Devotion: I Am Sending YOU
Please take a moment to read John 20:19-23.
It’s later in the same day that Jesus rose from the dead. Most of his disciples are together, hiding in a locked room. They’re afraid of the Jewish leaders – whose well-ordered, self-serving world has been torn apart by Jesus’ crucifixion and what happens after. The disciples have heard the news that is swirling in Jerusalem: “Jesus is alive!” “No, he’s not! His body was stolen from the tomb by his disciples.” “Someone is pretending to be Jesus. He must be stopped. He and the followers of this false Messiah!”
The disciples are afraid and confused and they don’t know what to think or believe. And then, Jesus somehow joins them in the locked room. “Peace be with you,” he says in greeting and blessing. We can imagine the joy – and the relief — of the disciples as they greet the Risen Lord with tears falling from their eyes.
Overcome by their emotions, the disciples may be unable to fully understand what Jesus says next. After again wishing them peace, he says, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Jesus breathes on the disciples and continues: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
We can’t blame the disciples for wanting to linger in the joy of the resurrection. We want to, too. But just as Jesus said to the disciples, he also says to you and me, in our time and place, “I am sending YOU.”
Until his ascension to Heaven, Jesus continued to explain what the disciples were to do, and he sent them what they needed to succeed in taking the Gospel to all the earth. We, too, have a mission. As long as we live, we are to do our part in spreading the Gospel and building up the Body of Christ.
The hard part for most of us is discerning what our particular mission is. But like the disciples, we have a personal relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Pray for the Spirit to help you understand. Considers your skills and experiences – how can use them for God’s glory? What things come easily to you and what do you most enjoy and how can you give glory to God when you do these things?
It often helps to ask others for their perspective. Shortly after I retired, I was part of the first Faith Builders group. One assignment asked us to identify the gifts we saw in each other. Several classmates said they saw the gift of teaching in me. I thanked them but to myself I said, “Teaching? No way. I’m a writer.”
At that time I was leading the Barnabas Community. I had experience managing people and had worked professionally with volunteers for 30 years. And I did a lot of writing on behalf of Barnabas. This is what I should be doing, I said.
And it was – until it wasn’t. Near the end of four years I felt a very clear message from God that I had made my best contributions to Barnabas and someone else was needed now. I moved on, did various things through our church. I joined the Wednesday morning Women’s Bible Study, liked it, subbed occasionally for the leader. And for about six years now, I’ve been leading and teaching this group –and enjoying it immensely.
It turns out the skills I learned in journalism school were also valuable for teaching. Who knew? God knew. It often happens that we can look back and see how God and mentors were preparing us for a Kingdom work we couldn’t foresee.
I’ve learned some things about a personal mission over the years:
- One, it adapts to your circumstances. When you’re working full-time and raising a family, you have to be realistic about what you can do. You can’t lead a major project, but you can shine in other ways, such as modeling the Fruits of the Spirit for your children and work community.
- Two, you don’t have to take on something huge to serve God. Every act of service builds the kingdom of God.
- Three, no way of serving is better than another – it’s what’s in your heart that matters.
- Four, it’s okay to try a way of serving and move on if it’s not a good fit.
- Five, it’s okay to have a mission career composed of many different ways of serving, whether that’s sequential or more than one thing at a time.
And one more thing: if God calls you to a way of serving, he will give you everything you need to make it happen. And one more: you will grow closer to God as you increase your capacity to love.
When you find the thing or things you are gifted to do, you help to bring God’s kingdom to earth and joy becomes an everyday experience. It is, as Pastor Greg said in his sermon this past Sunday, the key to living happily every after.
Oh, God, you who know everything about me, show me what you would have me do for your glory. Open my heart to what you tell me. Help me to trust that we will do this work together. Amen.
Written by Cheryl Stubbendieck
Cheryl Stubbendieck is a member of Sheridan’s Devotion Writing Team and leads the Wednesday Morning Women’s Bible Study at Sheridan. She and her husband Jim have two sons: Aaron, his wife Chaitra and their sons Theo and Nathan live in Houston; Reed lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma.