I had been listening to a church member who was very unhappy in her marriage. She told me about all the things she could not do. She finally broke down in tears as she talked about all the things she desired, but could not have because her husband kept her in submission.
Out of the blue I told her she was not in submission, she had
a submission. The truth is, a mission is a mission. Whether is an admission,
dis-mission, emission, omission intermission, transmission, permission,
submission, or remission, it is a mission. You own the mission, whatever that
mission may be. It is your mission. Often we see missions on resume’s. Here is
an example;
My Mission: I am a dedicated member of the Michael Jackson
Global Family. My love, admiration and commitment to him is unwavering. My goal
is to bring surety to the restoration of Michael Jackson’s legacy.
The thing is, it is your mission. I can’t emphasize that
enough. Your mission is given to you by God, although we may not immediately
realize it. We get smothered in the talk of today, and people telling us what
we should be doing. Ultimately we can’t hear the voice of God, giving us the
mission He/She has for us. Scripture has an interesting story about the voice
of God;
Genesis 3:8-11a (AKJV)
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of
the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God
amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said
unto him, where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and
I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, who told
thee that thou wast naked? Everything goes downhill from there.
So, this is the situation. Adam and Eve were in the garden
enjoying each other. The most High called out to them but they ignored the
voice of God. Adam finally comes forth and expresses fear, because he was
naked. God responds, in asking “who told you that you were naked?”
The key word here is ignore. The root word for ignorant is
ignore. It doesn't mean dense or slow,
it means uninformed; unaware. Well no doubt, if you cannot hear the voice of
God you will not be able to hear your mission!. Ultimately, you become a prime target for someone else to use to
complete their mission, while not fulfilling your own.Nevertheless, inside we
all know what our mission is. A well known scripture is: Eccl 3:1 “To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Everyone, and everything has
been given a mission by God, or as King Solomon said, a purpose.
Those thoughts that you have that delight or thrill you are in
most cases are you receiving the purpose God has created for you. We begin to
have aspirations (notice the word spirit in there?) by the time we get to
college it becomes our major, but once we step out…it becomes our calling. It is
like a company. Everyday that you walk in that door, you realize that your
mission is your position. If your mission is to whole somebody elses mission up, then it is a sub-mission. It
belongs to you. No worries though. In a crazy way we all have a sub-mission.
Our mission in life is to help others, so we cannot always have the same
position whether we like it or not.
My favorite verses on this are what Paul says to the
Corinthians. Romans 12:19-26 “19 and if they were all one member, where were
the body? 20 But now are they many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye
cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the
feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which
seem to be feebler, are necessary: 23 and those members of the body, which we
think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our
uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely parts have no
need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant
honour to that part which lacked: 25 that there should be no schism in the
body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And
whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored,
all the members rejoice with it.”
What I like about this is we are all cells in the love of the
Most High. In as much as we are one body, each member has a purpose. If one
member because of ignorance, try’s to fulfill the mission of another member it
is sure to feel fearful and unaccomplished. Just like us! If a cell from the
foot attempts to follow the eye and do what its mission is, it will not be
successful. That mission was not given to that cell! However, if that same cell
were to fulfill its God given mission it would be strengthening to the body.
Each member “owns” a unique mission, it is not transferrable.
Michael is incredible. He says all that I have said in a few
simple words, “In the end, the most important thing is to be true to yourself
and those you love and work hard. Work like there's no tomorrow. Train. Strive.
Really train and cultivate your talent to the highest degree. Be the best at
what you do. Get to know more about your field than anybody alive. Use the
tools of your trade, if it's books or a floor to dance on or a body of water to
swim in. Whatever it is, it's yours. That's what I've always tried to remember”
"Even if you're
sweeping floors or painting ceilings, do it better than anybody in the world,
no matter what it is that you do. Be the best at it, and have a respect for
others, and be proud of yourself…and to honor, be honorable.”
Michael was wise beyond
his years. In other words he is saying take your mission and run with it! Don’t
let anyone make you feel ashamed. Empire
probably began with that one old man
mopping floors as young man. There is no doubt in my mind that he was snubbed
by many men who looked a bit high and mighty. However, he followed the mission
that he had been given. To thine own self be true. Still you have to know
yourself. "I know who I am inside and outside, and I know what I want to
do. And I will always go with my dreams." Once again we hear wisdom from
Michael Jackson. Michael in effect is talking about how dedicated he is to his
calling, his mission.
This is how the pope said it. (I am not Catholic, but I am so
happy about the message of love that he brings.), “When the Lord wants to give
us a mission, wants to give us a task, He prepares us. He prepares us to do it
well, as he prepared Elijah,” the Pope explained in his June 13 daily Mass.
“The most important part of this…is the whole journey by which we arrive at the
mission the Lord entrusts to us.” June 13th 2014 Dailey Homily. That’s it in a
nutshell.
Steve Jobs is an excellent example His unwed biological
parents, Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali, put him up for adoption. His
adopted parents raised him in a community of engineers. Although he went to
college he dropped out and began to seek another path. Jobs was a “fruitarian”.
I suppose his favorite fruit was apples. The first job he got after he dropped
out was working in a video store. Can you see how God is preparing him for his
mission? It was not long after that that he and a friend began to work with
electronics. Together they began “Apple”. So you can see that the pope has hit
the nail on the head.
There is a painful element of hearing the voice of God, and
realizing that God has already given you a mission, and you are free to fulfill
that mission. It is that you must leave some people behind, this is an absolute
fact. Scripture says “2 Corinthians 6:17
(KJV) 17 Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and
I will receive you.” Now, I really don't know what the unclean thing is. I
suppose we all have something that is unclean in our lives. Something that
hinders the spirit. We will each have to answer that for ourselves. What I want
to show is you have to leave some friends behind. For our purposes, let us see
the unclean thing as the life you are leaving behind, and God receiving you and
blessing you to a conversational relationship with Him. You cannot converse
with God if you cannot hear his voice
.
Now, I am speaking with the bible as a reference. Consider
this, however. Everybody does not read the bible. In fact, you may be the only bible that some
may get to see. Michael is like a walking book of righteous instruction. It is
incredible! Michael has given us the same message as Pope Francis. Why was
Michael able to do that? That is for you to ponder and answer. Personally, I
think that Michael had a very personal relationship with God. He could hear God
calling, and he never ignored His voice.
Here is the Dalai Lama in his teachings on training the mind;
Training the Mind:
Verse 1
With a determination to achieve the highest aim
For the benefit of all sentient beings
Which surpasses even the wish-fulfilling gem,
May I hold them dear at all times.
‘These four lines are about cultivating a sense of holding
dear all other sentient beings. The main point this verse emphasizes is to
develop an attitude that enables you to regard other sentient beings as
precious, much in the manner of precious jewels. The question could be raised,
"Why do we need to cultivate the thought that other sentient beings are
precious and valuable?" Training the Mind/ Teaching of His Holiness. The
Dalai Lama.
Verse 1 is about training the mind to deal with the practices
associated with cultivating the method aspect of the path such as compassion,
altruism, aspiration to attain Buddhahood.”
Michael made the same point in two short sentences through the
spoken word. 1) “But I will never stop
helping and loving people the way Jesus said to.” 2) “When all life is seen as divine, everyone
grows wings.” ― Michael Jackson
Also, he delivered the same message in song “There’s a place
in your heart And I know that it is love And this place could be much Brighter
than tomorrow And if you really try You'll find there's no need to cry In this
place you'll feel There's no hurt or sorrow There are ways to get there If you
care enough for the living Make a little space, make a better place. Heal the
world”
Each of them are speaking of a path. Michael sings also “There
are ways to get there if you care enough for the living… The Pope, The Dalai Lama, and Michael are all
speaking of loving your neighbor. The Pope is speaking of a journey by which we
arrive at the mission the Lord entrusts to us. His Holiness says it is a matter
of achieving the highest aim. So they are speaking of a path… but the vehicle
that takes us is love.
It is a matter of respecting and loving Our Most High,
ourselves and our neighbor. When all is said and done, the only mission that
any of us has in this entire world is to be of service to each other. That is the only way you can make a better
place. It is actually possible to renew your mission, or to have a remission of
the pathway you are traveling
The good thing is that our missions in life can change. You
can work your way up on a job. However you cannot do it without learning, and
usually when you learn something exceptionally well, it is because God has
empowere you to do so. Jesus taught the disciples for three years, then they
became Apostles. Apostle means sent. They were sent to fulfil the mission God
had given them. So, what is your mission? Do you know? The most important thing to know is everybody
and everything has a purpose, or mission if you will. Lets conclude with a few
quotes from Rick Warrens " The Purpose Driven Life"
"Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate
which activities are essential and which aren’t. You simply ask, “Does this activity help me
fulfill one of God’s purposes for my life?”
“Without a clear purpose you have no foundation on which you
base decisions, allocate your time, and use your resources. You will tend to make choices based on
circumstances, pressures, and your mood at the moment.”
“Without a purpose, life is a motion without meaning, activity
without direction, and events without reason.
Without a purpose, life is trivial, petty, and pointless.”
“The greatest tragedy
is not death, but life without purpose.”
.