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SCRIPTURE READING

ISAIAH 42:1-9

ACTS 10:34-43

MATTHEW 3:13-17

REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is “Chosen for the mission of the Father” To be chosen means to be selected as the best or most appropriate. A mission is an important assignment given to a person or a group of people. Mission according to the Christian faith is God’s act of redeeming or saving lost humanity. The theme “chosen for the mission of the Father” reveals two important facts about God’s love for humanity. We shall reflect on these important facts in our reflection and they are:

1. Jesus is the chosen one for the mission of the Father
2. We have also been chosen to carry on the mission of the Father.

First, God has always been on the mission of bringing Israel to Himself when they go wayward or become disobedient. He sent the prophets in the past to proclaim His will to His people to remain in His covenant relation by doing what is right before His sight. Isaiah was one of the Prophets God chose for His mission in the history of Israel. He ministered at the time when some of the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon due to idol worship, injustice and total disobedience to the commandment of God. God’s mission was to use Israel to reach out to other nations but Israel was not focused on their calling. God assured them of ultimately sending them His anointed servant to save them and the world. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations …“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” (Isaiah 42:1,6-7). Jesus is the chosen one for the mission of God, Peter confirmed this fact when He preached to the Israelites, “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.” (Acts 10:37-40) Dear friend without Jesus, the chosen one for the mission of God, no one can please God and if a person cannot please God then he or she has no relationship with Him and for that matter, he or she is not saved. It is for this reason, during Jesus’ baptism, “… heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17). Beloved in the Lord, salvation through Jesus Christ is the only we can please God.

Second, we have also been chosen for the mission of the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the one chosen for God’s mission has actually come to fulfil the mission of His father, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17). It is for this reason before He died on the cross, He said “It is finished”(John 19:30) giving us an assurance that our salvation is complete through Him. Jesus assures us that “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3). This is the Good News we have now been chosen to preach to the world. In other words, we have been chosen to preach Christ, the one chosen by the Father to bring salvation to the world. Our mission is incomplete without the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is for this purpose Peter said that “He(Jesus) commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:42-43). Beloved in the Lord, the core mission of the Church and for that matter all believers is to preach or “to testify that he (Jesus) is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10:42). It is rather unfortunate that the mission of most Churches in the 21st Century is building magnificent chapels, competing against one another and establishing businesses. The budget for Mission and Evangelism in many churches is woefully inadequate and in some churches, it is totally missing. Until a church is deliberate or intentional about the mission of preaching the Gospel or evangelising, it will do everything else except the mission of the Father. Once the mission of God which is primarily winning souls for the Kingdom of God becomes a peripheral concern then the Church ceases to grow and many souls out there will be lost because we have failed to be good stewards of the Gospel. There must be an evangelistic revival in the Church of Christ in the 21st Century if the church will make a remarkable impact in the world. The Church came into existence because Jesus, the first evangelist prioritise the salvation of the lost and “he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38) When we also follow the perfect example of Christ, God will be with us and we shall have a bountiful harvest in being fishers of men.

In summary, the theme for our reflection is “Chosen for the mission of the Father” In our deliberation, we discovered two important facts, Jesus is the chosen one for the mission of the Father and We have also been chosen to carry on the mission of the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ. We give glory to the Lord for saving us through the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ and also finding us worthy to be called to continue with His mission of saving the lost in the world. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to continually carry on the mission of the Father even as we await the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.