GIFTS of MISSIONAL LIVING: A 5-Day Journey Exploring the Gifts of the Holy Spirit for Missional LifeSample

THE GIFT OF PRESENCE

The Holy Spirit calls us into mission and provides the gifts necessary for fruitful missional living. Yesterday, we looked at the gift of the Spirit’s power. Today, we rejoice in the gift of presence.

In a passage often called “the Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16–20), the resurrected Jesus speaks to the 11 remaining original disciples on a mountaintop in Galilee. He starts the speech with these reassuring words: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (v. 18). Then he gives them their marching orders, a missional directive that belongs not just to those 11 men but also to all disciples of Jesus in every time and every place. The central imperative in this commission is to “make disciples of all nations” — that covers the what and the where of their mission. How are they to carry it out? By baptizing these new disciples in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and by teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has taught them.

That’s a tall order! And it’s easy to imagine that those 11 men might have felt a bit disconcerted by it. After all, they were still trying to wrap their minds around the resurrection! And now, Jesus is giving them a missional directive that is obviously too big for them. So Jesus, in his always gracious way, gives them a precious gift — the assurance that they will not be undertaking this mission alone. “Remember,” he says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (v. 20). He offers them the gift of his constant presence, which he has already told them will be available to them through his Spirit who will dwell in them (John 14:17).

The Spirit who calls Jesus’ disciples into mission also empowers and accompanies us with his constant presence. Thanks be to God!