JESUS knew what he was about. "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth," he said (John 18:37). And he did not stop at words only, but by healing after healing he showed unquestionably the practicality of this mission. His words and acts always served to destroy evil and thus to establish in its place the kingdom of God—universal harmony.
His awareness of his mission culminated in three magnificent years of teaching and healing which are still transforming the world. At the end of this period, as he was about to ascend above the perception of his disciples, he brought home to them in final explanation what his teachings and example meant. Then he stated unmistakably the part they must play, the mission they must fulfill, for he said to them (Luke 24:48, 49): "Ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you."
We too "are witnesses of these things." This is our mission. The promise of the Father is sent upon us in this age. For Christian Science has enabled us to see the immediate practicality of all that Jesus taught, and it has shown us how to bring the Father's promises into manifestation in our lives right here and now.
We who have been touched and healed by the Christ through the ministrations of Christian Science have been mightily blessed, but we have also been charged to bear witness to the truth so that others will find their way to the light.
We walk in momentous times. We are in the last thirty-five years of that century of which our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, speaks on page 22 of "Pulpit and Press," where she prophesies: "If the lives of Christian Scientists attest their fidelity to Truth, I predict that in the twentieth century every Christian church in our land, and a few in far-off lands, will approximate the understanding of Christian Science sufficiently to heal the sick in his name. Christ will give to Christianity his new name, and Christendom will be classified as Christian Scientists."
Each of us has a divine purpose to fulfill. God Himself has created each individual to fulfill eternally a particular purpose; and He continually supports and sustains each of His ideas in the fulfilling of it. No idea can fulfill another idea's purpose. Each will always be needed to carry out the activity God has created it for. One who understands this divine order knows that he will never be unneeded or outmoded or dispensable; no one is ever too young or too old to fulfill his purpose.
What is this purpose? It is to bear witness to what God is and to what He has caused to be. But each individual will do this in his individual way in opportunities that are uniquely his. He will show forth God and Godlikeness as he individually discerns God and Godlikeness —he will reflect Him in his own unduplicated way.
In Isaiah we read (43:10-12): "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God."
Certainly there is a great responsibility conferred upon one who has found the truth. After speaking of a former generation, Mrs. Eddy asks in "Miscellaneous Writings" (pp. 176, 177):
"But what of ourselves, and our times and obligations? Are we duly aware of our own great opportunities and responsibilities? Are we prepared to meet and improve them, to act up to the acme of divine energy wherewith we are armored?
"Never was there a more solemn and imperious call than God makes to us all, right here, for fervent devotion and an absolute consecration to the greatest and holiest of all causes." And a little farther on she asks: "Will you give yourselves wholly and irrevocably to the great work of establishing the truth, the gospel, and the Science which are necessary to the salvation of the world from error, sin, disease, and death? Answer at once and practically, and answer aright!"
How, then, shall our answer take form— what shall be its practical expression? First of all, of course, it must appear in our own lives, in our application of the truth to our own need of healing in whatever form that need appears. This is indispensable. But we cannot stop there. Is it not vitally important that we also clearly realize we have the power to heal others through the application of the truth? Must we not think of ourselves as healers?
Every Christian Scientist can personally extend the healing touch to those in his experience who this instant are seeking to find the truth which will free them from their binding beliefs in the reality of sin, sickness, lack, death. They so need a hand extended not in helpless sympathy but in spiritual guidance and compassion, both of which not only recognize their needs but stand ready to heal them. If healing seems beyond our present capacities or if we are being invited to believe mistakenly that we do not know enough of the truth to heal, then we can consciously take steps to further prepare ourselves.
But it is well to recognize that it is not alone the number of pages of our Leader's writings we have read or the number of Bible passages we have committed to memory or even the degree of magnitude of the demonstrations of Truth we have already made which determines our capacity to heal. Each of these is a helpful step in preparation, but of primary importance is the deep desire to show someone else the way out of all inharmony and discord.
This desire is the purest form of prayer and shows us what more we need to do to prepare ourselves to heal. It opens our eyes to the abundant flow of spiritual ideas coming to us from the Father. In turn, these spiritual ideas enable us to see through lies of mortal mind for others as well as for ourselves.
How natural that the healing power of Truth also be evidenced practically in Churches of Christ, Scientist! As church members we can with freshness and enthusiasm search out all the ways to welcome the weary seeker after Truth, and we can be eager, should he ask us, for the opportunity to heal him. Perhaps we should clearly ask ourselves whether we are expecting and working for healing to take place in and through our church services? Are our church committees conscious of the fact that their committee activities should be aimed directly at bringing about healing?
And when the golden occasion arrives for our church to give a Christian Science lecture, we might ask ourselves whom we are seeking to feed? Are we giving our lectures with the non-Scientist in mind? Or are we unconsciously seeking and expecting to fill our lecture hall with Christian Scientists from other Churches of Christ, Scientist? What are we doing to invite and welcome the non-Scientist in our own community?
Certainly there are many ways and means available to us to fulfill our mission. The specific ways and means for doing so will be revealed to the individual in direct proportion to his recognition of the greatness of the work to be accomplished and his deep desire to do his part. Perhaps Mrs. Eddy is gently pointing to the necessity of our having strength of purpose in this regard when she writes in Science and Health (p. 483), "One must fulfil one's mission without timidity or dissimulation, for to be well done, the work must be done unselfishly."
Nothing should be allowed to keep us from being about the Father's business. No devilish suggestion of lack of experience, lack of time, lack of opportunity, should be allowed to keep us from fulfilling our high calling. Nothing must be allowed to adulterate or smother with materiality the power to heal, which every knower of the truth has as a sacred trust.
The most wondrous thing that could ever happen to an individual has happened to us. We have found the Christ, and we shall never be the same again. Our lives have already been uplifted far beyond what we may once have merely hoped was possible. And we haven't even scratched the surface of the great good the Father has for us and has released to us through His Christ, Truth.
It is Truth as revealed in Christian Science which stands ready and able to meet the needs of men and nations. There never has been, and there never will be, any other solution to the world's ills and terrors. This is why there can be no question but that the Christ is asking of us as Christian Scientists today what was asked of Saul on the road to Damascus long ago. May we hear this call to action! How can we ignore it? "Rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee" (Acts 26:16).
These, then, are the questions to be answered: What is my mission as a Christian Scientist? What can I do right here and now to consecrate my life to the fulfilling of it?
