Little stuff counts

From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus who is called to be an apostle  and who is set apart for God's good news.

Let's take a minute today, this Monday morning, this last Monday of September, to recognize the identifiers here:

Paul, the man previously named Saul or previously called Saul.

A slave of Christ Jesus. Sounds terrible in the short run, wonderful in eternity. A slave? Really. I have this job, this preaching gig, this important thing to do. Am I really a slave? Well, only on the good days, the days that Billy shrinks and Jesus grows and I understand that I'm capable only when that is preceded by my willingness.

An apostle. The gentle definition is "person sent on a mission." The narrower definition is the 12 men chosen by Jesus plus Paul. It gets a bit more complicated with that old Judas thing and the fact he was replaced, but we'll go with person sent on a mission. Paul, without question, was that. He struggled with the notion that he didnt' know Jesus during his lifetime, but of course we have the Damascas experience where Jesus apparently separated Saul from his ride.

Who is set apart for God's good news. Well, this friends is Paul, and it is us. We are set apart. We are called to deliver the good news. It's called the Gospel, and it is certainly that which sets us apart.

Now, these first few words from the book of Romans were designed by Paul to let the readers from Rome know who he was.

I believe they let us know who we are as well.

So, today when you go to the grocery, you're going as someone set apart. When you go to the hairdresser, you're going as someone with good news. When you go to the get the oil changed, you're going as a person on a mission.

You might not be Paul. No one has ever been. But you can be the best Margie and John and Ricky and Mary and whomever you are. Every little thing counts. Everything.