Monday, May 7, 2012

Crazy Excited To Serve Jesus

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. -- Proverbs 31:8-9

She was “crazy excited,” she said. She and her husband, along with their two children, were headed to a large city for a new assignment. They were going to be working with the homeless.

Wow, I thought. That would be an awesome ministry. Reaching out to help people who truly are in need. Challenging, of course. But also so very rewarding.

This young woman has spent the last several years serving as a youth pastor. Her husband was a pastor at a church an hour away. Now they’ll be serving together and reaching a needy population. I sense a church mission trip heading her way.

Missions, you see, aren’t just for other people. And they don’t always involve going to another country, living in rustic accommodations and communicating with people in a different language. Oh, those types of missions take place and are worthy and wonderful.

But each of us have mission opportunities right where we are. I spoke to this delightful young woman at the site of a yard sale to benefit missions. The youth were helping set up. I was delivering donations. All proceeds go to missions projects. Everyone who donated items, volunteered their time or purchased items (and maybe gave a little extra) helped missions.

So do those who collect food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and other items for the elderly in our area. Or those who visit the lonely. Or the sick. Or the shut-ins. Those who collect school supplies for children. Those who prepare meals for the unemployed. I could go on and on.

Recently one church began another church -- in a park. Because some people won’t come into a building and sometimes they’re the ones who need Jesus the most. Of course, we all do, but you know what I mean. When you are lost, hurting, addicted, without hope. Jesus is your hope. But first you need someone to tell you that.

Jesus called us all to reach out to those around us. He did. Jesus always made time for those who came to Him for help or those He happened upon who needed help. That’s what missions are all about. Reaching beyond ourselves and touching the lives of others.

So give yourself a little “crazy excitement” today and give something of yourself to someone else who needs a large dose of Jesus in his or her life.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Go!

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” -- Matthew 28:19

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Did you decide to give up anything as part of your journey toward Easter? Maybe you decided to do something instead? Have you grown reflective? Or do you even care?

This morning we heard a wonderful talk from Dr. Mike Hoppe, an associate pastor at Covenant United Methodist Church in Dothan. It was on missions, fittingly I might add, since that is what he does throughout the year.

I don’t suppose anyone could talk of missions and outreach without referring to the last words of Jesus before He ascended to Heaven. We’ve come to know it as the Great Commission. It was Jesus’ instructions to the Apostles and to all of us. We’d prefer not to remember that last part because it is a call to action. It’s so much easier to let others do the action while we sit on our comfortable pews and cheer them on.

“Go” is one of those words we associate with the color green at traffic lights. We don’t think of it as a call to action but it is. Jesus didn’t say to sit. He didn’t say to pray about it. He didn’t even say to send someone else. He said to “go” and He meant you and me.

Naturally, not everyone can travel overseas. But we can all do something in the sphere of life. It might be a worker in the nursing home. It could be our neighbor or co-worker. Maybe it’s the bank teller or store clerk. We can all reach out to those we encounter in our daily lives and tell them the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Does this mean we have a ready excuse to not go on or support missions outside our sphere? Not a chance. Look back at the Scripture. Jesus said “all nations.” That doesn’t mean all nations in the Northern Hemisphere. It doesn’t mean only people who look like us. It means everyone.

Hoppe gave some interesting statistics. We now have 7 billion people living on our planet. Of those, 2.3 billion say they are Christians. That leaves 4.7 billion who aren’t Christians. Only .7 billion of those have access to or have heard of Jesus and just aren’t interested. That leaves 2 billion people in the world who have no access to the Gospel. They not only don’t know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, they don’t even know His name. That is just so sad.

The book of Revelation tells us that one day we will all stand before the Lamb, a crowd “from every nation and tribe and people and language.” (Revelation 7:9) Not just people like us. Because God willed that all people would have the opportunity to know Him and live forever with Him.

So take a moment today to reach out to someone who is lost, someone who may not have heard, someone who needs a Savior and a King. Jesus called us all to go and make disciples. What are you waiting for?