Everything changed when Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered sin, death and Satan. And then He told His followers:

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

He not only sent them out — go do this! — He was to go with them. How did the Father send the Son? He went with Him. How are we ‘sent’ by Jesus. With Him, in relationship with Him, to live His life, a resurrected life that will never end. He is with us. One could call this “withness.”

There’s a famous quote from William Carey, an ambitious believer who was a key shaper of the modern missions movement. In what came to be called the “Deathless sermon,” Carey said:

I think Carey would agree: we don’t do things ‘for’ God. In Christ we get to do things with Him. Withness.

Grateful for the reminder from Pastor Matt Kottman in his Easter 2011 sermon on John 20:19-23, “So I Send You.”