The Challenge: “Somebody else will take you”

After having commissioned Peter Jesus says this to him, “In all truth I tell you When you were young you put on your belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and somebody else will put a belt around you and take you where you rather not go.” (John 21:18) These words speak to all of us and indeed those in Christian leadership.  We need to let go of power and manipulation. We need to let go and let God.
The Prayer of Serenity,
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.  Amen.
To accept the prayer of serenity is to show maturity. We need the ability and the gift to discern the course of action to take. Doing nothing is doing something. Often, we tempted to act, from the position of power, because we want to control or we feel we are losing control. Jesus has a different vision from us, that Christians need to have the ability and willingness to be led by someone else and sometimes to a place where we rather not go. That is obedience. We are called to be obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit and that can often make us clash with those that are power driven.  Church leaders are called to be servant leaders, called to go to the unknown, proclaim and shift mind sets. Just like Jonah sometimes we rather not face humanity, rather be swallowed by the whale and to hide in its belly. But the Spirit in us says go and prophecy, go and do x, y, z. Sometimes we rather keep the peace and not to rock the boat, but that is God calling us to places we would rather not venture. Avoiding confrontation is always better. Cowards always live to see another day and fools go where Angels fear to tread. Our leadership is not of power or control, it is a leadership of powerlessness and doing the will of God who has called us and sent us. Finally, King Saul (1 Samuel 15) was rejected by God because he refused to follow through the mission of God. He was told to destroy completely the Amalekites, including crops and animals.  He kept King Agag alive and the loot in direct violation of the command of God. For this God sent Samuel his prophet to reject Saul as King and as we know David became the chosen one. We are also told that the Spirit of God left Saul, although he remained King over Israel God was no longer with him. We are called to follow Christ wherever he leads us or calls us and we need to trust him and through him we can have life in all its abundance. Amen
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