Living Life with a Mission
(Adapted from a sermon delivered to the children at Transfiguration Orthodox Academy)
Do we sleepwalk through life, or do we live our lives with a mission?
In today’s Gospel (Luke 9:7-11), Jesus withdraws to a separate place with his disciples. In other places in the Gospels, it is clear that he does this in order to rest after a long day of preaching and healing. Rest is important. Jesus is God but he is also fully human. It is not sinful to rest, it is necessary. He goes away with his disciples to rest. But the crowds follow him. I don’t know about you, but if I were super tired after a really, really long day of talking to people, being with people, healing people all day long, I would be very tired and just want to put my feet up and sleep. I’m sure Jesus felt the same way (or even more so). But when the crowds followed him, what did He do? If it were me, I would be frustrated and even mad, and tell them to go away until I got some rest. I’d say, “it’s my day off!” or set my phone on “Do Not Disturb.” But what did Jesus do? He welcomed them, shared with them the Good News about the Kingdom, and healed the sick.
Why would he do this? If he needed rest, why didn’t he just take it? In other places in the Gospel, he did take rest, so we know he wasn’t against that and that he needed it. But in this case he denied his own natural human need for comfort and chose love.
Jesus was able to do this because He was on a mission. His mission was to tell as many people as he could about the Kingdom of God. And not just to tell them, but to show them the power of the Kingdom through His healings. Because He lived with a mission, He was able to choose the mission over His bodily comfort.
Do we have a Mission? Certainly none of us were able to choose to be born. That happened whether we wanted it or not (and thank God it did!). But we do get to choose how we will live the rest of our lives on this earth. Is our mission going to be to sleep-walk through life, seeking our own comfort, pleasure, money, success–a life focused on me, me, me? Or will we choose a higher purpose?
What is the Mission of our life? To become Saints! And who are Saints? Saints are people that recognize that the highest mission and purpose in life is LOVE. Love for God and neighbor. Nothing else really matters. If we choose love, even over our own success, comfort, or happiness, we will be living life with a Mission, and our lives will be beautiful and saintly!
