THE CHRISTMAS MODEL
FOR MISSIONS
“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them
into the world.” —John 17:18
Christmas is a model for missions. Missions is a mirror of
Christmas. As I, so you.
For example, danger. Christ came to his own and
his own received him not. So you. They plotted against
him. So you. He had no permanent home. So you. They
trumped up false charges against him. So you. They
whipped and mocked him. So you. He died after three
years of ministry. So you.
But there is a worse danger than any of these which
Jesus escaped. So you!
In the mid-16th century Francis Xavier (1506–1552), a
Catholic missionary, wrote to Father Perez of Malacca
December 1838 Good News of Great Joy Daily Readings for Advent
(today part of Indonesia) about the perils of his mission to
China. He said,
The danger of all dangers would be to lose trust and
confidence in the mercy of God… To distrust him
would be a far more terrible thing than any physical
evil which all the enemies of God put together could
inflict on us, for without God’s permission neither
the devils nor their human ministers could hinder us
in the slightest degree.
The greatest danger a missionary faces is to distrust the
mercy of God. If that danger is avoided, then all other
dangers lose their sting.
God makes every dagger a scepter in our hand. As J.W.
Alexander says, “Each instant of present labor is to be gra
ciously repaid with a million ages of glory.”
Christ escaped the danger of distrust. Therefore God
has highly exalted him!
Remember this Advent that Christmas is a model for
missions. As I, so you. And that mission means danger.
And that the greatest danger is distrusting God’s mercy.
Succumb to this, and all is lost. Conquer here, and noth
ing can harm you for a million ages.
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