A Week of Sundays: Week 11

Sunday 11: The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

Nearly thirty years later, these words still take me back to the place where I first heard them:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8, NIV)

It was a church with too tall ceilings and walls that were too curved. I can remember the half sheets of paper that we were given to take notes and the Bible in which I kept them. I was eager to go and curious of where I’d be sent. It turns out the less distance you travel, the farther it feels. Somehow the other side of the planet would have made sense, but across town feels funny.

I’ve often overlooked that there are two questions asked in this passage. I have not studied this passage enough to know if it is simply a literary device, as repetition often is. To me, it is a sorrowful reminder that the person He sends is not always the same as the person who will go.

Going is hard.

Sometimes we go physically. Sometimes we go through a season.

Sometimes we go with clear understanding, and sometimes in blind faith.

Sometimes we go alone, and sometimes together.

Sometimes we come back.  Sometimes we don’t.

Today I understand this in a new way. Going and not knowing is better than not leaving and perceiving.

A Week of Sundays: Week 10

Sunday 10: The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

What does it mean to be a church on a mission?

Mission isn’t always about going.

Sometimes it’s about being.

We all have spiritual gifts, but we don’t always have opportunity to use them. The most gifted speaker does not preach at all times. A prophet does not exclusively live in his visions; he spends his time in the ordinariness of life. Even a missionary, who has dedicated his life to a particular type of living on mission, does not do his work without stop.

However, at all times, we have the opportunity to love.

"Suppose I speak in the languages of human beings or of angels. If I don’t have love, I am only a loud gong or a noisy cymbal. Suppose I have the gift of prophecy. Suppose I can understand all the secret things of God and know everything about him. And suppose I have enough faith to move mountains. If I don’t have love, I am nothing at all. Suppose I give everything I have to poor people. And suppose I give myself over to a difficult life so I can brag. If I don’t have love, I get nothing at all... Love never fails. But prophecy will pass away. Speaking in languages that had not been known before will end. And knowledge will pass away. What we know now is not complete. What we prophesy now is not perfect. But when what is complete comes, the things that are not complete will pass away." (1 Corinthians 13:1-9, NIrV)

A day will come when spiritual gifts as we know them will no longer be necessary. There is no need to preach in heaven because all will already know the full goodness of God. There will be no prophecy because we will see and understand in a new way. But love will remain because God is love.

And today, also, we can always love.