Missio Dei 4

March 18, 2009

A couple of days ago, Brad Brisco at Missional Church Network listed passages from the Gospel of John that concern the sending of Jesus. I would like to reflect on a couple of passages today. Hopefully a missional mandate may result.

John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” It is obvious from this that our Messiah is a missional Christ. Jesus is sent, and Jesus willingly came as the sent one in order to save humanity. It is also obvious to me that this passage is descriptive of the actions of God, and the actions of Jesus with the resultant effects.

In John 20:21 the resurrected Jesus says to his disciples again: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Then Jesus breathes his sending breath on them saying: “receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

This sending of the disciples for the purpose of forgiveness  is a power pack. It packs all the punch that the Holy Spirit can pack. The power of the Holy Spirit, the accompanying breath of Christ and of God, is present when forgiveness is happening as the peace of God, which is brought in the sending and going, is released. This passage is descriptive to a point but there is prescription here too. The prescription is to go in response to the sending Christ and his Breath. In other words, there is expectation on the mind of Christ that we imitate his actions as the sent one. The everlasting life and the forgiveness are of the same genre of spiritual realities. The one is described as Jesus’ action, the other as our action.

Being missional happens in that imitative action. He brings salvation, we proclaim the promise of forgiveness and its actuality. That’s imitative action. Anytime we extend the promise of forgiveness we are being missionally imitative.

Prayer: May this missional community bring the promise of forgiveness to many today.

What other missional actions of Christ are also to be imitated to a missional end by us?

Posted by georges boujakly | Filed Under Missio Dei, Missional 

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