I thought it good to interrupt our study in James because this week is our
Missions Conference. It seemed right to take advantage of this opportunity
to speak again about some important aspects of our mission in the world as
the Church. The focus of the sermon is a simple question, ‘Why?’ Why should
the Church pursue this mission to proclaim the Gospel? Sometimes it’s good
to stop what you’re doing and reconsider why you’re doing it. Too often we
forgot why we’re doing something, and, as a result, we do it poorly. So, I’m
going to have you consider ‘Why?’ again. And once we have some good reasons
for pursuing this mission of the Church, then we’ll see what difference they
make.
So, why do we pursue this mission of proclaiming the Gospel? I’m going to
guess that the first reason that comes to mind is that we’re supposed to. We
pursue this mission out of obedience to the command of God. Along with that,
probably one of the first Scriptures that comes to mind on this topic is the
Great Commission found in Matthew 28. ‘Go therefore and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ Jesus is quite clear
here. The Church has been given her marching orders. ‘Disciple the nations!’
Obedience here is not optional. We are not given a choice as to which
commands to obey and which to neglect. If Jesus is Lord, then we are to obey
Him whatever He commands. So, here in Matthew 28, He commands the Church to
call the nations to repentance and faith so that they might follow Him. It’s
hard to miss – though I suppose many do. But what will Jesus say about that?
As I have gotten to know the Scriptures better over the years I have come to
see that God speaks about any one topic from many vantage points. Each
perspective on the topic in question adds a little something to the whole.
Getting a better grip on all of the different perspectives leads to seeing
the topic more clearly, more accurately. It’s like the question, ‘Why were
we saved?’ There are a multitude of answers to that question in the
Scriptures, each with something to add so that we can gain a more complete
understanding. The same is true of the question, ‘Why missions?’ To answer
in terms of obedience is true, but it’s incomplete. It’s only part of the
answer. There will be aspects of this task that we will miss and because of
that we will not be able to pursue this calling as well as we might. So, let
’s add to it. There is another, complementary answer to our question, ‘Why?’
And that answer is ‘compassion’, the awareness of the distress of another
along with the desire to do something about it. The Church is moved to
preach the Gospel because of her compassion for the lost. God has told us
about their plight. He has told us how the lost suffer so, wandering alone
in a dark world, following after one vain hope and then another, enslaved to
that cruelest of taskmasters. And that is only a portion of their troubles.
The Church proclaims the Gospel out of compassion for the lost.
In this we are only following the example of God Himself. Consider this
expression of God’s compassion as He speaks to Ezekiel. ‘And you, son of
man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: 'Surely our
transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them.
How then can we live?' Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from
his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you
die, O house of Israel?’ [Ezekiel 33:10-11] God opens His heart to wandering
Israel. They think that, because of their transgressions and sins, there is
no hope. But God appeals to them. He pleads with them. Do you hear the
plaintive tone in voice? ‘No, it’s not too late. Just repent of your sins.
Repent and return. I will receive you back. I don’t want you to die. I swear
it.’ This is the compassion of God for sinners. It was this compassion that
moved Him to send His Son, Jesus, to this lost world. That’s our motive also
as we see the destructive power of sin eat away at their lives. And so, we
plead with them, ‘Why will you die? Repent and believe the Gospel. Come to
Christ and you will live.’ Along with that sense of obedience before our
King who commands us to go, we are moved to proclaim the Gospel because of
the compassion that we feel for these lost souls.
But there is one more motive to mention this morning. It seems to show up a
lot in the Psalms. Listen. ‘Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
give to the Lord glory and strength! Give to the Lord the glory due His
name; bring an offering, and come into His courts! Worship the Lord in the
splendor of holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth!’ [Psalm 96:7-9] To
whom is the psalmist calling? He is shouting to ‘all the earth’. He is
calling to the ‘families of the peoples’. He is preaching to the nations.
And what is he saying? ‘Hey, you Gentiles, come and worship Jehovah. Stop
your idol worship and give glory to the true God. Give to Him the glory He
deserves from you.’ Here is the third answer to our question. Why missions?
Jealous worship. ‘Our God is the true God; He is the Creator and Sustainer
of all. You owe Him everything. Bow down and worship Him! He deserves it.’
What does any good father tell his children? ‘You will respect your mother,
always and in every situation. Even when you think she is wrong, you will
respect her. She deserves at least that from you.’ How much more should a
Christian think this of his God as he interacts with unbelievers? I think
that we would get a hearty ‘Amen!’ on this from the elders in Revelation 4.
‘Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for
You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.’
[Revelation 4:11] Do you see what this means? It just may be that if some
pagan came up to you and asked you, ‘Okay, so why should I become a
Christian?’ you should say: ‘My God has been so good to you. He gave you
existence and continues to provide that for you, giving you each and every
breath you take. He has blessed you with so many good things. He’s been
patient with you in the face of your impudence and defiance. You had better
get on your face and worship Him. He deserves at least that.’ And maybe when
more of us adopt that kind of attitude about our God, the pagans will sit up
and listen. Just as it is true that we are to go and plead with men to come
to Christ that they may live, it is also true that we are to go and demand
that they come to Christ that they might worship Him as He deserves.
These are three answers to our question, ‘Why missions?’: obedience,
compassion, jealous worship. The Scriptures have other answers, to be sure.
But this will do for now. I think that you can see how, together, they give
a fuller understanding of our mission as the Church in this fallen world.
Now, what do I want you to do with this? Well, what is the greatest need
today when it comes to this mission of the Church? There are those who will
say that the greatest need is money. We need more money to get the word out.
People who think this way must picture Jesus as some pauper who can’t rub
two nickels together. Having enough money is never the greatest need. There
are others who will say that the greatest need is people. More people are
needed on the mission field! If we had more people, this reasoning goes, we
could touch more lives. Again, I really don’t think that this is the
problem. There are lots of missionaries out there. From my point of view the
greatest need today is the power of the Spirit. Lots of people with lots of
money will accomplish nothing, or even worse, if they aren’t blessed with
the Spirit’s power. And so, the need of the day is for the Church to pray
for Christ to send His Spirit so that we might receive power from on high.
As that happens, then the Gospel will be properly proclaimed and will bear
much fruit. You need to pray. But these three motives need to inform your
prayers. As you pray, bear in mind that this mission is a matter of
obedience. That should urge you on in your prayers. We need to obey! But it
should also give you great hope. ‘Lord, we know that the proclamation of the
Gospel is Your will. And we want to obey You in this. So, grant us Your
Spirit. Grant us His great power to declare that Gospel to all. Grant this
so that we can obey You.’ Will your God ignore such a prayer? As you pray,
picture the lost in their great need and plead with God out of your own
sense of compassion for them. Understand them as the Bible does, lost and
wandering and so hopeless. And then pray, appealing to God’s own compassion
for the lost. As you pray, remember the glory of your God. Remember that He
is a great and awesome and gracious God. Remind yourself of how He deserves
all mankind to come and give Him the worship that is His due. ‘Father, bring
honor to Your Name. Crush the plans of the rebellious. Cause them to bow
before You and before Christ, submitting themselves wholly to You. Send Your
Spirit so that the nations would see Your glory and worship only You.’
Praying like this is very different from, ‘Dear God, bless the missionaries.
’ Let these three motives drive your prayers. Pray this way and see what God
will do.
