The Mystery Mission--March 16, 2021

 The Mystery Mission--March 16, 2021

"And say to Archippus, 'See that you complete the task that you have received in the Lord'." [Colossians 4:17]

The thing I love about this verse is the very thing that leaves me scratching my head: we have no idea what "task" it was that the Lord gave to Archippus... and it's okay that we don't know.  We don't have to know what this mystery mission was.  Just he did.

In fact, it's not even clear that the rest of the folks in Colossae knew what "the task" was, either.  Paul just says, rather cryptically, "Remind Archippus to finish what Christ has told him to finish."  And that's it.  We don't know how long he had been working on it, whether it was a short-term task or a lifelong mission, or something in between. It could have been something as concrete as, "Finish setting up that planter box for the community garden so the hungry folks in town will have a place to grown their tomatoes," or as wide open as, "You've got to stay sober this time, Archie--don't fall off the wagon again."  Or maybe it was something like, "You said you were going to work on your anger issues--keep it up, brother!"

But we don't have to know what it was in order for this member of the church in Colossae to have done it, and neither did the rest of the congregation.  More importantly, they could all be called up on to be cheerleaders and encouragers for Archippus, even if they didn't know what he was tasked with doing.  Or, if they did know, they could be supporters and helpers while letting his work be his to do.  The fact that Paul doesn't say any more than this lone enigmatic sentence might seem mysterious or obscure to us, but maybe it can give us clarity for our situation.

Maybe it's ok, in fact, if I don't know what God has called a sibling in Christ to do.  I don't have to know what work the Spirit is doing in their lives, or how Jesus is leading them to a particular project, ministry, or vision, in order to cheer them on.  In fact, sometimes it's none of my business what "task" the Lord might have led someone else to complete, and I don't always need to go nosing around to find out!  What I can do is encourage people around me to do what they know they have been called to do... and then to learn to be ok with them doing their work their own way, even if I would have approached it differently.

That's a hard learning in this life, isn't it?  Sometimes we are so passionate for doing our best for God that we step on other people whom God has called to do their own work, because we want to swoop in and micromanage their way of doing it... or to criticize the way they do it... or get fussy when they don't immediately take our free advice and do things MY way.  We mean well--we always mean well, don't we?--but sometimes we can't stop our good intentions from souring into meddling, micromanaging, or, a particular challenge for my gender, man-splaining.  I have a hunch none of those are needed for the kind of work the Lord calls anybody to...  and maybe, instead, I am called simply to trust that God is leading them to do what they need to do, and will lead me to do what I need to do.  And sometimes, that will mean I need to learn to allow God to be big enough--and God's Kingdom work to be vast enough--that your life's mission may be very different from mine, and yet we can each be doing "the task we have received in the Lord."

Some congregations see their task in housing the food bank or the clothes closet; others help the homeless and bring meals to those in need of them.  Others create holy moments of sanctuary in the peace of their Sunday liturgies for weary souls, while others are coming up with creative ways to engage children in a deeper trust in God, and then still others are called to welcome those most on the margins who have been burned before by religious hypocrisy or hatred.  We can recognize that God has called us to our niche without insisting that everyone else's ministry look the same, and we can recognize that others may be called to different work and yet still be called by the same God to do it.  And the same will be true with each of us individually--your faith may lead you to work against human trafficking, while another follower of Jesus may be fed to speak up against racism in their community, and another will share their faith with strangers at a coffeehouse inviting them to hear about grace.  We don't all have to do the same work to be working for the same Lord.  But we can cheer and empower one another in the calling each of us has been given.

So that's the plan for today: how can each of us cheer for and support the people around us so that all of us can complete "the task," whatever it is, we have each received from the Lord?  Let's get to it.

Lord Jesus, allow us the maturity to see the many ways you call us, and the many ways you lead us--and others--to serve.