Carrying out Orders
Wednesday, 4th week in Easter
Acts 12:24 - 13:5; Jn 12: 44-50
I always love conducting the game, "Jesus Says" for kids. It is an adaptation of the famous scout game: SM Says. The kids are instructed to carry out any order that is given with the prefix, 'Jesus Says' - for instance, Jesus says Sit down or Jesus says Hands Up etc. They are not to carry out the orders that are without the prefix - for instance, sit down or hands up etc. It is fun but has an important message to give. If I am a true disciple of Christ I will do just what he says. Jesus did that: he did only what his Father said!
It is one thing to do just what the Lord says. It is yet another thing, and more important, to do all that the Lord says! We become choosy at times, doing what suits and leaving what causes inconvenience. The first reading speaks to us of how the early Christian community paid heed to what the Lord had to say, and carried out orders to the dot. Has that tendency become extinct today? Do we hear, listen and attentively carry out orders from the Lord or are we busy making sure our own orders are carried out? How many local churches are in trouble these days, I wish not to pin the cause on anyone - the people or the ministers or the so-called bigwigs. But the reason is, we have moved far from carrying out the orders from the Lord. We have our own opinions and wishes to be fulfilled and justified.
Can we return to that original spirit of Carrying out Orders!
