Places, things, traditions or People
Matthew 28:18-20
Since Easter we have been attempting to look through the eyes of God, using scripture to help us to have his vision for each of us and for the church.
Last week we listened to Peter’s description of believers as being a Royal priesthood. The ideas is that as members of His Church on earth we are priest to those that don’t have a relationship with God. We are a people that offer and invitation to the people in this world that don’t know how to approach God and need someone to make the invitation. Some one to sacrifice on behalf of another to help them to gain their own relationship with God.
All the activities we have examined so far don’t actually need a building in order to operate the need a church…..which is simply the people, the believers that gather in worship and service.
So this week we are going to examine what this priesthood is supposed to do. What is our mission based on what scripture defines.
Movie Clip – Apollo 13 - brain storming session
The Flight commander boils down the situation to the key point of the mission – both before the accident and after. --- We are not losing these men….
Our mission is exactly the same. As it depends on us, we are not to lose anyone.
We have a direct mission of not allowing a single man, woman or child to miss out on living in eternity with Christ.
In a way that should be all I have to say to remind everyone in this room to be focused on the mission and to do our jobs the very best we can.
But, unfortunately most of us are not passionate about the mission.
Maybe we feel tired or ill-equipped.
Maybe we are focused on the mission that we have been on for years.
Maybe we are on auto pilot thinking everything is fine.
Maybe we dismiss this mission in our minds because, we think it is the preachers or someone else’s’ job.
In our scripture, I don’t see that followers of Jesus Christ, Children of God, Christians are given a choice. It is an almost unimaginable mission…As we look around we see a world that seems out of control…it seems ready for a crash or an explosion. Just like in the movie.
But the thing is…it is our mission…it is really the only one we have…and as a Christian we have already chosen to accept it when we choose to accept the Gift of our salvation.
When we become a member of the family of God we pick up both benefits and family responsibilities.
Our mission requires every bit of innovation and ingenuity that we all bring to the table. It requires a lot of sacrifice and energy to fulfill.
But, I will assure you that there is no more important mission than connecting God’s purposes, and love and Salvation to the world.
Last week we found that Jesus said that we were to be priest and this week we are to be ambassadors for the Kingdom of God….I believe that is another way to say the same thing. One is based on faith and the other on royal position.
-- You know my mom always hoped I would turn out right. Here I have this job working for God as a priest and for the king as an ambassador….
It has not always been true but, I have made my mother proud of me.
Your mothers can be proud too…. Because of your position in the kingdom of God.
We all have theses important jobs with lots of demands, which require a fair amount of sacrifice on our parts. If we look back over church history, in the Bible and even in information recorded in the history books, we find that Christians for centuries have taken the great commission very seriously.
Many dedicated their lives to fulfilling this mission and took the Good News of Jesus Christ to the far reaches of the world. Folks they were really serious….
How do I know that this instruction from Jesus is that important? Well I am not an English major, but even I can tell that this instruction is not passive. Jesus does not say perhaps, or should or maybe. Our scripture is a direct instruction to the disciples. He uses action verbs…Go! Make! Baptize! Teach!
-- This passage is about putting our faith on the line and being active.
Ok, let me let you off the hook just a little. I know that God has made us all with different talents and gifts and strength and even weaknesses.
Some of us are shy, and others bold…..That is ok, because as I said, God made us the way we are.
But consider this …. He made all of us to be active…None of us is an inanimate object…
We are all made to be active other wise we get out of shape and become unhealthy.
I speak from physical experience here. The same thins can happen to a church…
So every one of us needs to find as way to that we can connect our lives the mission that Jesus handed down to his followers….the church.
We need to do this because that is the only way to fulfill our purpose in this world.
As Christians that are a part of a church we are called to fulfill our mission. What we were made to do and made to be.
And so it’s essential that we find ways to connect to this passage. And I believe that Jesus is saying to all of us through this passage, He is saying –
"Get out there and get busy for my sake!"
"Meet people’s needs!"
"Proclaim the good news of the gospel!"
"Build the kingdom of God!"
"Build a strong and vital and healthy church because that’s what you are to be about!"
He is not asking us to be busy for the sake of being busy. He asks us to find ways that we can be a part of the team working on the mission.
However, he is also not asking us to do it alone…He is with us in this mission. We are following his plans and his direction. He is asking us to identify and keep his priorities and focus on the core of the mission and not so much on how it gets done.
Let me give you something to explain my point this morning.
--- Missions don’t change…the way they are accomplished does!!!
--- Missions don’t change…but, the way they are accomplished does!!!
Jesus gives us a pretty big goal. The Great Commission is huge. It is probably one of the biggest goals ever laid out.
GO MAKE DISCIPLES…of all nations.
Simple statement of mission – no description of how to accomplish it.
I believe that the lack of detail is a way of assuring us that we are able to think creatively. We are not limited my walls of the church. We are not restricted to a 5 or 10 or 1000 step plan of how to fulfill the mission.
He does not say to restrict who the message goes to, so there can be no restriction over position or color or importance…. Prejudice of any kind is not an option.
We are to invest ourselves, everything we have in pursuit of this mission.
The most important thing that I believe is inferred in this scripture is that this mission is possible. Jesus does not say try to make disciples. Go make disciples …
I believe that one of the reasons that Christians and churches become passive instead of active in mission is that the mission is just too big and we feel far too small and limited.
Management guru, Tom Peters, tells his readers that it is important to have calls these BHAG’s. Big, hairy, audacious, goals.
And when we look through history the leaders that accomplished anything of significance in our world articulated a BHAG - Since Easter we have been attempting to look through the eyes of God, using scripture to help us to have his vision for each of us and for the church.
Whether it was finding a new trade route to the Orient or putting a man on the moon and bringing him back again, whether it was eradicating a disease or overthrowing the institution of slavery, whether it was to win a war or to build a temple for God.
All great accomplishments throughout history began with a leader articulating a great dream, a goal, a mission….a BHAD (BOG)
You know big dreams are important, because only big dreams will inspire us.
- Only big dreams will allow us to lay aside our prejudices in order to see things in a new and different way.
- Only big dreams will engender a spirit of sacrifice within us.
- And ultimately only big dreams will give us the sense of fulfillment that we all desire for our lives.
And so Jesus gives us a big, hairy, audacious goal. Reach the whole world in HIS name.
The problem is that BHAG (BOG) has a tendency to produce BHAA – (BAAAAA)
- Big Harry Audacious Anxiety which might also be pronounced FEAR.
Jesus knew that we would respond to this mission with human understanding. Which is limited by what we know and experience in this reality. Unfortunately, too many Christians respond to the natural fear in less than faithful ways.
All too often when a human articulates a BHAG (BOG) a big mission Goal; he or she better duck because the arrows will start flying.
The naysayers will withhold their support.
Those that are comfortable with the status quo will resist, digging in their heals with everything they have God.
The bean counters will say there is not enough money to accomplish that goal.
Some fearing failure will insist that we must save our resources for the future worrying about “what we need.”
Sometimes these human responses to the adherence to the mission of Jesus Chris Squash the life right out of any response that someone may ask the church to take up.
Folks, at this moment, I am trying to remind you that there is a mission that we don’t seem to be working on.
In the movie clip the mission always included bring the astronauts back safely to earth. On the way they had some things they wanted to accomplish…but it was never supposed to be a 1 way trip.
The team had to look at the reality of the situation and come up with something different than they had planned, something risky and untried. Something not in the manual…they had to change what they expected and planed in order to match the current conditions.
The church has a predefined mission gives to us by Jesus Christ. The long term Goal is Heaven….The mission is not to get there with only a few others… our mission is to invite people into a real and meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.
God uses normal everyday people to word through his plan. He only expects to do what he has empowered you to do…But that requires you to be an active – willing – prayerful worker in the kingdom of God.
We have a BHAG to accomplish in the next 7 weeks. It is time for all of us to work out the details to help us work toward this one small step in God’s plan to bring his people home.
It is time to become active and continue to make your mother and your God proud of what you have allow God to make of you.
All Glory be to God!
