Over the past weeks, I have found myself thinking of several scriptures
that were formerly not at the forefront of my mind:
And it came to pass, … He sent two of his disciples, Saying,
Go ye into the village over against you;
in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man
sat: loose him, and bring him hither. And
if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him?
thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him. And
they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them. And
as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye
the colt? And they said, The Lord hath
need of him. And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments
upon the colt, and they set Him thereon. (Matthew 21, Luke 19, and John 12)
… his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him into the house wheresoever he shall go in. And say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at thy house. Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. (Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22)
… his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him into the house wheresoever he shall go in. And say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at thy house. Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. (Matthew 26, Mark 14 and Luke 22)
The owners of the colt and the goodman of the house were given the great
privilege of playing a part in the mission of Jesus Christ. They may have known Jesus, or had dealings
with Him during which they were instructed by Him in person, or perhaps in a
dream or a vision as it later happened with Ananias when he was sent to Saul in
Damascus (Acts 9). Christ’s direction to his disciples to say to the colt’s
owners, “Because the Lord hath need of him,” and to tell the goodman, “The
Master saith, My time is at hand,” suggest to me that those involved were
followers of Jesus Christ.
In our missionary callings we are certainly not in charge of running the
mission. Neither are we out there searching
directly for those who need some help or those who want to know more about our
Savior. We are more like the man who
furnished and prepared the upper room.
Our part is to help lighten the burdens of the Mission President by providing
the ones who are out there serving and seeking with reasonable places to live,
beds to sleep in, and other furnishings they require, heat, electricity,
telephones, access to their funds, teaching materials and scriptures, encouragement,
help and comfort when they have problems.
We feel privileged to play a role in following the Lord’s charge to “Go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Our work keeps us busy, and we hope we are
useful and profitable servants.
On this Christmas Day, we miss our dear family and friends, but we are
very grateful for this opportunity to serve.
With our love,
Len and Kit
