The beginning of October will mark my third anniversary with SC WMU. It’s hard to describe everything I’ve experienced since beginning my work with WMU, so I will simply say that I’m grateful for my job and the opportunities that it affords.
As I was preparing for my first Associational Leadership Training in 2010, feeling completely overwhelmed and ignorant, I stumbled upon an explanation of “Why We Do Missions” that spoke to the very core of my being. It still does.
It says:
Luke recorded the mission that Jesus identified as his mission: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God and gave witness to the redemptive acts of God. He taught his disciples to do likewise, and they saw him practice this as he went from place to place. They saw Jesus teach the people, forgive their sins, and heal their diseases and sicknesses. Later, Jesus commissioned them to be witnesses of God’s saving grace and to make disciples of all people, everywhere. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21).
Jesus provided the model for believers to be involved in the mission of God. After his resurrection and before his ascension, Jesus instructed his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Jesus’ followers were to be witnesses for him “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
--pg. 10, 2008 How To Involve Churches in Associational Missions, WMU
Jesus, son of God, son of Man, proclaimed that the Spirit of the Lord was on him to:
• preach good news to the poor—those lacking material necessities, mental clarity, spiritual understanding, emotional discernment—
• to proclaim freedom for the prisoners—those bound by chains, fears, worries, anxieties—
• and sight for the blind—those without literal and figurative sight—
• to release the oppressed—those subjected to negativity and abuse—
• to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor—a time of celebration and forgiveness.
Jesus, son of God, son of Man, gave witness to the redemptive acts of God through his life—through his living, breathing, eating, sleeping, talking, teaching, walking, praying, resting, laughing example of life. He saw people and people saw him:
• forgiving sins—letting people know that they could be made whole again and that there is nothing beyond the love of God—
• healing diseases and sicknesses—setting demons free by giving ear and voice to the secrets that bind and laying hands on broken bodies that need loving touch.
Jesus, son of God, son of Man, commissioned us to do likewise. He left us with the task of being witnesses to God’s saving grace and showing all peoples how to live in this amazing grace. Through our lives and work—in WMU and beyond—we have the privilege of living, breathing, eating, sleeping, talking, teaching, walking, praying, resting, and laughing the sheer joy of God’s peaceful, powerful, transforming, loving, redemptive grace.
And I don’t know about you, but, this, to me, is why I do missions. And this is why I will labor today, and tomorrow, and in all the days to come.
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