Today's readings: Ps 87, 90; Hos 1:1-2:1; Acts 20:1-16; Luke 4:38-44
When someone claims to be on a mission from God, we probably think they are making a Blues Brothers reference. If we realize they are serious, we may question their grip on reality. When someone’s calling makes us uncomfortable, we tend throw around words like obsession. We say things like, “I know she’s really into recycling… but used staples?” We know Christ told the rich young man to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor (Luke 18:22), but how would we react if someone we knew actually went and did it? People immersed in mission can look unbalanced to us… and raise uncomfortable questions within us.
What would we make of Hosea? On God’s order, he married a cult prostitute and named two of their children the Hebrew equivalents of “not my people” and “no mercy” so he could proclaim his family a living symbol of God’s dissatisfaction with Israel. In the field of missions, he makes staple-recyclers look like unranked amateurs. But what can he teach us?
Though Hosea is undoubtedly a more extreme example of dedication to mission than any of us will need to be, he is a model of structuring one’s life around a relationship with God, rather than cramming that relationship into a life already full of other things. Ideally, we would judge all our activities by how well they foster our relationship with God, and change or discard those that don’t. Easier said than done, right? We can’t perfect ourselves, but we can prioritize according to how God calls us, and stop worrying about how people might negatively perceive our dedication.
If Hosea is a bit too extreme for us to relate to, we can also look to Jesus. When he was ready to leave Capernaum, the people wanted to prevent him, but he was clear about the need to spread the Gospel elsewhere (Luke 4:42-43). Not everyone will receive our mission-based decisions gladly, but we do not need to feel guilty about sticking to the mission. At the same time, God’s love must always be our guiding principle, or the mission will become merely a new law to enslave us. Let us prayerfully consider what God calls us to do, and how we are called to do it.
Comfort: What other people think is never more important than God.
Challenge: Make a list of your weekly activities. Which are serving God, and which are wasting time? Remember that rest serves God also.
Prayer: God of strength, make me fit for the mission you would give me.
Evening readings: Ps 136
Tomorrow's readings: Ps 66, 67; Hos 2:2-14; Acts 20:1-16; Luke 4:38-44
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