“Jesus called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.”
- Mark 6:7-13
📷
On Sunday, we heard about how Jesus sent the disciples out to share the gospel - and that we are sent also.
Every Sunday, when we gather for worship, we follow a familiar four-fold pattern of Gathering, Word, Meal and Sending. We begin by being gathered by God to worship, being reconciled to God and to each other through confession and forgiveness, giving thanks for the gift of baptism and declaring who we have come to worship. We hear the word and respond in song and we gather around the table where Christ is both host and meal.
While the Sending portion of every worship service is brief, it is an important part. It is the culmination of our time together, what everything else has been moving toward.
“At the time of the sending, we are no longer the same individuals who earlier crossed the threshold of the worship space. We are now a community who has encountered the living Christ in this place, and have been empowered for ministry through the sending. Like Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, we can’t remain forever in the assembly. Our vocation sends us to a world in need, to live amidst the pains and struggles of our world” ( The Sunday Assembly (Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship Volume One) by Lorraine S. Brugh and Gordon W. Lathrop, p 227).
In the blessing, we are reminded of our baptisms one more time as we make the sign of the cross. In song, we each respond with our “final praises and response to God for all the gifts received” ( ibid. p 231). As we turn to face the cross during the last song, we are directed toward the door which will lead us out into the world.
Finally, we close with our final response:
As followers of Christ,
We share God’s love through words and actions.
Go in peace, serve the Lord,
Thanks be to God.
We respond “thanks be to God” not that worship is finally over or that we are finished before kickoff, but giving thanks to God that we have been strengthened and sent into a world in need. We give thanks because God has given each one of us a vocation in order to serve the world. We give thanks that we have been strengthened and nourished so that we can continue God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation in the world, knowing “God may not need your good deeds, but your neighbor does” (Martin Luther).
Join us every Sunday, as we remember again what God has done for us - and then join us as we are sent into our daily lives to be carriers of the good news of God’s kingdom.
In the abiding hope of the Risen Lord,
Pastor Lecia
Comments