Isaiah 2:1-5 / Ephesians 3:2-12 / Mark 16:15-20
The job market in Singapore is a tight and dense market, but there are still jobs available.
But the job market has also changed over the years.
In the past, getting a job in Singapore would mean we would be working locally and we won't expect to be going anywhere out of the country.
Even going for business trips would mean that it is for a few days or a couple of weeks and then we will return to home sweet home.
We know of expatriate professionals (expats for short) working here and sometimes we would even envy them for all the perks that they get, but we would not think much about working overseas for an extended period of time.
But now, things have changed. The job market has changed.
Singaporeans are being stationed overseas and working there for extended periods of time on contract basis.
It has even become such that if you decline an overseas posting, then your career might come to a standstill
In fact, an offer for an overseas posting may be considered as a promotion and an advancement in the career.
(But for diocesan priests like myself, an overseas posting is very unlikely because diocesan priests are ordained for the local Church).
Nonetheless, an overseas posting is both exciting and challenging.
We will probably get the perks and the frills of an expat, and maybe even get much more than when we are working in our own country.
At the same time, it can be challenging in having to adapt to the new environment and meeting up to the expectations of the new posting.
And it can be quite stressful and even distressful to be away from the comfort and security of home and country.
In the gospel, we heard that as Jesus showed Himself to the Eleven after His Resurrection, He also said to them: Go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation.
In no mistakable terms, Jesus was giving His disciples an overseas posting, and they cannot decline it, they can't reject it and it is also non-negotiable.
Today, as the Church celebrates Mission Sunday, we are reminded that like the disciples, we are called and chosen and sent.
But it does not necessarily mean that we have to go overseas. Essentially it means that we are sent to people.
Because Roman 10:13-15 has this to say: For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But they will not ask His help unless they believe in Him, and they will not believe in Him unless they have heard of Him, and they will not hear of Him unless they get a proclaimer, and they will never have a proclaimer unless one is sent.
Yes, we are sent to people to bring them the Good News of Jesus Christ.
But we must also remember that people don't care about what we know until and unless they know that we care about them.
The prerequisite for the proclamation of the Good News is that we care for the people that we are sent to.
Last Tuesday at the Singapore Sports Hub, there was a friendly international match between Brazil and Japan. The match ended with Brazil winning 4-0.
But what was interesting was what happened after the match. After the match, the Japanese fans, though disappointed with their team's defeat, did something amazing.
They immediately took out light blue plastic bags and collected all the trash in the section of the stadium where they were gathered.
And it wasn't the first time they were doing it. In the World Cup in June, they also did the similar thing.
Those Japanese fans showed that even though they were in a foreign country, they cared about the environment and respected the people of the country.
And in the disappointment of defeat, those Japanese fans displayed true sportsmanship.
In the sport that is often marred with hooliganism, what the Japanese fans did was very edifying. Maybe it's the Japanese culture, maybe it's their way of life, maybe it's their upbringing. Whatever it may be, we can learn something from them.
Mission Sunday reminds us that Jesus sends us out to people, and the first thing that we need to do in order to witness to the Good News is to respect the people and to care about what they care about, even if it means picking up the trash.
We are sent to our family members at home, to our colleagues at our workplace, to the people that we meet along the way, even to the people in Church.
When these people know that we care about them and respect them, then it is the sign that the Good News is proclaimed.
So people are waiting for the sign. The Lord Jesus wants to give them the sign. May we be that sign that the Lord will work for them, so that the Good News will be proclaimed.