When we talk about Mission(s) we often mean telling people in other places about Jesus. But is that right. What does mission mean? It means sent. God sent Jesus. Jesus gave us the spirit and sent us as the Father sent him. So mission is about doing what Jesus did when he was on earth. He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, by doing things that demonstrated its present.

First Jesus was a healer. He healed people’s physical bodies. But he also healed their relationships. When he cleansed lepers, for example, he restored their health, but he also changed their social reality. Those who had been forbidden from seeing their families or worshiping were now free. The church can be a community that shows this same type of relational healing when we extend hospitality to the outsider or show mercy to someone who has failed.

Second Jesus showed compassion for the poor. Everything he does shows that he stands in solidarity with them. And Jesus doesn’t distinguish who deserves it and who does not. Instead, he shows grace indiscriminately. The church should do the same, standing in solidarity with the weak, the poor and the despised.

So what does mission mean? It means being Jesus’ hands and feet in all the places where we find ourselves.