Are you a vehicle for God’s glory?
When, in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist cries, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the
sins of the world, he is serving as God’s messenger, giving voice to the
revelation that is Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God. As a prophet, John the Baptist has been
attentive to hearing God, his ears open
to obedience, as Psalm 40 suggests; it is to John that God has revealed his
glory – I have seen and testified,
John states. John is thus fulfilling the
duty set out by the prophet Isaiah: You are my servant, Israel, through whom I
show my glory… I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may
reach to the ends of the earth.
In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul recognizes a similar
vocation: he is called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. God works through Paul as he worked through
John the Baptist; Paul is another light
to the nations, bringing the good news of salvation to all. But Paul takes this message one step
farther: he reminds the Corinthians that
they have been sanctified in Christ;
baptized in him, they are called to be united in him, to find common ground in
Christ Jesus. And therefore, like it or
not, they are meant to manifest the Body of Christ in the world. In other words, they are to reveal God’s
presence on earth in all that they do and all that they are.
Truth be told, we are called to do no less: we must remain open to the God’s Word, allowing God to work in us, embracing our own role as messenger, and serving as a vehicle for the revelation of Christ in the world.
Truth be told, we are called to do no less: we must remain open to the God’s Word, allowing God to work in us, embracing our own role as messenger, and serving as a vehicle for the revelation of Christ in the world.
How might you reveal the glory of God to the world today?
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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