Sometimes Christians give the impression that we have it all together. Sometimes we even have rules—written and unwritten—that make it clear that people who don’t have it all together (whatever that may mean) aren’t welcome. But there is no experience necessary to be a follower of Jesus or to participate in God’s loving mission to save the world. In fact, the very first followers of Jesus were the most unlikely bunch of people ever. Let’s meet some of them.
Spend some time getting to know one or two of Jesus’ first followers. Choose from the man who had a “legion” of demons (Mark 5:1–20), the Samaritan woman (John 4:1–39) and the 70 whose names we don’t even know (Luke 10:1–12, 17–20). Take their stories one at a time. Read the story out loud. After each story, think about these questions:
1. What is this story about?
2. What do you hear God saying to you in this story?
3. What do you hear God saying to us, as a group or as a congregation or the whole church, together?
Tomorrow: It’s as simple as that
Today we remember Maximilian Kolbe, died 1941, Kaj Munk, died 1944, martyrs. This message was adapted from “Act Boldly for Mission” by Kelly Fryer that appeared in the July/August 2007 issue of Lutheran Woman Today (now Gather) magazine.