Engage In Mission

Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), so that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are in Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes... For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1:13–17)

God is the missionary God who pursues the lost—and He has commissioned and empowered His church to join Him in that mission wherever they are.

Highlighting Our Missionaries

Over the last several weeks we've been highlighting ways that we as a church engage in mission. We hosted Luke and Kristen Rider of Cross Connection Outreach, sharing about the work in Southern Africa—Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland—and how they're branching out into the Philippines and other nations. We prayed for and sent out our team to Indonesia, who are flying back this morning, and we had a team go to Gleanings for the Hungry.

I also want to recognize Pastor Eric. Some of you may have wondered where he's been. Eric did not have his own personal rapture; the news of his demise is overly exaggerated. God has uniquely gifted Eric with experience and training to minister in very specific areas of need. He serves as a sheriff's chaplain, a chaplain with San Diego Search and Rescue, a chaplain with the Escondido Fire Department, and a chaplain with the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office. The Lord has opened doors not open to many people.

Eric also spent 13 years in the Marine Corps and has a passion for those in the military. The Lord opened a strategic door at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego for Eric and Bryan Barta—who also served in the military and oversees our Saturday-night Children's Ministry—to work with Cru, teaching a Bible study and leading a discipleship group for Marine recruits on Sunday mornings. Eric is, in effect, a local missionary to the Marine Corps. We also want to lift up Kari Richardson, who grew up in our Children's and Youth Ministries and has served the past year on the mission field in China. She leaves on the 15th to return.

Let's pray for them.

Father, we thank You for the doors You open—just as Paul said, "A great and effective door has been opened." We thank You for the door at MCRD. Even though some in our culture shout loudly about separation of church and state, we love the way You sneak things in. Bless Eric and Bryan with wisdom; thank You for the training and the Word hidden in their hearts, that they can speak to these recruits from their experience. Keep the eyes and ears of the enemy closed in this area. What a blessing that before these men step into active service, they can hear the Gospel, be discipled, and even be baptized. Continue to bless Eric in all his chaplain work, and open further doors. And for Kari, bless her as she steps away from family, language, and the familiar. Make her a bright, shining light in China—use her for Your glory, protect her, and thank You for her family's willingness to release her. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Please keep these missionaries in your prayers. I'm blessed that in 1 Samuel, when David and his men went out to battle, those who stayed with the supplies were blessed in the same way as those who went out on the field. These missionaries are an extension of us out there on the field.

The Metanarrative of Scripture

This is our fifth study in Life in Connection, where we are seeking to clearly articulate our mission, vision, and values—who we are, why we exist, what we do, and how we do it. This week is "Engaging in Mission."

As you study the Scriptures, you see what theologians call the metanarrative—the overarching story of the Bible—which breaks down into four parts: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Creation comes in Genesis 1 and 2, where God spoke all things, seen and unseen, into being. The Fall comes in Genesis 3. From Genesis 3 until nearly the very end of the Bible, the bulk of Scripture deals with redemption. And the last book zeroes in on restoration.

As a gathering of those who follow Jesus, we stand right in the middle of redemption. We understand that God created all things; we recognize, experientially, the Fall in us and around us; but we who sit here have been redeemed. We look forward to the great and glorious appearance of our Savior, when He will bring an awesome restoration we can't fully fathom. The redemptive work that begins in Genesis 3 culminates in Christ's incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and glorification. Through that, even a fallen people can realize new life now and look forward to glorification, for "when we see Him, we shall be like Him."

God Is the Missionary God

The redemptive story reveals first that God is the missionary God. Genesis 3 makes this clear. Adam and Eve partook of the tree God had commanded them not to eat from, and the implications affect everything. There is nothing in creation untouched by the Fall.

The very first effect of their sin was shame. Genesis 2:25 tells us they were naked and unashamed, but now shame entered in, and they sewed fig leaves to cover themselves. Then fear entered in. They hid first from one another, then from God. How many of you remember as a kid doing something you weren't supposed to, then hiding from mom and dad because you were afraid of what they'd do when they found out? Adam and Eve hid for fear of what their broken law might mean.

Then in Genesis 3:9, "the Lord God called to Adam and said, 'Adam, where are you?'" The communion between man and God was broken, and God steps down into the garden seeking them. This is the picture of God as the missionary God. He takes the first step. He comes to seek and save the lost. And His plan is filled with grace and mercy. He does not come as a vengeful judge—which is probably why they hid, expecting wrath—but as a loving Father seeking restoration and reconciliation.

A side note to parents: when you seek out your kids knowing they've done wrong, make sure your discipline aims at restoration and reconciliation. God never disciplines in anger to break a person. We know His purpose was restoration because, later in Genesis 3, He made clothing of animal skins for Adam and Eve—which most teachers agree implies a sacrifice was made on account of their sin.

The Incarnation Was Essential

As you follow the Old Testament, God establishes a way for fallen humanity to have relationship with Him through the sacrificial system of Leviticus. But Hebrews tells us this system was insufficient—it could only cover sin, like those animal skins, not fully remove it. The blood of bulls and goats can never take away sin. So for our redemption to be fully realized, God Himself would have to come down into humanity to deal with our sin. That's the incarnation. Isaiah 7:14 says, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel"—God with us. God would have to come down into the mess.

Christ Exemplifies Mission

That brings us to the second point: Christ exemplifies mission. In Luke 19, Jesus is going up to Jerusalem for the last time and passes through Jericho. There a rich tax collector of short stature named Zaccheus wants to see Jesus but can't because of the crowd. So he runs ahead and climbs a sycamore tree—Zaccheus was a wee little man, as the children's song goes.

Jesus passes by, looks up, and says, "Zaccheus, come down, for today I'm going to dine with you." The crowd is indignant that Jesus would spend time with a tax collector, a known sinner—little has changed. But look at Luke 19:9–10:

And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost."

This is a declaration of the purpose of His coming. Jesus is the ultimate missionary. Through the incarnation, God moved into our neighborhood, learned the language and the culture, and personally introduced Himself to us. That's exactly what a missionary does. Jesus shows us what it looks like to be on mission—He came to seek and save the lost.

Christ Saves and Commissions Disciples

At the end of the Gospels, Jesus ascended and is now seated on a throne in heaven. But the mission is not complete. If the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost and has now ascended, how will the mission be fulfilled? This is the third point: Christ saves and commissions disciples unto mission.

If you've been rescued, He pursued you so He could now invite you to join Him. In 2 Corinthians 5:18, Paul says God, through Christ, reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. We are now ambassadors of Christ, pleading with humanity, "Be reconciled to God!"

Three of the four Gospels record a commission. Matthew 28:18–20 is the clearest—the Great Commission: "All authority has been given to Me. 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, teaching them to obey all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Mark 16:15 says, "Go into the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures." And Luke 24:46–48:

Then Jesus said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things."

Now imagine standing there as one of the eleven—Peter, John, Matthew, Thomas, the rest—every one of whom denied Him the night He was crucified. Jesus says, "I'm ascending to the Father, and you are going into all the world to preach the Gospel, baptize, disciple, and make sure the church moves forward." If you're a little cynical like me, you'd think: a few fishermen, a zealot, a former tax collector going into all the world? This is a failed plan. The mission is too great for us; we are terribly limited.

Christ Empowers His Disciples

But look at the very next verse, Luke 24:49: "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high." That's the fourth point: Christ empowers His disciples for mission.

We are devastatingly limited in our capacities to fulfill the mission. Even adding to the eleven the larger group of 120 disciples, the task seemed impossible—and Jesus knew it. So He says, "You're going to go, but first you'll be empowered, because I'm going to send the Promise of My Father upon you. Wait in Jerusalem."

Acts 1 picks up the same scene. In verse 8 Jesus says, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Jerusalem was the city, Judea the surrounding county, Samaria another people group to the north, and then the whole world.

How long does this mission go? Until the end of the age. This isn't something that happened 2,000 years ago and is finished. Here we are, two millennia later, and it's not done. We live in a small world here in Southern California—we leave LAX at 10:00 p.m. and we're in Hong Kong the next morning. At a conference last week they spoke of Hudson Taylor, who in the 19th century took five to six months by boat from England to China. They knew nothing of jetlag; for them it was just lag.

But here's an actual truth that's hard for us to fathom: the Joshua Project tells us there are 6,000 distinct people groups today with no representation of the Gospel among them. The mission is not complete. Yet He has empowered His disciples. As Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:9, God "has saved us, and called us with a holy calling." He called you into this work of seeking and saving the lost.

Christ Will Accomplish His Mission Through His Church

It seems an insurmountable task, but we can know for certain it will succeed. The fifth point: Christ will accomplish His mission through His church.

How do we know? In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, around 29 AD, Jesus commissions His disciples and empowers them. Then at the end of the Bible we have the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Turn to Revelation 7:9:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands... crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!"

Jesus said the mission continues until the end of the age. And what does John see at the end of the age? People from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation standing before the throne. He will save people from every people group. He will accomplish His mission. And how? Through His church—you and me.

Engage in Mission Where You Are

So how do we join Him in mission? First, we join Him where we are. Remember, "beginning at Jerusalem." That doesn't mean you fly to Jerusalem to start. I've heard people teach that, but it's a stretch. It simply meant: "You disciples who are Jewish, living in Jerusalem and Judea—start right here, where you are, with what you have." We join Him in mission as a church, in our community, on your school campus, at your office, on the construction site—wherever you are—for the joy and justice of those unhappily captive to sin. We seek their liberation from death and sin into the joy found only in Jesus.

As a church, we offer outreach opportunities: short-term mission trips to China, Belize, and Africa, and local works like Tecate, ESL classes, the homework club at The Crossings, and Good News Clubs on elementary campuses. We offer evangelism training and classes on mission. But hear this: these opportunities do not by themselves satisfy the mission. It would be foolish to think one short-term trip means "I did it; I'm done." These things exist solely to promote a vision for mission. Our values statement says Cross Connection "aims to promote a vision for...mission."

We want to help you see your family relationships, your neighborhood, your school, your office, your worksite as the mission field God created, gifted, and empowered you for. I'm not coming to your construction site—and if I did, I'd probably break something. I can't even get into your office without a security badge. But you're there day in and day out because God placed you there to be on mission. You're not just an engineer or a teacher; you're there for mission, equipped with gifts, training, and education to do your job with integrity and to promote the vision of Christ among the people there.

How many of you know someone lost at work? God has placed you there. We want you to see your job as a mission field. There's a disconnect when people dread their jobs but get excited about a mission trip. If you're not faithful "beginning at Jerusalem," God will not entrust you with Russia. Be faithful in the mission where you are. Maybe you'll adopt a regular service opportunity—going to Tecate or teaching ESL—but the primary purpose is to ignite a vision so we say, "We're on a mission from God." Not the Blues Brothers' line in jest—we actually are commissioned. He commissioned us, for the joy and justice of all peoples.

The mission is going forward. It will be accomplished. I want to be standing on the victorious side that day, saying, "It's accomplished—we were part of that," blessing His name: "Salvation belongs to our God!" So whatever you're doing, this is your opportunity to incarnate the glory and grace of Christ where you are. How are you representing His grace in your workplace? Would to God He'd change the way we see, so that we'd ultimately walk differently.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for involving us in a task that You could no doubt do far better Yourself, and yet You have chosen to use us in the work of mission. Lord, we pray that we would hear and heed the call, and that we would engage in the work. Enable us to do that, Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.