Reaching Further Campaign - It All Makes "Sents" - Mike
For those of you following me on twitter (@mikekuder) or Facebook (Mike Kuder), you know that I am beginning a period of intensive study in Paul's writings. On the advice of my mentor I have begun my study smack dab in the middle of the book of Romans, chapter 8. Here's what I read in verse 3:
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful man, to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. - Romans 8:3-4 NIV
As I continue to study scripture and try to understand it more deeply I am continually struck by a simple truth - everything that happens in my relationship with God is God's doing. He loves me, He sent His Son, He came to earth as a man, He lived a sinless life, He was crucified, He died, He rose, He calls me to Himself, He forgives me, He justifies me, He sanctifies me. Contrary to our misconception of our role as the ultimate arbiter of the relationship (i.e. I accept Jesus) God is the proactive party in the relationship, not us. This has never been said more clearly than in John 3:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." - John 3:16-17 NIV
What I want to bring to our attention are the similarities in the two passages. Specifically that they both contain these words: God send(ing) His Son. Scripture says and my heart and experience confirm that God is on a mission to find us. Not the other way around. Two quick examples, the first is found in Genesis 3, the story of the fall of mankind into sin and disobedience. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God and realized their nakedness and shame, they hid. What did God do? The answer is in verse 9: But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" God went looking for Adam and Eve. Another quick example from the New Testament this time from the mouth of Jesus in Luke 19. Jesus was walking into Jericho and called out the corrupt tax collector, Zacchaeus. He then invited himself to Zacchaeus' house for dinner after which Zacchaeus repented of his deceit, stealing and sin. The onlookers became angry that Jesus would talk to and dine with such "a sinner." Jesus' response? Verse 9-10: "Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
God is a loving God. God is a sending God. God sent His Son. The Son seeks and saves. But here's where it gets interesting. Now that He found us, He sends us.
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." John 20:21 NIV
We find similar instructions in Matthew 28:18-20. Most of us know that passage by the name "The Great Commission." I fear we have read that passage so many times we may have lost the gravity of the call. But step back and think about that for just a second. And then add to that list above "He sends me." We have been commissioned by God, Maker of heaven and earth, to bring the evangelion - the good news of God's healing and forgiveness through Jesus - to a world that utterly, desperately needs to hear it.
That is what the Reaching Further campaign is about. It's not about a building, a bus, or more classrooms. It is about obedience to the commission, to being sent - to Rwanda, to Montville, to Wayne, to Lincoln Park - to wherever we as His body sense He is leading us with His message. It is active, not passive, and it is sacrificial. God did not sit idly by and allow us to be swallowed up by sin and death, hoping that somehow we would find Him. He sent Jesus to seek and save that which was lost. Philippians 2:8 says of Jesus:
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
It is our turn to be obedient. It is our turn to be sent.