When I was a little boy I loved when missionaries came to our church. They laid out pottery, animals skins, and hand-made tools from countries far away. They showed slides of churches in jungles full of people who looked so much different from me. And, they told amazing stories about fording raging rivers, holding great revivals, and the ways that God sent them just what they needed at the last minute! Somehow I began to think that missionaries were the really great Christians, God's Special Forces, with a higher calling than the rest of us. More than one Sunday night, during the prayer time that always ended the meetings, I told the Lord that if He wanted me in the jungle somewhere, I was ready to go. Those prayers, I realized as I grew older, reflected more of a child's romantic notions of adventure than a sense of Heaven's high calling!
I now know that God's calling doesn't start when a person boards a flight to Zimbabwe or Uzbekistan to be a missionary! People in desperate need live in my city. The work to bring Christ to them may not be as exotic, the stories not so dramatic; but the need is just as great. Familiarity can - and indeed often does - blind us to the spiritual poverty of our neighbors. Jesus once urged his disciples to take another look, with eyes that could see what was real-
"As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time! " (John 4:35, The Message)
Would He say the same to us, friend?
Would He urge us to take another look at our extended families, our next door neighbors, our fellow Americans taking note of their spiritual hunger?
Bringing the Gospel to our neighbors probably won't involve a big tent filled with half-naked kids, like the missionary's pictures showed. It isn't all that likely that we will have to cross flood-swollen rivers in a dug-out canoe to preach to a remote village or face the danger of a local chief's hostility! (Yep, I remember those stories like I heard them yesterday!) Our missions work will be done in the ordinary - praying faithfully for people to know Him, living a life that is remarkable for the beauty of His holiness, loving when unloved, maintaining hope when others are despairing.
America needs missionaries, and God is calling us to service. We are a nation is inundated with pornography, enslaved by greed, and deceived by pleasure worship. Our political system is broken, our justice system is failing, our prisons are overflowing; the poor grow poorer, the powerful oppress. Covenants are meaningless, churches are lifeless, religion is everywhere, but God is ignored even by many 'Christians.'
The words of an ancient prophet challenged me today. I pray they will stir you, take you to your knees, and cause you to report for duty in the service of the Lord.
"God's message came to me .. "Your priests violated my law and desecrated my holy things. They can’t tell the difference between sacred and secular. They tell people there’s no difference between right and wrong. They’re contemptuous of my holy Sabbaths, profaning me by trying to pull me down to their level. Your politicians are like wolves prowling and killing and rapaciously taking whatever they want. Your preachers cover up for the politicians by pretending to have received visions and special revelations. They say, "This is what God, the Master, says …" when God hasn’t said so much as one word. Extortion is rife, robbery is epidemic, the poor and needy are abused, outsiders are kicked around at will, with no access to justice.’
"I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn’t have to destroy it." - (Ezekiel 22:26-30, The Message)
He's looking for someone to 'stand in the gap.' Will you?
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Touch through me, Holy Spirit,
Touch through me.
Let my hands reach out to others
Touch through me.
There's a lonely soul somewhere
Needing just one friend to care.
Touch through me, Holy Spirit,
Touch through me.
My hands will be Your hands
Reaching out to others.
My lips will not be slothful,
Lord, to speak.
I will be that good Samaritan
To someone else in need.
I will be Your house to dwell in
Live through me.
Touch Through Me
Dottie Rambo © 1981 John T. Benson Publishing Company (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc., 741 Coolsprings Blvd., Franklin TN 37067)CCLI License No. 810055
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