Recovery

  

The closing lines of the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" are rather anti-climatic and yet thought- provoking. The last scene is of an astronaut who had been thought lost, but has been found. He is    being asked the events that transpired and about his survival journey. Essentially, he is being asked, “what happened?”  He responds succinctly, “Something wonderful…”   A disaster into something wonderful? What happened?

The astronaut who proffers the question has traveled a tremendous distance on a journey labeled a ‘rescue’ mission. However, due to the distance, time and space involved, everyone knows that the purpose will not be to ‘rescue,’ but to ‘recover’ what has been lost.  Do you see a parallel to the journey and mission of the church?

The church is on a rescue mission, which may be more truly understood as a ‘recovery mission.'  Indeed, we are to actively be immersed in the process of  rescuing people from sin, and getting them in the lifeboat of the church.

The rescue happened on Calvary thousands of years ago. The rescue is our present reality, and we are charged to help persons of all nations, ages and races to recover what had been lost. Recover hope, recover wholeness, recover integrity, recover purity, recover innocence and recover relationships with others and God. Jesus came to “seek and to save” the lost. 

Jesus’ mission of recovery is the mission of the church: get on board, something wonderful is happening in our church . . .  Let all of us rededicate ourselves to our mission of  “making disciples of Jesus Christ.” 

See you in recovery —           Pastor Mac