WAC2BL:
Missional ~ Taking the Good News to Others
Scripture Text: Matthew 10.1-10
INTRODUCTION
Rick Warren’s book called, A Purpose Driven Life… has had a dramatic impact upon millions of people. He explains life is not aimless, wandering; …but-that God has created us with purpose in mind. A life well-lived is a life that is lived in view of the purpose for which we are created. And-that-means, we have to understand our life and our purpose in view of God.
It’s no insult to say-that Rick Warren hasn’t said anything-new in his book. As-a-matter-of-fact, …the basic-idea is contained within Scripture ~ …and-so, it’s been around for thousands of years! We are created by God. We are created for God. We are created to-love and serve God with the life that He gives us!
TRANSITION
Rick followed up his first book with another book: The Purpose Driven Church. And that-idea ~ that the church has a God-given purpose ~ …that-idea is also very-Scriptural. You see it played-out and explained in-all-sorts of places. Our life-together is not an end-in-itself. We are who we are; …we are brought together and connected to one another and our lives are woven into a tapestry of many gifts and talents, shapes and perspectives, …our church is being built together by God for bigger purposes than we can imagine or dream-up!
I think there’s something–about Lego’s that might help us to understand the church. The makers of Lego’s designed-them to be played with ~ …to be taken out-of-the-box, …put-together, …used to-create new-and-different structures… I-guess you could say, …that’s their created-purpose…
As we continue to mull-over this question: What’s A Church to Be Like? ~ …as we wrestle-with-this-question, …I’m convinced that one piece-of-the-answer must-be that the church is to be purposeful. Even-as Legos are created with a purpose in-mind, …so-the-church is created-by-God with purpose and mission in-mind.
In previous-weeks, we’ve discovered that some of the key-characteristics of the church are: …that we are all sinners, saved by grace; …that because we’ve been forgiven-of-much, we should be forgiving toward-one-another; …and-that, since we are beloved-by-God, …we should strive to imitate our Lord Jesus Christ in our attitudes-and-actions.
Today, we turn our attention to yet-another characteristic ~ …another ingredient in the recipe that makes-for a healthy congregation: Purpose. Mission. You-might-say-that it’s our calling.
BODY
Matthew says:
He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness… These twelve Jesus sent out with the [instructions]…”
The disciples represent the entire church at this point-in-time; We should see ourselves in their shoes, …and we are included in Jesus’ instructions: …not-as-the-recipients of their ministry, …but as fellow messengers-and-ministers. As people who’ve already received the promise of salvation ~ …now we’re called-together with mission and purpose. It is something that’s given by God. It’s not something that we conjure-up with our-own imagination. The mission and the purpose of the church springs out of the will of God; …and it’s our responsibility to submit our collective-will ~ …as-well-as to-submit our individual dreams-and-plans ~ …it’s our responsibility to submit our will, to the will of God.
You recall the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples to pray? ~ “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done.”? ~ In-other-words, …we-are who-we-are because of Him, and who He is!
And-whatever-it-is, that we set our hearts on, …whatever we set our attention on, …whatever we pour our energies out on, …whatever goals we dream of achieving and attaining ~ …whatever captures our hearts-and-imaginations, …we must submit it-all to the will of God! We are a healthy-church, …we are a blessed-church, …we are the kind of church that we’re supposed-to-be, when we seek the purpose-and-plan of God above-all-else!
What’s a church to be like? Missional. Purposeful. Goal-oriented. Devoted to pursuing and following the dreams-of-God. After-all, …we are not-just the product of God’s will, …we are also called to be partners in pursuing His will!
In the infinite wisdom-of-God, …He sees fit to call you-and-me, …church-families like ours, and-others, …He sees-fit to make us partners with-Him in carrying out His mission-and-purpose for His Creation!
I don’t know how that makes-you-feel, …but it is extremely-humbling to me! I’m a-lot-like-Moses in-that, …I don’t feel qualified for such a high-calling! And neither-are-you! And-together ~ when you add-up all our abilities and all-the-things that we have-to-offer, …when you add-it-all-up, …we still come up way-short of what it’ll-take to accomplish God’s will for our city!... It is His will that none perish, …but that all come to saving-relationship with Him, through Jesus. Who will tell them, if we don’t!?!
It is His will that we preach and teach and play-a-part in delivering-people from the stronghold of the enemy! Who will do this, if we don’t!?!
It is His will that we go into all the world, …proclaiming the good-news of salvation through Jesus. Who will go, if we don’t!?!
O.K… Right-about-now, …I know that there’s a bunch-of-us that are blown-away by-this! We’re flabber-gasted, …we’re confused, …we don’t see how ‘little-ole-me’ and ‘little-ole-you’ could possibly fit-in-with God’s plans.
Maybe some-of-us know that we should seek-God’s will, …but we struggle with surrendering our own dreams-and-plans.
But-then, there are some who are discovering-the-joy of abandoning their agenda and giving their hearts-and-souls to doing the will of God.
Listen… I know this is a big-thing. It’s intimidating. It’s over-whelming. It’s more-than any-of-us-can comprehend or accomplish in our own-strength. But… we’re not alone in this! He has not called us to stand alone. He has not called us to go alone. He has not called us to work alone. That’s a big-part of the beauty of being part of a church-family. It reminds us that we’re not-alone, …but-God has put-us-together to accomplish so-much-more than we could-ever-do on our own!
Now, when Jesus commissioned the 12 disciples to go out and work on-behalf of the kingdom-of-God, …He gave them specific tasks to do, as they went from village-to-village: …preach; …heal; …drive-out-demons. He gave them specific-directions as-to where they were to go, and to-whom they were to minister.
It’s important for every church-family to work-out-the-specifics of God’s purpose-and-mission ~ …in terms of their own situation. But that’s not-necessarily the goal-of-this-message.
Rather, what’s important for-us-to-see (in-terms-of our exploration of the question, “What’s a Church to be Like?”), …what’s important for us this morning is to see that we are called together for a greater purpose, …a God-given mission ~ …And that-purpose, …our-mission is shaped by one big-and-beautiful reality. The reality – …the thing that stands-behind and gives-motivation for engaging in the call-of-God – …it’s wonderfully-summarized in the second-half of verse 8.
After giving His disciples authority to perform the mission; …after giving them instructions for carrying out the mission, …after Jesus tells them the specifics of what-they’re-to-do ~ …after-all-that, …He tells us the impetus, …the reason, …the motivation that compels-us to step-out-in-faith and engage in the mission-of-God. Listen to this: “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Freely. “Freely we have received” ~ …What we are called to do stems-from what has been done for us!
That-reality, …that-experience of-having-received something from the hand of God, …that-jaw-dropping, mind-exploding, world-altering truth is the motivation behind all-that-we-do! What-we-do, …who-we-are, …what-we-dream, …what-we-pursue ~ …it’s all based-on what we’ve already-received, …what’s already-been-given-us! It’s all-about-grace. And how we respond-to-God’s-grace.
“Freely you have received, freely give.”… Those are Jesus’ words to us. They shape our attitude and our motivation for engaging in the work of God in the context-of-the-church.
So, one-of-the-key-ingredients of the life-of-a-church ~ …one-of-the-critical aspects of what-it-means to be a healthy-congregation ~ …is that we are missional; …purpose-driven; …that we embrace the will-of-God ~ …and we own-it-for-ourselves. We-do what-we-do, because God calls us partners!
If you need a word-picture: …Legos are not meant to sit in their box, …unopened, …collecting dust on a closet-shelf!; …Tupperware is not meant to be used on the stove-top, …to cook a pot-of-spaghetti; …a 5/16” wrench is not designed to bore-a-hole through a 2x4. Things have their purposes. Things are designed with certain things in-mind. And it’s-no-different when it comes to churches. We are a group-of-individuals who are being woven-together by the Spirit of God to perform the work-of-God, with the goals-of-God always before us.
Now… that’s-the-theology. That’s-what this-part-of Scriptures-description of the church, is all-about. All-that’s-left, is to do some pastoral-meddling! To help us see how the rubber-meets-the-road!
Let me give you three suggestions.
I. Generous Words
Let us be generous with our words. Don’t keep the good news to yourself!
When Jesus sent the disciples out, …He told them to proclaim: …let others know about the kingdom of God. It’s good news. “The kingdom of Heaven is near”! ~ It’s not-simply-a-warning that the world is gonna-come-to-an-end. Rather, it’s a hopeful-message: That in the face of corrupt governments, …and corrupt powers, …and corrupt people ~ …in-the-face of all the brokenness of living in a fallen-world: …They can have hope! They can have hope because God’s kingdom is close-at-hand!... In-fact, …His kingdom is as-close-as a personal-confession, …as-close-as a decision to believe, …as-close-as a change-of-heart! The kingdom of God is near: …you don’t have to search far-and-wide, …long-and-hard for it! The kingdom of God is standing-at-the-door-of- your-heart, …knocking, …waiting for you to invite Jesus in.
This is good news! Don’t keep it to yourself, church-family! You received this-message freely ~ …you didn’t have to pay-a-great-price, …you didn’t have to travel-the-globe in search-for-it! It was shared with you and you received it gladly and in-faith.
“Freely you have received, freely give.” Be generous with your words. Share the good news. Preach it. Proclaim it. Live it. Share it!
II. Generous Energy
The second suggestion is: Let us be generous with our energy. We are busy people. We often describe our lives as hectic, …chaotic, …over-worked, …burning the candle-at-both-ends.
I think that one-of-the-most-subtle temptations we face nowadays, …is the temptation to believe our significance is found outside-of God’s-calling.
Don’t-ya-think that God can tell when we’re givin’ Him just-enough effort to barely-get-through!?! …I don’t bring-this-up to make anybody feel-guilty! Guilt is the furthest-thing from the kind-of-motivation that Jesus wants us to feel. If guilt was-the-prybar to get the disciples out there, working on the mission-of-God, …Jesus would’ve said something-like, “You guys are a bunch-of goof-balls! “You’ve really messed-up quite-a-bit, lately. “Why don’t you get out there and make-up for-it by doin’ some good-works!”
But, that’s-not the motivation Jesus uses. He says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” In-other-words, …it’s all-about a spirit-of-generosity. Be generous with your energy - …when it comes to doing kingdom-work.
I’ve gotta say that in the last seven-months, …I’ve been totally impressed by the energy and dedication of so many in our church-family! I want to say a hearty “Thank you” to everyone who generously offers their time-and-energy to God’s-work in connection with this body-of-believers. When we are generous with our energy, …it speaks volumes about why we’re motivated to-do-what-we-do. It shows that this is all-about working-for-the-kingdom; …and it’s not-about puttin’-in-our-time; …or tryin’ to please-pastor; …or pushin’-through our own-agenda.
But, when we’re generous with our energy, …it shows that we’re team-players, …partnering with one another in the mission-that-God has-given to this-church-family.
It seems-to-me that Jesus was so generous with His energy ~ …serving-and-ministering, …living-and-dying so that the will-of God was accomplished; …it seems-to-me that Jesus was so generous with His energy, that we might-wanna follow His example! The words of Colossians 3.23 come to mind:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”.
Let’s be generous with our energy, …when it comes to living-on-purpose for the kingdom-of-God!
III. Generous Vision
So, let’s be generous with our words: …freely sharing the good-news of God’s love; …and let’s be generous with our energy: …giving ourselves whole-heartedly to the mission-of-God. But let’s also be generous with our vision!
Do you think that our vision is too small? ~ It’s a real-possibility! Sometimes we get-to-thinkin’ that His-calling is too-big. Sometimes we get intimidated by the obstacles before us. Sometimes we’re afraid that we don’t have the resources to get the job-done!
But, we have-to-be careful not to let these fears assault our faith! Scripture says:
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it”.
In another place it says:
“[The Lord] owns the cattle on a thousand hills”. What Scripture is telling-us is-this: God isn’t bankrupt! He’s got all the resources in-the-world! And if we’re part of His family, …partners on His team, …and if He’s given us a job-to-do, …then He’s gonna provide whatever we-need to accomplish His will. We don’t have to think small. We don’t have to hold-back. We don’t have to look at our meager-resources and set-tiny-goals!
Let’s be generous in our vision of what God wants to accomplish through us! Do you remember that just-before Jesus was taken-up into heaven, …that He told a handful of disciples to conquer the world!?!
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28.19-20)
Have you noticed that our congregation is more-in-number than the ones-that-listened-to Jesus on-that-day!?! …He told a group fewer-than-us to go-out and change-the-world! What does He want to do through us?
Have you got a vision for-what-God-wants-to-do in your family? Good!
Have you got a vision for-what-God-wants-to-do in your neighborhood? Good!
Have you got a vision for-what-God-wants-to-do in our city? Good!
Have you got a vision for-what-God-wants-to-do across our fair-state? How generous is our vision, …in-terms-of what God wants to do through us to reach a lost-and-dying-world!?!
“Whatever It Takes” is a song that expresses our heart-desire to let God work in-and-through us. It acknowledges that God has been generous with us, …so we’ll be generous for Him. It’s a way of saying, …We’re gonna embrace the mission and the will-of-God and make it our own.
I love the song. I love the sentiment that comes through-it. But, it’s one-thing to speak the words, …it’s one-thing to sing the words, …it’s another-thing to pray the words while you’re singing!
Will you sing this song? Will you pray this prayer? Will we lay-down our will, …and let our church be shaped by the purposes-and-plans of God?
