Phil On ... 

When Elvis Presley sung these words there was despondency associated with them – a letter to a girl friend had been returned, and the sender still got no joy when he re-sent it by recorded delivery or tried to deliver it personally!
What I want to do in this article is consider an alternative concept of “sender” and “being sent” namely God calling us to spread his message and live a life inspired by Jesus. Whatever the task we are being called to do (helping out with bible readings, preparing tea/coffee after service, collecting Christian Aid envelopes, witnessing by offering to talk and pray for others in a town centre etc.) it is important to be certain that we are being called.
A recent bible study meeting challenged us by asking “What does it mean to be sent by God and how might we focus more closely on what God wants us to do?”
My initial thoughts turned to scenarios at work where a manager might “send” you to follow-up on a client enquiry. Sometimes the instruction comes with little in the way of background information. The intonation from the manager might even convey that the lead is probably not going to lead anywhere. Faced with this situation it is very difficult to become motivated to deliver. In contrast, sometimes the manager is passionate about the client opportunity. S/he has gathered information, possibly performed some background reading and might even suggest a joint visit: Sender and person sent travelling the journey together. This is infectious and the person being sent starts to buy into the opportunity.
The analogy with being sent by God is that firstly God is 100% behind you as you serve him. We should take time to check what the job he wants us to do involves, asking prayerfully for guidance as to whether the opportunity is the right one for us. God is not interested in someone going through the motions and doing a task begrudgingly – indeed, my recent WordLive bible readings from Jeremiah have reminded me that God turned his back on the burnt offerings from the Jewish people when their hearts were not in tune with God’s message and they were simply on auto-pilot in ritualistic worship. It is also easier to gain confidence and passion about taking on a given post for God if others in the church encourage us. A key role then for people who are currently doing a particular task is to spend time defining the job clearly and offering mentoring. Allowing potential volunteers to shadow a worker or to be there so someone can “have a go under a helpful guiding eye” might be useful.
It is also useful to remember that when more people get involved, the lighter the commitment per person becomes. It also helps foster a strong sense of community.
If we honestly seek out what God wants us to do and then do it enthusiastically to the best of our ability, we will ultimately enjoy the privilege of being returned to our sender for eternity.