Grace in Christ 11

In Mark 3 Jesus called and sent the 12 apostles to go and proclaim His Name and do His work.  In an ancient hymn of the church, a hymn now 1000 years old, we see this call on them and on us.  “Let All on Earth Their Voices Raise” emphasizes in the first stanza that their call to serve was a call made by grace and accompanied with grace.  Here is the first stanza, “Let all on earth their voices raise, re-echoing heav’n’s triumphant praise
to Him who gave th’ apostles grace to run on earth their glorious race.”

We first remember that we were unfit to be used by God until He intervened by grace in our lives through the cross of Jesus Christ.  Being cleansed and forgiven of our sins through faith in Him we now are called to service for Him.  When we see the calling of the apostles, it is not just a passage in Scripture that reflects God’s actions at another time and place; it is the same God doing the same calling of us to the same service today.  By His grace we are saved, and by His grace we are sent. 

This ancient hymn continues with the nature of the ministry with which Christ charged them.  First they were to proclaim the gospel.  Every person on earth needs the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is not a complicated message.  It is the simple story of how God called us to His Son and how faith in Him has made us new people.  Everyone has their own story of faith to tell how God worked and wooed and made Christ real to them.  Tell your story and you will have shared the gospel.

Second they were called to care.  We get so busy that we often forget to care.  There are people all around us who are hurting, sick with disease of body and soul.  They hurt in their hearts as much as in their flesh.  Stopping to give an embrace of love, even if that embrace takes an hour, is not interrupting our lives, it is living our lives for Jesus.  It is being His disciple.  Caring for those outside the church and encouraging those inside the church is our call of grace to serve Him. 

When all this is done we will find the final call of grace, the grace to rest forever in Him.  The last stanza of this hymn presents this great hope, “And when the thrones are set on high and judgment’s awful hour draws nigh, then, Lord, with them pronounce us blest,
And take us to Thine endless rest.”  Let us labor and rest in His abundant grace. 

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