Be an Agent Called by God

2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Scripture: St. John 1:40-51

Has the Lord ever called you for special works of labor for the kingdom of God? Are you aware of your uncharted gifts for the kingdom? One must be aware to venture out of their comfort zone.

Andrew is a man of a faith that allowed the Lord to use him. Only on 3 different occasions do we see Andrew center staged:

• He brought Peter to Jesus. Jesus looked at Peter and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter, Aramaic for “rock.”
• He found the lad with 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed the 5,000 men, the women, and the children. There were 12 baskets of crumbs picked up afterwards.
• He took the Greek man to meet Jesus.

Andrew was in the shadow of Jesus’ ministry. As Jesus prepares to leave Galilee, he finds Philip and says “Follow Me.” Philip, Andrew, Peter, and Nathanael were all from Bethsaida. Nathanael’s reaction was, “Can anything good come from there?”

Jesus tells Nathanael where he first saw him, under the fig tree. Nathanael confesses “You are the Son of God, the Messiah.”

We are all guilty of thinking we have nothing or little to offer the Lord. Only when we surrender ourselves to the Lord do we encounter many of our abilities to labor in the vineyard of the Lord.

Examples of people who answered the call:

• Ed Gladish
• Tim Voll
• Judy Lints
• Casey Archer

Maybe you haven't been recognized. Maybe you are living in the shadows, sort of like Andrew was. As servants of God, we should strive to make sure He gets the credit, not us. We should strive to be selfless so that we can be effective witnesses to God’s work in this world. Let us come together and pray.