Jesus sent the twelve out. The missionary impulse was not part of the Jewish experience. There were proselytes, converts to Judaism, but the inquirers had to find Jews. Jesus sent the twelve to seek out and to find the “lost sheep.” Jesus got this model not from his heritage but his relationship with God. God was not content to stay seated on the lofty throne above it all but poured forth in creation, in redemption, in incarnation. The image of God as overflowing grace is the model for Christian mission. We possess something altogether precious but it is not meant for us alone, to hoard as our particular possession, but meant to be shared, to be freely given, in imitation of God’s generosity to us.
