And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:40

Over a lengthy term of my life in education, I have heard many parents’ dreams for their children. They, of course, have ranged from such things as success in careers, happiness with life, financial security and finding true love. I can only think of one conversation among hundreds, where a father said his greatest wish for his daughter was that she would become a missionary. If you are thinking, “better his kids than mine,” you are not alone because that was my thought at the time of this conversation years ago.

There is a little more to this story. Dan had also been a missionary several times, both as a child and an adult. His father was a doctor, and his mother, a nurse. They spent their entire lives on mission trips, too. You might say serving God was the family business. I remember Dan telling me that he wanted his children to see the same sort of world he did; a world stricken with poverty and disease, a world discouraged and distraught, but also a world full of hope and promise. Knowing this world brought Dan closer to God as it had with his parents and, by now, certainly has with his kids. Dan, however, didn’t see the world as a messy place. He just looked around and saw Jesus. He saw his Savior time and time again in the least of these.

I mention Dan’s story as a reminder to us all. Whether young or old, parent or not, we all have a duty once we enlist in the church. God calls us all to see Jesus in everyone, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to spread the Word. We can listen to sermons and read books. We can dream of making a difference in the world. We can send money to starving children. These are all wonderful and amazing things. But, I am growing convinced that if we want to inspire the next generation with a heart for mission, it comes in lessons that are caught more than in the lessons that are taught. We can talk and talk and talk about how important it is to love our neighbor, but if those around us don’t see it in action the words are meaningless. If the reach of our faith extends no further than a Sunday morning service, then too, the reach of our servant heart will be only a fraction of its potential. The next generation’s faith will only mirror our own.

My friend has a heart for mission because God has inspired him to continue in his family’s ways. I have a growing heart for mission because the more I see, the more I do, and the more I do, the more I see. If you are struggling to find a heart for mission, if you are trying to instill selflessness in your children or family, or if you just think maybe God has more planned for your life than the status quo, I have some simple advice. Roll up your sleeves and get involved. Just like Dan’s spirit descended through his parents and then into his children (and likely someday into his grandchildren) we need to pass on a heart for mission to the children in our care. The fact is that we all learn best though doing. So let’s all do something! 

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.   ~Romans 8:12-17

A few weeks ago, while sitting in the airport waiting to catch my plane, I met a couple that was traveling back home to Tennessee. When I travel, I typically put my headphones in and try to leave the rest of the world behind me. But for some reason, I struck up a conversation with this couple.

I found out that they had just spent their last 12 days at an orphanage with two of the little girls they hoped to adopt. They told me that they had been in the adoption process for almost two years. This “12 day trail” was one of the last steps to adopt these girls and to provide some bonding time with each other.

As I talked with them about the process they were going through, they were very forthright in telling me about the highs and lows of the adoption experience. They mentioned how they already saw the two girls as their own. They told me how anxious they were about leaving the girls behind as they went home. They talked about setting aside everything in their lives and moving, temporarily, to another country to be with the girls until the adoption was final and they could take them home with them. They weren’t just talking about a couple of weeks, or even months, but it could take an additional year for all of the paperwork to clear so they could become a family.

After they left to catch their flight, I wondered how people who just met someone for the first time, face to face, would be willing to set aside everything for them. How, in just 12 days of knowing these two girls, 8 and 6 years old, these soon-to-be parents, would be willing to change their lives in order to provide a home for these orphans.

But this is exactly what Jesus does for us.

We are all born of mothers and fathers, but in our baptism, Christ claims us as His own. We are no longer children of the flesh, but children of God. Not having adoptive children of my own, it is sometimes hard to understand what it means to be adopted by Christ. The image we often get from Hollywood about adoptive parents is not always great - Harry Potter, Cinderella, Snow White, Huckleberry Finn, etc. None had a great relationship with their adoptive parents, but that makes for a good story. More often than not, however, the real image of adoption lies in a couple like the ones I met in the airport - two people who have spent years, and thousands of dollars, to bring someone into their family. They are people who love, not because they were first loved, or because they have to, but simply because they love.

God loves us, not because God has to, not because we love Him, but simply because God loves. We are told that those who know Christ are adopted into the family of God. We become heirs to God, as Christ is an heir. In fact, we are told in Galatians that we are able to refer to God as “Abba”, which is often translated as “daddy”; the same intimate word that Jesus calls God when he is in the Garden of Gethsemane facing his crucifixion. (Jesus said, “Abba, Father, for in you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want. Mark 14:36).

Like the couple I met, God often times waits years for us to respond to His invitation to become a part of God’s family. No matter how long the process takes for us to realize God’s redeeming grace is waiting for us, God waits. God waits for the process, not ever leaving our side; willing to set aside everything so that we might know His love. And once we get there, God doesn’t give up on us when things get tough or we turn our backs. No matter what temper tantrum we throw, no matter how our priorities get changed. Even if we get upset and say, “I never want to talk to you again” God is there. Waiting, as a loving parent, not to say, “I told you so”, or to chastise us when we finally come home, but to embrace us and welcome us back home.

We are a part of the family of God. Like all families, we sometimes have good days, and sometimes we have bad days. Sometimes our siblings drive us crazy, and other days they are our best friends. To God it doesn’t matter; we are His children, adopted into the family of faith, and no matter what we do, His love for us will endure forever.