No Mission, No Church

Matthew 10:40-42

⁴⁰ "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward;

and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a  righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."

The Church is not the Church without Mission. If mission is not at the top of the list of priorities then the Church is Church in name only.

Who did God send into the world He made and loves?   He sent His Son, Jesus Christ.

Why did He send His Son into this world?  So that His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, could reveal God the Father to that world. That's God's mission, reaching out to His world. It's His top priority.

Who then did God the Son, Jesus Christ, send out into this world?   He sent His disciples - that's you and me.

Why did He send us out into the world?    So that we, his disciples, can show those around us who Jesus Christ is, because He, in turn, will bring them to know God the Father and Creator of this world.

Why? So that the world will enter into God's salvation and therefore know and experience the healing, saving love of God.

So you see, the Church is made for mission. If mission is God's top priority, then it needs to be the top priority of His Church.

And what is the Church? - it's us, the people.

That's why Jesus says in today's Gospel:

⁴⁰ "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me."

There is a direct line of engagement and of involvement in the mission of the Church, from God the Father through Jesus Christ and into our lives, which then extends to our homes and work places and wherever we go. This mission is the most important thing in the world for God, and thus it is to be the most important thing for us, the Church.

How is this mission done? 

It is done in the help someone gives to a needy person, it is done in being honest at work and treating employees/employers with fairness and honesty. It is seen in the young girl of not much more than fifteen standing up in Columbine and saying she believes in God in the face of the older boy with the gun who then shoots her down.   It is seen in the care many give elderly parents; it is known in work done among the homeless or drug addicts and in help given victims of domestic violence.  It is done in the struggle for peace in this world that so desperately needs the peace of Christ.  It is seen in the tears of the missionary I saw when in Arabia in November of 2000. She had just visited the family of the man whom a fellow missionary had injured badly in a car accident.  She went because she wanted them to know in practical terms the love of Christ for them.

It is done in the care a mother gives her child when she is tired and exhausted and there is no more strength left.  It is done in the work of so many in efforts such as PWRDF. It is seen in the devoted, tireless work of people like my parents who for the whole of their lives expressed in very low key ways the love of God to those in other countries. It is done in the work of English Anglican priests who went to the northern parts of Canada because so often others from the south wouldn't go.  It is seen by missionary kids such as myself who were loved by their "aunts and uncles" in missionary schools when so far away from their parents; it is done by a father who cares for his child, as a friend of mine recently did, by moving the family to a different country for a special school for his child and thus giving up his upward mobility in the employment ladder.   It is done in simply telling someone about Jesus Christ and what His salvation means in one's life.  It is seen in the love of a spouse caring for the other in painful times and in the quiet work of volunteers in so many places where compassion and help is needed.  It is seen in the untiring efforts of those who prepare this building for the sake of our worship of Almighty God.  Someone who owes money for a service rendered experiences it when that debt is quietly not collected.   It is known in holding the hand of the lonely or scared child as the tears subside. It is seen in the bravery of a Todd Beamer who in his fear cried out to his Saviour, "Jesus, help me" when going up against the hijackers of Flight 93, ultimately giving his life, along with others, who together prayed,  "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want ... Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."  

It is seen in the phone call where the caller says, "I was just thinking of you and am wondering how you are."   Those who give sacrificially of their means for the work of God in the Church here and overseas show it.   It is seen in sitting with a friend quietly, often not saying a word, in the time of their sorrow. And it is seen in far more places and in far more lives than I can identify.

Lastly and supremely, we see the fullest act of mission - of giving, of loving, of saving, of healing - in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. There is nothing more humble, nothing more magnificent, and nothing greater to stir us to be His disciples, that "sent out people", the Church - that's us, the people - the Church of our brother, our friend, our Lord and our Saviour, the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

Every act done, and each life so lived is a beautiful thing in the eyes of God. The size or significance of these acts, and the significance, in earthly terms, of the disciple who does them is not what really counts.  

Jesus says, ⁴²and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple - truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."

So where you go, where you live, where you play, where you reach out to others; where you care, where you suffer, where you succeed; where you give and where you receive, that is where the Church is because of your presence. 

And that is where God is, where He goes with you in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within you; where He uses the humblest of acts, as well as the great ones, as equally valuable in His sight.  We are His representatives and such representation is a radical thing because it's at the very root of God's intentions.  It is at the heart of why Christ came to this earth, and it is to be at the very core of our existence. In living this out in our day-to-day lives it becomes the very extension of the heart of God, the extension of His love for His world and for you. It's like that "cup of cold water" that brings eternal refreshment to this thirsty world. There's no life like it.  There's nothing more important to do.

And this is our purpose because it is the purpose of the Church; and we are that Church.