21.05 | Dragons & Destiny
Ephesians 4
‘As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.’
Ephesians 4:1
My twelve-year-old daughter Estie is a writer. She loves fantasy, and so most of her books include stories of imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, cruel enemies and heroes and heroines who win through kindness and courage.
Her first trilogy is called Here Be Dragons. It tells the story of a girl, Gale Windstroth, who is captured from her home by a (friendly) dragon, carried out to sea, and journeys through a whirlpool into a fantasy realm. Here she joins with four other dragons and four other children, to fulfil an ancient prophecy to defeat the evil Forthlivas. As the children begin their journey in this other world, they, in the deep and beautiful caverns of the dragons, are given special powers and told of their purpose.
It’s a gripping start to the story. And it grips us because of something that is inherent in every great story.
Purpose.
The children are called to come and do something.
The trends of religious conversation in the Western world in the past decades, in a world of increasing religious plurality, navigated by the ideals of tolerance, has been to internalise spirituality. Spirituality has become the realm of personal wellbeing and individual flourishing — another layer to our endless projects of self-improvement, a complimentary add-on to our exercise plans and diet plans and career plans. The spirituality of the Western world has become a privatised set of personal beliefs, formulated around each individual’s personal preference. It is spirituality without purpose, other than the endless tweaking of project me.
The Bible, however, will have none of this.
Why?
Because the Scriptures, from start to finish, describe a humanity that is intrinsically purposeful. From the mandate on Adam and Eve — to ‘fill the earth and subdue it’1 — to the call of Abraham — in who ‘all the families of the earth shall be blessed’2 — to the generous reign of Solomon,3 the sending of apostles,4 or the healing, delivering, saving, teaching, Kingdom-of-God-advancing ministry of Jesus — the relentless narrative of the Scriptures is that you, and I, were created to be purposeful creatures. Our God is on a mission, and has selected you and me to be a part of it.
Paul reminds us of this today, to ‘walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received.’ The King James Bible translates this as the ‘vocation’ you have received. To be called is to be purposeful. It is to participate. It is to be selected in order to do something. Your design has destiny. As Paul goes on to unpack the various shapes of leadership in the Early Church environment (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers), he identifies that they all have a specific focus. Not, as we might expect, to do the work of ministry. But rather, ‘to equip the saints for the work of ministry.’ As Jesus is described to have ascended to heaven, Paul says, he ‘gave gifts’ to all His people.
Apprenticeship to Jesus calls us daily to purpose beyond ourselves. You and I have been called into the realm of Jesus of Nazareth, to live fighting His battles, advancing His cause, and bringing forth His Kingdom. In every interaction, task, career choice, voluntary activity, and friendship. In our parenting and our singleness, in our marriages and in our hobbies. We, in the words of Paul, are the active body of Jesus upon the earth, ministering life and healing and truth and love in the ways that we walk and interact and live.
The great stories always include this.
And so does His Great Story.
Which includes you, and me, unto the conquest of all evil, the defeat of all His enemies. That the beauty and peace of our King advance into all the earth.
Reflect:
Check my heart. Where have I absorbed the ideas of our culture, of Christianity as a merely privatised affair?
Consider my day. What might my task list look like, if I were to view every one as participation in the unfolding mission of Jesus to bring healing, truth, and life to the world around me?
Pray:
Heaven Father ,
There’s a lot of things that keep me inactive:
Fear;
Doubt;
Uncertainty;
Apathy;
Distraction;
Overwhelm;
Fatigue.
And yet,
Loving Father,
I want my life to be unto the fullness of your call,
And not lived according to the banal indifference of our age.
I want my life to be a participation in the work of Jesus,
That those lives I touch be drawn towards the holy and the good.
I want my life to be filled with your holy power,
That, in this humble life,
Your cause be advanced,
The truth be declared with great love,
And the reign of darkness fall beneath my feet.
For thus is my vocation,
And, Lord, for this was I created.
Fill me afresh,
Unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
In His Name,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
2 Samuel 23-24 | Proverbs 15:1-12
Genesis 1:28
Genesis 12:3
1 Kings 2-10
e.g. Matthew 28:16-20