Sons and Daughters: Living Out Jesus' Mission Together

Dear First Pres SLO Family,

Grace and peace to you in the name of the one who first walked this path to the cross for us, Jesus the Christ.

Alongside our Lent reader I’m also making my own journey through Henri Nouwen’s Show Me The Way, a Lenten devotional. Every year something different hits me. Today’s reading is working in me and on me as I try to filter out the busyness of life, and make room for the reflection and repentance of the season.

Here’s what Nouwen shared today:

Life in the Spirit of Jesus is therefore a life in which Jesus’ coming into the world—his incarnation, his death, and his resurrection—is lived out by those who have entered into the same obedient relationship to the Father which marked Jesus’ own life. Having become sons and daughters as Jesus was Son, our lives become a continuation of Jesus’ mission.

Dang it. That one just pierces me to the heart. It reminds me of all that Jesus went through during his long path of obedience and suffering. But it also reminds me of the call on my life—on all our lives—to continue Jesus’ mission during our years on this earth. 

That mission is what Jesus shared as he started his ministry. Quoting Isaiah in Luke, Jesus said:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,

     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

If we want to live as the daughters and sons of God, as we are invited to, then it’s our task, together as the church, to continue this mission wherever we go.

We’ll talk about this more during Holy Week and beyond. For now, read it and hear it as a challenge to continue this path of discipleship and obedience, as we all make our way to the cross.

Blessings to you this Holy Week,

Pastor John