Our Mission!!!

The gospel that we will listen to for this weekend, John 1:29-34, speaks of Jesus' baptism, but this time, John the Baptist points to Jesus as the Lamb of God. John recognizes Jesus as the One who is to come into the world to save us from our sins. Jesus is the One who comes to baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. As one commentator points out, this is where John the Baptist vanishes because he knows that his mission has been fulfilled. John was the herald of the Messiah who is now here so Jesus' public ministry can begin. Now, the mission continues with us. Here is an illustration that I am going to use this weekend to prove this point: "A university student who was having a hard time getting his act together decided to take his frustrations out on God. He went into the university chapel, sat in a pew, looked heavenward and said, 'All we have on this earth are problems and a bunch of dummies who will never figure out how to solve them. Even I could make a better world than this one.' And somewhere deep inside him the student heard God answer: 'That's what you're supposed to do'" (Fuller, Stories for All Seasons, 25). That is what we are supposed to do! We are to continue the mission entrusted to us, build a better world, and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. We received this mission at our baptism, let us make the most of it! Have a blessed weekend!!!