This Sunday is what is called ‘Mission Awareness Sunday’. We celebrate the initiatives we support together with nearly a thousand other Presbyterian congregations across our nation through ‘Presbyterians Sharing’ – from Actions Réfugiés in Montreal and Hummingbird Ministries in Vancouver http://presbyterian.ca/sharing/supported-ministries/ from partnerships with the Church of Central Africa (Presbyterian) in Malawi to the Hungarian Reformed Church of Sub-Carpathian Ukraine http://presbyterian.ca/missionstaff/ .
There is another part of ‘mission awareness’ however that is more foundational. Mission is not something that is done elsewhere or by others, mission is foundational to the Christian way. An essential dimension of the Christian life is sharing the life and love we have received in Christ, each of us and all of us together.
This morning we welcome the Rev. Dr. Glen Davis to the pulpit of St. Andrew’s Kingston. Glen was born in Cape Breton, NS, and studied at McGill and Presbyterian College. He and Joyce spent 15 years serving in the Korean Christian Church in Japan where they learned to speak Korean and Japanese. Glen then worked for 18 years at the national office of the PCC where he served as International Ministries Secretary and General Secretary of the Life and Mission Agency. He and Joyce served 7 years as co-ministers of Knox PC in Agincourt, after which they moved to Vancouver where Glen taught Presbyterian students at the Vancouver School of Theology for six years. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly in 2000, and is now working part time for the Presbyterian College, Montreal.
Glen writes “Mission” is a dirty word, at least for some who don’t want to have anything to do with it! For others, mission is optional, and we can leave it in the capable hands of the Women’s Missionary Society. But really, mission is another word for discipleship, because it’s all about following Jesus. To be a follower is to be a disciple. To be a disciple is to be involved in one way or another in God’s mission to the world he loves so much. And, for the Christian, that is not optional; it is mandatory.
So, if you don’t want to feel just a little bit uncomfortable, perhaps you should not come to St. Andrew’s this Sunday. Glen Davis will be preaching on “The God Who Calls”.