The Worship of Missions
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Matthew 28:16-20
Matthew 28:16-20
Discuss: Why do we do missions?
I have supported missions for a number of reasons: 1.People are lost and they need the light of Christ, 2. It’s what we’re supposed to do, 3. I can even be tempted to go out of frustration with the Church in my own culture, a shaking off the dust, if you will. But, leaving behind the obviously wrong motivations, and looking at those good ones, are they ultimately why we go on mission?
In his book, Let the Nations Be Glad, John Piper offers this fantastic thesis statement:
“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”
The Great Commission is saturated with worship. Worship is the foundation, the fuel, and the fulfillment.
The Foundation
V.16 The disciples saw the resurrected Christ, glorified and victorious, and they worshipped. This is the foundation of the Church. Christ came, lived, died, and rose again for this purpose, as we see in Ephesians 1:3-11.
So missions begin with us worshipping Christ. We must see Him, resurrected and glorious. We must worship Him. We must recognize this truth, that “all power (ἐξουσία, the power to rule; authority) is given to Christ. This is true in our own lives and hearts. He reserves the right to command us in everything. There is nothing left out of His control, not even a call to leave all we know and give our lives to another people. So He commands His whole Church, go therefore. Go to the ends of the earth, and make disciples who make disciples. Give sacrificially to see this completed. Missions exists as a command from our worthy Christ.
Worship is the foundation, because we come to see Him and delight in Him and whatever the outcome, we want to tell of His greatness. Moreover, He demands the worship of those who do not yet know Him. He commands us, to go, make disciples of the nations, and teach them to obey everything Christ has commanded. We go when we delight in Christ and when we desire His worship from all peoples. (Matthew 12:35, 15:7-19) When we treasure Christ, we will then pour out praise, and go to the nations, that they may worship Christ with us. Does Jesus have all authority in our lives? Are we pursuing obedience to His authority among friends, neighbors, coworkers, loved ones, and all nations? Do our hearts see Him as worthy of this?
The Fuel
Worship is the fuel to missions. We can keep going, in the face of grave persecution, because of Christ. He promises to be with us, always, and to the end of the age. This means He is with us without interruption and without end. In Acts 23, when Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and brought so low by his failure in speaking before the sanhedrin, Christ appeared to him, and lifted his heart, telling him, you must bear witness in Rome. The promise of more opportunity to declare the worth of Christ, even to the emperor, was an encouragement to Paul. Though he was in chains, though his people hated him and wanted him dead, Jesus proved His promise by showing Himself to Paul in a dark time, and it stirred Paul to continue on. If we will continue in missions, we must be continually in worship. Compassion for the lost and dying will only take us so far. When the lost turn to persecute us, and do all manner of evil against us for Christ’s sake, will we still have compassion on them? Only if we see Christ as worthy. He has come to prepare a bride for Himself, and He has determined that His Bride should consist of people redeemed from every tribe, nation, and tongue. Until there are disciples obeying His commands in every people group, His Bride is not ready. For this we should mourn, and from it, our mourning for the lost is perfected.
We will be on mission with undivided attention, if we are rooted in worship. Paul could go on to imprisonment, and eventual execution, in Rome, not because he wanted to bring Christ there, but because Christ was there ahead of him. He wanted to follow Christ wherever He called. There were people in that city Christ was calling, and they could not yet hear. But as He told Paul, he was going to the Gentiles, to open their eyes to the light. Paul’s delight was in being unified with Christ. Miraculously, the Holy Spirit opens blind eyes, and awakens dead hearts to the truth of God. Even more miraculous, He uses us to do it. That was the prize set before Paul in Rome, and it kept him going. Do we earnestly desire Christ’s glory? Are we motivated to see Him worshipped by others, particularly in every nation, to see His Bride complete? Does His promise to remain with us and work through us comfort us? Do we delight to be united with Him in calling the nations to Himself?
The Fulfillment
Worship is the fulfillment of missions. We go to nations and declare the worth of Christ to see people from those nations gather into churches and worship Christ. Missions end when all nations are gathered around the Throne of Christ, worshipping in Spirit and Truth. He has given this promise. All nations will be represented before the Throne. They will gather and declare with no reservation nor doubt that He is worthy. This is the end to which we work. Revelation 5:9-11, 7:9-11. The mission is then complete, and we can lay down our swords. We will no longer go into enemy strongholds to release captives and bring them home. We will join together with all the redeemed to worship, and our worship will be complete, as we behold the wonderful mosaic the Lord has created by redeeming worshippers from every tribe, nation, and language. We will worship in unique ways, and seeing each other praise, we will want to praise even more. This is the promise set before us. The Church was founded with a command to make disciples of all nations, and the final promise of Scripture shows us it is done. Are we passionately desiring this promise. Do we delight in the vision Jesus gave us through John? Are we giving sacrificially and holding open hands to be directed to this end?
Invitation
As we pray, let us examine our hearts, and ask the Lord to bring us an attitude of worship. Let’s ask Him for His heart, to desire His glory in every nation. And let us hold open hands to be led in the pursuit of this however He will. Please pray with me.