Mission [is] understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It [is] thus put in the context of the Trinity, not of ecclesiology or soteriology. The classical doctrine of the missio dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit [is] expanded to include yet another “movement”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the divine nature of the mission, rooted in the Trinity and extending to the church's purpose in the world.
David Bosch emphasizes that the concept of mission is fundamentally linked to the essence of God and the relationships within the Trinity. He expands upon the classical understanding of God the Father sending the Son and Spirit by asserting that this divine sending also encompasses the church's role and responsibility to engage with the world, thereby connecting theological principles with practical action.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the role of the church, this quote can illustrate the mission-driven nature of the congregation.
I myself feel that our country, for whose Constitution I fought in a just war, might as well have been invaded by Martians and body snatchers. Sometimes I wish it had been. What has happened, though, is that it has been taken over by means of the sleaziest, low-comedy, Keystone Cops-style coup d'etat imaginable.
This living, this living, this living Was never a project of mine.
Man should be master of his environment, not its slave. That is what freedom means.
After the war people said, 'If you can plan for war, why can't you plan for peace?' When I was 17, I had a letter from the government saying, 'Dear Mr. Benn, will you turn up when you're 17 1/2? We'll give you free food, free clothes, free training, free accommodation, and two shillings, ten pence a day to just kill Germans.' People said, well, if you can have full employment to kill people, why in God's name couldn't you have full employment and good schools, good hospitals, good houses?
Take notice not only of the mercies of God, but of God in the mercies. Mercies are never so savoury as when they savour a Saviour.
I think we have come to a place in black America, sadly from my point of view, where we have once again begun to rely on our history of victimization as our primary source of power to wield within society.
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