These words of our adorable Lord are full of encouragement for all His disciples in all ages. They speak, first, of definite authority. Christ, we would say it with all reverence, was “a man under authority.” Time after time He affirmed that the words which He uttered had been given to Him of His Father to speak; and the works which He did had been given to Him of His Father to do. When men found fault either with His words or actions He threw the responsibility, as it were, upon the One who had sent Him. Likewise each one of us is “a man under authority.” And good will it be for us if, when our words or deeds are found fault with, we are able rightly to throw the responsibility on the Master who sent us, and say in truth, “You are not quarreling with me, but with Christ, for I am doing what He would have me do.”
Again, although the Lord Jesus was sent by the Father, He came willingly. He could say, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God.” And the great Apostle to the Gentiles in his turn could say, “The love of Christ constraineth us,” though a deep sense of his responsibility was ever present with Him. “Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.” God loves a cheerful giver. Our service should be an offering, not a tax.
Our Lord, although sent into the world, was not of it, and never became of it. “Your time is always ready,” He said to His brethren. Yes, they were of the world, and being in their own element, they could move about freely. But His time was not always ready. He had to wait for the set time of Him who sent Him. And so it is with those sent by the Lord Jesus. They also are not of the world. They are not to govern their lives by the world’s spirit and maxims and points of view. They have to obey their marching orders given by their Lord in heaven. But just as Christ enjoyed the peace of the Father in the midst of the world’s unrest and opposition, so He bequeathed His own peace to those who sought to represent Him in the same scene of enmity to God and hostility to His ways.
Lastly, our blessed Lord could say, “I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.” His meat was to do the will of Him who sent Him. And in this respect, too, the servant is to be as his Lout We are to follow His steps by bearing fruit to God. We have no business in life but to do the will of Him who sent us. The one and only end of our lives is to glorify God.
If the text with which we started grips the life, what abundant moral results will it produce! It will bring about submission. We are not our own masters. We are to obey the commands of the One who sent us. A sent servant goes about his master’s business, not his own. If he uses his master’s time or money for his own ends, he is guilty of embezzlement. How dare we squander time and talents in self-seeking if the Lord of glory has sent us into the world to serve Him?
If Christ has sent us, then His almighty power is at our back while we are acting within His instructions. Wonderful thought! He who sends us will not leave us in the lurch. We go not to battle on our own charges or in our own strength. O, to trust and go forward, even when we feel nothing but weakness! There is almighty power at the back of the word that bids us stretch out the paralyzed hand. If we believe, we shall commit ourselves to action, and thus we shall prove the power of His enabling.
It has been said that Moses was the most disinterested of men. Why? Because he had no other thought than to do the will of Him who had sent him. If we can say, “I am doing my Lord’s will,” what matters it if we are kept in a humble, obscure sphere? We shall not envy the prominent brother. A dewdrop accomplishes the will of God as effectually as a thunderstorm. The little violet glorifies its Maker as much as the tall sunflower. A notable saint of the eighteenth century said that if two angels were sent by God, one to rule a kingdom and the other to sweep a crossing, neither would find fault with his appointed work. The one who swept the crossing would do his business as cheerfully and zealously as the one who ruled the kingdom. Yes, and it will be better for us, in the great day, that we should sweep a crossing, if that be the will of Him who sent us, than rule a kingdom, if that be not His will.
“I would not have the restless will
That hurries to and fro,
Seeking for some great thing to do
Or secret thing to know.”
It gives peace of mind and deep satisfaction of soul to realize that we are doing the will of Him who sent us. We are prone to dictate to the Almighty what we are to do, and we may have to learn by experience what it is to have a broken will—and perhaps a broken heart—before we are ready to submit to our Lord’s directions as to our services, and to acknowledge that the end of life had been fulfilled if we accomplish His will.
The Lord does not wish the weakest or most obscure of His own to be so much flotsam or jetsam on the ocean of life. For the least of us “nobodies” He has a purpose. Only a few can be like the giant liners that forge their way across the Atlantic; but every one of us can resemble the small but busy craft that help to carry on the world’s commerce. Our text will prevent us from dissipating our energies in busy idleness, or sinking in the apathy of indifference because we have small gifts and no position. Those who have the smallest talents are in most danger of settling down in a state of lethargy, but the words, “The Lord has sent me into the world” sound like a trumpet-blast, wakening us to renewed activity and giving force and driving power to the life. If we are inclined to forget that our labor is not in vain in the Lord, and, looking at our own weakness and apparent lack of success, are ready to cry almost in despair, “Who am I?” may we summon up fresh courage by asking ourselves the vital question, “Who sent me?”