Luke 13:29 “Then people will come from the East and West, and from the North and South, and will eat in the Kingdom of God.”

People used to think Luke was the beloved physician who accompanied Paul. These days all scholars will say is that he was an expositor of Paul’s theology. But there is no doubt that he approved of what could be called the ‘missionary enterprise’ that Paul launched into the world at large. For many years the enthusiasm for world mission was lacking but as the European conquests in Africa and Asia progressed so did the idea of world mission and in 1806 the first US mission was organized among the Congregational Churches and within a decade couples were sent overseas from America to India and Africa and the modern missionary movement was under way.

Missionaries have been blamed for exporting western values and there is some truth to the popular charge that “When they came they had the Bible and we had the land but now we have the Bible and they have the land”. But most of those early missionaries tried to give people what they thought was a world gospel and simply had no idea what ‘cultures’ were.To their credit by 1900 some of them had pioneered anthropology and many had called into question Christianity embedded in western ideals. Nancy and I worked in lands where the churches were strong and flourish also today.

In today’s world mission has changed dramatically. The nations have come and are eating at the table. Even in a country like Haiti we can trust the churches to deal with funds for healing the nation. In Africa, Asia and Latin America great lovers of Christ have become leaders after those early fits and starts. Desmond Tutu is one of a host of strong leaders. We can thank God for the beloved community that can be found the world around welcoming Christians of every size and shape to eat at table in God’s Kingdom .

Dick Sales