Living on Mission with God
Chuck Sligh
March 16, 2014
TEXT: Mark 8:34-36 – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
INTRODUCTION
I’m not that great with coming up with catchy themes for things like missions conferences. Yet there ought be a theme for a mission’s conference to give it focus, right? So I asked Dr. Bob Schindler if he wanted to choose the theme to plan a set of sermons around since that would be easier than adjusting his sermons to a theme I’d chosen. At least that sounds better than saying, “Bob, uh, I’m a dum-dum with not an ounce of creativity. Can you do my job for me?”
Well, he wrote back and said, “Let’s make this the theme ‘Living on Mission with God.’” I’ve heard this slogan for years, but to be honest, I didn’t have a clue what it meant. So I wrote him back and said, “What in Sam’s Hill does THAT mean?” He was surprised by my ignorance, I guess supposing I was otherwise a genius. But his answer still didn’t make it very clear to me, so I went online and found out that this popular term means a whole lot of different things to different people.
Illus. – It reminds me of when I was a kid, how much my brother and I loved to play baseball. But sometimes there were only 2 of us, and when it was…it didn’t work out so well.So we created our own rules to make it work.
For instance, we had ghost-runners; imaginary runners in our place and it worked something like this: If you hit a ball up to about the distance of the pitcher’s mound, the ghost runner got an automatic single. From the pitcher’s mound to the end of the infield was a double, pushing any ghost runners on base forward two bases. Halfway in the outfield was a triple, and past that was a homerun. It required an umpire to settle close calls, but since there was just Tim and I, I got the first call, Tim got the second call, and we swapped back and forth. The ghost runner idea was pretty handy, but family lore has it that since I was the oldest brother, I would always be changing the rules to my advantage so I could win.
The problem for my brother was that with the rules always changing, it was hard for him to know how to play and how to win. But it worked out pretty good for me sine I rigged them to my advantage.
So I’m sure that since Dr. Schindler chose the theme, he’ll have his take on it, specially adapted to suit his sermon series. But after researching the theme, I realized it’s very biblical and fits perfectly the theme of the missions conference, so here’s my take on it, specially rigged, of course, to fit my own take.
I. FIRST, IT MEANS BEING IN STEP WITH GOD’S PROGRAM.
The whole story of the Old Testament is a story of redemption, leading up to Christ in the New Testament who would be our redeemer…the one to save us from our sin.
• The very first chapters of Genesis tell the narrative of mankind’s turning away from God and of God’s reaching out to sinful man in love and mercy.
• Adam and Eve sinned, but there was forgiveness through the shedding of blood and a promise of a coming Messiah who would destroy Satan (Gen. 3:15).
• God chose a simple herdsman named Abraham to be the father of a people called Israel through which this Messiah would someday come.
• In His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, God promised that through his descendants all the earth would be blessed, another prophesy of a coming Savior.
• The rest of the Old Testament records one prophecy after another of this Messiah.
Though there are many teachings in the Old Testament, the one salient theme above all is that God had a program, a mission: to make provision for those in sin to come to God. So it’s true: “history” is really “His story”—God’s story of redemption. Evangelism, sharing the Gospel, missions, bringing people to God—THIS is the PROGRAM of God; God’s eternal PLAN; God’s MISSION in the world.
To be on mission with God is to work for, breathe for, pray for, long for, sacrifice for and LIVE FOR what is closest to God’s heart—bringing sinners into His grace and love.
II. SECOND, IT MEANS WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE SAVIOR.
It is in the life of the Son of God that we see God carrying out this grand mission. Repeatedly we’re reminded that though Jesus did many peripheral things, ultimately He had one supreme purpose for coming to earth: to fulfill God’s mission on earth to reconcile sinners to the perfectly holy God
• When the angel told Joseph to name Mary’s baby, he didn’t suggest George, or Fritz or Manuel; rather he said to name Him “Jesus,” which mean’s “Savior”, “for,” said the angel “he shall save his people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:21)
• When John introduced Jesus for the first time, he didn’t say, “Behold a really great religious teacher”; rather he said, “Behold the lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.”
• Jesus Himself on multiple occasions proclaimed His purpose, as in Luke 19:10: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” and John 3:17: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but [WHY?] that the world through him might be saved.”
To be “on mission with God” is to be in harmony with Jesus’s ultimate aim. How can we do that?—By helping to promote God’s program and Christ’s purpose on this earth who alone was “on mission with God” perfectly and 100 percent of the time.
Jesus’s life was one given in complete and absolute sacrifice and commitment to the ultimate cause…all the way to the cross of Calvary. To live on mission with God is to be willing to accept such sacrifice and commitment to help fulfill God’s mission on earth to reach everyone with the Gospel. It means sacrificing yourself; sacrificing your substance; serving instead of being served; giving instead of getting; loving the unlovely; ministering to the unworthy; laboring hard and long for God; being involved in ministry.
That’s what Jesus was teaching in this morning’s text: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
Following Jesus—joining in His mission— sometimes will be about DENYING ourselves. It will cost you some things in this life to be on mission with God. Salvation, forgiveness of sins; a relationship with God, heaven—these are all FREE; they cost you NOTHING.
But FOLLOWING Jesus WILL cost you something. I’m not sure what or when it will cost you, but it will. And in that moment, you can choose to join in Jesus’ mission, follow his way, be a part of His plan, earn eternal rewards, lay up heavenly treasures and fulfill God’s destiny for your life…or you can hold back and miss God’s best for your life!
Where is Jesus asking you to follow Him today that may cost you something? If you’re ready to live on mission with God,…
• I challenge you to tithe to this church to help us reach the lost in Grafenwoehr and Vilseck.
• I challenge you to dig deep and make a genuinely sacrificial faith promise missions commitment to help us send out more and more people to be frontline missionaries to foreign lands!
• I challenge you to find a place of service in this church to be the part of this body, functioning for the good of the whole body so IT can reach out and stay on mission with God and do the job God has called Grace Baptist to do here.
• I challenge you to pray daily for your co-workers and neighbors, and invite them to church and look for ways to reach out to them with Christ’s love and pray for opportunities to share the Gospel or your testimony with them.
NONE of these things are easy and they ALL involve sacrifice of our own desires for comfort and accommodation, but Jesus says to you today, “Deny yourself; take up your cross and follow me….whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
The word “save” here is almost universally understood by biblical scholars not to refer to saving you from sin and hell. That is, He’s not talking about JUSTIFICATION here. He’s talking about saving your LIFE HERE ON EARTH; making your life count here on this earth.
The word “soul” often refers to the invisible, immaterial, eternal part of us, but in many places in the Bible it means one’s life, and that’s what Jesus means here. He’s not saying the way to heaven is self-denial and cross-bearing. He’s saying that a life of selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-interest is to LOSE your life—to WASTE it; but to live a life of self-denial, cross-bearing and Christ-following is to SAVE your life in the sense of finding ultimate purpose and fulfillment in life. The greatest fulfillment in life is to live on mission with God on this earth and to be a part of His plan to reach others with the message of God’s grace and mercy.
So to be “on mission with God” is to be in step with His eternal program, and to be like Christ in sacrificing to fulfill God’s eternal program.
III. THIRD, TO BE ON MISSION WITH GOD IS TO MOVE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF GOD’S GRACE COUNTER.
What do I mean by that? When you first come to Christ, it’s all about getting. You get GRACE; you get MERCY; you get’s God’s LOVE; you get FORGIVENESS; you get eternity in HEAVEN; you get a RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD; you get THE HOLY SPIRIT to indwell and guide you; you get HOPE; you get PURPOSE; you get JOY; you get a DIVINE PURPOSE and many other precious gifts.
You’re a consumer—getting all the goodies God has lovingly provided for you.
Everybody comes to Christ first as consumers. God draws us to Himself out of legitimate needs in our lives. We seek out God because our marriages aren’t working out; or we don’t have strength to meet life’s troubles; or we feel an emptiness in our lives; or the accumulation of money and career advancement haven’t given us the happiness we crave; or a trial has overtaken us and wrecked our world and we don’t know what to do next or where to go for relief or guidance; or an addiction has captured us in its net.
So we seek out the Lord because He has used these things to draw us to Him. It was no different in Jesus’s day: His followers first came for fish, or healing, or direction or peace or joy just as we did too.
Trusting in Christ for salvation and entering life with Him cost you NOTHING. They’re free, and there’s NOTHING you can do to earn them. Paul said, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9)
But as I said in my previous point, FOLLOWING Jesus WILL cost you something, and one thing it will cost you that you’ll have to move from the CONSUMER line to the other side of the counter into the SERVER’S line; into the grace-dispenser’s line.
I recall a woman in our church who told me once that she loved coming to our church to be “filled up” for her week—and she never did a thing in the church or gave a dime as far as I know. I’m glad she was able to come and be spiritually filled. If that’s where you are right now, we’re glad you’re here. We’re all consumers some of the time, and especially so early in our faith walk.
But God’s ultimate goal is for you to move to the other side of the counter. Servers and grace-dispensers help to encourage OTHERS. They come to fill up OTHERS. They lead OTHERS to come to faith and follow Christ. They’re involved in serving OTHERS so that they too can share in God’s good and gracious gifts.
In other words, they’ve moved from being strictly grace CONSUMERS to being grace DISPENSERS. Though we all start off as receivers of God’s good things—and continue to be because we never cease to need God’s grace and His good gifts, at some point you’ve got to also be a part of helping others receive God’s good things
• Not just getting, but giving
• Not just being filled, but helping others be filled.
• Not just soaking up from others, but squeezing the sponge and letting God’s ooze out to others.
So are you a consumer…or are you a server and dispenser of God’s good gifts?
• If you come and sit more than you come and serve…you might be a consumer.
• If you criticize more than you contribute…you might be a consumer.
• If you take more than you give…you might be a consumer.
• If you watch more than you participate…you might be a consumer
Being on mission with God is getting off the bleachers and getting into the game. God has put in the heart of every true blood-bought believer a desire to go beyond mere receiving from Him to be a servant helping to build up His Kingdom. May God help you move from mere grace-consumerism to sacrificial grace-giving.
CONCLUSION
Aren’t you tired of living a mediocre Christian life? Don’t you long to get off the bleachers and do something for God? Can you not see how exciting it is to help sinners come to the cross; to see them receive all God’s wonderful gifts; to see them grow to become grace-dispensers themselves? Wouldn’t you like to break out of your spiritual lethargy and coldness and get in on God’s program and fulfill Christ’s purpose?
I challenge you to resolve this morning to do just that…
• Get involved in a ministry here at Grace Baptist Church to help us reach more people with the Gospel, and to teach more believers how to become true disciples of Christ.
• Help to carry the financial burden of this church by faithfully tithing so we can expand and do more to reach even more with the Gospel and disciple even more people.
• Help our mission program expand so we can take on more missionaries for support in order to extend our outreach to more lands and reach more people for whom Christ died around the world. – You can do that by sacrificing some time to attend each night of the missions conference and allowing your heart to be stirred for souls and being willing to make a faith promise commitment to give to missions through our church.
• Start praying for your friends and co-workers and neighbors; invite them to church, witness to them when God’s gives you opportunity.
Get in on what God’s up to; live on mission with God.
