Ephesians 2:19-22
Psalm 19:2-3, 4-5
Luke 6:12-16
Summary
Jesus spends a night of prayer to God in the mountain. When day comes he
gathers his disciples and chooses twelve among them to become his Apos-
tles.
Reflection
At first glance this passage seems to convey very little in the actions and
words which comprise it, and thus made it challenging for me to reflect upon
it. But as I thought more of my life, in particular my professional life, I realized
that it conveys much, and there is business world context in which this reading
is relevant. And I think this is important because so often we tend to leave our
Christians hats on the rack at home when we leave for the office in the morn-
ing. Jesus makes a decision to “promote” some of his disciples to be the foundation of
God’s household here on Earth. In doing so, he is reaching out to these men and en-
trusting them with a huge responsibility, which requires an acknowledgement that even
the son of God cannot go it alone. He needed these men to spread the word of God
and carry out his works. This required the highest level of trust, and in fact, it was the
betrayal this trust that ultimately led to his death.
As an engineer by training who is now a manager leading
others in a large transportation agency, I have often
found it difficult to let go of the technical aspects of my
work, and often make decisions for others because of my
fear that they won’t get it right or won’t come up with as
a good of a decision as I would make. At times I find
that instead of coaching and encouraging others, I tend
to direct and own the process. This is not encouraging
trust or empowering others to achieve the goals of our
organization. I need to acknowledge as Jesus did, that I
need others to build a strong foundation. Without this,
whether it be business, religion, or in family life, the mis-
sion will likely not succeed. I think the key is trust and in
“walking the walk”. The disciples would certainly not fol-
low Jesus if they saw he was not true to God’s word, in