Fredrick Buechner once described our Christian “calling” or “vocation” as the place where “our great passion and devotion for Christ meets the world’s great need.” In the New Testament, Jesus calls us to be servants who “hear in the human need of their neighbors the distinct call of God.” (Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations) As Philippians 2 says, “He came in the form of a servant.”

 

In Matthew 22:36-40 when asked which is the ‘greatest’ of God’s commandments, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself ”. In Luke Chapter 10 beginning in verse 25, Jesus said once again to Love Your Neighbor. Jesus was then asked the question, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with the parable we know as “The Good Samaritan.” At the end of the parable, Jesus tells us-- he challenges us, to “Go and do the same.” Jesus makes it clear in this parable that loving your neighbor takes more than good thoughts or even prayer; it takes action. It is giving of ourselves. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus shares what we know as the Great Commission. He says to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Outreach, then, is our participation in the outward movement of God’s love in the world.

 

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, was known for stressing the importance of ‘love of God and love of neighbor’. We commonly think of our neighbors as the people who live right around us. We even call the area around our homes our neighborhood. Jesus meant ‘our neighbors’ to include all people everywhere. Our neighbors are the people who live next door to us and those who live across the oceans.

The word ‘glocal’ is being used more and more in reference to how we are called to be in outreach ministry. Glocal – is a combination of global and local. Isn’t that a great word!