Infinitum Lent JourneySample

Today we will continue to consider Mission & Me in the context of Lent.

In yesterday’s commentary, we looked for who was missing. Maybe some readers are ‘missing’ missionally and could use the encouragement of others who were off the spiritual radar and yet, were restored and deployed effectively to advance Jesus’ mission in the world.

Today, we’re looking for those who are there. Joseph and Nicodemus. These fellows were strategically placed from the world’s perspective. They were among the elite. They possessed resources, authority, and influence. You’d think (and some Christians do think) this kind of powerful person is who we should target missionally.

Jesus wasn’t against them coming on board, but the elite was not his focus. Maybe their experience gives us an idea why. It seems like they were reticent about their convictions around Jesus. It seems like they were quite hesitant about jeopardizing their way of life—their means, their network, their access to power—for the sake of Jesus’ mission. It seems like they fall into the category of potential missioners that Jesus described in Matthew 19:23-24 (Phillips):

“Then Jesus remarked to his disciples, 'Believe me, a rich man will find it very difficult to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Yes, I repeat, a camel could more easily squeeze through the eye of a needle than a rich man get into the kingdom of God!' ”

Jesus understood the pull of power. He recognized the temptation of comfort. He saw these guys seemingly stuck on the margins of the mission.

At best, Joseph and Nicodemus were on the periphery of the Jesus caravan. Practically speaking, it might be fair to suggest that there were missionally useless in that location.

Yet, here, in the climax of the crisis, when it appeared by all accounts that the whole Jesus mission was collapsing like a house of cards, these fellows stepped up.

They finally leveraged their wealth and connections and exposed their religious and social standing for Jesus’ mission. At significant personal risk, they intentionally honored the Lord Jesus Christ at literally the lowest point in his mission.

The Bible is silent on the religious and social consequences of their timely deployment in mission. Still, the records of millennia of Christians celebrate their obedient initiative in their part of Jesus’ mission.

This is a great example for any readers on the missional periphery today. We, too, can, even at significant personal risk (though for many, we can likely downgrade that cost to ‘moderate personal inconvenience’), honor the Lord Jesus Christ by OUR obedient initiative in advancing his mission, starting today.