer of the unexpected!

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