The ministry we have is a participation in the ministry that has been invested in Jesus. We are called into ministry in the Church and we respond to the call in a variety of ways. Sometimes our response is more appropriate than at other times. We know the motivation of our heart and we can recognize that more often than naught, the nature our response is a good indication of our spiritual consciousness and maturity.

There is more to it however than hearing a call and making a response. In the final analysis we realize that we are sent. Paul put it in terms of our being ambassadors in the service of the LORD.

We do not always hear the call of the LORD God on our lives. We can ignore his voice sometimes and we can even misinterpret his call, thinking it to be something else. I don’t think that everyone even hears the call. But for those that do, we know from our own experience, and from our reflection on Moses' response, that hearing a call isn't as wonderful as some suppose. It's a demanding thing, hearing voice of the living LORD God call you into his service. We can readily understand the reluctance of Moses and know that whatever the nature or opportunity for ministry may be — if it is in the service of the LORD as a layman or as one called to Holy Order — it will necessitate a carefully made decision.

Some decide to serve the LORD, as did Joshua and the leaders of Israel. We know the practical issues influencing the situation. We know how difficult it was for the Rich Young Man addressing Jesus — only to find that he had to divest himself of his wealth, the hallmarks of his success in order to inherit the Kingdom. The decisions aren’t easily made and we shouldn't trivialize them, thinking they are! We have to recognize that while we are given the opportunity to make decisions, we are also given the privilege to make wrong decisions. If it were not that way then really nobody would ever make a decision but would simply respond in a mechanical way. That even happened with Jesus as we are reminded in John's Gospel, chapter 6, verse 66. Disciples of Jesus withdrew and no longer about with him. Jesus' heart would have been heavy, seeing those followers of his walk away. As he looked at their gaining distance from him temptation must have been great to cry out after them — Wait! That's not quite what I meant. Let’s talk about it!

No, that doesn't sound like Jesus. It sounds more like me. And perhaps you hear little of yourself there, too.

No, what Jesus did was to turn to the Twelve and ask, Do you also want to leave me? (v. 67) That is one of the most vulnerable questions Jesus has for the Twelve — and for us.

By choice and conviction we stay and stand by him.

Eleven of the Twelve were with him in the Upper Room on Easter night. You remember the scene:

Those that were called and responded to that call in faith were sent by Jesus into ministry. Full authority had been given to the Risen Jesus (Matthew 28: 18) and in that authority Jesus now sends his disciples… in ministry.

But the Eleven were not simply sent out of that room to begin to minister, Jesus didn’t go to the locked door and turn the latch. He didn't usher them out of the room. No, he makes it clear: we aren’t simply sent off to do our own thing the best way we know how. As the Father sent me, said Jesus — that is how we’re sent.

We’ve got to look at how Jesus was sent in the sense we too may be sent out by him. Obviously there are peculiar and unique ways in which Jesus was sent that cannot and need not apply to any other. His unique birth and his death on the cross. These are characteristic of Jesus. That's not what he means. He isn't suggestion that we are to become pale carbon copies of his ministry.

Others considered how Jesus was sent. We can profit from their observation and reflection.

John the Baptist testifies: I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize in water told old me, "When you see the Spirit coming down upon someone and resting upon him, you will know that this is he who is to baptize in Holy Spirit." I saw it myself, and I have borne witness. This is God's Chosen One.

Jesus in his anointing is revealed as the Chosen One and as the Gospel record tells us, is sent out, led away into the wilderness by the Spirit. His ministry begun, Jesus as Messiah takes fresh steps in familiar directions.

John, soon imprisoned, heard what Jesus was doing and he sent his own disciples with this message: "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect some other?" Jesus answered, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind recover their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to new life, the poor arc: hearing the good news." (Matthew 11: 2-6, NEB)

I’m not so sure that that’s the sort of answer I would have found acceptable if I were in John’s situation. I think I would have looked for a simple yes or no. Somehow I get the sense that the answer is more than what John was looking for — or was it?

Jesus answers each of us in terms that mean something to us and clarifies who he is for us in unambiguous ways. And that's what he did in answering John the way he did. John would have remembered the words of the Prophet Isaiah: The spirit of the LORD God is upon me because he has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the humble, to blind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and release to those in prison… (Isaiah 61: 1-2, NEB)

The message is clear: Jesus told John’s disciples to report what they heard and saw. They heard what was being done and they could hear witness of its authenticity. This was the expectation of the one who was sent by the LORD, the one who had been anointed by the LORD. John knew. Deeper than any answer could have confirmed in him — Jesus is the Messiah!

As Jesus was sent, so are we. As the Father sent Jesus, so he sends us. As the Father anointed Jesus in his ministry, so Jesus declares we will be sent with anointed ministries!

John’s Gospel enlarges on the Easter vent: Then he breathed on them, saying," Receive the Holy Spirit!"(John 20: 21, NEB)

The parallel is striking. Jesus prepares us for ministry as he himself was prepared. He inspires us with his Spirit so that we are filled by his Spirit. The peace and the joy of that otherwise frightening occasion witness to this. The pattern remains — Jesus still doesn’t unlock the door. There’s more. Much more.

At the end of the great Forty Days, Jesus cautions the disciples: And mark this: I am sending upon you my Father’s promised gift; so stay in this city until you are armed with the power from above (Luke 24:49, NEB)

And the same hand pens the familiar words in the Acts of the Apostles, "You must wait," Jesus said, "for the promise made by my Father about which you have heard me speak: John, as you know, baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and within the next few days... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will bear witness for me..." (Acts 1: 4-5, and 8, NEB)

Filled and anointed by Jesus’ Spirit, the disciples are sent. Then what they have to say and what they have to do transforms lives!

Jesus still calls us and he still fulfills the promise that we might be baptized in the Holy Spirit and that we would bear witness for him. We’d feel less uneasy perhaps if we used the term anointed. Somehow it disturbs and confuses us. But Jesus is clear: the promise of the Father, about which you have heard me speak, will certainly result in our baptism with the Holy Spirit.

And what did Jesus say, what had been his teaching? It's important for us to know what Jesus said. And for that we turn again to John’s Gospel: If you love me you will obey my commands; and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another to be your Advocate, who will be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. (John 14: 15-16, NEB)

and again,

and again,

Certainly there is nothing here that upsets or confuses. To know the Spirit as the one who will be with us forever, the Spirit of truth — to know the Spirit it as the one who will teach and bring to our remembrance — to know the Spirit as the one who will bear witness to Jesus — this is good news!

But Jesus goes on… When he comes, he will confute the world and show where wrong and right and judgement lie. (John 16: 8, NEB)

The Spirit convicts of sin, bringing us to repentance — and forgiveness. The Spirit does not condemn but rather moves in our heart so that we might confess and obtain pardon.

And Jesus concludes, When he comes who is the Spirit of truth, will guide you into all the truth. (John16: 13 NEB)

This is the picture painted by Jesus. He knew how the Spirit: was necessary and operative in his ministry and lie knows how he is still necessary for us if we are to be sent as he was sent.

Jesus indicates that this is his determined will: As the Father sent me, so I send you.

Then, and only then do we reach down and pick up our cross and join Jesus. Make no mistake; the crosses designed for you and me will never lead us to Calvary. No, our crosses are those tasks the LORD God has fashioned for us. Jesus saw this in completing the work which the Father gave him to do. Jesus was sent as deliberately as you and I and you and I, like Jesus, will only glorify the Father by completing the work he has given us to do in the anointed power of the Holy Spirit.