Over the many years I have read, studied, written commentaries and led Bible studies, I have become ever more convinced that all the books of Sacred Scripture carry and reveal a pattern that runs through the entire story of salvation. It is simple three-step pattern
- God chooses a people,
- God loves them before they deserve it, apart from whether they think they are worthy, and
- God sends them into the world to let the people of the world know they are loved.
That is the story of Israel. It is the story of the Church. And it is the story of every baptized Christian.
Chosen
In the first reading from the Book of Exodus, God speaks to Israel at Mount Sinai: “You shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people, though all the earth is mine.” (Ex 19:5). Why Israel? Are they the strongest? Hardly. They are a small and vulnerable people far more used to enslavement than freedom. Are they wealthy? Hardly. Whatever wealth they had they left behind in Egypt. From a “big picture” point of view, they are actually not all that impressive.
God’s choice of Israel as a people all his own is an act of grace, pure and simple unmerited grace.
That being said, it is not a “free pass.” God immediately explains why He has chosen them: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” (Ex 19:6) What might that mean? In all places and times, one of the most fundamental roles of priests in the Judeo-Christian tradition is to point the way to God, to be a light to the nations, a clarion call of the kingdom, and more. Israel is chosen so that the nations might come to know the Lord through them.
The same is true for us. Through Baptism, we have been chosen by God. Not because we earned it. Not because we are worthy. But because God, in his mercy, has called us into relationship with Him. In the baptismal rite each one of us was marked with the sign of faith and anointed with the sacred oils to share in the role of priesthood. And like the Israelites, that is our calling, that is our commission.
And that calling is never only for ourselves. We are chosen by God and entrusted with a mission.
Loved – The second reading Saint Paul writes: “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8, NAB) This is one of the most important truths in Christianity: God loved us first. We often think we must become worthy so that God will love us. But Paul says the opposite. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. That changes everything.
The Church does not exist because human beings successfully climbed their way up to God. The Church exists because God came down to us in Jesus Christ. And this is crucial for understanding mission. We do not go to others as people who have everything figured out. We go as people who ourselves have been loved and forgiven and well before we have figured everything out.
Tomorrow our Sister Parish mission team is going to Chinle AZ. Does that make them spiritually superior? Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t. They are going because they have experienced the mercy of Christ and want to share that mercy through service, prayer, friendship, and witness. They possess the most basic awareness of deep abiding gratitude that God loved them first. And that is the foundation of every authentic Christian mission.
Sent – God chose us. God loved us. And now God sends us. Not just the Sister Parish folks – all of us. In the Gospel from Gospel of Matthew, Jesus looks upon the crowds and sees their suffering: “At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36)
One day if I am ever in charge of biblical translations, “moved with pity” will read “moved with compassion.” There is something soft and passive about the way we understand “pity” in our modern milieu. “It’s a pity you can’t go.” Not exactly a clarion call for action.
When you look at the original Greek, you find something – I think – very different. The underlying Greek contains a very unusual verb which is derived from the Greek word for intestines, entrails, or in our slang, your guts. And that sense is not lost in our American idioms. “When I heard the news, I felt that someone had hit me in the gut.” “I was sick to my stomach” “My insides just ached.” We can all understand such a visceral reaction. The sight, the sound, the sense perception of something that just wrenches us in the deepest recess of our soul, our being. Our reaction is instinctual, immediate, and raw. It is with good reason that more recent translations use the word compassion, from the Latin to bear or suffer with another; a sympathetic awareness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it. In the Christian understanding, to truly, deeply feel compassion is to be wired into the love of God poured forth into the world.
The heart of Jesus is moved with compassion. But compassion does not remain a feeling. It becomes mission. He says: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” (Mt 9:37) And so he sends the disciples out. The Christian life is not only about being chosen and loved. It is about being sent into the world as witnesses to the Kingdom of God.
Some are sent far away, like our mission team traveling to Chinle. Most of us are sent into the ordinary places of life:
- our families,
- our workplaces,
- our schools,
- our neighborhoods,
- our parish,
- our daily encounters with people who are hurting, lonely, searching, or burdened.
Jesus still sees crowds today who are “troubled and abandoned.” He still calls laborers for the harvest.
Misson – So today’s readings give us a simple but powerful pattern:
- Chosen – God calls us into relationship with him.
- Loved – Christ gives his life for us while we are still sinners.
- Sent – The Holy Spirit sends us to share that love with the world.
That is the Christian life in three words. And it is also the story of the Church’s mission.
A Word to the Mission Team – To our brothers and sisters who are being blessed and sent to Chinle, remember these three truths. You are chosen by God. Your baptism has already made you part of his holy people. You are loved by Christ. His mercy goes with you, not because you are perfect, but because he is faithful. And you are sent. You go not in your own name, but in the name of Jesus, to serve, to listen, to pray, to learn, and to witness to the Gospel among the Navajo people. Your mission is not only what you will do there. Your mission begins with who you are in Christ.
A Word to the Whole Parish – And to the rest of us: this blessing ceremony for the missioners is not a moment for spectators. It is a reminder of our own calling. Not everyone is sent to Arizona. But every Christian is sent somewhere. Every morning, the Lord places before us people who need encouragement, forgiveness, patience, compassion, truth, or hope. The harvest is still abundant.
Before God sends anyone, God first chooses them and loves them. May we never forget that before we are missionaries, we are beloved sons and daughters of God. And because we are loved, we can go forth without fear.
Chosen. Loved. Sent. That is the Gospel today. And that is our mission.
Amen.
Image credit: Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-1311, National Gallery of Art, Public Domain
friarmusings 