Do you have a PMS?\u00a0 No, not that. <\/em>I mean a personal mission statement. Most of us had one of those early in life. We called it dreaming, or perhaps daydreaming. I remember wanting to be a garbage man back when I was little. When I heard the trucks coming on Saturday mornings, I would rush out and help the garbage men.\u00a0 They would let me toss the bags into the truck and even let me pull the compacting lever. I would then stand on the back of the truck and get to ride along for a block or two, taking in the intoxicating smells emanating from the truck.<\/p>\n

Kids still dream. According to one survey, children today aspire to be dancers, musicians, teachers, actors, scientists, athletes, detectives, writers, pilots, veterinarians, lawyers, doctors \u2014 and, like kids of previous generations, police officers, fire fighters and astronauts.<\/p>\n

While children dream of fighting fires or flying to the moon, businesses, corporations and even the military have been cranking out mission statements for years to help them achieve their goals. Here are some examples from the corporate world:<\/p>\n

\n
• Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. \u2014Microsoft.<\/li>\n
• To organize the world\u2019s information and make it universally accessible and useful. \u2014Google.<\/li>\n
• To accelerate the world\u2019s transition to sustainable energy. \u2014Tesla.<\/li>\n
• To inspire and nurture the human spirit \u2014 one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. \u2014Starbucks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  Business knows the value of a mission statement.<\/p>\n

  Many churches have mission statements as well. For example, Red Rock Church in Littleton, Colorado says \u201cWe exist to make Heaven more crowded.\u201d<\/p>\n

  Recently, however, a movement has developed to encourage personal mission statements. What\u2019s your<\/em> mission in life? What is it that drives you to get up in the morning? What legacy do you want to leave in the world?<\/p>\n

  These are key questions we all should be asking. Writing a personal mission statement allows us to put our answer in a statement short enough that we can use it to explain our whole life to someone in a brief encounter on an elevator. Because, you know, people are always asking about our purpose in life while we\u2019re on an elevator.<\/p>\n

  Many influential people seem to think a PMS is a good idea. Oprah Winfrey, founder of OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, aspires to \u201cbe a teacher. And to be known for inspiring my students to be more than they thought they could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

  To be clear, however, a PMS is not important just so you\u2019re not at a loss for words in an elevator. Rather, it\u2019s a way of defining yourself and what you\u2019re about. A PMS defines your boundaries, clarifying what you\u2019re wired to do and unapologetically leaving out the rest. It sharpens your focus and guides your decision-making, acting like a compass for your life.<\/p>\n

  Think of it this way: a PMS is really a statement of call <\/em>\u2014 it defines what God has put us on earth to do. In other words, it answers the question: \u201cWhat\u2019s your why?\u201d<\/p>\n

  The difference between a call and a conventional PMS, however, is that the latter is something you have to generate from within. A divine PMS, on the other hand, means that your own specific call is part of God\u2019s larger mission for the world.<\/p>\n

  In other words, God provides us with a common mission, and we discover our niche within that larger mission through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And if we want to know how this works, we need look no further than to the PMS of Jesus himself.<\/p>\n

  Jesus\u2019 personal mission statement was embedded in him long before he was born in Bethlehem. God used the prophets to outline the mission of the Messiah, whom Isaiah sees as the representative \u201cservant\u201d of Israel.<\/p>\n

  In today\u2019s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah, the first of the \u201cServant Songs,\u201d God lays out the agenda for the Servant. Notice in verse 1 that God calls him \u201cmy chosen in whom my soul delights.\u201d This tells us right up front that this PMS is the result of a calling. God\u2019s own spirit will be upon him, empowering him to fulfill the mission which is to \u201cbring justice to the nations\u201d (v. 1).<\/p>\n

  The justice that the Servant brings, however, will not be through force but through suffering love. Verses 2 and 3 indicate that one of the primary personality traits of the servant will be gentleness \u2014 he won\u2019t display enough physical force to even break a bruised reed or quench a dimly burning wick. He will eventually be crushed, but not until he has completed his mission to \u201cestablish justice in the earth\u201d (v. 4).<\/p>\n

  What does this justice look like? It\u2019s a call to be a \u201clight to the nations\u201d (v. 6). God\u2019s \u201cjustice\u201d is always about setting things right, which means setting people right. It\u2019s a mission to open blind eyes, both physically and spiritually; to liberate those who are in the prison of darkness (v. 7). In short, it\u2019s a mission to embody and live out the new creation, the \u201cnew things [God] now declare(s)\u201d (v. 9).<\/p>\n

  Jesus didn\u2019t have to spend a lot of time coming up with his own PMS. Neither did his disciples. When we turn to today\u2019s New Testament lesson from Acts, we see Peter, who has just crossed an ethnic and religious boundary to meet with the Gentile Cornelius, proclaiming that this new relationship is the result of the mission that Jesus had given to him and his fellow disciples.<\/p>\n

  Peter acknowledges that the original mission comes from God: \u201cYou know the message [God] sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ \u2014 he is Lord of all\u201d (Acts 10:36). Jesus executed that mission, \u201canointed with the Holy Spirit and with power,\u201d and \u201cwent about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him\u201d (10:38). The disciples witnessed this mission, were taught and schooled in it, and now the mission of God, the mission of Jesus, was theirs. \u00a0Notice how the mission gets transferred.<\/p>\n

  First, from God the Father to Jesus the Son through the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n

  Then, from Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to the disciples.<\/p>\n

  And finally, from the disciples, via the Holy Spirit, to us!<\/p>\n

  If we\u2019re disciples of Jesus, this is our personal mission now. You\u2019ve been gifted with skills and abilities by the Holy Spirit. Your personality reflects the person of Christ. Your values, dreams and passions are all focused on doing the work of the kingdom: healing, proclaiming, liberating and doing all the good you can. That\u2019s the disciples\u2019 general PMS!<\/p>\n

  But don\u2019t neglect the fact that all of us have been called to take on this mission in our uniquely gifted way. Spiritual gifts are a thing and not all of us in the Body of Christ have the same exact wiring.<\/p>\n

  \n
  • Some are teachers;<\/li>\n
  • others are healers;<\/li>\n
  • some are outgoing;<\/li>\n
  • some are quiet;<\/li>\n
  • some are good with their hands; and<\/li>\n
  • others are better suited for more cerebral pursuits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    There\u2019s an old story of the 19^{th<\/sup>-century British scientist Thomas Huxley, who got off a train one day at the Dublin station. He was late for an important meeting of a scholarly society. Jumping into the nearest cab, he ordered the coachman, \u201cDrive fast!\u201d<\/p>\n}

    With a crack of the whip, the horse was off and running, pulling the cab at a furious pace. Huxley called to the driver: \u201cDo you know where you\u2019re going?\u201d<\/p>\n

    The coachman answered with a grin: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t know where we\u2019re going, but I\u2019m driving very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s a pretty accurate picture of the way many of us live our days. We need a mission statement to tell us where we ought to be going.<\/p>\n

    We have our general orders from God through Jesus and through the disciples, but each of us must discover our particular calling, our own personal mission within the mission of God.<\/p>\n

    What\u2019s your why?<\/p>\n

    Find out. Discover your mission. Write it down. And live it out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Do you have a PMS?\u00a0 No, not that. I mean a personal mission statement. Most of us had one of those early in life. We called it dreaming, or perhaps daydreaming. I remember wanting to be a garbage man back when I was little. When I heard the trucks coming on Saturday mornings, I would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n