Called and Sent – St. John's Church, in Savannah

On Friday past we kept the feast of Saint Luke, described in Cranmer’s classic collect as “the Physician, whose praise is in the Gospel [Col.4:14], called to be an Evangelist, and Physician of the soul”, The ancient lessons of the feast (2 Timothy 4:5-15, and Luke 10:1-7, p. 253) invite us to reflect on the evangelistic or gospel mission of the church.

First they tell us that to be a Christian, to be a Church, is to be sent. The Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. As the one sent by God into the world, Christ calls his disciples into community with him, in which he shares everything with them, including his own mission. It’s not just the twelve that are sent, but the seventy – everyone is in the mission team. So part of being called into community with Christ is being sent out – sent as an emissary of Christ, sent to proclaim the gospel, to call others into the same community, thus sharing in the work of gathering God’s elect into his kingdom. This is true of us as individuals, but even more as a community. That we are in mission together is not an assignment you can refuse; for the moment you are openly a Christian, whatever you say or do is witness to him. The only question is whether it is true witness, or false.

They were sent before his face into every city and place whither he himself would come, as advance parties, who prepare the way for his coming. Whatever house they enter, they are to proclaim the peace of God’s kingdom – and where that peace is received, the harvest of God’s elect has begun, for which they may claim the wages of their labor: in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire.

In these meals is foreshadowed the harvest feast of the gospel – the fellowship of believers gathered around one table in one house to celebrate the coming of God’s kingdom. These little companies of disciples will receive Jesus when he comes, will provide him hospitality on the way, and are a local base for continuing mission. This is a mission strategy still of our parish churches; united in the table-fellowship of the Church’s eucharistic fellowship, sent to be his mission here in this place, sent to proclaim his word of peace in the gospel, and in those who receive that word, to build a community ready to receive Christ when he comes.

That there is a risk to this witness Christ does not conceal. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Thus Paul is expecting to die a martyr’s death for his witness to the gospel: I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. Yet there is nothing defeatist or despairing in his tone: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. God has given him grace to persevere in his gospel witness; and he is confident that what God has begun, he will complete. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. What’s true for Paul is true for all those who love Christ’s appearing. In thankfulness for grace received and hope of glory yet to come is the motivation of our mission. Already, by the gospel delivered by his disciples, we have received complete acceptance and forgiveness by God, and the gift of the Spirit to heal “all the diseases of our souls”. If that is what we have already received, then how much more when he comes again: all wrongs made right, all sad things becoming untrue, the healing of the nations. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Rev 21:4)

When we long that much for Christ’s appearing, we don’t count on the world to meet our deepest desires. Instead we become the kind of people who are ready to forgo their own wants if there is an opportunity to do something better for the sake of Christ. We are ready to deny ourselves, to live lives of selfsacrifice in the service of the gospel, as Paul urged Timothy: watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. We are ready to see all that we have, all that we can do, all that we are, as gifts to be used in the mission he has sent us to accomplish: I am now ready to be offered. We are becoming people who are motivated not by anxious selfgratification but by self-giving gratitude for grace and hope of glory. So when the church asks us to make pledges of financial support for the gospel mission we share in this place (stewardship), it’s not just a matter of the church’s financial health, but of our own spiritual health, our own need to give; for in giving, do we receive.