Early in life, as I tried to find my way, I decided to apply for a job as a bank teller. I’m not quite sure what possessed me to think that I could have a career in banking. Math was never my “thing” in school. I did not do well with counting and balancing. In 5th grade, I had to take extra math classes over the summer break to pass into 6th grade.
But I bravely took the plunge, passed the entrance exam, and became an official bank teller.
Balancing accounts
I was assigned to a supervisor who taught me the ins and outs of bank telling. An essential skill was balancing all transactions at the end of every workday. While I felt intimidated by all of the math I faced daily, I managed to do well. I slowly settled into the mundane work of counting and balancing
One day, after a particularly long day of counting, I went to balance my transactions. The goal was for all transactions to come out evenly, which I had been able to do regularly. However, on this day I came up with $10,000.00 short (you read that right) of the amount that should have been in the drawer. My heart began to race, and I called my supervisor, who said, “Don’t worry, these things happen. You will find the error in a day or two as you continue to work.”
Find the error
Trusting her advice, I went home with my heart in my throat, believing I would find the error. Unfortunately, as the week unfolded, I could not pinpoint my mistake. My supervisor was not happy and called me to her office. She made it clear that I needed to find the $10,000.00 quickly.
The day after meeting with my supervisor, I stayed at my desk after my shift was done, determined to fix the problem. Thankfully, after pouring through piles of papers and receipts for what felt like hours, I found where I had made an error. I shouted, “I found it!” Cheers went up from those around me, and then and there I decided bank telling wasn’t for me. I gave my two-week notice a few days later. My career in banking was over.
Short-lived but not a surprise
While my career in banking was short-lived, I wasn’t surprised by the outcome. Deep inside, I knew my life would not be normal. I knew the trajectory of my life would shoot me far from my homeland to where I’m now serving, Africa.
My career in banking, while short, helped me remember who I was and who I wasn’t.
I was an unlikely candidate for missions work. I didn’t have a ministry pedigree or any background one would expect that would be needed to qualify to work overseas. Those close to me wondered aloud (in as nice a way that they could, of course): What special talent did I have that I could use overseas? What did I have to offer that others couldn’t?
But I couldn’t shake the call. All these years later, as average as I may be, I’m still answering the call to go (Isaiah 6:8). I’ve found that those answering the call often look less like the obvious choice. We don’t appear to be the best suited for the job. Certainly, there are smarter, stronger, richer, and more popular individuals who could do what I get to do here. But whoever they are have never answered the call, so here I am.
Overqualified and considered unqualified
Jesus had the opposite problem. He was overqualified for His call. His life was spent mostly in obscurity, compared to the glory He was accustomed to in heaven. He was rejected and considered unqualified by those He came to save. Yet He never took His eye off the prize: you and I.
When it came time for Jesus to balance His transactions for the day, He made no error. His figures were perfect, but those around Him couldn’t believe Him. They couldn’t accept someone like Him could be the one they were waiting for.
But He knew who He was.
In Luke 4:1-21 we find Jesus, who had just begun His ministry in areas outside His home region where people knew Him, standing up and quoting Isaiah’s proclamation of what the work of the Messiah was to be:
Not the son of a carpenter
After reading this passage, Jesus said in Luke 4:21 MEV “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” The people listening became enraged. How could someone they knew, someone they had seen grow up, make such a bold declaration? They weren’t ready for their preconceived ideas of how the Messiah would come to be challenged. Surely He wouldn’t come as the son of a carpenter. The crowd quickly decided to take matters into their own hands.
“All those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. They rose up and thrust Him out of the city and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down headlong.But passing through the midst of them, He went His way.”
Luke 4:28-30 MEV
The end of the day hadn’t yet come for Jesus. He wasn’t meant to die at that point, and He kept working. He kept on counting.
Jesus balanced His accounts
Finally, after three years of pouring Himself out, Jesus’ time to balance His accounts came. He poured over the receipts, you and me. He agonized over every transaction before Him: the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and those who mourn. His calling, His anointing, wasn’t meant to do anything but bring those He loved to Himself.
Qualifying for God’s call means accepting what we are called to do: to gather others to the Father by whatever means necessary.
My career in banking was short-lived. But I learned to obey the call. Have you learned?
Just for fun
Just for fun, here’s what my 5th grade teacher had me watch to learn how to count by 5s. Do any of you remember Schoolhouse Rock?
Leave a Reply