Day 061: Our Mission

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

There is our calling, right in plain sight.  Sure, the language might be a little cluttered, but it's still there.

Think a moment about how education works. There are schools which have teachers who have studied the materials they're teaching.  While the teachers are teaching some necessary skills, they are also, in turn, training some students to become teachers.  In reality, all of the students come out as teachers to certain degrees, utilizing the skills that they learned in school.  That's how God works in us.

God calls us not only so we can be comforted, but also that we might be able to comfort others.  And, the way that we can comfort others is by bringing them to God.  If you find a good picture on social media, you don't just tell your friends about it.  You share it on social media, and if you are interacting in real life, you show your friends right next to you.  In the same way, we are to bring all of those around us to the source of our great comfort, to God.

Make Lent be a time not only to reflect and improve yourself, but let it be a time when you can bring others to God, so that they might be able to experience the same comfort that you do in your own fast and/or discipline.

Day 022: Following

"When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude  and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick." Matthew 14:13-14

I find that this situation is a good structure for how we should live.  Jesus goes away from the place where there are many misunderstandings.  His people follow him there.  He has compassion on them.

Jesus is moving to many different places, constantly.  Jesus is speaking to different groups who haven't accepted the Gospel yet, and he is bringing more and more people to the table.  Jesus is calling us to go with him, so that we might be able to learn even more from him.  Right after this passage, we learn about the feeding of the 5,000, which is a sign of the Eucharist.  Jesus is always teaching us.

Today, especially in the United States, we are constantly facing the arrival of new people, some from different wars or conflicts, and others for their own well-being and/or their goals.  They speak in different languages, they practice different customs, and sometimes we are comfortable with relying on our own misunderstandings.  The women who wear headscarves are wicked in their ways.  The men who murmur in a different language are cursing us under their breath.  The children who are working to provide for their families are obviously trying to atone for their family's sinful ways.

But Jesus is walking before these new people.  Just as he sent all the apostles into foreign territory to preach, baptize, and anoint, he is sending us into the new groups of people so that we ourselves may learn more about the beauty in God's creation.  We can learn about new ways to pray, new ways to worship, and new ways to sing when we go where Jesus is sending us.

Lastly, we need to be ready to learn.  We need to be ready to believe.  When we follow Jesus, he always has compassion on us.  He will forgive us all our sins, our misdoings, our doubts.  He will cleanse us and feed us.  We just need to be ready to depart our comfort zones, our isolated towns, and follow Jesus onto the shores, so that we can learn more about his faithfulness.

Day 010: Welcome

Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." Acts 10:28

Through Peter's vision, God showed us a new way to see the church.
As Peter prefaces in this situation, Jews were not supposed to associate with outsiders.  But, after Peter saw the vision, he understood that not only did God purify all animals, but also all people.  God sent a message with Peter so that Cornelius could be received into the body of Christ, alongside all the foreigners.

That's how the church grew.  It wasn't with people who closed themselves off to a study, just to become stagnant with their own interpretations, speaking among only scholars and not congregations.  It was with the willingness of the disciples to be challenged, to be taught anew, to welcome those around them, to go out and serve, to see strangers as guests rather than aliens.

When we, as Christians, are open to listen and receive the voice of God, only then can we grow and unite.

Service

"If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
Jesus is very clear.  It will be hard work. There will be times that you are going in the opposite direction as everybody else.  There will be times that a crowd and a parade will be headed in a different direction than you who follow Jesus.  But there will be times of grace, love, joy, and happiness, for God is the source of all these things.