Sermon: What Difference Can We make in this big world?
Place: Oakdale Wesleyan Church
Date: April 6, 2008
Subject: Missions
Introduction
There was a man who everyday would get up early in the morning and take a morning walk along the seashore. As he walked every time he passed a star fish that had gotten stranded on the beach after the morning tide went out he would throw back into the sea and save the star fish from certain doom of the sun that would bake the star fish to death once the sun rose high the in the sky.
Another man moved on to the same stretch of beach and began a morning routine of taking an early morning jog along the beach before cleaning up and heading to work. This man began to notice the elderly gentleman every morning combing the beach for stranded star fish. Finally his curiosity got the best of him so he stopped one day to talk to the gentleman.
During the course of the conversation he eventually brought up his question. He asked the man why every morning he would comb the beach looking for stranded starfish, there are so many thousands of them and so many thousands that die everyday what difference will saving few starfish really make?
The elderly man bent down and picked up another star fish and as he threw it back into the waves of the sea he simply said: “Well, it made a difference to that one.”
Recent studies show that as of March 2008 the world’s population reached the 6.6 billion mark. As of 2005 China, India, and Asia held the world’s largest population bases with almost 50% of the worlds population being located in those 3 countries. In this time frame while China boasted of 1.3 billion people the United States only had about 300 million (less then ¼ of China’s population).
This month we are focusing on missions and a curious question that might be raised like the question of the man jogging on the beach to the elderly man is, “With so many people in the world, what difference are we really making?” So a handful of oriental folks hear the gospel message from Andria Swarthout, so a few folks in Bosnia get touched by the gospel from Josh Carter, so a number of Polish families are moved towards Christ by the Lair family, so a few Hispanic people are reached by the Hubbards, a few more Native American’s by LeRoy and Sandy Anderson…with so many people in the world, what difference is it really making?
To that question I suppose our missionaries might respond like the elderly gentleman on the beach, “Well, it made a difference in that person’s life!”
Today we are continuing our study of missions and continuing to ask the question, “Why should we be involved in missions.” With all that we are attempting to accomplish right here in Oakdale, why should we give so much time, energy, and money away to people we will never meet?
Today’s responses to the question are simple no non-sense answers that come from a variety of sources. Last week we zeroed in on Romans 10 and discovered that we are not alone:
1. God is now with us
2. We have been privileged to hear the good news
3. God loves everyone else as much as he loves us.
So today, let’s move from the theological and theoretical to the very practical to answer the question, “Why should we be involved in missions?”
Continue with Prayer
Today’s answers:
1. The poor and disenfranchised are always at the center of God’s heart
Last year when I was studying through the Sermon on the Mount and the first few days of Jesus ministry from Matthew 8-11 one of the comments that was made by D.A. Carson in his book, “Jesus’ Sermon on the mount” was that the poor and disenfranchised are always at the center of God’s heart. In Mary’s song recorded in Luke 1 the refrain written in verses 52&53 “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” A common understanding of God is that he cares for the lowly, the poor, the widows, the orphans, those less fortunate.
I think one of the greatest things that impacted me on my short journey to Pakistan was the level of poverty and state of powerlessness that so many people lived in. Just take a look at some of these pictures I captured while I was there.
There is a special place in God’s heart for the poor and disenfranchised people. People without power, people without hope, people without adequate resources. If you want to focus ministry in a venue that will always be in line with God’s heart, focus your ministry efforts on these type of people groups locally and around the world.
2. With financial blessing comes financial responsibility
Coupled with the previous point then I must give my second practical answer: “With financial blessing comes financial responsibility.”
In a dialogue in which Jesus is talking about the coming of the kingdom of God and that we should all be ready at any moment he wraps his statements up with this comment in Luke 12:48 “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
When you consider how richly resourced every American is compared to the rest of the world we have been the ones who are blessed and have been given much. There are mountains of data that shows while we have a smaller population then Europe, China, India, Asia, Latin America, Africa, we still consume the largest amount of the world’s goods. We have truly been blessed here in America. But how are we spending the resources that are at our disposal?
Jesus brought to light a great test for a certain rich young ruler in Matthew 19. This rich man came to Jesus and asked what he must do to enter heaven. Jesus instructed him to do everything taught in the law of Moses. He boastfully declare that all of this he had done so he wanted to know what more he needed to do. Jesus then peals back all tact and lays it on the line. “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the young man went away sad because he had great wealth.
In this encounter Jesus unburies an incredible test. The gift of resources, the pleasure of material wealth, the blessing of the good life can actually be a huge test. The principle is simple, when we hold these resources tightly in our grasp and refuse to pass the blessing freely given to us on to others we condemn ourselves. I am of the opinion that God does not make one wealthy for selfish reasons. He does not give out wealth so that some can have the good life while others suffer. I believe God has given some the good life so that they can be channels of that wealth to others, but sometimes instead of channels we want to become damns and hoard all the reservoir of resources for ourselves.
Why should we be involved in missions? Because the accumulation of wealth can be a huge test of our faith and missions is a beautiful way to pass the wealth on. This is one of the key foundations as to why the board has made a bold move that 10% of everything we raise to build a new building here will be given to missions. How selfish of us to build a new facility when there are Christians who worship in the open air in Pakistan at the threat of imprisonment, persecution, or death.
3. Frankly in some cultures the money is simply much better spent – the return on the dollar is much greater then in our own backyard.
This next answer is 100% practical and 100% business minded. If you work for any large cooperation like 3M, Ford, Bank of America, or Wal-Mart there is one thing that they are ultimately concerned about and that would be…. “The bottom line.” In a commercial driven economy the bottom line is god. It’s all about making profits and making them faster and bigger. So we cut corners, we research and develop so we can have the most efficient ways to make, move, and sell products. The whole game centers around getting the biggest bang for the buck.
This answer to why we should be involved in missions comes right out of the business world. Statistics are showing us that missions yields by far the biggest bang for the buck. Consider our own intimate statistics. It will take some 1.5 million to build a building here in Oakdale. Our desire is that building will service some 250-350 Christians on a weekly/monthly basis. In Pakistan the average cost of a building is at the high end $20,000. Now if we simply tithe that 1.5 million that will generate some $150,000 dollars. So at $20,000 (which again is the high end of what it costs to build a church) we could build 7 churches in Pakistan. Now the Pakistanis don’t need near the space we do and I can guarantee that in each of those 7 church they will be maxed out with 150 to 200 people in each building. So with only 10% of what we are looking to need to build they will service over 1000 Christians each week plus educated some 500 kids during the week, every week.
Did all that math make sense?
Here it is again in plainer English. Often times foreign missions simply gives better results for each dollar spent then for here in the US. The mission field in the US is becoming a tough mission field as Americans have just become numb to the gospel and to church, but in third world countries the gospel is spreading like wild fire where people are hungry to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. So my third practical answer as to why we should be involved in missions is simply because it makes bottom line cents!
4. God demands selflessness
Now we will move back from the business world to the more spiritual world. We have looked at so far that the poor and disenfranchised are always at the heart of God, secondly we answered the question by looking at it as a test to see how we will spend what God has given to us, then we looked at the practical business end of the issue and missions simply yields a better bang for the buck then does every dollar spent here and now we move back to the spiritual, God simply demands it.
One of the underlining concepts of the whole of scripture is that God desires us to be selfless. I would contend that it was selfishness that got Adam and Eve band from the garden. I would content that selfishness is and has been the underling condition that has yielded in all sin throughout all of humanity. It was selfishness that caused David to sin with Bathsheba, it was selfishness that caused Abraham to lie to the foreign king about his wife, it was selfishness which caused Sarah to offer her maid servant to produce a family line (the fighting of these two tribes – the Jews and Arabs/Muslims) we are still dealing with today. It was selfishness that caused the Jewish leaders of Jesus day to reject his claim to Messiah and eventually what led them to seek his crucifixion (they were afraid they would loose their positions before Rome – I just read that again in John 11 this week).
Selfishness is the very thing which the two greatest commandments stand opposed to. Jesus told us that all truth, all knowledge of God, all the laws, all the rules boil down to two things, Love God, love your neighbor. At the heart of these two laws the complete opposition to a life of selfishness and personal indulgence. We are commanded not to be selfish.
I want to expand this whole debate about missions for just a moment and move this answer from the personal level to the cooperate level. I believe that churches and even denominations can become infected with selfishness. What is the church but a collection of the people who make it up. A church is not the walls or property that house the church but it is you and me functioning together as God’s body that form the church. So when it comes to selfishness there can be a cooperate attitude of selfishness as well. Sadly I have seen too many churches that are all about them. They are raising money to build bigger and better buildings. They bang the money drum because they need more cash so that they can hire more staff and spend more on utilities. They are constantly energizing a selfish attitude and permeating it throughout the church.
So if the church is nothing more than a collection of individual Christians gathered together, the level of our giving that goes outside of ourselves directly correlates then to the collective selflessness or selfishness of the group. I would go as far to say if you find churches that are not missions oriented you are going to find people that are very selfish and after having now served on the District Board for 9 years I can tell you that in those same churches you will find discord, jealousy, anger, church fights, and a bunch of unhappy people.
5. It displays our trust in God
The final answer to our question today I want to keep on the cooperate level. Why should we be involved in missions? Because it displays our trust in God. Can I, a middle aged pastor be honest with you for just a few moments? There is a sin I am facing at this point in my life. The sin is frankly coveting. I look around at other guys my age and they have cool toys, nice homes, not one nice car but usually two. I now where they work and frankly they are probably not making much more money then I so income isn’t the issue. So I start to look into our finances and attempt to figure out where our money is going that I can afford the things they have. Then all of a sudden I run across our biggest monthly expense. I am not telling you this to boast but just to be real. What I find that is eating up more income then any other expense in my checking book, is you. That’s right, it’s helping support this church and helping support the work of spreading the good news around the world. At times I begin to think, may-be we should cut back because then we could afford some nicer toys, but then I am thankful, God steps in and reminds me I am investing that money, not in earthly selfish pleasure, but rather in things that will last beyond this earth. So when I come up short, when I don’t have enough money (so I think) it stretches my trust in God, I believe that if we are faithful to God and faithful to live by his standards, he will take care of us and probably no greater way to put this to the test is when we give our money away to God’s causes.
I would say this is one of the toughest issues Christians, and especially newer Christians face, do I trust God enough to be faithful to support his causes and his work in the world. So the old adage that I just can’t afford to give much to the church or to mission is very true. You can’t afford it and that is exactly where God wants you because when you come to the end of yourself, then you will begin to find God, then you will begin to be able to trust in him to provide for you.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap up with a little Q&A this morning. Last week I gave you a homework assignment. The assignment was simply to answer the question, “Why should I be involved in missions?” I have given you 8 different responses from God’s word and my life as to why you should be involved in missions but did you have any others I missed. I think it would be fun for us to learn from one another for just a moment this morning before we wrap it up. Do you have any other answers to the question. Also, do you have any questions. I have given you 8 reasons to be involved do you have any questions or comments on those 8 reasons. Now how often can you go to church and the pastor is actually asking for input on his sermon? AAA?
Other answers or questions and comments?
