Mark 3:13-15

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY

“He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach and … to heal.’

Mark 3:13

The selection and sending forth of the Apostles formed a new departure in the ministry of the Master, and the incident reveals the essential elements in the Christian ministry.

I. The solemnity of the call is seen in—

(a) The vocation. The call of Christ was in itself a solemn act, as being the expression of His own choice. The choice was not theirs, but His. The vocation was first His and then theirs. They simply obeyed His voice. Even so is it to-day. The ministry of Jesus Christ is not an office to which men are self-elected. ‘Do you think in your heart,’ so runs the question in the Ordination Office, ‘that you be truly called, according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ?’

(b) The intercession. Again, the solemnity of the call was increased by the events which preceded it. The call of Christ was consequent upon an ‘all night’ of communion with the Father.

(c) The ministry. How solemn the call when we remember the nature of the ministry. ‘He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth’: ‘with Him’ in fellowship; ‘sent forth’ in service. The order of their ministry is surely as significant as its nature. First, fellowship; then service.

II. The diversity of the choice.—From the solemnity of the Master’s call let us now reflect upon the diversity of His choice.

(a) Its beauty. If vitality involves variety, variety imparts beauty. Each Apostle was chosen, we may assume, not because he was similar to, but because he was different from the others.

(b) Its utility. Again, the utility of variety is as striking as its beauty. If there are many men and many minds, there must be also many methods. If twelve apostles were chosen to receive and transmit the teaching of Christ, we may be sure that no one man, no one school, no one church, has the whole truth. Schools of thought in the Church are like the shades of colour in light. Each colour disclosed by the spectrum is related to the rest, and only when all are blended do we see light.

(c) Its unity. The Apostles were as diverse in character as they could be, and yet underlying the diversity we must not fail to discern their unity. They were united by a common discipleship, a common sympathy, and a common supplication.

III. The activity of work.—The mission of the Apostles has been defined in the words, ‘He sent them to preach and to heal.’ Like the mission of their Master, it had reference ‘as well to the body as the soul.’

(a) Healing. Even as the apostolic mission embraced ‘healing,’ and the healing of ‘all manner of disease,’ mental and physical, so the Christian ministry must include within its scope the condition of the body and mind, with all the circumstances which in any way affect them. In a word, let it be said that nothing which concerns, even in the least degree, the well-being of man in flesh or spirit, as an individual or a member of society, can be excluded from the pale of ministerial activity.

(b) Preaching. And yet the ‘preaching’ must precede the ‘healing,’ not always in the order of time, but certainly in the order of thought. Physical concerns will be kept subordinate to the predominant claims of spiritual matters. First things must be kept first. As the body is more than raiment, so the soul is more than the body.

—Rev. Canon J. Denton Thompson.

Illustration

‘As our Lord appointed His Apostles, so they in their turn laid their hands on others to succeed them, from whom, through the same sign of laying on of hands, authority has been transmitted in an unbroken line to the bishops who ordain priests to-day. This ministry we believe our Lord appointed to preserve the visible unity of His Church, and as the channel of conveying His gifts to men. As things are we must confess that the visible unity of the Church is a lost ideal, for the restoration of which we must earnestly pray. But while we keep as clear as we can from condemning others, we must hold to our own convictions that the unity of the Church is a real fact, and the brotherhood a definite brotherhood. It consists in more than reverence for and endeavour to follow the example of our Saviour. There is one Lord, but there is also one Faith and one Baptism.’