Mission (Im?)possible!

by Carol Hubing

Mission...

The word itself evokes the weighty feeling of an entrusted responsibility… a challenging and important assignment.  Of course our minds quickly run to movies we’ve seen in which a main character such as Ethan Hunt is presented with an almost impossible scenario to overcome, in order to save countless lives that are (often unknowingly) hanging in the balance.

Born for mission…

Although our assignment and obstacles may appear drastically different than the grandiose tasks presented to Ethan Hunt, the People of God were also born for mission.  Even before Adam and Eve sinned, the scriptures state that Jesus was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:19-20, Rev. 13:8). That means even before creation, there was a mission burning in God’s heart: to reconcile through His Son a People  through whom He could reach all nations.

In the OT we see the formation of this mission (a.k.a.His Eternal Purpose) in seed form as He preserves Noah and his family, calls Abraham and promises him offspring, and finally establishes a covenant with Moses and the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. God’s mission was  to have a People set apart and preserved for Himself among whom He would dwell, as a holy light to the nations.  "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.  Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex. 19:5-6).

Fueled by Presence…

Moses accepts this mission under one condition: that God’s presence go with them. Even before he asks, Yahweh reassures Moses:  "The Lord replied, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.' Then Moses said to him, 'If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?' And the Lord said to Moses, 'I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.'" (Exodus 33:15-17).
 
Friends, this mission has not changed!  We as the Church are the ones entrusted to accomplish God’s divine mission. And, His mission is still impossible apart from His very own Divine Presence.  Under the New Covenant, Divine Presence now accessed through the Holy Spirit, dwelling within and amongst the People of God. He must continue to fuel our divine mission.

‘...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…’ (1 Peter 2:5)
 
‘Do you not know that you (all) are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?’ (1 Cor. 3:16)
 
‘For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” ‘ (2 Cor. 6:14-17)
 
Becoming the House of God together identifies us as the location of the same Divine Presence of the OT! Do we really understand the significance of who we are (becoming) together as it relates to God’s mission since before creation?  Do we connect the dots back from what’s in our heart to what’s in His?

If we (individually and corporately) are now the location of God’s indwelling presence, any hindrances (sin, flesh, compromise, worldliness, etc.) should be dealt with soberly so as to not sabotage the precious mission God has held in His heart since before time. When we disconnect our lives in any way from God’s mission (which is sustained only by His Divine Presence), we are on a slippery slope towards striving in our own strength and living short-sighted, selfish lives devoid of the very Presence that is necessary to fuel that mission.

‘I am the vine; you are the branches.  If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.’ (John 15:5)
 
‘Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not from the Father but from the world.’   (1 John 2:15-16)
 
Mission Accomplished…

Thankfully, unlike Ethan Hunt’s missions, God’s mission is not dependent upon our own clever expertise, but rather our increasing surrender of Self and growing dependence on His Divine Presence. His Divine Presence in and among us as His Church is the only way to make an otherwise-impossible mission possible. May we jealously cultivate, nurture and preserve His Presence in our lives so that His mission is indeed accomplished through us in our generation!