Today, we are going to take some time to focus on something that I believe is at the very core, or heartbeat of God, and it is Missions.
I will be sharing some scripture throughout this message which will bring out this fact, and also will be encouraging each of us to make it our prayer and intense desire to love what God loves, and hate what He hates.
But today, we are going to talk about what God loves, and without any doubt in my mind, Missions is something God loves, and His stamp of approval is all over it!
I’m not really sure if I’ve ever shared an 8 point message in one day, so today will probably be a first, because I want to take the word MISSIONS and develop it as an acrostic with a point being made about each letter in the word.
And then, at the end of the message all of us who attend this church are going to have an opportunity to share in this great ministry of Missions outreach around the world by sharing Faith Promises for the year 2010.
Well, my plan is to go through these 8 points quickly, but not haphazardly and without concern for the importance of each point – So, don’t get too nervous about the timing of everything today because we want to make sure you have plenty of time at the end to participate in the Faith Promise time.
The songleader asked the congregation to turn to page 654 in their hymnals. “We’ll sing ‘Till the Whole World Knows,’ ” he said. What he didn’t hear was our daughter whispering to her dad, “I think we’re going to be here a long time.”
—Melodie Dean, Plano, Illinois. Christian Reader, “Kids of the Kingdom.”
The first point we are looking at today in our 8 point acrostic for Missions is the letter M which I’m going to share as:
I. THE MANDATE OF MISSIONS
So often, today we hear this word associated with politics as one party seems to win a landslide of votes in an election (not usually when they just squeak by), but it is a clear message, whether it be on a state or local level, or even nationally, but it’s often seen as a mandate or high priority for that party to enact the things they pledged they would do.
The Word MANDATE means:
1. a command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative:
2. a command from a superior court or official to a lower one.
You see, I believe that before we can ever give our prayerful and financial support to something, we must first believe in it’s importance and value, and in the church, we must believe in it’s Biblical importance and value.
If we believe the Word, we believe the Mandate. If we think the commands in the Word are optional, then we will believe our responsibility is optional as well.
Yet, we see the Mandate clearly spelled out by no less than Jesus Christ Himself, just after His Resurrection, and a few days before He ascended back to Heaven in this verse of scripture:
Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Jesus made the Mandate clear and without question as He said He had received all authority, and that in turn, His blessing and presence would be with both His disciples there, and now, because the words “to the very end of the age” are used!
If you find yourself complaining about Missions, then be careful, because you are complaining about the very thing God has approved and even commanded!
So, the Mandate of Missions is clear, and now we move on to the letter I, and it is:
II. THE IMMEDIACY OF MISSIONS
We live in a fast paced world, yet at times, we live in a world filled with procrastination and procrastinators. Often the fast pace has to do with the things we receive momentary fulfillment with, and the things of great lasting value often don’t receive the attention they deserve.
I will guarantee that as you are out and about during the Christmas rush, if you stop someone and ask them why they are in such a hurry, the majority of the people, or ALL the people will not answer you “I’ve just got to get to my Financial Planner to get my retirement plans settled”!
Or, another one you probably won’t hear is “I’ve got to get to my Financial Planner so that I can start getting this debt paid off!” Or, how about this one – “We just are in such a hurry because we know there are going to be long lines at the Dentists office”
No, often the things that require a bit of pain are the things that all of us tend to avoid, and wait until tomorrow, or a better time, or after this, or after that, but we find that all too soon, these things tend to show up on our doorstep seemingly sooner than we had planned.
Well, for Missions to ever become important to us, we must ask the Holy Spirit to somehow open our eyes and heart to the Immediacy of the need!
The Bible says in: John 4:35 (NIV) 35 Do you not say, ’Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
The context of this verse was right after He had told the woman at the well about the water He had to offer that would cause her never to thirst again. She had gone back to the city, and was bringing people with her to hear more.
Perhaps as Jesus was saying these words, “open your eyes, and look at the fields”, the woman was leading the group of people toward Him. Jesus was telling the disciples not to wait for a different time, but to begin to realize the need is NOW, and the opportunity to share was coming right at them.
We cannot live in this world, or even in our own towns for very long without realizing the need is still NOW, and that people are lost and dying, and going to Hell without Christ. No one knows the day or hour that Christ is coming again, but also no one knows the day or hour when they will die!
If you’re here today, and don’t know Christ as your Savior, I can’t think of a better time than NOW to accept Him - 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV) 2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
The need is now.
The next letter we look at in our Missions acrostic is S which will stand for:
III. THE SACRIFICE OF MISSIONARIES
While we live in what some might call a “shrinking globe”, with the internet, telephone, airplanes and automobiles, there is still nothing quite like saying good-bye to people who are closest to us, especially family and friends.
Yes, it is quite amazing to see how things are today with the ability to sit at our computers with a program such as Skype or something else and speak with someone seemingly worlds away.
Yet there is nothing quite like having the person in our presence.
Over the years, and especially in the early part of this century, Missionaries paid an unbelievably high price because usually when they said Good-Bye to family and friends, often there was the possibility it would go on for years, and sometimes, for a lifetime.
Matthew 19:29 (NIV) 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
So many Missionaries down through the years have dedicated their entire lives to reaching people of one village, or one country, and if you’re the type of person who only looks at the bottom line, or even numbers of souls saved, you might think they hadn’t done a whole lot, but the bottom line is whether or not they are remaining faithful to the call of God.
I like the wonderful illustration of the Missionary arriving home following his missions work for years:
An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to retire.
As the trip began, they discovered they were on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.
No one paid any attention to them. They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President’s entourage, with passengers trying to catch a glimpse of the great man. As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong."
"Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us."
"Dear, you shouldn’t feel that way," his wife said.
He replied "I can’t help it; it just doesn’t seem right."
When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. The papers were full of the President’s arrival. No one noticed the missionary couple. They slipped off the ship, disappeared in the crowd, and found a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping the next day to see what they could do to make a living in the city.
That night the man’s spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can’t take this; God is not treating us fairly." His wife replied, "Why don’t you go in the bedroom and tell that to the Lord?"
A short time later he came out from the bedroom, but now his face was completely different. His wife asked, "Dear, what happened?"
The Lord settled it with me. I told Him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put His hand on my shoulder and simply said;
"You’re not home yet."
So, not only do we have the Mandate of Missions, and the Immediacy of Missions, and the Sacrifice of Missionaries, we next look at the second “S” in Missions, and see:
IV. THE SATISFACTION OF MISSIONARIES
You might ask, how can you go from talking about the word “sacrifice”, and then use the word “satisfaction” almost in the same breath?
Well, I have found in my contact with Missionaries who are serving God, whether it be around the world, or in the United States, there is a tremendous satisfaction as they are in the center of the will of God.
When I was growing up in the church, I would see Missionaries come through, usually with their slide shows, and by the way, those were always events I looked forward to, I somehow thought that if a person answered the call to be a Missionary, then somehow they were going to spend the rest of their lives in a purgatory state, enduring the Mission field, and waiting to die so they could get their reward.
Well, I believe that even though there are great sacrifices, there are also tremendous rewards, not only in the future, but also in the now!
I’ve talked to many Missionaries who have told me they couldn’t think of doing anything else, even with all the sacrifice, because they were in the center of the Will of God, and there is no more satisfying place to be than there!
John 4:34-35 (NIV) 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ’Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
Young people, if you ever feel the call to Missions, don’t try to figure out all the “how am I going to be happy” questions, because being in the Will of God is what it’s all about. This also includes those of us who Pastor, as well as ANY of you who are doing God’s will in your life! There is a satisfaction that goes along with it in spite of the sacrifice.
Honestly, I think some people gauge doing the will of God on their level of being miserable. Folks, God doesn’t want us to go through life with the feeling we have to do penance because of who we are, and what we’ve been called to do. I believe God wants us to be fully satisfied and happy in His service in spite of difficulties that arise.
Next, we take a look at the second “I” in the word Missions, and I’m using it to stand for:
V. THE INDIVIDUALITY OF MISSIONS
So many people who are involved in Missions, and are doing it for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not their own fame will tell you of the value of ONE.
Jesus knew what it was like to speak to thousands, but He also knew the value of stopping to talk to just one person who was in need, and we see numerous examples of it. One that I’ve already mentioned is the woman at the well, who in turn told her city to come and see. Nicodemus came to see Him by night with probing questions that led to a wonderful response from the Lord that “ye must be Born again” – The woman who reached out just to touch the hem of his garment was made whole because He felt the touch of faith even in a crowd that was pressing Him on every side.
You see a scripture on the EVERY ONE flyer today reflecting this idea:
2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
It is so easy to feel like we are just a number in a world of masses and masses of people, yet Jesus is still about the one on one approach. Certainly, the jam packed stadium meetings are needed, but the bulk of the work gets done as Missionaries (and we) see the value in the one on one meetings with people.
A young man, walking along the beach at dawn, noticed an old man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the man, the youth asked what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun.
“But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish,” countered the young man. “How can your effort make any difference?”
The old man looked at the starfish in his hand, and then threw it to safety in the waves. “It makes a big difference to this one,” he said.
The attitude of many, today, is, “since we cannot completely deal with the problem, we will not do anything.”
The next area I’d like to look at in the Missions acrostic outline is the letter “O”:
VI. THE OBEDIENCE OF MISSIONARIES
Before a Missionary ever goes on the field to serve, they must first have been called to do so… Not by a Board of Missions, or a people group in need, but by a loving God who knows exactly who He wants in a certain situation, and at what point in life they need to be there.
God is still a God who calls people, and regardless of their present abilities, talents, or even burdens, it is Him who not only calls, but also does the equipping for service.
Yet, with the call of God, there must also be Obedience on the part of the person who is called, because if there is not, they will never quite have the fulfillment in life and ministry they were intended by God to have.
You don’t want to be around a person who has denied the call of God, and been disobedient to it in their lives. There is always that thought not only of what could have been, but what “should” have been.
We see example after example of people called to do God’s work in the Bible:
Paul, whom we talked about last week – The Disciples, who were told to follow the Lord – the Rich Young Ruler, who actually denied the call because of his love of “stuff” – Moses, who even tried to convince God he wasn’t the one, yet, eventually responded – Gideon, who was hiding from the enemy, and an angel of the Lord appeared and called him a mighty man of valor!
The list goes on and on, but one of the best examples of God’s call, and man’s response is found in Isaiah:
Isaiah 6:8 (NIV) 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
I’ve said this many times, but I want to say it again: Every time, a Missionary stands in our pulpit to preach the Word, or share their burden, you are seeing an answer to prayer, as well as a person who has responded in obedience.
Well, that brings me to my next point today, and it is for the letter “N”:
VII. THE NEED OF MISSIONS
All the obedience in the world would count for nothing unless there were willing and obedient people who also catch the vision for Missions by responding financially and prayerfully to the need when it arises.
From the inception of the Assemblies of God, we have been a Missions minded church with the desire to see souls won into the Kingdom from all over the world.
In November 1914, our early leaders met at Stone County Church in Chicago and made an astounding declaration: "As a Council, ... we commit ourselves and the Movement to Him for the greatest evangelism that the world has ever seen."
One of the resolutions of the same meeting led to the creation of a missionary-sending agency. "Whereas, there have sprung up spontaneously ... Pentecostal centers, ... and ... moneys for missionary purposes are being sent to these several centers and distributed upon the missionary field, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Presbytery be instructed to seek to bring about a more perfect cooperation among these centers, in the matter of distribution of missionary funds and the sending out of missionaries, with a view to greater efficiency."
Now, people might say, well perhaps God should have thought this through a little bit more. Calling people to go to the Mission field, but not dropping thousands of dollars in their bank account to make sure it happens.
Well, God does that, yet it is with the combined effort of churches like ours all around the nation, and even the world who generously give to this great work of Missions.
Folks, I believe this is one of those areas that we don’t necessarily “have to” give, but we “get to”!
In a few moments, you will receive a Faith Promise Card that looks like this: On it, you will be able to share what you would like to do over the next year for Missions. Please notice the words “as God enables me”.
This is not a bill. No one will come knocking at your door should you have to miss a month, or even if you are not able to continue due to some unforeseen circumstance. This is not your Tithe, but an offering, over and above your Tithe.
Well, lastly today, and our final “S” (You might think it would get difficult to find another “S” Word, but it’s not, especially when the last one is so important).
VIII. THE SAVIOR OF MISSIONS
Folks, bottom line is that this is not about money, it’s not about planes, trains, and automobiles. It’s not about Missionaries seeing the World, or churches feeling better because they support such a wonderful cause.
No, it’s still about the Savior! Jesus Christ has given a command that we go into all the World with the Good News of the Gospel.
Charles Malik, former Lebanese ambassador to the United Nations, asked in a speech: “What has been the greatest American contribution to the rest of the world? Has it been money? Has it been food? Has it been medical skill? Has it been military might? Has it been industrial know-how?” Then he answered, “The greatest thing to come out of America has been the American missionary effort: the quiet, selfless men and women who have left the comfort and security of their homeland to bring the gospel of Christianity to less favored nations.
Jesus never asked us to “keep it to ourselves”, but to do our best until the whole world has heard the Good News that a Savior has come to bring not only life for the now, but also life for the hereafter!
