The Church's Participation
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Do you like games or activities that involve teamwork? What kind of people would make up your dream team?
โข How do you usually respond when youโre given an urgent task?
โข What joint project or collaboration have you played a role in recently? How did it turn out in the end?ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐บ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ตโ? ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ฏ๐ฑโ๐ฏ๐ฒ
Jesus calls us, the Church, to participate in Godโs missionโto restore creation and reconcile the world to Himself. There are many ways we can contribute to its fulfillment, and it can be tempting to make it about ourselves. But we must remember that we do not have our own mission. From the very beginning, this mission has always been Godโs. Through His Holy Spirit, we get to participate in His grand plan for the worldโa great privilege in itself. Today, letโs discover truths about Godโs mission and His call for us.
๐ญ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐.
โ๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐บ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ตโ? ๐๐ค๐ค๐ , ๐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ก๐๐๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐จ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ต.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ฏ๐ฑ
It is difficult to see what is in front of you when you are looking only at yourself. In this verse alone, Jesus emphasizes three times the importance of deliberately looking. He calls His disciples to intentionally observe, perceive, and behold. It means we are to magnify what Jesus sees more than what we see. We are not to focus on what we cannot do or to dwell on what keeps us from moving; we are to look up and see the work that is ripe and ready. The harvest is ripe and right in front of us. How may we be more intentional about lifting our eyes to see what Jesus sees?
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐.
โ๐๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ข๐บ, โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด๐ตโ? ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐จ๐ฉ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ฏ๐ฑ
Whether that is four months or one week, we ought not to idly wait for the harvest because it is already here. The harvest is here and now, not there and then. Oftentimes, we get intimidated, thinking that people are resistant and not open to Godโs word. But God has prepared multitudes of people already. Therefore, we can be more confident and intentional in proclaiming the gospel. We cannot look at the harvest through a lens of passivityโwe are to lift our eyes with urgency. It is high time for us to evangelize and preach the gospel. Not only do we need to respond to Godโs call to reap the harvest, but we also need to obey in haste. In Matthew 4:18โ20, how did Peter and Andrew respond when Jesus called them to follow Him?
๐ฏ. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฝ.ย
โ๐๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฑ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐จ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐ข๐๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ฏ๐ฒ
God uses both the sower and the reaper to bring the lost back to Him. As in farming, there is one who plants and one who harvests the fruit, and it is not always the first person who labors that sees the fruit. Whether we are called to sow or to reap, what matters most is that we take part in Godโs mission, for we are all ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต (2 Corinthians 5:20). While it may seem unjust that the sower may not always see the fruit of their labor, both the sower and the reaper will receive a reward. Ultimately, our reward is seeing the lost saved, for there is rejoicing when people are reconciled to our Father. According to Luke 15:7, what happens when one sinner repents?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Have you been looking at the harvest with urgency? If not, ask God to enable you to see what Jesus sees.
โข How can you grow in sowing seeds of the gospel and reaping Godโs harvest? What action steps can you take this week in response to His call and mission?
โข Look at the ripe harvest in front of you (e.g., at home, at school, or at work). Commit to help at least two people know about the love of God starting this week.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for giving us the privilege of participating in His mission regardless of our doubts, fears, and insecurities.
โข Ask the Holy Spirit to remove any hint of passivity or hesitation in your heart and to replace it with urgency to reap the harvest wherever God is calling you.
โข Praise God for how the kingdom is forcefully advancing through His Church. Ask Him for the grace to be a better ambassador for Christ.