A reading: Luke 4: 16-21 - And Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

To ponder: A few years ago, a shoe salesman for a leading footwear producer was sent to Africa to try to develop a market for his company’s products. After a month of hard graft, he sent the following telegram to his sales director: “Am coming home soonest. No market here because no-one wears shoes.” The sales director summoned him home immediately and he was sacked. A few weeks later, the company’s leading salesman was sent out to Africa to see what he could do. Within two days he sent the following telegram arrived on the sales director’s desk: “Am staying indefinitely. Market potential for our products fantastic…absolutely no-one wears shoes!”

Mission is one of those concepts that either excites or frightens the Christian because it is a call to do something, to become involved and to make some form of commitment. However, one reason for the dread is not knowing precisely what we are expected to do in the mission field: some people, for example, equate mission with a charge across to the other side of the world to become involved with the starving and the destitute. For others, it is a trip into the dark, still uncharted parts of the world to take the gospel to the peoples of the jungle. The challenge now, however, is not necessarily overseas. Recent surveys have shown that church attendance in our part of the world continues to decline. The country in which we live is becoming increasingly secular, to the extent that we now have a whole generation of people without even a basic understanding of the Christian faith.

Generally speaking, there are two parts to mission: one is the base, unchanging element that is so broad in its context that it can scare the pants off even the most ardent Christian; the second, is the more targeted and better defined elements that are relevant to our own personal situation where we are.

 In the Old Testament, God’s people were chosen for a fourfold mission:

            (1) To witness to the unity of God in the midst of universal idolatry.
            (2) To illustrate to the nations the blessedness of serving the one true God.
            (3) To receive, preserve, and transmit Holy Scripture.
            (4) To precede and reveal the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Today, the Church’s mission remains the same. In the reading above from St Luke’s gospel, Jesus defined his own mission within these same parameters. He was quite specific in his objectives so that all could witness God at work through him. In the same way we are called to achieve objectives that will further God’s Kingdom wherever we are called and especially at our place of work, if we have a job.

Mission is being Christ to others and for others by His Spirit. It is birthed in prayer (to be ordained and sanctified by God), in worship (that it may our common aim), and in teaching (that we might learn, too). Mission is being held and empowered by the Holy Spirit and incarnated (given life) through witness, fellowship and action. Mission is always Christ-centred and Christ-directed, and its motivation is love.

Many of us have been brought into the realm of Christ’s love because someone, somewhere, somehow showed us the reality of that love. Now that we have experienced that in our own lives, it is incumbent upon us to do the same for others. 

 Questions:

1) Do you feel that God is calling you personally to do something on His behalf? How do you feel that God has been speaking to you? If you could, would you respond to this call?

2) When you reflect on the immediate neighbourhood where you live, what do you think are the biggest problems/challenges facing you and your neighbours?

3) What elements do you think your church's overall mission should include?

4) What do you feel you need in order to fulfil your mission?
 

Part 1 - Prayer & Nurture   Part 2 - Unity & Fellowship    Part 4 - Social Justice