On a Mission
I was a young grade-school child, probably 7 or 8 years old, when our pastor’s wife invited me to come to “Junior Mission Band,” which met one Saturday a month. I heard the “band” part and envisioned playing some neat little instruments — tambourines, flutes, whistles, little drums — all kinds of fun possibilities.
Imagine my surprise when no instruments appeared, but rather we were taught about these people called “missionaries.” It was a little different from Sunday School, focusing on the stories of teachers, doctors, nurses, and pastors going to foreign countries to establish schools and clinics, helping people who were hungry, sick, and poor. It was interesting, and these people sounded brave and rather adventurous, but I still wished (a little) that I’d had a chance to play the tambourine.
What I’d experienced was an early childhood lesson on missions. We soon learned that there was more to the stories of these caring, dedicated workers. When the people being helped asked the missionaries why they had come such a great distance to provide assistance, the missionaries explained that this was what their faith called them to do. As Christians, they were following Jesus’ commandment to care for one another, as we are all children of the same heavenly Father.
Martin Luther struggled mightily with his sense of failure to be good enough to be saved. As he studied and immersed himself in God’s Word, searching for an understanding of how to please God, he received enlightenment as he read the words the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
These words make it clear that we are saved through faith, which is a gift from God. Any good things we do are not because we are good in and of ourselves, but because this is what we are created to do in Christ Jesus, what God intends to be our way of life. The letter of James adds to the connection between faith and works: “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them,”Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2:15-17) James likens a faith without works as a body without the spirit, in that both are dead.
These are strong words, and can be intimidating to those of us who wonder what we should be doing, or how to do it, and whether we’re doing it right. But the ways to be in mission are as widely varied as human abilities, and as we pray and listen, we can trust that God will guide and direct us on the right path.
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers