Given the church s checkered history of misrepresenting Jesus in the world many Christians today, eager to avoid the charge of arrogance, want nothing to do with evangelism or mission. I want to talk this morning about mission, and in particular, our theology of mission. I want us to look at God s mission today. Secondly, I am drawn to this theme of mission because recently I was at a conference with Tom Lehman as the mission agencies of the Mennonite Church tried to form a new vision for missions. Mission work is not something we send people or money to do elsewhere, but is a central part of how we are church in our daily lives.
Mission is at our doorsteps.
And thirdly, I was drawn to this theme of missions because our Lenten text for today from John s gospel shows Jesus on a mission. Jesus, here, has come to the end of his public ministry. He is on his way to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. Jesus disciples warn him not to go because people are trying to kill him. However, Jesus insists on going to Jerusalem.