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World Missionary
Recently I visited Australia and while I was there I had the opportunity to preach at a church made up of no more than 20 people.
Matthew 10:5-6
Recently I visited Australia and while I was there I had the opportunity to preach at a church made up of no more than 20 people. And it got me thinking what would it be like to be a world missionary? Now, maybe you’re someone who gets excited by the sound of getting to travel to some far off place to share God’s Word. Or maybe you’re someone who’s frightened by the idea of having to leave your family and friends and move across the globe. But as I begin to ponder this question, I was reminded of the first time that Jesus sent out the apostles.
When Jesus sent out the 12 apostles the very first thing he said to them was,
“Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not enter any town of the Samaritans. Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10:5-6)
Now Jesus didn’t give these directions because he loved the Jews more than the Gentiles or the Samaritans. No, Jesus loved these other groups too, and he would later send the apostles to go share the word to these nations, but not right away. Not right now. Why? Well, it was because he had to start somewhere. Jesus lived, died, and rose to redeem the whole world. And he wants everyone to know and believe the work that he has done to set us right with God. But in order to share his message with everyone, he needed to start by sharing it with one. One group, one person, he needed to start somewhere.
Jesus sent the apostles to the Jews because they were Jews themselves. It made sense to start by sharing his message with the people who they knew the most, and can most easily relate to. Yes, it was important for Jesus to get his word out to these other nations, but there were people in the apostles backyards who needed to hear that message too. God, he has a plan to share his message with the whole world, and he wants you to be a part of that plan. And maybe God’s plan is for you to one day move across the world and share his message in some far off place. But wherever you are right now, you have been placed in an environment, in a community with people who do not know Jesus. You have friends, family, coworkers, classmates, teammates, even neighbors who have yet to know what Jesus has done to save them.
And yes, while you might be sent to some far off place, you have people right now who need to hear Jesus too. Odds are, most of us aren’t going to be world missionaries. But you are a missionary. You have been given the authority to forgive sins and to share the message of salvation with the world. So get to know the people who are around you today. Build relationships. Meet new people. Get to know your neighbors, and remember that Jesus died for you, me, and our neighbors too. Amen.
