Last will be First

Today’s Scripture reading http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles%2016;%20Psalm%20106;%20Matthew%2019

So he left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required;  – 1 Chronicles 16:37

Then Peter said to Him, "Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” – Matthew 19:27

How many pastors, missionaries or others in vocational ministry ask the question Peter asks in Matthew 19? 

Unlike the economies of the market place, we are not rewarded with profits if our supply meets the demand, if our location is ideal, if our services are provided with efficiency, effectiveness and quality. Ministry vocations function within a different economy, with alien principles and affective rewards and heart-rending consequences.

Like Asaph and Peter, ministry is a vocation of leaving, following and serving. 

It is a daily discipline to keep true to the calling and leave the rewards of the market place to those you serve.

So, how does Jesus answer Peter’s question? 

 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.”

I see pastor Muller, his family and his staff living and serving at Bomoi Ya Sika. I see their ministry like a line-up of children before God. They scour the streets, find the lost ones and then introduce each precious child to God by name. As the child meets their heavenly Father, they are motivated to go find others at the back of the line to come forward and meet their new Father. And then they do the same for others. The last become the first, the first seek out the last.

As we minister, we participate with God in the lives of others. We help people go from the back of the line to the front… where they meet face-to-face with their creator. Then, they too participate and draw others to the front of the line. 

In the process we call each other brother & sister, son & daughter, papa & mama... this is church. Could this be our eternal inheritance? Could this be the kingdom on earth? If so, how much more precious than the rewards of the market economy! We receive a growing family!