Lesson #3: Mission Forms Community

At the airport Friday, as we were awaiting our flight home, I asked our group to share highlights from the trip.?? And there was a common thread.?? There was a common theme.?? There was a common aspect.?? Nearly all the highlights were relational.

??

The dinner we shared together Tuesday evening as a group.?? The relationships we formed with one another.?? The relationships we formed with people from upstate New York and Arizona.?? The conversations we had with home-owners.

??

Very few of the highlights had to do with the actual work we did.?? But it was the work we did that brought us together in the first place.?? Mission forms community.

??

The group of forty we were all part of was quite diverse.?? We were not all the same age.?? We were not from the same place.?? We were not all part of the same church.?? We were not all Lutherans.?? And I had some interesting theological conversations which resulted from people realizing I???m not a Lutheran pastor!?? They were gracious yet curious.

??

But we all shared a common mission: to rebuild homes together in New Orleans.?? We were all there for the same reason.?? We were all there to serve Jesus Christ through serving the people of New Orleans.

??

Mission brought us together.?? Mission forms community.?? We remember the relationships.?? But it was our common mission which formed our fellowship in the first place.

Advertisements

---