Delegated Expectations

JAMES KING, A FORMER MISSIONARY TO AFRICA, TOLD OF A TRUE STORY ABOUT ONE PARTICULAR WOMAN IN ONE OF THE AFRICAN CHURCHES UNDER HIS CARE.

WHAT CAUGHT REV. KING’S ATTENTION WAS THAT THIS LADY WOULD NOT ONLY COME BY HERSELF TO EVERY SERVICE, BUT WOULD SOON BE MYSTERIOUSLY ACCOMPANIED BY A SCRUFFY, MAINGY LOOKING DOG.

HE WOULD ENTER WITH THE LADY AND SIT BESIDE HER DURING SERVICE. SHE SAT ON AN OUTSIDE SEAT NEXT TO THE AISLE. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE SERVICE, WHEN THE INVITATION HAD BEEN GIVEN BY THE PASTOR TO COME FOR PRAYER -- THE DOG WOULD COME ALONG AND TAKE HIS PLACE BESIDE HER AT THE ALTAR.

NOW, THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS LADY WAS THAT HER HUSBAND WAS KNOWN AS A HARD MAN AND ABUSED HER. IN FACT, HE BEAT HER SO SEVERELY FOR HER CHRISTIAN LIFE-STYLE, THAT ONE DAY, HE BEAT HER TO DEATH.

AT THE FUNERAL, THE HUSBAND EVEN WENT AS FAR AS TRYING TO INTERFERE BY OUT-RIGHT FORBIDDING THE PASTOR TO CONDUCT A CHRISTIAN FUNERAL FOR HER. VERY SAD.

AS TIME PAST FOLLOWING HIS WIFE’S DEATH AND BURIAL IT WAS ONLY HE AND THE DOG THAT WAS LEFT. THIS IS WHERE THE STORY TAKES AN INTERESTING TURN.

THE MAN BEGAN TAKING NOTICE THAT THE DOG DISAPPEARED ON WEDNESDAY EVENINGS ABOUT 7:00 AND DIDN’T REAPPEAR FOR ABOUT TWO HOURS. IT HAPPENED AGAIN ON SUNDAYS -- ABOUT 9:00 A.M. THE DOG WAS GONE AND RETURNED ABOUT 12:30. THE DOG DID THE SAME THING AGAIN THAT EVENING.

THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY MORNING THE MAN’S CURIOSITY WAS SO AROUSED THAT HE DECIDED TO FOLLOW AND SEE WHAT THE DOG WAS UP TO. HE SOON FOLLOWED THE DOG WHICH LED HIM TO THAT HUMBLE LITTLE CHURCH -- THE DOG WENT IN AND TOOK HIS SEAT ON THE AISLE AT SAT THERE WHILE THE SERVICE WENT ON.

AT THE CLOSE OF THE SERVICE, THE MAN WAS SURPRISED AND A LITTLE TAKEN-BACK TO SEE THAT AS SOON AS THE PASTOR GAVE THE “ALTAR CALL,” THE DOG GOT UP AND SUFFLED FORWARD TO TAKE A PLACE AT THE ALTAR WHERE HIS WIFE HAD PRAYED.

THE MAN WAS SO TOUCHED IN HIS SPIRIT AND SO BROKEN WITH CONVICTION THAT HE TOO WENT FORWARD AND GAVE HIS LIFE TO CHRIST. NOW THE DOG COMES TO CHURCH WITH A NEW MASTER.

JUST LIKE THIS STORY ABOUT THE FAITHFUL DOG, WE ARE TO BE FAITHFUL IN OUR WITNESSING FOR JESUS CHRIST. CHRISTIANS ARE IN THE GOOD NEWS BUSINESS!

THERE IS NO HIGHER PRIORITY FOR A CHRISTIAN THAN TO HEED THE LAST COMMAND OF JESUS TO ‘GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS.’ I AM NOT GOING TO TRY AND SAY THAT “IT IS SO EASY THAT EVEN A DOG CAN DO IT,” BUT I THINK YOU GET THE POINT.

EVANGELISM IS SHARING THE GOOD NEWS OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US. IT IS THE SACRED DUTY OF EVERY CHRISTIAN. IT IS DONE MOSTLY BY WHAT WE SAY AND HOW WE LIVE.

THIS IS POINT I THINK JESUS WAS ALWAYS TEACHING TO HIS DISCIPLES. JESUS KNEW THAT THE TIME WOULD COME WHEN HIS DISCIPLES WOULD HAVE TO TAKE OVER HIS WORK AND GO OUT INTO THE WORLD WITH THE REDEEMING GOSPEL.

THE UNIQUE THING THAT STRIKES ME THE MOST ABOUT THIS IS THE FACT THAT THE APOSTLES WERE COMMISSIONED BY JESUS TO TAKE OVER AND CARRY ON HIS WORK! IT WAS NEVER THE INTENT OF JESUS FOR THE DISCIPLES TO DISMANTLE ALL THAT HE DID BY GOING OUT AND STARTING SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.

JESUS WANTED THEM TO BE A PART OF IT. THAT IS WHY HE GAVE THEM A SHARE IN IT WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE COMFORTER, COUNSELOR AND INTERCESSOR THE HOLY SPIRIT.

JESUS IS EXPECTING US, JUST AS HE DID WITH THE DISCIPLES, TO CONTINUE HIS WORK IN HIS ABSENCE. AS THE FATHER HAD SENT HIM TO SPEAK HIS WORDS, TO DO HIS WORKS, AND TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THE SALVATION OF HUMANITY, SO HE EXPECTS US TO DELIVER HIS MESSAGE, TO DO GREATER WORKS THAN HE HAD DONE, AND TO GIVE OUR LIVES IN HIS SERVICE.

JOHN 14:12, “THE TRUTH IS, ANYONE WHO BELIEVES IN ME WILL DO THE SAME WORKS I HAVE DONE, AND EVEN GREATER WORKS, BECAUSE I AM GOING TO BE WITH THE FATHER.”

IN DOING ALL OF THIS WE ARE PROMISED ALL THE PRIVILEGES, ALL THE PROTECTION AND RESPONSIBILITIES THAT JESUS HAD DURING HIS MINISTRY. AS JESUS COMPLETED HIS TASK, LET US CONTINUE ON AND STRIVE TO FINISH OURS.

BECAUSE JESUS WAS THE FIRST TO SHARE HIS WORK WITH THE DISCIPLES WE MUST FOLLOW HIS LEAD AND SHARE IT WITH OTHERS TOO. AFTER ALL, THE GOSPEL IS NOT A SECRET TO BE HOARDED BUT A STORY TO BE HERALDED.

THE LAST THING ANY OF US AS CHRISTIANS WANT TO BE KNOWN FOR IS A BUNCH OF PEOPLE WHO DO NOTHING MORE THAN STUFF THEMSELVES WITH GOSPEL BLESSINGS WHILE OFFERING NOTHING TO THE MILLIONS WHO HAVE NEVER EVEN HAD A TASTE!