I was blessed last month to be able to attend the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod’s National Stewardship Leaders Conference. The blessing was only partly because the conference was in Phoenix. The biggest blessing was the people that I was able to sit with and learn from.

There was one man that made a lasting impression on me. His name is Waldo Werning. Pastor Werning is 86. He has been involved in the Stewardship Ministries of the LCMS for over 55 years. He is a walking treasure of our church. While I benefited from his presence, what was most interesting was watching him walk. He went everywhere fast. After watching him race around for the better part of a day, I asked him, “Waldo, why are you in such a hurry?” His answer was telling. He sharply and loudly announced, “I’m on a mission!”

Pastor Werning is on a mission. At 86, he doesn’t know how much longer the Lord will use him in this world. As a result, his desire is to get the most out of life. However, this is not to benefit himself. No, Pastor Werning is seeking to get the most out of life FOR CHRIST

This is telling for us here at Zion because we have been talking a lot about missions. We have the discussion of what percentage should go to missions. We have the debate about the fact that we have a mission in Zion Lutheran School. We have a mission to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ that comes to us in Matthew 28. We have more missions that we know what to do with!

It seems to me that we need to get a common understanding of mission. Everyone at Zion has their own idea of what mission is. While it is good that we have a mission, it can be a problem if we don’t have a COMMON mission. If we don’t have a common mission, we are like hundreds of little Wernings racing off in all directions. When this happens, Zion gets nowhere.

God has given us a mission. We have committed to a mission that sounds like this. The work of Jesus for Zion Lutheran Church is to spread the Gospel and grow in fellowship. This is a great mission statement. But I want to ask the question, “What does this mean?” When mission means all things to all people, it means nothing. We need to have a common mission.

In the coming month, I will be presenting to the boards of our congregation a four-fold mission plan for Zion. This does not replace the mission statement. It seeks to explain it and make us accountable to this mission.

The four folds of this mission include our congregational mission, our community mission, our district mission and our mission to the church. Our congregational mission is tied directly to the Great Commission of Matthew 28. Our community mission is our school. Our district mission is our partnership in the Southern Illinois District and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Our mission to the church is the role that we play in the formation of pastors through our field work and vicarage programs.

This is not intended to be a final product. It is not intended to be imposed by me on the congregation. I simply submit it to provoke discussion for the congregation to get a common handle on the mission that our Lord has us on. This is a matter of our faithfulness.

We, like Pastor Werning, are on a mission. We need to be in a hurry. While we are not all 86 like Pastor Werning, we don’t know how long we have. But we have a mission! It is time for us to get at this now. Let’s start talking. Let’s start walking. Let’s start working. After all, We are on a mission!