For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:9, LSB
As followers of Christ, the work to which we are called can be difficult, but we never work it alone. Our mission field begins where God places us. We are called to assemble with one another and worship in the community, but our ministry begins outside the church doors. Our lives are included in God’s sanctuary, the Holy of Holies is placed in our hearts, and we carry out the message of Christ into the world. The Holy Spirit is calling us ever outward and our hearts are not meant to be looking inward. The work we do is being built upon the work that others have begun. We never “save” anyone, but the Holy Spirit is the one who calls us to those who need the saving Word that we deliver. If a heart moves, it is not our hand that moves it, but the Lord’s. The message of salvation is not meant to be a difficult one to deliver but a gift given to those whom God has prepared to receive it. Our neighbor is either a co-worker or one to whom we are called to reach out, and the message we carry is meant to go to the ends of the earth.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.