Our Vocation

We all need the weekly reminder of Christ. As we mature in our service to God we will see the wisdom of the appointment by which Christ has made it a matter of duty to break bread each first day of the week in remembrance of him.

There are several remembrances wrapped into one as we contemplate this feast. We are Christ's if we have voluntarily submitted our life-work to His cause. We have selected this vocation, that we would try to please Him above all else. Well might we ask ourselves, "Do we pursue our vocation as enthusiastically as we strive for equality in the fleeting world about us?" Our vocation is Christ. The apostle Paul illustrated this point, at perhaps its best, in the words addressed to the Phillipian brethren (3:7-11), "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead."

Everything was secondary with Paul to winning Christ, that is, all else besides the strict adherence to the Master's commands. This is an ideal disposition. Common sense will tell us that if we choose the vocation of a doctor, we will get poor results if we are constantly reading and practicing the vocational habits of a lawyer. And so with Christian discipleship. We cannot be forever reading, practicing, tolerating, and encouraging the ways and loves of the world which we have promised to forsake. They are poison to us. If we are to be expert at our trade, we must study it conscientiously, we must practice it regularly, and we must become keenly experienced to all its relative phases. Again we are advised by the words of Paul, to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us".

So as we remember Christ today and every day, we should be conscious of our pledge to do His bidding as best lies within us. We are desirous of giving him pleasure. Think what this means, to actually give him pleasure! We recall that much of His experience in the days of His flesh was anything but pleasant. And Paul wrote to Timothy, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution". Jesus' suffering was borne with an eye to the future, for we are told that it was the contemplation of the future joys that enabled Him to endure the cross. Your suffering and mine will be made easier to bear according as our faith and hope in the future is strong. The words of Peter are to the effect that it is an honor to be able to suffer for the Name of Christ, but none should suffer as a murderer, thief, evildoer, or busy-body.

We remember Christ for His overcoming the flesh, for His steadfast devotion to the Father, for His moral courage. He is our pattern. That is why we are eager to assemble here today. That is why we are anxious to refresh our failing memories that we are His brethren, that we are trying to fashion our lives like His in appreciation of the great love which He showed toward us in releasing us from the holds of permanent death. It is because of Christ that we hope to rise from the death state in the process of resurrection. It is our golden ambition to participate in the glories of the age to come. This can only be realized through the One Way, Christ.- the true Christ.

When we come to this meeting, we feel that we have fallen short. We have left things undone in our lives. What is wisdom in this case but to resolve to do better, to rededicate our lives to His service? Let us not delay one day longer. With the prospect of this great salvation before us, we dare not be slack, brethren. We need to read the Word daily to equip our spiritual man to be courageous and loyal to Christ. He was certainly loyal to us.

James Stanton

The Christadelphian Advocate, January 1954, pgs 13-14