UNIQUELY GRACED May 31, 2020
We ponder today on one of the
oft-quoted chapters pertaining to talents, gifts and graces—Ephesians 4. The Apostle Paul famously expounded that each
person is endowed with different kinds of graces (talents, abilities, skills)
whose main purpose is to enable him to serve GOD and minister to his fellowman.
One cannot help but be amazed
by how the pandemic has brought a drastic change on how people patronize
talents and work. Where before, many are
obsessed with celebrities, relishing news and rumors, spending accumulated billions
worldwide on watching movies, attending concerts and live shows, downloading
songs and videos of their favourite stars—to the point that some of the world’s
highly paid people are celebrities—the pandemic brought that to a virtual end,
with no assurance of when things will go back to the way before. Where before, many people look down on
janitors and cleaners for doing the literally dirty work, they are now being
promoted as heroes worthy of respect and honor.
Where before, people think of doctors and health workers as like gods
who can bring the dead back to life (with some fearing and loathing them for
being highly paid and intellectually superior at the same time), the pandemic
made us realize that they are humans too—albeit soldiers of a deadlier war—and
as such, they also get sick and die, and need our support and prayers.
With the dearth of our usual
means of escape from the dreariness and misery of every day, there have been
reported cases of increase in mental health problems, divorce and domestic
violence. People spend much more time on
social media during lockdowns that many therapists the world over have reported
increased incidence in depression and anxiety.
Maybe we should take stock of the things that we used to fill our hours
on before, and evaluate their relevance to the kind of life and future we want
to have.
Ephesians 4 had many timeless
words for us: humility, meekness, patience, unity, peace, truth, wisdom,
renewal in the spirits of our minds.
These graces are freely given and available to all who are willing and
ready to receive. It also has our work cut
out for us, regardless of our civil professions and positions: apostles (missionaries
of GOD’s Word, and supporters of His work), prophets (calls people’s attention
to the reality of what is happening, and gives them hope for the future),
evangelists (proclaims the Good News of salvation, and calls people to
surrender their lives to GOD), pastors (a spiritual guide and watcher of
people, and takes care of their spiritual and emotional needs), and teachers
(explains GOD’s Word to people, so they can relate it to their everyday
realities, and get to know GOD’s Word more deeply).
We may think these works are
above us, but if we read closely, we realize that the graces are there to equip
us. As what the pastor said in this
Sunday’s message, GCQ means “God’s Chosen and Qualified”, while giving the
example of Gideon and his 300-strong army in the book of Judges chapter 7. It
is not that GOD calls the qualified to do His work here on earth, He calls ordinary
people who listen to and obey Him, AND THEN He qualifies them.
The chapter closed in on the
things that a person must do as evidence that these works are being done in his
life: speaking the truth in love; anger without sin, lasting only until sunset;
an end to greed and stealing but a culture of honest labor and generosity;
clean words that edify and encourage; an end to bitterness, wrath, anger,
clamor and whining, evil speaking or bad-mouthing, and malice; kindness,
tender-heartedness, and forgiveness.
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