UMC20190216 Be where you are

UMC20190216 - Be where you are¶

I was reading from one of the Gospels recently and while reading one of the sermons of Christ, a question popped into my mind, “What was the extent was of Christs’ ministry during His life?”. I mean, Christ has unquestionably and profoundly influenced the majority of the globe but, what about during His actual lifetime? What was the extent of His travels? Where did he preach? Who did He have with Him?

I ask these questions as a result of my formative years during school and as a young adult. I was regularly told (as schools still do) that I can become anything, that I can do anything, that I can change the world with a large enough dream. I had visions of myself, well into my twenties, of becoming a Nelson Mandela or a Mahatma Gandhi and envisioned I would one day shift the thoughts of nations to better love and live together. This has been a central dream of mine for as long as I can remember.

Yet, this grand dream has invariably been a heavy burden on me. Consistently, weighing on my mind is this one word…. how? How can I do anything so grand? How can I create such global change? I am not part of prominent societies or fiery political movements. I am not of royal blood or born into a powerful family. So…. how?

Then I turned to the back of my study bible. I paged to the “maps of old” section and found the travel map of Christ's ministry. One hundred and fifty kilometres... From the northmost mountain to the southmost town of Jesus’ ministries is roughly 150 km. And more so, the area which He spent most of His ministry was 50 km surrounding Nazareth, His hometown. Jesus made His global impact locally. Think about this…

A man whom Jesus healed asked Jesus if he could join his cause. Jesus tells him to go home to his own people and share God’s story (Mark 5:1-20). Make your global impact locally…

Love your family, work hard in your job, be a light in your community.