Our scripture is from Colossians 3:12-14:

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience…Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

When are we involved in God's mission?

Christians often think that only activity connected to the church is involved in God's work. The implication is that God is not interested in our daily lives. But this is far from the truth. In the beginning, we were made to be involved in the development of creation, in other words, to work it. That design has never been revoked. Despite human rebellion and sin's negative effect on our daily lives, Christians participate in God's grand mission of redemption as we live out our daily lives.

When we praise God by the excellence of our work, we are exercising our proper vocation. We are serving God in the way he called us to serve him. Church work is not more spiritual or more in tune with the mission of God than carrying out our daily tasks. Our main purpose in life is not to serve the church, but to serve God; sometimes we serve God by serving the church.

Our gathering for corporate worship is not separate from our work. The common prayer that we can lay aside the distractions of the week to focus on God is misplaced. God does not want us to ignore our lives when we worship. He desires that we bring all of that in with us. He wants to hear our thanksgiving for the good things we have encountered. He wants to hear the confession of words spoken and of actions that harmed him or a human or anything else he created. He wants to touch us in our brokenness and pain. He wants to hear our prayers for the grace to forgive, for strength to resist temptation, for patience for that difficult person, for wisdom for that complicated problem.

Christian, you are on the leading edge of God's mission of redemption as you live in retirement, as you inhabit your situation for earning an income, as you live together as a family. The Holy Spirit is present with you always, nudging you towards the way of Jesus' kingdom, so that you embody love's kaleidoscope: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, a capacity to forgive.

The mission of God includes the renewal, restoration and reformation of all things (Colossians 1:19-20). Vocations in business, medicine, poetry, engineering, counselling, chemistry, marketing, construction, and finance all have a role to play in Christ's cosmic work of reconciling all things. As you live this week, gather a basket full of things you will bring with you the next time you gather with God's worshipping community.

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Wherever God takes you today, may He fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and that you may live carefully—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.