God’s Grace at Work: Then and Now
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of Truth through which the Holy Spirit speaks to us us is Acts 13:1-5 [Read the text]
Dear friends, in whom God’s grace is at work:
The river ran wide and deep. No bridge could be seen. But Pastors Edgar Hoenecke and Arthur Wacker needed to cross. What’s more they needed to get their vehicle, which was their home on wheels, across as well. They were directed to a ferry, but the ferry manager pointed to their vehicle and said: “It won’t work; it will tip over.”
Now what? How were Hoenecke and Wacker to continue their work of finding a place for the Wisconsin Synod to start African mission work? Would they be able to cross the Orange River in South Africa?
After the ferry owner and manager talked it over, they agreed to give it a try on two conditions. First everything would have to be unloaded from the vehicle. Second a new ramp had to be dug on the opposite shore, since the original would be too steep for their vehicles. The pastors agreed.
Five men began digging in the water on the opposite side. The pastors felt sorry for them and gave them harmonicas, which spurred them on. By evening they were ready to try. The ferry went OK with the heavy vehicle, until they entered the main current. Then all began to wobble. But the hard workers steadied it and made it to the other side. After they returned and brought the goods over, the pastors had to pay up for two ferry trips and the day-labor of five men to dig a new channel. Total cost: twelve dollars.
That’s just one of the obstacles that Pastor Hoenecke and Wacker went through as they started in Cape Town, South Africa, and worked their way north looking for a suitable place for the Wisconsin Synod to do mission work.
What got them through these obstacles? Their foresight? Their ingenuity? Their luck? Not at all. It was God’s grace. God’s grace kept them safe from the time they left their homes in Michigan in April 1949 until they returned about three months later. God’s grace directed them over the 4000 miles they drove in Africa. God’s grace led them to northern Rhodesia, which is present day Zambia.
And when the first missionaries Habben and Drevlow finally arrived in 1953 the Lord’s grace again was at work. Today as we remember the WELS African mission work, we give thanks to God for his amazing. For the same God of grace, who worked in the Apostle Paul almost 2000 years ago, has been at work for the past fifty years in our Central African mission work. And he is at work in us as well. (Summarized from “The WELS Forty-niners”, by Edgar H. Hoenecke, WELS Historical Institute Journal, Vol 3, No. 1; and To Every Nation, Tribe, Language, and People: A century of WELS World Missions, Northwestern Publishing House, 1992)
So our theme today is: God’s grace at work: Then and Now, His grace is at work for his missionaries. His grace is at work through his message.
1.
God’s grace at work for his missionaries.
1.
For Paul and Barnabas
In the text you heard that Holy Spirit led the Christians in Antioch to set apart Barnabas and Saul, whom we know better by the name Paul. These men were to take the Good News of Jesus to places that had not heard it before. They preached both to Jews, who were still looking for the coming of the Messiah, and to pagan Gentiles, who had never heard of the true God and his Messiah.
Think back to the hardships Paul faced on this first missionary journey. In Cyprus he has opposed by the wicked sorcerer, Elymas. At Perga their co-worker John abandoned them. In Pisidian Antioch the unbelieving Jews stirred up persecution against him. In Iconium they plotted to them, but Paul and Barnabas fled on to the next town. In Lystra, the crowd first wanted to offer sacrifices to them but later stoned Paul and left him for dead.
Was Paul some kind of super-Apostle that he could endure all this? Not at all. Listen to what he writes to the Corinthians: “I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Corinthians 15:9 NIV). Where did his strength come from? Paul continues: “But by the grace of God I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV). He could think back a know that the Holy Spirit had called him to this work through the Christians in Antioch and that God’s grace would not fail him
God’s grace gave Paul the strength to endure and to preach. Paul did not deserve such endurance and strength. God’s undeserved love, his grace gave it to Paul. God’s grace was at work for his missionaries, Paul and Barnabas.
2.
For our missionaries in Africa
So also God’s grace has been at work for our missionaries in Africa for the past fifty years. Think of the challenges they faced. The first missionaries had to figure how to make contacts, where to set up work, how to bring the Gospel to the people.
Still today missionaries and their families as well as the medical nurses for the clinic face challenges that we have never and probably will never face. They are immersed in a foreign country with a foreign language. There are no Targets or Walmarts to shop at. Many of the roads they travel would make even our roughest farm road seem like a paved highway. Electricity is not always on. When the wife of a missionary whom I went to school with had complications with her pregnancy, she had to be air-lifted out of the country in order to reach a modern hospital.
What gives them and their families the endurance? God’s grace – his undeserved love. They can remember how the Holy Spirit called them through our Synod. They know that God’s grace will not fail. His grace is at work for our missionaries. And as you support our missionaries with your prayers and with your offerings, God’s grace uses those gifts from you in his gracious work.
3.
For you and me
And the same grace of God is at work for you and me. When the Lord gives us opportunities to speak his word to those around us, his grace is at work for you to strengthen you. His grace, his undeserved love, enables you and me to overcome the obstacles of embarrassment, fear, busy-ness and to speak his word. At those times remember God’s grace. We don’t have the strengthen of ourselves, but rely on your God who strengthens you. Rely on your God who strengthen you and me, even though we don’t deserve it. His grace is at work for us.
2.
God’s grace at work through his message
1.
Paul[’s message
How does God reveal his grace to Paul, to our missionaries, to us. God’s grace doesn’t work for us in some magical way or because we pray hard or work hard. God’s grace comes through his Word and sacraments. God’s grace comes through his word and Sacraments not only to the missionaries and us but also to everyone that we share the passage with.
The text tells that that Paul and Barnabas “proclaimed the word of God” (Acts 13:5 NIV). What was that word? The book of Acts gives several summaries of Paul’s message. He confronted the people with their sin. But then he pointed to Jesus. For example, in Pisidian Antioch he preached: “I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38, 39 NIV). Paul’s message was God’s message. God’s grace was at work through Paul’s message.
2.
Our missionaries’ message
Our missionaries speak the same message. As you saw from the videos, the language is different. The worship practices our different. The church building is different. The clothing is different. The people are different. But the message is the same.
Our missionaries do not change the message to suit the customs and cultures of a foreign country. It’s not their message to tamper with. They speak God’s message of sin and grace. They confront the people with sin and the death and damnation that sin earns. They point the people to Jesus for forgiveness. The same Jesus that Paul preached. The same Jesus that you believe in. The same Jesus who died to take away the sin of the world and rose from the dead in victory. That Jesus is our Jesus and their Jesus. Through the message of Jesus, God’s grace has worked in our African mission for fifty years.
3.
Our message
That same message is what you and I keep on hearing and sharing as well. We see our sins. We see our lack of love for the lost. We see our sinful fear that fails to speak the message. We see our failures to pray for our missionaries. We see our selfishness that holds back our offerings for ourselves. We feel our guilt. We know we deserve death and hell.
But God’s grace brings you the message of Jesus. Your sins’ are forgiven. Jesus has died for you. His blood has washed you clean through Baptism. His body and blood in the his Supper tell you that he did it for you. His return to life on the third day proclaims full and free forgiveness to all who believe, including you.
That’s the message of God’s grace in Jesus that is at work in our hearts. That’s the message we prayer that others her. That’s the message we support through our offerings. That’s the message we share with others. God’s grace is at work through that message.
Conclusion
We give thanks to God for his grace. We celebrate fifty years of our mission work in Africa. As we give thanks to God we need to keep our focus on his grace. Yes, he has blessed our mission there with wonderful growth. We are thankful. But even if we could count only a few dozen or less after fifty years of mission work, we still would have every reason to give thanks.
Give thanks that for fifty years God’s grace has been at work for our missionaries. Give thanks that for fifty years God’s grace has been at work through his message.
