Trust that Empowers Missions
Good Morning Friends,
There was a huge map I saw growing up. It had pins in it with pictures and names of missionaries around the world and it seemed distant because I did not know them and the whole thing did not resonate with the reality I experienced in Church on Sunday. Something was missing. How was I to pray for these people I did not know? Who paid these people and why? How did this relate to the economics of the world? Scarcity in worlds of affluence? Did evangelism, political action and social reform really work? Did virtuous capitalism? I guess at some level I just did not trust the reality of it because I was not in a relationship with the missionaries. It seemed such an inefficient system. But it channeled me to learn more. Even though the balance sheet was too far removed from my daily experience I pondered it. And now today I know several missionaries in foreign countries and have been one myself. And this is what I have learned. The nature of the work is not what most people think…the importance of it misunderstood. As the world is debating actions of fear and love and capitalism and free markers and protectionism, something else is going on. The transformational reality…the game changer for me… was in discovering that we are all missionaries if we are truly Christians. The key for me was in understanding that we are to be missional wherever we are in our own jobs. We are to do small things with great love right here and right now growing trust because we are made to be catalysts to make things better. It is not something we go on or go to. It is to be in us transforming us, translating us to a Kingdom reality. Submitting to something wonderful. The tipping point for me was discovering it is about community not commodities…about connections more so than commerce. Still the rule of trust applies. Know this, when it comes to our life’s work it is a measure of Trust that Empowers Missions.
Scripture: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Luke 6:8 (NIV)
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”
Luke 5:4-10 (NRSV)
He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Matthew 16:15-29(NRSV)
Message: Let’s look at the simple truth found in today’s Gospel story. Here we find the example of Peter being a missional fisherman for the very first time. Here scripture documents that Peter cast out his nets, not to catch fish, but solely because Jesus ask him to do it. This is the first time he has done it for God and not to catch fish. Note the motivation. The beauty is that he caught a lot of fish as a byproduct of following God’s lead. Getting him there took a little bit of the art of persuasion. It is all caught up with this idea of trust. This idea of doing something for God…with God together. Aristotle put the topic in a framework that is worthy of unpacking. The Greek philosopher divided the means of persuasion, into three categories—Ethos- credibility, Pathos- emotional response in the reader or hearer, and Logos- logical reasoning. All three are at work here. Surely Peter knew Jesus to be creditable and ethical. Peter knew his desire to catch fish. Maybe he even figured out the logic that if fish were in the lake that one more cast into the deep water might be worth it. But it all started because he trusted Jesus. He trusted His word. Interestingly the first thing Peter does after catching the fish is recognize his sin. The question before us then is if we trust Him enough to confess it, so others might be caught up in this network of love…might also learn something from God. Friends, Christianity has had an amazing positive impact on civilization but today maybe its cultural capital is greatest where it does not have so much apparent leverage.
Pray from the moment we get up in the morning we are motivated by a passion that honors God. Pray we realize that God’s love in missions is very similar all around the world and we need not go around the world to experience it for the world has come to us where we are. Pray we realize that we cannot serve both God and money. Pray we never treat people as objects. Pray we realize that people are people not commodities. Pray we not revert back to approaching life as event after event forever work. Pray we know the things that channel and guide us to the purpose God has intended for us. Pray we have hearts to share and a desire to bear. Pray that God’s heart searches us out so we might have an identity transformed. Pray we see the salt and light of God manifested in people’s lives. Pray we stand in awe of real people with real problems responding in faith, living out their lives trusting Jesus. Pray we integrate our faith and work in ways that please God. Pray we reimagine our work as creatures made in the image of God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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