This morning I was meditating on the appearance of Jesus to the disciples after his resurrection. Incomprehensibly he called them “Brothers”! They had deserted him. They were hiding in fear. They were like . . . me. So I heard the Lord of the universe call me “Brother” this morning (John 20:17).

Then I read on. Incomprehensibly he said, “Peace to you!” They had deserted him. They were hiding in fear. They deserved to be rebuked. They were just like . . . me. So I heard the Lord of the universe speak peace to me this morning (John 20:19, 21).

Then I read on. Incomprehensibly he said, “As the Father sent me, I also am sending you.” They had deserted him. They were hiding in fear. They were unfit to be sent. They were just like . . . me. So I heard the Lord of the universe say to me this morning: “Yuppies make yucky missionaries.”

Actually, the reason I heard the word of God in these peculiar words was that just as I was meditating, my wife Noël showed me an anniversary card sent to us by a missionary couple from our church. It contained a little “touch-and-feel” booklet called “Pat the Yuppie.”

On one page you could pat the soft sheepskin seatcovers in Robert and Kathleen’s brand new luxury car. On another page you could feel the pasta strips coming out of their brand new pasta maker. Next you can touch the rough exposed bricks on the wall in their new $400,000 high-rise condo. “See how rough they are. Sooooo rough!” It concluded with a head-shaped mirror: “Now you can be a yuppie, too!”

So there they were on my desk. The touch-and-feel invitation to join Robert and Kathleen for pasta in their condo, and the invitation to join the mission force of Jesus Christ “as the Father sent him.”

Crisis.

I turned the anniversary card over and read our friends’ conclusion on the matter: “Yuppies make yucky missionaries.”

Incredibly,
the peace-filled brother of the King,

Pastor John