Reflections

FIVE PRAYER MINIATURES

We are praying for the mission of the Church according to the needs of the people around us. I see those needs in the following: more of the Gospel, deeper faith, greater calmness, richer love and strengthened hope.

1. More of the Gospel
The Father sends the Son. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit. In a similar way God sends Christians. The Holy Spirit stirs up individuals in the local church. The Church appoints and authorizes individuals. Those individuals move at God’s direction.
In the Acts of the Apostle (13:1-5) we see how the fellowship in Antioch sent the apostles Barnabas and Paul (at that time he was still Saul):
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
Barnabas and Paul were apostles, that is ambassadors of the Lord. Their task was not to bring some special wisdom. Just as the Son of God set out and was ready to sacrifice himself, so they set out to sacrifice themselves. Just as Christ was stronger than death, so the two of them set out to encounter new life, the renewal of the spiritually dead, and their own resurrection. That is why the apostle Paul writes, For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that Day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:6-8).
The Gospel is a proclamation. When the Gospel is multiplied it is proclamation and sacrifice. Are we ready to bring more of the Gospel to this world? Then we must sacrifice ourselves: our conceit must die, our intolerance, our pushiness, our impatience, our bias, but even our lack of bias must die and only Christ remain as the fullness of God’s revelation (Col. 2:9).
Let us sacrifice ourselves. The Gospel will be more complete.

2. Deeper faith
Mission is the work of God. Who is sent by God? The one who has experienced God in the right way. The Lord does not require that all Christian experience should be the same, and not even very similar. But all experiences amongst Christians must be Christian.
Let us remind ourselves of the experience of the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 6). The Prophet had a vision of the glory of God. That included the Lord on His throne, seraphim with six wings, an amazing temple and frightening voices and smoke. An earthquake. The Prophet was terrified. He is not afraid of what he sees and hears. He is terrified at the thought that he is sinful because he has said unworthy things or at least things that were against God’s will. One of the seraphim picks up a piece of coal from the altar with his tongs and touches Isaiah’s lips. The Prophet is purified. In future he will speak God’s words. The Lord calls and Isaiah replies, “Here I am, send me.”
Our experiences are not like this. But each one of us is appointed for some work of God. Christ speaks to his Heavenly Father about each one of us: As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. (John 17:18). We are not asked whether we are sent or not, but, what are we sent to do?
Faith in mission is not a private revelation. It is fulfilled in commitment and complete obedience to the will of God. A true prophet speaks in God’s name but he does not behave like God. He dares not do that because he is aware of his insignificance.
We are praying for mission (apostleship) in accordance with the scripture, according to the will of the local fellowship and in a way acceptable to all, that is, in accordance with the will of the living God.
When a Christian witnesses to someone in the street, when he knocks on someone’s door, when he gives someone a tract or a book, when he helps someone in trouble, he does it because he believes. The deeper his faith is the more ready he is to fulfill the tasks that he is sent to perform. Without a deeper faith, the man of God would be no different from the man of the world. The man of the world can do good works because the saving spark of Christ is smoldering in him (John 1:9). But, when a Christian does the same things, he has the awareness, the readiness and the enthusiasm to turn faith into action.
A deeper faith understands other people. It is not afraid of men and women who think differently and hold different beliefs. When the Lord Jesus told the apostles to throw their nets into the sea (Luke 5:4), they indicated to Him (at least that is what we see from the response and actions of the apostle Peter) that they were doing it out of obedience, and not because of the Savior’s expert opinion, because they knew their trade and the lake that they were fishing. It turned out that God’s Word was the key to them making a catch.
Depth indicates something else: we do not need to fear others’ opinions. We need to fear our own sinfulness. In our situation that means this: if we grasp our own sinfulness and imperfection, then we won’t find it a waste of time listening to other voices (Jews, Muslims, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and other Protestant believers, even those who have no faith, but have something to say).