Person-2-Person - August, 2019

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa

As I write this, Americans are remembering the day, fifty years ago, when astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon. On September 11, 1962, in a speech in Rice University Stadium in Houston, President John F. Kennedy committed our nation to place a man on the Moon—and bring him home safely—by the end of the decade. Kennedy gave the nation a goal, a vision. Not everyone shared it, not everyone supported it, but for many it was the vision that counted.

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (KJV). Newer translations render it as “run wild” or “cast off restraint” but I happen to like the way the King James Version phrases it. I won’t say that America would have “perished” or even “run wild” without the Apollo program but I think we would be a very different country today.

1 Samuel 3:1b speaks of a dark time in Israel’s history: “The word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.” (New Heart English Bible). Eli the priest was old, and his sons had no interest in proclaiming God’s laws (1 Sam. 2:12-17). Further, there was no prophet to remind the people how far they had “run wild.” The Hebrew word translated “rare” is “yaqar,” which can also be translated “precious.” God’s word remains rare and precious today.

At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus gives the disciples what is known as “the great commission”: “‘Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all things that I commanded you.’” (Matt. 28:19-20a NHEB). Personally, I’m partial to Jesus’ commission to Peter at the end of the gospel of John: “‘Feed my sheep.’” (John 21:17b NHEB). A few sentences later, Jesus also tells Peter, “‘Follow me.’” (vs. 19b NHEB). Follow Jesus, feed his sheep, and make disciples. Surely that’s enough vision for any of us.

Each of us needs a vision, a goal, a commission. In 1962, America’s commission was to land a man on the Moon and bring him safely home. Peter’s commission was to follow Jesus. Your commission and mine are the same: Follow Jesus and feed his sheep. And we won’t be going alone. Jesus ended the “great commission” by saying, “‘And look, I am with you every day, even to the end of the age.’” (Matt. 28:20b NHEB).

When Abram was called to follow God (Gen. 12:1-3), he had no idea where he was going. When God promised to lead Moses and the people of Israel to a new land (Exod. 6:2-8), he didn’t know where he was going or when he and his people would get to their destination. And when Jesus called Peter and his brother, Andrew, saying to them, “‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of people.’” (Matt. 4:19b NHEB), they had no idea where following Jesus would take them. Each of these men knew less about his destination than we knew about the Moon in 1962. But they went anyway. They followed their God and their teacher. As Jesus calls to each of us, we may not know what our journey might be like but we know the way. Jesus told Thomas—and by extension us—“‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6b NHEB).

Just as Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins trusted in Mission Control to get them safely to their destination and back, we can trust in the one who guides us. Isaiah wrote, “the LORD will guide you continually,” (Isa. 58:11a NHEB). If we “walk by faith,” (2 Cor. 5:7a), follow Jesus, and feed his sheep, we will make disciples. Then, others will see that we have a vision, that we know who we’re following and where we’re going.

“‘I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also. And you know the way where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:3b-6 NHEB.)