Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Priests; Called for the
Divine Ministry
“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care,
serving as overseers-not because of you must, but because of you are willing,
as God wants you to be…” (V.2)
Peter writes this letter to them who were suffered because
of intense persecution and to encourage them to stand firmly and endure the
suffering for the sake of Christ. The theme of 1 Peter is “the living hope in
the midst of suffering”. In this passage Peter wrote to the leaders of the
church, to encourage them to do their work faithfully. Leaders who run away in
times of difficulty are showing that they are not true shepherds. Here Peter
urges us to change our priorities into Jesus’ way of life.
Peter urged the leaders to shepherd the believers. As
Christ had instructed him to feed His sheep (John 21: 17), Peter instructs the
leaders to feed the flock not out of a sense of limitation, greed or profit,
but out of the heart of one that cares for the welfare of those that committed
to is loving care.
Jesus teaches us to love the one whom we are considering as
not worthy enough to be loved. He is challenging us to notice the unnoticed,
because our single touch can make wonders. Here in this passage Peter explains
the framework of God’s actions for this world. If we apply this framework in
our lives, it will become a true model of the body of Christ (Church). Today we
are living in a greed based society. It always gives importance for market
ideologies. Selfishness of humanity is giving no room for people with
deformity, caste, gender, color, ethnicity etc. The choice here is between the
idols of life negating systems and the God of life that Re-forms people and
leading into wholeness. As the head of the Church, Christ calls us to uphold
diversity for the sake of unity, so that dominance and otherness are destroyed
and wholeness will be realized. As the members of the body of Christ we are
called out to make an alternative model in the society. As we are called out
for the Kingdom values, we have to be the channel of wholeness in the lives of
the people and the society. Like Jesus, we need to show courage to confront all
the unhealthy doings which destroys the life of the people. Our confrontation
should not be a compromising one.
Once a villager went to a Mission Hospital for treatment
and he was quite poor and uneducated. He was in the queue for his turn to come.
Then suddenly a man asked him, why are you come here for checkup? Here
medicine and treatment is very expensive. And he also asked, why can’t
go to the govt. hospital where you can get free treatment. The
villager replied, “I know there is a govt. hospital and I can get free
medicines and checkup and I even know both the hospitals are giving same
medicines” but the uncommon thing is that “the giving hands are different”. God
calls us to be different in all our ways. Our ministry should be a ministry of
identify with others.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to fulfill your
commandments, continually reflecting on your love and respond to your call to
change the world, where we are Amen.
Thought for the Day: “We are able to go
through the most terrible places fearlessly, because Jesus in us will never
deceive us. Jesus in us is our love, our strength, our joy and our
compassion.”(Mother Teresa)
Rev. Santhosh
John, Sirsi Mission, North Karnataka