Worthiness not the Issue

The text from Psalm 51 in the Roman Catholic Lectionary is the proclamation of one who has known Divine mercy and forgiveness for the separation chosen the by the human from God. The story of Jonah and his mission to exhort the ancient city of Nineveh to return to lives in harmony with God’s will is a story of the message being delivered without the complete conviction of the messenger. This is counter intuitive but it makes the point that the action of the Word is not dependent on the consent or quality of participation of the messenger. In planning and acting on evangelistic ventures, the role of the evangelist is to reduce ego and increase service and authenticity. The conviction of the forgiven will attract those in search of that peace, but the mission accomplished by the Word is far greater than can be contained in the person of people.