WHY DO WE GO?
In the Spring of 1940, Hitler’s panzer divisions were mopping up French troops and preparing for a siege of Great Britain. The Dutch had already surrendered, as had the Belgians. The British Army foundered on the coast of France in the channel port of Dunkirk. Nearly 350,000 young British soldiers and Allied troops faced capture or death. The German troops, only a few miles away in the hills of France, closed in on an easy kill. The Royal Navy determined that it had enough ships to save only 17,000 men, and the House of Commons was told to brace itself for ‘hard and heavy tidings.’ Then while the world watched with fading hope, a bizarre fleet of ships appeared on the horizon of the English Channel. Trawlers, tugs, fishing boats, lifeboats, sailboats, pleasure craft, an island ferry named Gracie Fields, and even the America’s Cup challenger Endeavor, all manned by civilian sailors, sped to the rescue. The ragtag armada eventually rescued 338,682 men and returned them home to the shores of England, as pilots of the Royal Air Force jockeyed with the German Luftwaffe in the skies above the channel. It was one of the most remarkable naval operations in history.
That ragtag armada did what everyone thought impossible. Likewise, the church is God’s ragtag armada. The church is a mix of flawed individuals on a rescue operation commissioned by God to save the lost and dying. What is the church? "The church is a mix of flawed individuals on a rescue operation commissioned by God to save the lost and dying."
Today we are starting a new series entitled Made for Mission. Over the next few weeks we are going to be looking at the fact that God has called us to go and tell the good news of His love and mercy to everyone on earth. Today we want to answer the most basic question, why? Why should we go? Why should we be sharing our faith with others?
Matthew 9:9-13 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
1. God Controls my Resources
God has blessed me with stuff that can be used for mission. Matthew used his house and food to be on mission. The same is true for us. Following Jesus means you look at your finances and possessions differently. You recognize that everything you have belongs to God. Remember Zacchaeus?
Luke 19:1-10 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' " 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." 9 Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
Zacchaeus was so moved by the salvation he received from Jesus that his life was transformed. That transformation included him giving half of what he owned to the poor and a desire to be reconciled with anyone who he had cheated. A changed life led to a change in how he used his resources.
Matthew was able to get up and leave his tax collecting booth because realized that following Jesus was more important than his job. He gladly gave up his lucrative position for a life of service. This is a mark of a true follower of Christ. They recognize that inviting Jesus to be Lord means that He then has full say and control over everything we have and do. We belong to him, and so does everything we have. Our very lives are under His control. This is the life of faith.
The Southern Baptists in the US have an International Mission Board. A few years ago they had a worker named Karen Watson. Long ago, when missionaries went to the mission field they often placed their belongings in coffins because they knew that they would probably die on the field. Because of this, to this day they ask all their new missionary recruits to write a ‘last letter’ in case they die on the field. Karen Watson wrote her letter and then went to serve in Iraq. On March 15th of 2004 she and four other missionaries were killed when the vehicle they were riding in was ambushed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. She was 38, and had been a Christian for about 8 years. She loved the Word of God and the work of God with a great passion. Here is Karen Watson’s Last Letter:
Dear Pastor, You should only be opening this letter in the event of my death. When God calls us there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn’t called to a place; I was called to Him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, His glory my reward ... The missionary heart: Cares more than some think is wise. Risks more than some think is safe. Dreams more than some think is practical. Expects more than some think is possible. I was called not to comfort or to success but to obedience... There is no Joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving Him. I love you and my church family. In His care, Karen
2. God Controls my Relationships
God not only controls my resources, He also controls our relationships. Matthew would have had many meals together with his tax collector buddies before, but this is the first time they had religious leaders join them. How do you think Matthew introduced these two groups? Maybe, “I met this amazing person today who forgave all my sins. Maybe you would like to meet Him as well?” What do you think the conversations looked like between the two groups? What did Matthew hope would happen? He was faced with the reality that he was probably the best chance his friends would ever have in meeting Jesus and would not waste this opportunity.
When you join God in a life on mission you begin to realize that none of your friendships or even acquaintances are coincidental. God has placed them in your life and you desperately want what happened to you to happen to them. At some point all of us had someone tell us about God - we realize that we get to do the same thing for others.
Making Jesus Lord means that He not only has a say in what we do with our stuff but who we spend time with. And not just who we spend time with but HOW we spend time with them.
In the 1870’s Swedish missionaries arrived in Mongolia - what was then called Outer Mongolia. After forty years and several missionary teams, not a single indigenous church had been established. Then, in 1921, Mongolia earned the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world to voluntarily invite the Soviets to bring Communism to their country. In the ensuing purge every vestige of Christianity, as well as any other religion, was erased. More than one million Buddhist priests were slaughtered. Religion was dead in Mongolia.
Then in 1980 a young Mongolian named Yi went to study at a university in Moscow. He was given an English-language bible by a fellow student from Tanzania. He figured he could study English with it so he began to read it. Yi studied that bible for seven years, returning to Mongolia and rising to a top English interpreter position with the Mongolian government.
In 1987, Yi was assigned to an American big-game hunting tourist group which had come to Mongolia to hunt bear. One of the hunters was an evangelical leader in the US. During the hunting trip, Yi found the opportunity to secretly ask him, "Do you know God?" The American nodded. Three hours later, Yi was able to whisper, "What is His name?" "Jesus Christ." In bits and pieces of stolen conversations throughout the rest of the big-game hunt, the American man was able to introduce Yi to Jesus. "Don’t worry," he told Yi. "I know it’s illegal to be a Christian, and it will be hard for you. But others will come." Then, the tourist group left Mongolia.
Three years later, Yi was assigned to another foreign tour group - this time a group of Native American cowboys. They came to Mongolia to perform in a national horse riding competition. The tourist group was composed of Christian Native American cowboys. Yi translated their testimonies on national television and their explanation of the Gospel to press groups and officials. Several Mongolians responded to the tourist group’s challenge to receive Jesus the Christ, and Yi spent hours and hours drinking in everything the cowboys knew about Jesus. Then, they too left Mongolia.
Yi began discipling those Mongolians who had come to Christ through the cowboys’ ministry - then, another tour group came, who just happened to be pastors. The ministers, after days of intense discipling, realized the depth of Yi’s Bible knowledge and spiritual insights. So, they all gathered together in a hotel room in the capital city of Mongolia in November 1990 and ordained Yi as an elder of the first Mongolian church in the history of the world! In just a few years the number of Christians in Mongolia grew from just 4 in 1990 to over 40,000.
When Naomi and I joined the Doulos in 1993 (just 3 years later) we had the first 2 missionaries ever sent from Mongolia. Their names were Bear and Bat. We called them that because no one could pronounce their real names! Bat ended up marrying a girl from the ship. He continues to help lead the church in Mongolia, and their son Yoshi is a good friend of our daughter who is serving on the Logos Hope. All this because a Tanzanian student took the time to give a friend of his a bible.
3. God Controls my Reactions (response to ridicule)
Matthew 9:11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
It’s crazy to realize that the Pharisees are in his home. I bet they are thinking, “what the heck are we doing in tax collectors home.” The Pharisees were the rule keepers. They were also kind of like the cool kids at school. The tax collectors knew that they were the bottom of the totem pole but it still didn’t change fact that they wanted to be in good standing with the popular Pharisees. But one afternoon of following Jesus and it all changes. Now they didn’t care about approval of the Pharisees because they were too busy toasting their new friendships with Jesus.
You were not made to fit in, you were made to stand out. When you’re on mission you’re not living for the approval of man but for God.
Remember the old TV series Mission Impossible? They have also made a number of movies recently. They usually start out with a person who is challenged to accept a mission that they know is going to be very difficult and may ultimately cost them their lives. They know it will be risky. They know they will face opposition and challenges along the way. They are willing to count the cost and risk it all in order to complete the mission. To save the lives of people from the enemy, we are going to have to take risks. We are going to have to be willing to face hardship and opposition. We are going to have to get up and leave our comfort zones and be willing to go and do whatever it takes.
How about you? Does Jesus control your resources? Does He control your relationships? Does he control the way you react to ridicule and hardship? Is Jesus Lord of your life? If He is, then that is the reason we go. We go because He has told us to go.
Let me read to you about one young girl’s decision to serve;
It was a new experience for me to hear someone speak who had a Cause, a mission in which he believed with every tissue and cell of his heart and mind. There in the auditorium I glanced down at my little pointed, buttoned white-kid shoes with the black patent tops, the ones that I had bought the week before, and I thought about the contrast between my well-shod feet and those of the boy who had gone barefooted in freezing weather. Of course I had always heard about need in places like China and Africa, but I’d had no idea that such awful conditions existed within a day’s train ride of Asheville, right in our mountains. Why had not father or mother told me about things like that? Perhaps they did not know either. As we sang the closing hymn, “Just As I Am,” a feeling of exhilaration grew so strong inside me that I could scarcely sing the words. After the benediction, I made my way slowly down the long inclined aisle. Dr. Ferrand gripped my hand warmly, looked directly into my eyes. My voice shook a little. “You asked for volunteers,” I told him. “You are looking at one.” The little man’s goatee had bobbed up and down. “And for what do you volunteer, my child?” “For the highlanders—I could teach, anywhere you want to use me.” There was a long silence. The man’s eyes were penetrating. “Are you sure, child?” “Quite sure.” So it was done. Then I had gone back up the hill to the Alba Hotel to break the news to father and mother and begin the long task of persuading them. And I had never wavered since …
So it was that nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston left her comfortable and affluent home in Asheville to teach at the Cutter Gap Mission school in the Smoky Mountains. If the story I just read to you sounds familiar it is because it is out of the book Christy. It was written by Catherine Marshall back in 1967 and became an instant best seller. It lead to a TV series back in the 90s.
What you may not know is that Christy is based on a true story. It is based on the life of Catherine Marshall’s mother, Leonora Whitaker. In 1909 her mother who was then 19 chose to leave her comfortable home in North Carolina and volunteer for a summer with the American Inland Mission at their Ebenezer mission in the Smoky Mountains. She decided to stay and teach at their school. Eventually she met the mission’s pastor and they got married. Her decision to serve not only changed her life forever, it also lead to a change in the lives of many others.
Leonora, like her fictional counterpart Christy, chose to leave the comfort of her home and go out on mission. She made the choice not because she had to, but because the love of Jesus compelled her. She loved Jesus, and because she loved Jesus she wanted to reach out and share His love with others. That is why we go.
When Hudson Taylor was director of the China Inland Mission, he often interviewed candidates for the mission field. On one occasion, he met with a group of applicants to determine their motivations for service. "And why do you wish to go as a foreign missionary?" he asked one. "I want to go because Christ has commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," was the reply. Another said, "I want to go because millions are perishing without Christ." Others gave different answers. Then Hudson Taylor said, "All of these motives, however good, will fail you in times of testing, trials, tribulations, and possible death. There is but one motive that will sustain you in trial and testing -- namely, the love of Christ."
A few weeks ago Joshua and I went on a trip to Lebanon and Egypt. Perhaps the most memorable experience we had while we were there was in Egypt. We went to the garbage dump on the outskirts of Cairo and visited a church that ministers to the almost 70,000 people that live there and work picking garbage. When we stepping out of the car in front of the old building that housed the church the smell was terrible. There were flies all over. We went in and had a word of prayer with the pastor. He was pastoring another church in a nice neighbourhood when God called him to go and work amongst the garbage pickers. Only the love of Jesus could make a man do that.
Why do we go? Because we love Jesus. In gratitude for all we have been given and in love and obedience we seek to tell others the good news that we ourselves have received.
