Mission Moved to Incarnation

I love what my friend Greg Finke sent me today:

"Advent marks the four weeks leading up to Christmas. We began the season of Advent yesterday in worship with the lighting of the Advent Wreath. Some people call this four week span 'The Christmas Rush,' while others call it 'insanity."'

But Jesus followers know better.

Advent isn't so much a time for us to get ready for a holiday, religious or not, as it is a time for us to refocus on what God was actually getting started that night in Bethlehem and which now extends all the way through history and up to you and me this very morning."

God chose to do more than tell us what He was going to do. On that night in Bethlehem He did it! Mission moved to incarnation! God was moved to love with His hands and feet. He put flesh and blood to His love!

Shouldn't it be the same for you and me today; mission moved to incarnation? Shouldn't the ones who bear Jesus' name be moved to love with our hands and feet? Who can you love today? Where is God providing an opportunity today for you to put flesh and blood to the mission?

Releasing Recognition for Something Better

We all like a little recognition! None of us like to be ignored, dismissed, unappreciated. Most of us want to add value, to participate, to make a difference, right?

Jesus told His disciples, "When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, 'Come in and eat with me'? No, he says, 'Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.' And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, 'We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.'" Luke 17:7-10

Ouch! Who would want to follow such a master? Who would treat their employees like the master in this parable? What does it feel like to be called an unworthy servant/ slave? Putting myself in the story, what do I feel like? To be honest, I would feel very uncomfortable ordering servants around like Jesus is here!

Jesus' attitude is unexpected and disturbing.

But, He is Lord! Jesus is Lord. I am His servant! This fact remains. The proper attitude toward my Lord is not to expect what He does or does not do for me. It is not to concern myself with how He treats me or responds to my efforts on His behalf. This is upside down and backwards and leads to a confusion of epic proportions. How often, when I have gotten it upside down and worried/ concerned myself with how I am being treated hasn't it messed my heart and my attitude up? It is a healthy response to say, "I am an unworthy servant, and I have simply done my duty!" I drop all claims-for I have none. Not one!

And yet...

As I look around at my life, as I dive into the words and actions of my Lord Jesus, I notice something else: Our Lord Jesus does not act like the master in this parable! (Luke 19:17, 19; Matthew 25:21, 23; John 15:15) He does reward me! He does welcome me to the table! He does serve me! He calls me friend and brother, and not servant. Oh, what a humbling service! He even forgives those who do not "simply do their duty." He goes as far as dying for the slave!What abounding grace! What generosity!

"It is because of Himself and not because of us and our work. Once for all learn: if we think we ought to receive recognition at the Lord's hands for our service, which is imperfect and poor at best and not to be compared with that of the slave in the parable, we are doing an outrageous and utterly presumptuous thing. We are then turning His wholly undeserved grace, His glorious generosity, which is so glorious just because He gives it without the least merit on our part, into nothing more than a mere payment that is coming to us by right and justice. Can the Lord consent to such a double lie?" pg. 873 "The Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel" R.C.H Lenski

How freeing, then, to simply do our duty, not seeking any acknowledgement, any acclaim, any recognition, but understanding our place as servants of our Most High Lord Jesus, and in the process, receiving, gratefully, the bountiful generosity of our Savior who came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for me?

From Daunting to Exciting

13 If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. 14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:13-21


God has given us the task? We are Christ's ambassadors? God makes His appeal through......us?

What an unbelievable privilege!

Last night when I asked our Board what impact these words had on them, a couple of our leaders said that the task entrusted to us is daunting. To be sure, it is much bigger than ourselves. To think that God entrusted His mission to us can be an overwhelming thought!

So I asked this question: When would this task not be so daunting?

The answers were excellent: "It's not so daunting when I..."
1) Just get started!
There are times in live when we can get overwhelmed by the size of the task. And I don't
know about you, but when I am overwhelmed by the size of the task, I tend to
procrastinate. I push it off. I avoid it. Here's a short list...Cleaning the garage, paying the
bills, raking leaves, writing a paper, sending out Christmas cards, painting a room in your
house.

Isn't there energy that builds when we simply get started? How can you simply get
started in being Christ's ambassador today?


2) Focus on serving where I am gifted, and focus on loving those in my circle of
influence.

Thinking about reaching the world can certainly be daunting! What about my friend, my
neighbor, my community that I live in and treasure? And what about focusing on being
myself, and utilizing all of my God-gieven resources to just be me in loving those with
whom I already have a relationship?

3) Do it with others.

Face it. Life is more fun together. We can be energized, supported, encouraged,
challenged, held accountable only in community, only in relationship. One of the questions
we ask in our lifeGroups is "What kinds of conversations have you had with people who are
far from God?" It's a great question to discuss with those who are living life together with
you in authentic community. Who can you engage for support, and encouragement as you
live as Christ's ambassador?


You know, if we did these three things in carrying out the mission of connecting people to life in Jesus, we would begin to see God's hand of blessing and perhaps just enough fruit to make the task an exciting one and not so daunting!