In the spring of 1987 I was a junior in college. Actually, let me rephrase that. In the spring of 1987 I was a very hip junior in college. That sounds better. I worked for the university as a Resident Assistant, and a fellow R.A. on my staff and a friend from Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship was trying to convince me to take the summer and serve as a missionary in training in Kenya, East Africa. Having been raised Roman Catholic, where my idea of missions was a robe-garbed Franciscan monk evangelizing Native Americans with a rosary, the thought of going to Africa for a whole summer was tantamount to walking on the moon. The young lady who was trying to convince me had already spent a summer there, and she had a connection with a pastor who was willing to put me up for the summer and even help me raise the funds to go. My answer after about two days of thought and zero prayer was “thanks, but no thanks.” I am pretty sure I made it sound more spiritual than that, but I had no desire to go.
Have you ever wished you could have a time in your life back again? What a missed opportunity. My mother used to quote on old Scottish proverb to me and my siblings on a fairly regular basis: “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” In other words, wishes are just that, wishes. We cannot change the past, try as we might. Who knows, maybe if I had gone to Kenya that summer I would have been bitten by a Black Mamba and died – there’s a pleasant thought. It is a comforting thought that God had other plans for me, and he was saving me from some unforeseen tragedy had I gone. In reality, however, I doubt that. I think I just missed a unique opportunity to grow in my faith and serve outside of my comfortable box. There is no going back, but I sure wish that hip, young college student would have been thinking like this not so hip fifty-one-year-old pastor today - I would jump at the opportunity. As I grew up and matured, both mentally and spiritually, missions became a priority in my life, leading to both short-term and career mission opportunities. Those experiences were life changing for me.
Sunday will be the second Sunday in a three-Sunday series focusing on missions. We will hear from Bob, who serves alongside his wife Debi with Pioneers, a mission agency that focuses on reaching people with the gospel in closed countries. Bob and Debi have been with us before, and many of you know them. We have supported them as missionaries here at LifePoint for many years. The following Sunday I will preach again from the book of Jonah, this time from the third chapter, where we will focus on how God prepares people to hear the good news. After that message, I will ask you for money. How’s that for being direct? I will talk about sacrifices that are heartfelt, and challenge all of us to be generous in our giving toward missions through LifePoint. I won’t be trying to blow you away with the message of the century but to gently remind you, and me, that time is short. There are still millions and millions of human beings created in the image of God who need to hear about the hope we have in Jesus, and it takes money to do that. It’s just the way things work in our world.
I feel I missed an opportunity in 1987, and I do not like missing opportunities. Now I have another opportunity, this time to give financially toward missions and to help other believers take the opportunities I passed up and use them for the glory of God. I hope you will not pass up this opportunity either. What might have been always remains what might have been.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym