The meeting had begun by the time I slipped into the room. As I entered, persons were introducing themselves. One after another stated that he or she felt a special call or commissioning by God to be in service to persons living with AIDS.
I seldom hear people speak that way. I seldom hear people say with assurance that God has prepared them or called them or led them to a certain kind of work. And here an entire group of people affirmed God’s communication with them and a calling to particular service! They felt led to meaningful and purposeful work for which they were equipped. Their ministries would implement part of God's plan for reaching and loving all God’s family. Each was commissioned as a child of God and knew it.
Paul expresses to the Ephesians a powerful sense of God’s presence; God has commissioned him, blessed him. And like those persons mentioned above, his commission and call involves a particular group of people: the Gentiles. Paul writes from a Roman prison, identifying himself not as a Roman prisoner but rather a prisoner for Christ. Therefore, he shifts from victim to victor. And his inclusion of the Gentiles as fellow heirs with the Jews promotes a unity, a oneness.
Knowing who you are and understanding the work to which God has called you can instill purpose and confidence in you despite the circumstances. Who are you? How do you, like those noted above, sense your commissioning as a child of God? What is your call? What has God’s grace commissioned you to do? Whom will you serve?