“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offering.” Hosea 6:6
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
Two very similar phrases from two different books of the Bible, written by very different characters in very different situations and times. What they both tell us, though, is that we have a God who is all forgiving and who desires us to come to him with open hearts. And, that it is to be open to changing our ways rather than physical sacrifice that God wants. A change of heart and ways is a better gift to God than any physical sacrifice made by any of us could ever be.
What these reading this morning also do is to call us to mission. They call us to reach out to God’s people and to tell them about the love God has for them, regardless of who they are or what they have to offer physically. All God wants is to love them and encourage them to love others in return. God’s love is not dependent on how much money or material goods you have or how much you have to spend on buying favour. God just wants you to love him as he loves you.
This is the message we have to proclaim through out Scotland and the world. We are called by God to be his missionaries of Christ. For in Jesus the ultimate sacrifice was made on the Cross, once and for all time. God needs, nor wants any similar sacrifice. What God wants is his people, us, to become more like him. All loving and all accepting, following the ways of Jesus in welcoming friend and stranger.
How can we do this today? How can we be good missionaries?
For me, mission is not about knocking on doors, or by leaflet dropping or accosting people on the street ‘Bible bashing’. It is about being ‘Me’ in God’s world and by being ‘Me’ in ways that will encourage others as I try to accept them as they are. To truly, see another person, to give them time, to listen and to truly hear what they have to say and to reassure them that they are loved by God and are beyond value to him.
None of us are perfect. We Christians are just as much sinners as the next person. What we have though, is the knowledge that God loves us. To know that we are truly lovable and acceptable to God is, when you really think about it, mind blowing! As such this should encourage us and fill us with joy - knowing even when we screw up that we are still fully loved by our Creator, really is amazing. For how many of us can actually say that we have never given up on someone when they have hurt or disappointed us?
As followers of Christ, as Christians we have a Baptismal call to mission and ministry. Through our Baptisms we are empowered to discern and explore the vocation we have been given and to spend our lives working that vocation out. Some of us may be called to specific types of ministry or mission but on the whole most of us are called to be the best version of ourselves that we can possibly be. To be ourselves in our every day lives is a very powerful and effective tool for God’s mission.
There is a well known adage that; ‘You are not taught the faith, you catch it.’ What this means in practice is that the example we set for others in our daily lives is far more powerful that we might acknowledge or accept.
Think of the people who have been important to you in your journey of faith. How did you learn from them? What did they do or say? Ask yourselves why you admire them or their ‘faith’. Everyone here this morning, I suspect, is an example to someone else, although you may never know so. We are all in effect ambassadors for Christ, for God; and as such we are called to carry the ways of the Divine into the world we inhabit.
The Early Christians just got on with mission and ministry and gave it no fancy titles. They lived their lives in ways that gave glory to God and support and love to those around them. They were in the most part unremarkable in themselves but they were inspired by Christ and his ways to come closer to God and his love.
Like those Early Christians we are not righteous, or remarkable and nor are any of us perfect. We live our lives in the light of the Gospel and in the knowledge that we are loved by God. We are, therefore. called to let others know that they too are as equally loved by God and that the ways of Jesus can change their lives beyond measure and that it is all free. No sacrifice needed just an open heart and a willingness to change.
As missioners and ministers of Christ take heart in the knowledge that just by being ‘You’ - you will already be making a change in someone else’s life, just as someone else will be changing your life too. Just be brave and be ‘you’ out there in God’s world and you will change that world just a bit. And, if we can all change a little bit then just imagine how big that change could be when we add it together.