On Mission

Have you ever imagined yourself as being on a mission? Sometimes, when I am running errands with my kids, I tell them, “We’re on a mission to buy some bread!” It creates a sense of excitement and focus amongst the littles and helps us to not get distracted along the way. When I don’t say these words, even the simplest of errands can take the longest time because my children magically turn into a herd of cats.

God is on a mission. Ever since the fall of our first human ancestors, God has been on mission to seek and save the lost. First, He sent prophets to be part of His mission. He even established priests and rulers, a temple and a kingdom so that those who were gathered into His family could be sent back out on mission to gather the lost. Finally, He sent His only begotten Son to both fulfill this mission of seeking and saving His lost children by His death and resurrection, and to gather more of God’s children from all the nations and to be part of His mission to seek and save more lost children. In fact, even though we may perceive the Bible as a collection of 66 disparate and un-unified books, I wonder how we might be transformed if we were to read it as one story with the theme of God’s mission to seek and save His lost children.

This is why our eucharistic services often end with the dismissal: “Let us go forth…” Go forth where? To be part of God’s mission.

This really changes things, doesn’t it? If I am honest, I don’t always wake up every morning thinking of the day as an opportunity to be part of God’s mission. Sure, I have meetings and maybe I go for a run and maybe I do some errands and spend time with my family — but how are these things mission?

They are mission if I re-think and re-imagine them out of the mundane. Meetings are just not meetings. They are opportunities to display Christlike character. How do I relate to my co-workers as a missionary of God? A run is not just fitness for the sake of fitness. How do I pray for those in my life to know more of God’s love, especially if they have forgotten it? An errand is much more. Is there someone I know who needs me to get them something from the store?

God is on mission. And He wants us to join Him too!