Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were to know precisely what it is that the LORD wants us to do; If we were to know where we were to place each foot step. A lot of people lament that they cannot possibly know the will and purpose of the LORD God; others, sure that it is possible to fathom the mind of the LORD, look for indications with detailed preciseness on every decision.

The extremes of living displayed by many of us demand such great quantities of energy that we shouldn’t be surprised if we ultimately are disappointed or frustrated. I don’t want to give the impression that the issue is simplistic and naive; but it is not such a complicated affair as we sometimes make it out to be!

Developing our train of thought, let us look at Saint Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian fellowship: When anyone is united to Christ, there is a new world; the old order has gone, and a new order has already begun. (2 Corinthians 5: 17, NEB)

We have to start where we are and we happen to be a part of the new order, part of the community of the redeemed, part of those who have been baptized into Christ’s death and his Resurrection on the Eighth day. Jesus’ Resurrection ushers in a new order. It begins the week of redemption by God restoring our relationship with him. The new order has begun with the empty tomb and the Risen Lord who has forgiven our sins now long forgotten.

Incorporated into the new creation, we discover that we have all been enlisted in the reconciling ministry that has belonged to God from first to last. The image is that of military service and our minds are quick to present a scene of militancy, Now we know that enlistment brings with it a sense of duty, but more than duty, it also brings with it a sense of loyal obedience to those in whose service we find ourselves.

That duty is not always fulfilled and we know that several options lie ahead of us. Either we are serving on the front lines, engaged in the conflict, or we may be loitering around the barracks or perhaps we have gone away without leave — AWOL! We know where we are and we know how the Scripture speaks to us in this instance. We also know that this has been the work of God, and that it continues to be his work: the reconciliation that restores unity arid harmony in the new order. Paul wrote the same encouraging news to the faithful in Ephesus: He has made known to us his hidden pupose — such was his will and pleasure determined beforehand in Christ — to be put into effect when the time was ripe: namely, that the universe, all I heaven and on earth, might be brought into a unity in Christ. (Ephesians 1: 9-10, NEB)

Paul is speaking to us in a language of interpretation - interpretation of the LORD’s saving activity in Christ Jesus. The unity sought for by God is noneless than that found in Jesus himself. It is not the fabricated unity of like-minded men determined to realize their will and ambition. It is the unity and harmony that is generated out of the love that finds its expression in forgiveness.

The enlistment is not imaginary. Jesus took steps to put this service in place on the evening of his Resurrection. We know the scene well… Late that Sunday evening, when the disciples were together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. "Peace be with you!" he said, and then showed them his hands and his side. So when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus repeated, "Peace be with you," and said, "as the Father sent me, so I send you." Then he breathed on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive any man’s sins, they stand forgiven; if you pronounce them unforgiven, unforgiven they remain." (John 20: 19-21, NEB)

It is clear enough: the resurrected One calls us and invests us with his Spirit and charges us in terms of reconciliation. If you forgive, says Jesus. Can you imagine not wanting to forgive sins after knowing yourself the sweet savor of sin forgiven by Jesus himself? Certainly Jesus’ comment is rhetorical, begging a question that can only be responded to with the same divine imperative issuing from Paul’s pen writing to the Corinthians.

While the 23^rd verse of the Gospel passage is incorporated into the prayer of ordination of a priest in the Church of God, we dare not interpret the passage in any exclusive way. Paul ensures that we won’t! We cannot seek to know the LORD’s will and purpose for ourselves only to insulate ourselves from it once it makes itself clear. We are not so much seeking the LORD’s will for others as we are for ourselves and for others only insofar as we are bound up in those relationships that reflect God’s love.

John enlarges our vision elsewhere in his Gospel: (Jesus said) "I give you a new commandment: Love one another; as I have loved you, so you are to love one another. If there is this love among you, then all will know that you are my disciples. (John 13: 34-35, NEB)

The commandment is new, and fresh and relevant to our life’s experience: we are to love one another as Jesus has loved us. The implication is that Jesus’ expectation is directly proportionate to our perception of his love expressed towards us, in personal ways. If he has not loved us, we do not have to love one another. Jesus makes us look for the expression of his love that has been significant in our lives. And as our vision becomes clearer, we then can comprehend how it is that we are to love one another: out of a heart motivated by the knowledge of sins forgiven. This isn’t speculative theology. It is the very stuff of our relationship with the LORD.

That’s how Jesus perceived the Father’s will for him. I have glorified thee on earth, he prays in the Upper Room, by completing the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4, NEB) In fact, there is no other way in which Jesus could have glorified the Father apart from completing the work which he had been given.

Anything short of completion would not have been glorification. A task half done remains a task that needs to be completed. And so it is with us. This has been the work of God from first to last, this ministry of reconciliation. Not defined in such a way so as to distance ourselves from it, but we know that that is the work into which we have been called — we’ve been enlisted. We know the Father’s purpose, no longer hidden but now revealed in Christ Jesus, and we must decide whether or not we intend to enter into this work. But make no mistake: we cannot, we will not glorify the Father in anything less than the completion of the work which he has given us to do. The opportunities for ministry are different for each one but the will and the purpose of the LORD God cannot be more plain. Our acceptance of his call cannot be less plain.