Sent Ones
In chapter 20 of John’s Gospel, Jesus’ first appearance to His disciples after the resurrection is when He comes to them behind the closed and locked doors of the Upper Room. When He enters that space, He first brings “Peace,” and then He gives them their assignment. Jesus said, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
These ten short words, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you,” may just be the best description of what it means to follow Jesus.
To be a faithful follower of Jesus means so much more than being a Sunday morning church goer or Bible study attender (both are very important) – followers of Jesus are “sent.” Every disciple of Christ, throughout the centuries, have been included in Jesus’ Upper Room declaration: “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” The same commissioning Jesus gave to the Apostles is the commission of every follower of Jesus Christ. We are all “sent ones.”
Are you a “sent one?” If so, who are you being sent to? In other words, who has God put in your sphere of influence whom you might share Jesus with? Who has God put in front of you today that needs to hear the message of God’s grace, love, and redemption?
We are not called to save the world; rather, we are called to show the world the way in which to be saved.
All of us should have a “worldly faith.” In other words, Christians are “holy” and “worldly” at the same time, that is, we are intimately connected to the world’s well-being. Jesus came into this broken and desperate world to save it from sin and offer it salvation.
As “sent ones” by Jesus, we offer the same salvation – not through ourselves, but through our ongoing testimony of Jesus’ life and death and resurrection. Disciples are called to be “worldly” in that we are called to go far outside of our comfort zones and into a broken, desperate world. We are called to step outside of our own closed and often locked down lives and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, enter into a world that needs Jesus.
This has been a powerful 2022 missions’ week! We’ve already heard incredible stories of lives surrendered to God’s call who selflessly engage and share the Gospel with those who are broken and in need of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Don’t let this week be just a moment of connection. Let it be an important next step in our movement toward a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ so that we may hear His voice and answer His call to live a SENT life.