“Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!” BCP, 366
Dear Friends in Christ,
Each Sunday, you are sent by God on a mission. In fact, you ask God to send you in the post-communion prayer. Why is this? What is it for? Do you feel sent on a mission? How are you doing on that mission?
In the post-communion prayer, we pray “send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord…” (BCP 366) or “Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart” (BCP 366). Then the dismissal emphasizes this, for instance “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord!” (BCP 366).
Jesus, before his ascension, tells his disciples “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). In Mark, he tells them “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).
The Sending is an important part of our worship. We worship God to acknowledge God’s authority in our lives, and God sends us into the world to love and serve him. We love and serve him in our prayers and study, in living and loving as God has taught us in Holy Scriptures, in serving others with self-giving love, forgiveness and grace. We love and serve the Lord by proclaiming by word and example the good news of God in Jesus. How are you doing in your commission?
Come gather together for worship each week. Be strengthened by the Holy Spirit and nourished by God’s holy word and sacraments and our fellowship together. And then, accept God’s commission to you, sent out into the world to walk with God and love as God has loved you in Jesus.
Yours in Christ,
-Tom