Personal Reflections of Bishop Michael J. Coyner
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#119. MISSIONARIES BY PROXY
On December 12th, I had the great privilege of being involved in the commissioning of 24 new United Methodist missionaries at a service in Atlanta, Georgia. I was invited to participate because two of those being commissioned were Chet and Jodi Cataldo from the Dakotas (who are going to Lithuania). I also was pleased to learn that Ann Girton from North Indiana was being commissioned (to go to Liberia), because Ann was my district lay leader back in Indiana and I have seen her go through candidacy into ordained ministry and now into missionary work. The whole service was an awesome reminder of the commitment that these new missionaries are making. They are from all over the world and they are going to serve in places all over the world. They have worked hard to prepare themselves through language school, missionary training, and other personal sacrifices. Now, as I came to each one to lay hands upon their heads and to commission them, I could not help but sense that they are going on behalf of all of us. In fact, that was the message of Bishop Bevell Jones, the other bishop involved in the service. He told the congregation that these persons -- these new missionaries -- are making all of us "missionaries by proxy" as they go to serve in our behalf. They deserve our prayers, our financial support, and our appreciation. However, I do want to differ slightly with Bishop Jones -- I believe that it is too easy for us to sit home and feel good that we are "missionaries by proxy." We are also called be to missionaries -- right here and now -- wherever we are living and serving. Being a missionary doesn't just mean being commissioned to go to a distant land to share the Gospel. Being a missionary means being an ambassador for Christ in our own homes, churches, and communities. I often tell pastors going to new appointments that they must think of themselves as missionaries: they must learn the language and customs of the new place they will serve, they must get to know the people in that new place, and they must find ways to communicate the love of Christ in ways that can be understood and responded to. Laypersons, too, are missionaries to those in their own network of friends, co-workers, family, and acquaintances. I saw a sign in one of our churches here in the Dakotas which said, "To many of the people we encounter today, they only part of God that they will see will be us." It is true, isn't it? And it is also a little scary. Back in high school when I attended church camp and felt called into ministry, our resource booklet contained a short poem which I have always remembered. It said, in part: "We are the only Bible a careless world will read. We are the sinner's gospel, we are the scoffer's creed. We are the Lord's last message, written in our deeds and words. What if the lines are crooked, what if the type is blurred?" Our baptism commissions all of us to be missionaries of the Gospel, persons who lives carry with us the Good News of Jesus Christ. Even as we celebrate these new missionaries who are risking their very lives to go on our behalf, let us also reaffirm our own role as missionaries in the places that we live and serve. And so I pray:
Bless our missionaries, O Lord, and keep them safely in Your care.
Bless us as missionaries, too, and help us all to see Amen.
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