Matthew 9:9-13
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
10And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Both the phrase and the idea has certainly been abused – whether by the Blues Brothers, or by Islamic extremists. But both the phrase and the idea deserves our attention and use. The classical phrase is “Missio Dei” which means “sending of God,” or “mission of God.” The importance of the phrase is two-fold.
- It is God’s mission to save the world. He is engaged in that mission through us, his people.
- We, as God’s people are not on our own mission; we are under the authority of God and being used by him for his purposes
Perhaps there are times we do not take this seriously. Perhaps there are times when our activities are anything other than God’s mission in the world. But our highest calling is to see how we can be a part of what God is doing in the world to call people to himself and bring the health, life, and salvation of Jesus to them.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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