As many of you know, I flew to Ohio earlier in the week to be with Naza during the time the movers were going to be in our home packing. Needless to say, when I got there, I felt bad that I had been absent during the time of the hard work my wife had done separating stuff out and packing. She had pretty much everything under control and all that was left for me to do was pack the pantry and try to stay out of the way as we had some rough-looking guys coming in and out of our home for two days.

When I saw what appeared like endless boxes and plastic containers with stuff, clearly marked and ready to be loaded, I couldn’t help but think that I was looking at the results of the work of someone who was clearly focused on accomplishing a mission. During two weeks, that is pretty much all that Naza did. She set aside other things — like going out with her friends to say one last good-bye or using the gift cards she had received for Christmas to get something nice for one of her kids, etc., etc.

During that whole time she labored non-stop to be ready for when the movers came. And by golly, she was ready — tired but still moving, burdened but still smiling, looking toward the reward. And the reward came today — after everything was deposited inside our little farm house, she slept the sleep of princesses and had no more dreams of packaging tape creaking through the house. The first part of her mission was accomplished.

When I think about what my wife did, I think of what it means to be on mission for God. About His mission, Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 10:19). Now if that was how Jesus felt about His raison d’être, I see no reason why His followers need to modify it. Jesus spent all His time, energy, and infinite talents doing one thing and one thing alone — to seek and save that which was lost.

Of course, Jesus also taught, worked, slept, ate, planned His days, relaxed with His disciples, and carried on with the same kind of pace a person living in His time and place would. But He never lost sight of His mission. That is, for example, the reason He had to go through Samaria to meet a woman of ill- repute, who needed the Messiah to make her whole. The Jews avoided going through Samaria all together when they went north, but Jesus resolutely set His eyes on a little place called Sychar, where the seeds of transformation would be sown in the heart of a most unlikely evangelist.

This Sunday we will conclude our series on the Church as the Hope of the World with a very unique service. We will commission David, Jennifer and Noah Felty, as they embark on a two-month theatrical experience in Florida playing major roles in the famous Victor Hugo’s play Les Miserables. David and Jennifer will sing for us and we will look at some of the aspects of that play that relate to the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ.

I promise you: you will laugh some, think some, and be challenged a lot to get on with the mission, like my wife, Naza, did. You too will reap the rewards of your labor when the big Mover comes!

See you tomorrow!

Pastor Ivanildo C. Trindade