The Disciples - Part 8

He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Mark 3:16-19 ESV). I have searched and searched, and other than the same listing of disciples in the other gospels, I can't find this James anywhere else. He appears to be basically non-existent. Perhaps, as the younger of the two James', he was over-shadowed by the more outspoken James, son of Zebedee. That should give us a great deal of hope. For me, that God would call a no-name disciple is very encouraging. Do you think when Jesus called James, son of Alphaeus, that He made a mistake? Do you imagine Him saying, "Wow, I guess I got the wrong one.” Is that the Jesus you and I love and want to serve? Is He capable of such a mistake? Of course not! And, let me tell you this, He didn't make a mistake by calling you either. You may feel that you have no real place of service in God's kingdom. It may appear that all the "big names" do all the work of Christ in the church. But, make no mistake about it, God still calls those who will be lesser seen! He is still using those whose names appearing on the membership report will be the only public recognition they receive. During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade, which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war. First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea-lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky. Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner's caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, 'And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?' And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, 'We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.'" Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. But it is often the people with their "faces to the coal" who help the church accomplish its mission. You can count on it, and we'll find out when we get to Heaven, that Jesus had a specific purpose for James, son of Alphaeus. And, I just suspect, that whatever it was, he was the perfect choice for the job! Our Jesus makes no mistakes...including with you and me!