The word mission carries the idea of sending or being sent. To fully understand the call for Christ followers to live out the mission of Jesus we must enter the story of God being a sending God.
The church continues God’s mission today. By ourselves we do not have the power or the wisdom to get the job done but we are not left alone in the task. God has placed his Spirit within us.
We get our identity as sent ones from the very nature of this sending God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Spend some time this week in scripture and the story of our sending God.
I have been singing Kumbayh for a long, long time. Through the years it has been sung as a spiritual by church choirs and around campfires by Boy Scouts. When I was a teenager it was recorded as a folk song by the likes of Peter, Paul and Mary and by Joan Baez. It is sung by Christians and non-Christians alike.
Sometime between 1922 and 1931, members of an organization called the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals collected a song from the South Carolina coast. “Come By Yuh,” as they called it, was sung in Gullah, the Creole dialect spoken by the former slaves living on the Sea Islands.
It can be translated as “Come by Here” or “Come by My God.”
In recent days Kumbayh has fallen into derision, satire and ridicule but I think it’s a good choice for those who choose to live a missional lifestyle.
You see, the song’s about people crying, singing, and calling out for God to come help them.
Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. – Mark 5:22-24 (NIV)
Grace and Peace,
Terry
Join the Conversation: In what ways can the lyrics of Kumbayh help us focus on the task of taking the Good News to people?
The word sent is used at least 40 times in the Gospel of John. Jesus often defines himself in his mission as the one who was sent and tells us that the Father is the one who sent him. Below are 6 of those times Jesus refers to himself as being sent from the Father.
He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. (John 5:23)
I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)
By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (John 5:30)
And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. (John 5:37)
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29)
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. (John 6:39)
As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. (John 9:4)
You can search your Bible for other passages where Jesus tells us he is sent from the Father, but spend a little time now and reflect on the 6 listed above.
Grace and Peace,
Terry
Join the conversation: What insight do you gain from these scripture passages?
Here’s an idea a young woman in our church shared with us. Actually, it was more than an idea – it was something she did to get better acquainted with a friend. She was in the bookstore shopping for a book to read so she could participate in an online book club. Finding the selected text she purchased not one copy but two. One for her and the other for her friend.
She is a stay at home mom and was looking for a way to reach out beyond her four walls. Some old friends are part of the book club and it it looked like a great way to stay in touch.
Occasionally, her path crosses that of this other young mother. She has been praying and looking for ways to build and strengthen a relationship with her.
She does not know if her friend will join the book club or not. If they both join the club, they will be able to share online and over coffee from time to time. It will also provide contact with other members of the body of Christ. If her friend does not join the club, she hopes they will be able to meet weekly for their own reading group. Either way, she gets to give her friend a gift.
Grace and Peace,
Terry
Join the conversation: What are you reading right now? Is there someone you could ask to join you in conversation over the text?
If we are going to practice the habit of leaving and live every day with the reminder that Jesus sends us on his mission we need know some things about that mission.
On the way to the cross Jesus stopped in the town of Jericho and looked up in a tree. There he saw a tax collector named Zacchaeus whom he invited down to dinner. That encounter transformed the life of that little man. At the conclusion of this story Luke records these words of Jesus regarding his mission:
Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man came to look for and to save people who are lost.” – Luke 19:9-10 CEV
One element of the mission of Jesus was looking for people who were not in fellowship with God and with other people. He desires to reconcile people to himself and to one another. To be on mission with Jesus means that we join him on this quest. We must travel on and look around.
Ask yourself a few questions about your mission of looking…
Who do I need to look for?
Where am I going to meet them?
Do I need to stop doing some things so I can look for them?
Do I need to start doing some things so I can look for them?
Am I part of a relational community which can help me look?
Grace and Peace,
Terry
Join the Conversation: What keeps us from living this mission of seeking and looking?
The word mission carries the idea of sending or being sent. To fully understand the call for Christ followers to live out the mission of Jesus we must enter the story of God being a sending God.
