Reflections - Are you the Chosen One?

Are you the Chosen One?

King Saul of Israel, dithered. To attack or not to attack. His men too were getting restless at his indecisiveness, seeing the Philistine garrison camp across the valley was ripe for the picking.

God wasn’t answering Saul’s prayers and Prophet Samuel was missing in action. Hence, the status quo.

Meanwhile, his son Jonathan, who was at another location, away from where Saul was, told the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us; for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.” 

And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that your mind inclines to; behold, I am with you, as is your mind so is mine.” (1 Sam 14:7)

And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me; for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel.”

Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they (Philistines) fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him; and that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, was of about twenty men within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. 

And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked; and it became a very great panic. (1 Samuel 14:1-16)

Nobody is born a leader. They become a leader when elected or appointed to a leadership position. Some like Jonathan, King Saul’s son, assume leadership, to do what needs to be done; not wait for leadership to be thrust on them.

King Saul, who loved rituals, waited for Prophet Samuel to come, to make the offering to God, to get God’s blessing to attack.

Jonathan, on the other hand, had the confidence in his God, trustingly expressed, “it may be that the LORD will work for us; for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

They attacked the camp, just Jonathan and his armor bearer with God on their side. Their uncharacteristic attack threw the Philistine camp into complete panic.

One essential element of being a leader is having followers. Without followers, the 'leader' is only an administrator. To be a leader is something special. Only few can be leaders. They need to be chosen.

Jonathan was blessed with an armor bearer (follower), who spoke like a prophet or like God himself, “Do all that your mind inclines to; behold, I am with you, as is your mind so is mine.” (1 Sam 14:7)

To be a chosen leader you need God’s anointing, for sure. The anointing from God, above everything else, insulates the leader from fear.  The bad stress that fear causes inhibits clear thinking. A mind freed from fear is capable of astounding achievements. A given expectation from a true leader. With God at hand every decision is a blessed one. You will not be prey to deceit. Your ways will be well-ordered.

Saul had the anointing but he did not live up to the merits of the anointing. He did not execute God’s directive. He was afraid of his own people deserting him.  Not a sign of a fearless mind confident of God’s presence in his life. Jonathan had what was missing in Saul. God, however, compensated through Jonathan.

King Saul was appointed by Prophet Samuel who until then was a Seer and Judge over the people of Israel. He had grown old and the people were not impressed with Samuel’s sons, who Samuel had appointed in his place to be Judge over the people. 

The people wanted to be led by a King. That was the case with other nations. Their King fought for their nations against Israel. By their demand for a king, the Israelites were rejecting God as their King, who brought them out of Egypt and from slavery.

God gave Samuel the permission to give the people a king. Samuel wanted to cling to his authority over the people and so appointed a Prophet-led King who would do his bidding.

He picked on Saul who had the personality to be King. Saul was anointed. God’s spirit came upon Saul. It was clearly a compromised situation. It did not go well. Saul failed God by not following the instruction to completely annihilate the Amalekites – every one of them - and not taking any of their possessions. Saul and his people did not obey God neither in spirit nor in letter. (1 Sam 15:15)

The anointing left Saul soon enough (and so his dithering when faced with an important decision). The anointing moved on to a “ruddy’ youth, David, who would become King over a united Judah and Israel and reign for 40 years.

The anointing never left David even though he sinned with Bathsheba (David’s Hittite General’s wife) and ran a census of his people that displeased God. Jesus comes from the line of David through Joseph and Mary, through their paternal lineage going up to King David.

The leader must be endowed with a clarity of mind and purpose and be unstinting in executing God’s given plans.

Abraham Lincoln was one such leader. He governed the United States during the toughest part of American history. He governed with a ‘team of rivals’ who had contested the presidency against him. 

Abraham Lincoln had the anointing. He was clear-eyed about who can help him achieve the aim of his presidency. He inducted his 'rivals' into his cabinet because they were the best he had on hand. He needed the best to achieve his aim of emancipation of slaves; to abolish slavery forever. Like Jonathan, Abraham Lincoln took it that God was with him. He read the Word of God every night and before every important decision. Abraham Lincoln, was emblematic of ‘servant leadership’.

Jesus, of course, stands apart, in ‘servant leadership’ and executing God’s plan. He too created a cabinet of twelve with the most unlikely folks to take his message to the corners of the world. 

Judas, who betrayed Jesus, and committed suicide from remorse, was replaced, by an intellectual and a persecutor of Jesus' followers before his conversion at Damascus.

St. Paul was relentless in taking the message to what we today know as Europe, and to the gentiles, taking Jesus' teaching beyond the Jews to all humanity. 

The fact that he was Roman helped take the message to the seat of the empire, which continues today as the seat of the Roman Catholic church where St Peter's successors govern the church of over a billion believers.

Jesus' short ministry on earth of three years followed a strict two-fold plan or pattern: pray and preach.

We read in Mark 1:35-38 & Luke 4:42-44

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You!”

But Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach there as well, for that is why I have come.” So He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Even though He was Son of God, He did not seek equality with God, but did what His Father wanted Him to do. 

And, He had a lot to do.

Heal the sick. Feed the multitude. Deliver the possessed. Occasionally, raise the dead to life. Mighty works that overshadowed Jesus' real ministry: to preach ... always preceded by deep prayer to know God's will for the day.

Miracles, frankly, did not take much of Jesus’ time. It just happened.

In Luke 17:14, When (Jesus) saw them (the lepers), he said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed”

The woman with the ISSUE OF BLOOD touched the helm of His garment and immediately sensed she was healed. (Luke 8:43-48)

Most times it is Jesus who initiated and willed the healing. Taken aback by the incidence of healing without his explicit doing, Jesus asked who touched him. He appeared visibly weakened as power flowed out of him.

Jesus’ diffidence to perform the miracle at the wedding feast of Cana, His very first, perhaps arose from a sense of unpreparedness to perform the miracle, but more importantly, he sensed or more likely knew that it would trigger His imminent walk on Calvary.

These episodes in the Bible underscore the importance of prayer to strengthen oneself before a performing a miracle (or as a corollary to our own life, praying before undertaking any major task or crucial decision).

This discipline of God's anointing on the decision is so critical when you are operating in a leadership position.

Jesus invested his time on teaching. The miracle happened as and when. As an all-knowing God, He knew that what will get his disciples, you and me, through challenging times is knowing, understanding and adhering to His teachings.

Jesus’ teachings are the most precious words ever spoken with 4000 years of history behind it since Abraham was called to leave his ancestral home and journey to the promise land. Difficult to put a time to the creation of the universe. Jesus words would effectively be that many years old.   

Such is the weight and aura of his teachings that how we receive it and what we do with the teachings we have heard makes a profound difference to what we achieve on earth - especially for leaders - who are put in their positions or assume such positions.

We need to hear the word reverentially, not merely, as a feel-good story. It is not one. Allow it to soak into our senses. When we breathe in deeply, we can feel the breath touching every organ, sinew, muscle and vessel in our body. We must take in the Word of God as with a deep breath. Allow it to touch every part of our senses. And, most importantly, put it into practice consciously. For practice leads to perfection of our spirit with the spirit of god. 

The miracles brought attention to Jesus’ words. His teaching was challenging in His time, and is challenging even now. Knowing and living the Word is hard. It is like doing a Ph.D. It is a lot of hard work – research and coursework. But worth the effort for the singular discovery of the research, to defend it before the jury. 

As you would have to, if ever called before the authorities, to stand up for your belief.

In Daniel 3, we read about the Jewish exiles, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, appointed by King Nebuchadnezzar to the highest positions in Babylonian Empire: to oversee the affairs of the province of Babylon. Along with that exalted responsibility came the demand to bow to the golden statue King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. They declined. They were thrown into a fiery furnace “heated seven times more than it was usually heated”.

The event had a happy ending.

Nebuchadnezzar saw “… four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” His astonishment was such that he “decree(d): Any people, nation, or language that speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”

From where comes such faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and their devotion to God?

Most who listened to Jesus’ teaching, it was water off ducks back (“building on sand”). It did not stick. Or when it did, it was shaken off. It did not wear well on them. For the teaching hinged on one word, LOVE. God is Love. Love meant sacrifice – of bad habits, ego, fears and possessions – of all attachments. 

Out of our desperation for miracles we are willing to go on a limb and do whatever to obtain it – often straying from the Lord’s teaching itself – going to fortune tellers or those promising healing through witchcraft. Talk about desperation when the Word is not in you.

Why do we seek miracles when we should be seeking The Word? For “In the beginning was The Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God”.

For God to reach us in this cacophonous world is becoming increasingly difficult. The distractions are too many. Wanting to know the Word is a conscious and deliberate decision. It does not happen just like that. God too must have a hand in it. He must choose you. God is selective. Only few are chosen.

Are you one of them?

Life is too chilled for most of us. We have not walked through our ‘valley of darkness’ to desire the “rod, the staff, and the sling of Our Shepherd” to guide and protect us. When the ‘storm’ hits we try to do catch up like the five virgins who ran out of oil when the bridegroom, delayed, but finally showed up. (Matt 25:1-13). Better late than never. 

If admission to Harvard is hard. Imagine admission to God’s Kingdom through the Word of God. Harder. Few qualify. Only grace and merit count.

A graduate from Harvard goes into law, medicine and investment banking. They also become presidents of the most powerful country in the world. 

A graduate from God’s university goes to win soul for His Kingdom. His or her presidency when his or her time is up on earth (I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7) is in the most fabulous place in the universe, Heaven, where not mere mortals, but angels will attend to him or her.

Given a choice what would you rather go for your studies and life thereof? And, that’s the hard choice before us, in a manner of speaking. It means giving up on many things that can give you ‘worldly joy’ for the eternal joy.

You may make the choice in a state of euphoria enchanted momentarily by the Word you heard or a miracle in your own life. But, for the decision to really work out you need to be chosen. 

Intent may exist but to choose such a path for yourself has its risks. Commitments are made in a moment of time. Sustaining the commitment is the challenge.  On our own strength it is impossible. We are not made for the rigor of the commitment - the dependence on God for our shelter, clothes and provision; the living in a community and not with our own family, and conversely, the solitariness of mission work. You need God’s anointing to walk faithfully to see your mission (His mission, really) through.  

Of ten who choose the religious path only two make it and one truly lives the vocation.

Are you the one?