Boo! (Part 4)

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20 ESV).

The third principle for us to understand with the approach of Halloween is that we are a people on mission. In Christ, we are not a cloistered, cowering people, perpetually on the defensive. Jesus gives us a mission. Our reading details that mission. We are to go on our way making disciples (v. 19). We are no longer of this world, but sent into this world, with the backing of the King’s boundless authority (v. 18), on history’s great offensive, thrashing joyfully against the darkness. As Jesus prayed to his Father about his saints, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:15-18). Our great high priest doesn’t pray for our removal from the world, but for our reaching of it. Our task is to be God’s tool in rescuing fellow sinners from “the god of this world [who] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Our mission is to free our captive neighbors and coworkers, family and friends, who are “following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). There are many ways to use Halloween as a ministry opportunity; however, the real key is to be on mission everyday throughout the year. I find people separating mission from their daily activities too often of the time. “Mission” becomes something we go and do. The Scripture makes it clear that mission is something we do “while we go.” It is our daily lives and habits that define where and what we do on our personal mission. Our calling is the center of our lives. Whether you are employed in full-time ministry or another non-ministerial vocation, all of them are a part of the calling of God to be a people on mission. My encouragement to you is that you use every holiday celebration as a way to point others to Jesus, but, additionally, give you attention to the things you do each day to render a kind word, a gesture of grace to everyone you come into contact with. And, surround yourself with people on the same mission as you!