"The Outcome of Devotion"

"When Jesus gathered His group of twelve, he invited them into close fellowship. In gathering this group, Jesus called them close to Himself. But as Mark 3:14 makes clear, He called them close . . . so that they might be sent out. That same pattern is repeated in the life of every follower of Jesus. Every follower of Jesus is called close . . . so that they might be sent out." - Nik Ripken, "Day 5, The Outcome of Devotion," The Insanity of Sacrifice: A 90-Day Devotional

It has been nurtured--the dandelion seed. Suckled and cradled between sheltering green leaves, vigilant in their caring spikes. It has been smiled upon by beaming yellow delight. Bees have come as its nurses, and the godmother butterfly regularly visited with her blessing. But the time has come and the dandelion seed tentatively takes leave, flittering in the breeze, waving as it goes, with a drop of dew as a tear perhaps. On its way . . . .  In a new and foreign part of the lawn, its great wide world, it settles down. Tiny roots begin to crack the hard soil. It begins to make friends with the rocks, and wave little greening hands to the stiffly courteous grass. But as its stem grows, its confidence straightens out in xylem and ploem. It stands tall, realizing it has not left the dandelion. It is a dandelion.

Our journey as missionaries--and yes, as Nik Ripken reminds us, it is all of our journeys. We are all called, all sent out. Sacrifice is the word for all of us. Like the dandelion seed, Jesus nurtured the twelve disciples. He has placed us in spiritual families (in the church, for not all of us have spiritual blood families). He draws us close--to be sent out.

While Nik Ripken places this in a linear line, drawing close and then sending out, we find that it is a cycle. We are sent out only as part of being drawn ever nearer. This too is a drawing--a drawing near by the God Father who sent his Son, the God Son who was sent, the God Spirit who sends (Acts 13). By the God who is a missionary God from the first time he spoke and let the good news of light break into the chaos and darkness. By the God who is already wherever he sends us and has been working long before we approached. By the God who is Immanuel, God with us. By the God who will walk each step of witness, each step of sacrifice, each step of courage, each step of compassion that costs, with us. When we stay, hold, we actually miss him.

When we are sent, we find we are Christ-ians, little Christs. We find we are more like him. We find him more, for we are after his heart--a God who was sent. A God who sacrificed.

Go. Go today in whatever little ways he has placed you in. Go in whatever big ways he might call you to. Go to come near.

 "In a word, the outcome of devotion is mission." Nik Ripken, "Day 5"

*Nik Ripken's book is an excellent little book. He speaks of what he knows--sacrifice, having lived it himself and having seen it in the lives of those in the persecuted church. Some call him the foremost expert on the persecuted church. Yet, he knows that sacrifice is not just for them, but is the call for all of us, from a God who loves the world too much to just snatch us out of it, a God who loves each one in each far corner of the globe and next door to us in our neighborhood and cubicle, to stay in his comfort in heaven. While weighty and challenging, it is also encouraging and filled with stories. He makes it personal. But above all, it is a journey in knowing our God--our God whose love is insane, in Nik Ripken's words.