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Worship as being sent
The following is part of a "sending" incorporated into the final portion of the Holy Communion of a special prayer service at Trinity Theological College in Singapore.
It was in order to bring
the whole day to a theological and spiritual conclusion. This was a
Communion service in the Taize style, which normally places any address or
sermon at the end in order to maintain the flow of singing and meditation. With
a focus on Matthew 28.16-20, the stress that God
is the Great Missional Force in, with, and under the Church.
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We dedicated this Day of Prayer to reflecting on
and praying about the church’s mission in the world. But we should end the day
by reminding ourselves that God is on a mission to draw all people to himself
and to make this world his own.
“But where is God’s mission taking place?” you might ask. It takes
place through the very things we have been doing today: praying, reading the
Scriptures, and sharing the Meal.
To begin with, prayer is God’s mission work in you and me. This truth is
obscured when prayer is viewed as our way of taking control of God’s power in
order to vaporize demons or magically change the religious convictions of
non-Christians.
This past Holy Week, however, Dr Gordon Wong reminded us that prayer is
really about our being changed. Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane was
“Not my will, but yours be done.” Through prayer, we listen to God and open
ourselves to God’s will. So we do not use prayer to direct God; God uses
prayer to direct us.
God’s missional work is also happening in the reading of the Word.
When the Scriptures are proclaimed, God shows us our weakness, neediness, and
brokenness. At the same time, God’s Word promises strength, comfort, and
forgiveness. Put another way: God’s Word in worship kills and makes alive;
it kills the sinner and then raises up a new person who is alive to God’s
grace, mercy and truth. It is this death and resurrection wrought by the Word
that truly equips us for the mission of making Christ known in the world.
Finally, God’s mission takes place in the celebration of Holy Communion.
In the meal that we just celebrated, the Risen Lord who came to his disciples
and gave them the “Great Commission” came to us and fed us with his love and
forgiveness so that we might go make disciples. At this Table, we participated
in the very life of God’s Number One Missionary—our Lord Jesus Christ! Our
task now is to invite others to share in the body of Christ.
Indeed, as we go out from this worship service, let us remember that making
disciples really means making worshippers! In Acts 2, those who repented and
were baptized gathered together for fellowship, listening to the apostles’
teaching, breaking bread (communion), and praying—acts of worship! Rather than
thinking of mission as “converting” people, we should think of it as
welcoming people into the worshipping assemblies of our churches. More
specifically, mission is about welcoming people to the baptismal font and to the
Communion table. It is about equipping them with the knowledge and rituals
skills to participate in worship. Mission, then, is not so much about adding to
church membership roles, but rather adding to that great choir of believers who
worship the Lamb and The One who sits on the Throne (Revelation 5.11-13). So let
us go out and make worshippers of all nations!
Amen.
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