A Simple Mission

Gospel: Matthew 9: 35-10: 1, 6-8

The message and mission of Jesus and his disciples is set out clearly in today's Gospel portion.  In the first part of the passage we find Jesus going to every town and village throughout Galilee doing four things: proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God, healing those who were ill, liberating those in the grip of demons, and feeding those who were hungry.  In every Gospel story Jesus is doing one or more of these four things.

Then, in the second part of today's passage we find Jesus observing how tired people are.  They follow him in order to be healed, liberated, and nourished.  He realizes that the need is great and that more people need to do his work.  So, Jesus empowers his disciples to go and do these four things: proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, heal people of their illnesses, liberate them from their demons, and feed them at table.  That's it.  That's the Christian life in four easy steps.

This Advent, skip the pricey "discipleship" series your church is having   If it's not about these four things it's not worth attending.  Instead, undertake a deep reflection individually and with others on how one can live out this mission of Jesus.  Consider all the places where this work can be undertaken, discern one's own gifts and where God is calling you to do this work.  Then, go and do that work, finding a small group of others who do so in order to have a community of prayer and support in this mission.