Matthew 24:14
Missions Matters
Woodlawn Baptist Church
September 23, 2007
Does missions really matter? Today I want to address this question in our current sermon series about things that matter. I have said so far that preaching matters, church matters, giving matters, and today I want to demonstrate to you that missions matters. In case anyone is unclear about what missions is, missions has to do with you and me taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to every people, tribe and nation on earth. It has to do with the command God has given us to preach the gospel, to make disciples around the world. Jesus indicated that this work was to begin at home in our own community and spread from there. Missions is not starting churches. Missions is not mailing checks. Missions is not a program. Missions is not a ministry of our church, it is the very purpose for our church. In fact, if missions is the purpose for our church, and you and I as disciples of Christ are the church, then it stands to reason that missions is the very purpose for your existence and mine.
I have not always accepted or believed that, and there are still many days I struggle to live it, but that does not diminish its reality. Missions matters.
I don’t know how much missions matters to you. When I think about our zeal for proclaiming the fame of God in our homes and community, I wonder if it matters very much. I wonder if sharing and declaring and proclaiming our faith matters as much as it does to the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses who are out every weekend. I wonder if it matters as much to us as it does to the Muslims who have suddenly discovered the long lost practice of door knocking. Does missions really matter to you?
Today as I address this concern, I want to demonstrate that missions does matter by giving you a call to action…a call to personal involvement in God’s plan to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, then I’m going to finish by giving you five simple but costly ways to get personally involved.
Do you remember the Great Commission? Jesus said to go and make disciples of all nations. In Mark 16:15 Jesus said it this way, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” That’s what missions is all about. It’s about you and me taking the gospel to the world. It’s about you and me taking that gospel message and the teachings of Jesus Christ and making disciples. That’s our command to be obeyed as Dr. Cloud mentioned in the video a moment ago. Now, in Matthew 24:14 Jesus was discussing the end times when He made this statement,
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
I want you to notice some of the key elements of this statement.
Jesus said the gospel we share is about the kingdom. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached.” The gospel is about the kingdom of God. It’s about the reign of God. It’s about the Son of God. It’s about the triumphant death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ! He died on the cross for our sins. He purchased redemption for every man. He defeated sin, hell and the grave. Listen, the good news we share isn’t about us. It’s not even really about what we get out of the deal. The good news is about the triumphant, reigning, supreme King of Glory!
Jesus said that the mission will be accomplished. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached…” When you see the word “shall” in the Scriptures, you can take it to the bank. It’s an absolute promise. It will happen. It’s up to you and me to decide whether we want to be part of it or not. If we’re disobedient to God in terms of us fulfilling our mission, it’s us who loses, not God!
Jesus said that our mission concerns all nations, not just people. “…for a witness unto all nations.” The word nations is translated from the Greek word “ethnos” from which we get ethnic groups. It has to do with all the people groups of the world. That doesn’t mean Americans or Africans, but with each individual cultural and language groups in the world. It may not be realistic to reach every single human being in the world with the gospel of the kingdom, but we can reach every single people group. That’s a task that can be finished, and when it is, Jesus said the end would come.
And let me add one more that is not in this verse, but is found in verse 9, “Then shall they deliver you (the Lord’s disciples) up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” The point is simply this…
Jesus said that suffering will be the price and the means of fulfilling the Great Commission. We have tiptoed around this fact for too long trying to make Christianity out to be easy and fun and recreational. Jesus never hid the fact that following Him meant a cross. Discipleship is the way of death. We die in salvation. We die to self in sanctification and many have and will continue to die fulfilling God’s purposes for their lives. Suffering may be the price we pay for doing God’s work. But it might also be the means God uses to fulfill that work. Jesus didn’t send us out as sheep in the midst of sheep, but wolves.
Does missions matter?
It matters to God – when Adam fell God went looking for him. When humanity was lost and without hope in this world He sent His Son. God didn’t sacrifice Christ for the fun of it – Jesus died a horrific death of torture and agony because redemption and reconciliation to God matter! Jesus said “He came to seek and to save that which was lost” because it matters to God.
It matters to disciples – if you and I are serious about why we’re here – if you’re tired of playing church or doing church or just attending church and you want to live your life for something that really matters…if you’re a disciple ready to make disciples then missions matters. If you care about the glory of God, the eternal destiny of the people you love and even those you don’t, if you care about being obedient to the call of God, then missions matters.
It matters to the people in hell – you remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. The rich man begged Abraham for something to cool him off in the torments of hell. He was suffering and was in agony. Abraham told him there was nothing he could do for the man. He made his choice, and now was going to suffer all eternity for rejecting Christ. As the man suffered in agony he thought to his brothers, his family still living on earth and pleaded with Abraham to send someone to go back to earth and warn them. Here’s a man in hell with the heart of a missionary, but it was too late. I wonder how many people end up in hell and are praying even now for people like you and me to tell their families what we know.
Missions matters to God, to real disciples and to the people in hell, but does it matter to you? Only you can really answer that question. Studies show that about 150,000 people die every day. That’s over 6,200 people who die every hour. 104 people every minute. Almost 2 people every second. Imagine the city of Denison leaving this planet in just 4 hours. We can’t even fathom those kinds of numbers. I was reading a story about a young mother in India.
Alila stood on the beach holding her tiny infant son close to her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she began slowly walking toward the river’s edge. She stepped into the water, silently making her way out until she was waist deep, the water gently lapping at the sleeping baby’s feet. She stood there for a long time holding the child tightly as she stared out across the river. Then all of a sudden in one quick movement she threw the six month old baby to his watery death.
Native missionary M.V. Varghese often witnesses among the crowds who gather at the Ganges. It was he who came upon Alila that day kneeling in the sand crying uncontrollably and beating her breast. With compassion he knelt down next to her and asked her what was wrong.
Through her sobs she told him, "The problems in my home are too many and my sins are heavy on my heart, so I offered the best I have to the goddess Ganges, my first born son." Brother Varghese’s heart ached for the desperate woman. As she wept he gently began to tell her about the love of Jesus and that through Him her sins could be forgiven. She looked at him strangely. "I have never heard that before," she replied through her tears. "Why couldn’t you have come thirty minutes earlier? If you did, my child would not have had to die."
Each year millions of people come to the holy Indian city of Hardwar to bathe in the River Ganges. These multitudes come believing this Hindu ritual will wash their sins away. For many people like Alila, missionaries are arriving too late, simply because there aren’t enough of these faithful brothers and sisters on the mission field.
Chances are you and I will never preach or even talk to people like this in other countries. Chances are you and I will never deal with such extreme desperation, but how many of us live with and work with and interact with on a daily basis people who are just as lost, who are just as hopeless, who are just as much loved and forgiven by God as this and yet have no one to tell them? If missions matters to you, then you can demonstrate your concern in five ways: simple, but not easy.
1. Share your faith – tell people what you know. Share the gospel of the kingdom.
2. Share your life – the only real way to make a disciple is to be a discipler – model the faith
3. Pray
4. Give
5. Go
God help us to be a people who care about His redemptive work in the world. That’s why we’re here. Remember, missions isn’t one of our ministries – it’s our purpose, and every ministry we have should support that purpose. Give yourself to that purpose.
Have you ever trusted Christ to save you? Have you surrendered your own life to service? We have been so excited over the recent salvations and baptisms, what would it be like to see people being saved all the time?
