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Joining God’s Mission In these times, we are again discovering how the Holy Spirit directs, guides, and empowers his people to be witnesses of the life-changing reality of Jesus. There really is no substitute for what Jesus promised in Acts 1:8, "...You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” in spite of our best plans and strategies. We need the Holy Spirit, desperately. In many ways, we are like the disciples long ago. Everyday we are faced with how sin has wrecked the world. We so desperately want things to change, but there is so much dark and the light God has given us seems so small. We try to help people around us, but it just seems like no one cares about what Jesus did for them, or the fact that he is still alive! All they seem to care about is pleasing themselves, or pleasing Mary, or pleasing their pastor. But none of that matters to Jesus. He doesn’t want our sacrifice, he wants to give us mercy! He is not afraid of the darkness of sin – remember what he said about us in the Sermon on the Mount: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” You are the light of the world. You are the light of the world. You don’t have to try and be light, if you are a disciple of Jesus, you are the light. Jesus did not die on the cross and rise from the dead for us to live under a bowl of darkness. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, even Arequipa.” He did not say you might be my witnesses. Or your pastor will be my witness. Or some crazy missionary like Lee or Mike will be my witness. You will be my witnesses. But if you’re like me, the first question that comes into your mind is “How?” You are trying to follow Jesus, learn more about him, the Scriptures, prayer, about the transformed life. As a disciple of Jesus, you begin to see that he cares about every aspect of your life. Not just what you do on Sunday mornings at church or during a bible study – but how you actually live. Are you an honest person at work? Are you learning to love your enemies and pray for them? Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to remove anger, lust, and vanity from your heart? All of this is central to being a disciple of Jesus. But as you are being changed, you begin to have compassion for those around you who are not experiencing the beauty of God’s forgiveness and healing. You want to see the world get set right, as we pray along with Jesus, “Let your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This evening, I want to implore you as disciples of our Master Jesus, listen to him! Is Jesus alive? Really? Because if he is not alive, then we are wasting our time here. If he is not alive and able to speak to us, to empower us, to lead us, to teach us, then what is the point of all this? As the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” No, Jesus has raised from the dead and that fact changes everything. This gathering of disciples, this church, or ecclesia, matters to Jesus. You are his bride, and he loves you. And I believe he wants to speak to his bride tonight. He wants to show us how we can join with him to set the world right again, to see his will done on earth – in us and in the lives of those around us. “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. "Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” - Matthew 10:1-16 Tonight I want you to understand that when Jesus called his disciples, they were no different than you or I. We live in a world that worships celebrities and saints, but the disciples were not celebrities or saints. They were normal, everyday people with little education and typical human problems. There was nothing about them that made them more spiritual or holy than anyone else. The only thing that set them apart was their willingness to answer Jesus when he said, “Follow me.” Keep this in mind as we walk through this scripture. Earlier I posed a question: “How?” How do we join with Jesus on his mission to the world? Well, we would be silly not to look at the instructions Jesus gave his first disciples. Perhaps we can learn from those instructions and translate them into our world? So, where do we begin? In verse 5 and 6 Jesus says, “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” What was the main theme of Jesus’ teaching in the Bible? What did he talk about the most? Jesus’ first and central instruction to his disciples was to preach, “The kingdom of heaven is near.” Why did Jesus choose this message? Because the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God, was the primary theme of Jesus’ teaching and ministry. It is literally on almost every page of the Gospels and throughout the New Testament, yet somehow we hardly hear anyone preach or teach on the subject. Yet, for Jesus, the nearness or availability of the kingdom was the Gospel, or what we call the “good news”. Listen to Mark 1:14 and 15:
The good news is that God’s kingdom is near. Not that if you say the sinner’s prayer, you’ll go to heaven. Not that if you are a good person and go to church, God will forgive your sins. The kingdom of heaven is near. What does that mean? What is the kingdom of God? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus promised the kingdom to the spiritually poor, to those in mourning, to those who are persecuted, and so on. In another place, he said that “many will come from the east and the west and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.” He said that the greatest in the kingdom were the least important in this world – the weak, the forgotten, the helpless. He said that it would be hard for the rich to enter God’s kingdom, but that anything is possible with God. In another place, he likened the kingdom to a mustard seed, though it is tiny, it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches. He also said that our desperate efforts to find God’s kingdom “out there” are a waste of time, “because the kingdom of God is within you.” And on and on, Jesus teaches about his kingdom. Simply put, God’s kingdom is where God gets his way, where his will is done as it is in heaven. If you are a sinner like me, you can agree that getting our own way has not worked out too well. We usually end up hurting ourselves and everyone around us. So for me, it is really good news when God gets his way in my life. Do you agree? When that happens in our lives and in the lives of those around us, the kingdom of God has come. So Jesus instructs his disciples, go out and preach this wonderful message, this good news, that God is King and his way is good! He told them to preach, because preaching is different than teaching or arguing. To preach means we put the focus on God and what he is doing, rather than what we need to know or do. Jesus told his disciples to preach the kingdom, to proclaim that God is ready to move! As a part of that proclamation, he instructed his disciples to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and drive out demons.” These signs and wonders were not something to make a church service more interesting, they were evidence that God’s kingdom had arrived! The heaven that God is creating for us to enjoy for eternity will have no sickness, no death, no disease, no demonic forces. Miracles, healing, and deliverance are a small foretaste of the reality of heaven. Finally, Jesus instructed them to go first to “lost sheep of Israel.” Why did he do this? I believe because Jesus understood that there was a harvest among the Jews that was incredibly ripe. In a similar passage in Luke 10, when Jesus sent out a larger group of 72 disciples to prepare the towns he was going to visit, he instructed them to “ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.” Years later, the Holy Spirit instructed the apostles to turn their attention to the Gentiles because a new harvest had arrived. We need to learn how to seek the Lord of the harvest. Not just to ask him for workers, but to discover where the harvest is in our communities. This requires us to listen and wait, because if we try to work where there is no harvest, we will become frustrated and give up. More often than not, the harvest will be closer than you think. In this generation, there is a huge harvest within the church. People need to hear the message of the kingdom. Many in the church suffer because they are constantly trying to please someone or serve something other than Jesus. They need to hear that the kingdom of God is near! Churches have become too focused on themselves and becoming more successful than the church down the street. Look how many people come to our services! Look how much money we have! Listen to how good our worship band is! Who cares? What possible difference will that make when Jesus sets up his kingdom on earth? Do you want a medal for having 1000 people come to your church service? Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” Yes, even the church needs to hear the good news of God’s kingdom. So we continue. In verse 9 Jesus says, “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.” In the United States, people give approximately 40 billion dollars a year directly to churches. Approximately 70% of that money, 28 billon dollars, goes to maintain and build church buildings and paying church salaries. Yet, statistics show that church membership overall has declined in the United States. In spite of all that money, almost 20% of what the entire country of Peru produces in a year, the church in America has not grown. By comparison, the church in China has grown from about 1 million known Christians in 1950 to now well over 100 million. Although there are no official statistics, a large percentage of Chinese Christians worship in homes or very simple buildings. Are you sure you want to be like the American church? Jesus instructed his disciples to travel lightly. They would not need a lot of equipment or money to do their kingdom work. They were the equipment. In the United States, God is beginning to rise up a new generation of disciple that is taking this instruction very seriously. Many are holding their worship meetings in homes or in rented spaces. They are beginning to see that money is not necessary to preach the kingdom. Our brothers and sisters in China and Africa have known this for generations. As we follow Jesus in his kingdom mission, he will provide for our needs. Once he shows you where the harvest is, go preach the kingdom! The strategy is simple. As leaders in the church, pastors and elders should be giving all their energy towards helping the whole church join this mission. As leaders, their job is support your visions and dreams, not the other way around. This may be a new concept to many of you, but it is the essence of how Jesus taught his disciples to lead. Jesus said in Mark 9:35, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Pastors and leaders must lead from underneath, giving encouragement, support, teaching, love, and guidance where necessary. But they must always remember that Jesus has already given each disciple everything they need through his Holy Spirit. There is a popular teaching that the vision of a church must come from the pastor and the people must work to fulfill that vision. However, the New Testament teaches that God wants to give gifts to all his children. And those gifts are to be used in the service of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit alone. The vision of the church comes as people begin to use their gifts as directed by the Holy Spirit. In this way, the kingdom of God is released in fullness. Finally, Jesus instructs his disciples what to expect as they venture out as agents of his kingdom. Verse 11-16 says:
As we are sent out, we will encounter opposition from both the enemy and from people who have no need of God or his kingdom. This should not surprise or frighten us. Too often we allow opposition to stop us from pursuing the harvest. In Acts 18, Paul travels to Corinth to preach. Paul spent most of his time just working with some new friends, Aquila and Priscilla, making tents. On the Sabbath, Paul attempted to preach the good news to the Jews in the synagogue. He faced much opposition, but he did not give up. Eventually, the Spirit intervened and showed Paul that the real harvest was next door, at the house of a gentile worshipper of God named Titius Justus. Their entire house received the Lord and many Corinthians were saved and became baptized. In our journey, we will come across people like Priscilla and Aquilla or Titius Justus. Some we might work with, some might be family members, or neighbors, or even people we might not normally associate with. But if we keep our eyes open, God will lead people into our lives that might be the way into a new harvest field. In Matthew 10, Jesus continues to instruct his disciples about what they will encounter as they preach the Kingdom. Much of his instruction is so that we will not fear, and will be bold in our adventure with him. I encourage you to read all of Chapter 10 in your time with the Lord as there is much richness in these wonderful instructions from our Master Jesus. I want to finish by giving you some practical ideas on how to get started in this journey. First of all, what I am describing tonight is not a new program for your church. This is not a new way to do evangelism or get more people to come to your church. This will probably not make your church the biggest in the city or the most important. But, who cares? Remember, size does not matter in the kingdom. “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed…” Your greatness in the kingdom is measured by your willingness to follow Jesus and do what he is doing. I recommend beginning to take time in silence and in solitude to seek the Lord alone. Are lives are filled with noise, but if you search hard enough you will find somewhere where you can be alone and still. During this time, do not try to pray anything or figure anything out. Just wait on the Lord. Bring a bible and a notepad and write down anything you hear from the Lord or any scripture that he directs you to read. After a few times of doing this, begin to simply ask the Lord to show you, where is the harvest? Your heart will begin to be drawn somewhere – to friends, co-workers, neighbors, family members, the forgotten of society. Write down what you hear, and then go to your friends or to your small group. Begin to pray with them about the harvest that the Lord showed you and for workers. Then, begin looking for at least one other person who shares the same vision. This might take some time, but it is an important step in the process. When Jesus sent out the seventy-two disciples, he sent them out in pairs. Look for others who have different giftings than you, who will complement you as you go out. Then, as the Holy Spirit guides, go! Expect opposition, but look for God’s provision along the way. It is okay to experiment with different ideas. If something doesn’t work, then do not think you have failed. Learn from your mistakes and continue looking for what the Holy Spirit is doing. Jesus has promised to be with us – we cannot fail! Finally, a word for leaders. As people begin to discover God’s vision, his harvest fields, it is your job to be supportive and give them the resources they need. You will be tempted to do the work for them or to try and give them the answers to all their questions. Good leaders allow people to make mistakes, in order for them to become mature. Spend time with those who are in your care, praying for them and listening to them. For those who are young in the faith, continue teaching them about God’s kingdom. You will be amazed at the growth possible when you allow the Holy Spirit to capture someone’s mind and heart. This is an exciting time to be alive and walking with Jesus. The kingdom of God is near! Can you see it?
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