A Life on Mission - Mark 6:7-13
Notes
Transcript
Your Mission, should you choose to accept it.....
That line has become iconic of what was first a TV series, and then eventually the epic film series. The main protagonist is given a mission, one that to ordinary agents would be an impossible mission, but this guy has a way of figuring things out and completing the mission, and somehow living through the experience to take on the next mission as it comes.
When Agent Ethan Hunt accepts a mission, everything in his life becomes about the task of fulfilling the mission. He begins to live life on mission.
We’ve been moving through the book of Mark chapter by chapter and verse by verse. We don’t do this because it’s easier or convenient. We do it because we believe that this book really is the very Words of God to us, we want to soak in each and every one of them.
Last week we saw the tragic indictment on Jesus’ home town in the beginning of Mark 6. The people were astonished, but not in a good way. They took offense at him, and by the end of the passage, Jesus was the one who marveled because of their unbelief.
This does not deter Jesus, however. The mission must press on. So he goes about teaching and then in our text today he is going to send out the disciples once again. Let’s pick up with Mark 6 verse 7.
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
We saw back in chapter three what we called the Blueprint for discipleship. The disciples were to be with Jesus, so as to learn from him, and then be sent out to do Kingdom ministry. They preached the good news. They cast out demons. They healed people. etc.
Here we are going to find a similar pattern, but more details are given about Jesus’s commission to them.
As we look at this text, many see here patterns that get applied to missions and missionary work. While there certainly is applicability on that level, I think there is more here than just for missions. There are principles here for everyone as we all live life on mission. We all have a commission from Christ, and the principles in this text apply to that mission just as much as they apply to those heading to a foreign mission field.
Let me define a few of those terms.
Missions with an S is the work of training and sending individuals, who are often called missionaries, into foreign places and cultures for the purpose of making disciples and planting churches in that area.
Living on Mission is the concept of Christians living as Christians by taking the Gospel with them as they make disciples wherever they are. Christ has given us a mission.
So if we think about those Mission: Impossible movies again, when the character accepts that mission, what does he do? Does he live as though that mission doesn’t exist? No. He gets after it! Again, He lives life, on mission. The choices he makes, the steps he takes, all of it is designed to accomplish the mission.
Our mission is very different than Ethan Hunt’s in Mission: Impossible, and I don’t know about you, but I’m very glad about that. But we do have a mission.
Though the details are different, we are called to live life on mission. We have a goal, a purpose, a design.
The Gospel of Mark has shown us many things about what it looks like to follow Jesus. What does discipleship genuinely look like? We are brought in by Jesus, taught by Jesus, encouraged by Jesus....part of discipleship is being sent by Jesus. A life of discipleship is a life that is lived on Mission.
A life of discipleship is a life that is lived on mission.
But what does that mission look like?
First, a Life on Mission is a commissioned life.
Is a Commissioned Life
Is a Commissioned Life
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
Jesus brings in the twelve again, and he sends them out two by two. For the disciples, the mission in front of them was best done with a partner. There is so much practical wisdom in this kind of arrangement, and it is the reason why JWs and Mormons never send out “a” missionary. They are always in pairs. Why? They can play of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They can vouch for each other. If something were to happen, according to OT Law there always had to be at least two witnesses.
I can tell you personally from times that I’ve gone out alone to do evangelism vs the times I go with others makes huge difference! There is protection, fellowship, and support in pairs that cannot exist alone.
If we read on into the book of Acts, the apostles almost never traveled alone. Read Paul’s letters, and there are so often at least two names in the “from” line. This is a pattern that has stood the test of time.
So he sends them in pairs, but he doesn’t send them empty handed.
He gives them authority.
As we have discussed at length as we started the book of Mark, the early portions of the book are about Jesus establishing his authority for his earthly ministry. Here he now delegates that authority to the disciples.
These men aren’t just sent. They aren’t just commissioned. They are sent with all the authority of the one who sent them.
I think of Soldiers and the chain of command. Does any individual solder have absolute authority? What about a general? No. It’s all delegated. The buck stops with the commander in Cheif. The commander in chief delegates authority down to his generals, who then delegate that authority and so on. But the result is that when the troops on the ground move, take ground, or whatever they do, they do so with the full weight of authority of the one who sent them.
They are sent with authority. Notice the text says “authority over the unclean spirits” when we were in chapter three, a similar thing was said, and I noted at that time that I believe this is shorthand for the entirety of their ministry. The is borne out when we read about their activity in verse 13.
This was the commissioning of the twelve. They had a mission.
Do we have a mission for which we have been commissioned? We are called to make disciples. Christ has commissioned us. The most famous passage on this is Matt 28. All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations.
On the basis of Jesus’ authority, we make disciples and say with Paul in 2 Cor 5:20 “20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
A life on mission is one that has delegated authority to speak what has been commanded of us to speak.
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it that way.
The world heavily discourages evangelism. We hear things like “
Its fine for you to believe that, but don’t you dare try to convert me to that. You’ve got your thing, I’ve got mine, let’s live and let live. What gives you the right to tell me what I should believe?”
Brothers and sisters, we have every right to proclaim truth. We have that right, not on the basis of any man-made constitution, but our right is based on the delegated authority to be witnesses for Christ as we carry out the divine mission he has given to us.
Every time you speak the gospel, every time, you call a sinner to faith in Christ, you do so on the authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
A life on mission has authority behind it, because a life on mission is a commissioned life.
A life on mission is also a focused life.
Is a Focused Life
Is a Focused Life
8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there.
These commands might strike us as strange. Jesus may have been seeking to teach the disciples to live by faith or that they need not burden themselves with extra accessories that are unnecessary.
They were to take a staff, which was essentially a walking stick, but no bread, no bag, and no money. They were to wear sandals, but not carry a second tunic.
Travel light. Take only the essentials, and the rest will be supplied to you along the way.
Verse 10 says that they were to stay in one place whenever they entered a city. In those days it was common for a traveling individual to stay with someone, but only until they could secure lodging with someone of higher social status. And so they could often bounce from place to place as they climbed the social ladder.
Jesus is telling the disciples. Don’t do that. Don’t go around in a self-seeking manner, trying to better your social standing. You found a place to welcome you and house you. Stay there.
I titled this section a life on mission is a focused life. I think that is the principle here. Not everyone is called to give up all their possessions and walk around with nothing but sandals, a tunic, and a staff.
The Scriptures do often warn against the dangers of materialism. We can get so caught up in the fleeting things of this world that it can draw our attention away from the mission. The Scriptures likewise warn against selfish ambition. Trying to maneuver ourselves into more favorable positions with others. We want to be liked by the right people.
Brothers and sisters, keeping up with the Jones can kill our mission. Trying to be cool or liked by others can kill our mission.
Too many people live life as though the mission were to have a lot of nice things or to be in with a certain crowd. Those things aren’t necessarily always bad in themselves, but when they become the mission we’ve lost sight of what why we are here.
We should pursue a simple lifestyle that prioritizes people over possession, the Savior over social credit. This does not mean that we should necessarily pursue poverty and that you cannot have nice things. By all means, make a lot of money. But don’t let money be the mission. A life on Mission, as commissioned by Christ is a focused life. A focused life takes everything that God has given us and uses it for Christ and the mission.
Some people have been placed in very privileged social spheres with people the world considers important. That doesn’t have to be bad. But we can easily turn that into the mission, as if being in those circles means anything on an eternal perspective. How can you use that position for the glory of God as you live life on mission?
A life on mission is a focused life.
A life on Mission is also a life that is prepared for rejection.
Is a Life Prepared for Rejection
Is a Life Prepared for Rejection
11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”
Jesus makes it clear that the disciples should not be expected to be welcomed with open arms everywhere they went. Some would receive! Many would reject.
The shaking off of the dust is a symbolic act that essentially says “I’m leaving a defiled place, and I don’t even want your defiled dust on my feet”
The reality of rejection is something that we are going to see in more detail next week so I won’t linger too much here. We must be prepared for rejection. Part of that preparation is being prepared to move on when the message is rejection.
We cannot make people believe. I wish we could. But when rejection is there, we aren’t called to beat the truth into people. We can always pray for God to open their eyes, but we move on to someone else who is more willing to have those discussions.
Sometimes it can be hard to discern when is the right moment to say “I’m done here” If I’ve been shut down hard, it’s easy. I’ve had people yell at me and tell me they don’t want to talk about it. So I don’t.
But then there are others where the line is less clear.
I generally don’t engage mockers.
I generally don’t engage people who just want to argue.
If there appears to be a genuine desire to have a thoughtful conversation, that door is open to me. But constant arguing, mockery, and doors slamming shut are pretty clear indicators and this person is not receiving the message and its time to move on until there are signs of receptivity once again.
The reality of rejection is one thing that keeps most Christians from opening their mouths in the first place. We don’t like being rejected. I do intend to talk more about that next week. But for now I’ll just say this. If a life on mission is a life prepared for rejection, then being prepared for rejection means we embrace the reality that there will be rejection, and yet we still open our mouths. Being prepared means we know it will happen, but we speak truth anyway.
A life on mission is a life prepared for rejection.
Finally a life on mission is a mission active life.
Is a Mission-Active Life
Is a Mission-Active Life
12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
Jesus called them together. He gave them a mission. He gave them authority. He called them to be focused and not let the things or social credit of this world detract them from the mission, and he taught them to be prepared for rejection.
What’s left? As some of my friends used to say “ain’t nothin to it but to do it”
It’s time to get after it.
The disciples preached the same message as John the baptist and Jesus. They exercised the delegated authority over the demons. They healed many who were sick. They got busy with Kingdom work.
The way we are called to fulfill our mission looks slightly different than it did for the disciples. I don’t believe we have been given authority over the demons like they were. I don’t believe we have authority to heal diseases on command like they had.
But we do proclaim the message of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as the only means of entering into the Kingdom of God.
The life of a Disciple is a life that is lived on mission. A task has been given. A mission is before us. We need to be faithful disciple-making disciples.
Sometimes the application on points like this can sound like guilt trips. When was the last time YOU shared your faith?
It’s possible those are appropriate questions to ask, not to create a guilt trip but to prompt self evaluation.
But I’d like to go a different direction for a moment.
Instead of trying to lay down a guilt trip on you, I want to ask this instead.
What is it that makes the Mission:Impossible movies so much fun? The action! The adventure! There’s intrigue, heroism, and at the end of the day, the guy gets the girl, the mission is complete, the hero saves the day, etc. It’s just a great story of incredible adventure, right?
Those stories may be cool, but let me tell you this.
Every time you open your mouth with Gospel truth, there is a cosmic battle taking place. The spiritual forces of darkness clash against those of the light. There is literal spiritual warfare with each conversation. You want adventure? It’s there!
Let me say this as well. There is nothing cooler than seeing lives transformed by the Gospel of Christ, and seeing people grow in their walk with Christ, casting off old sins and living in faithfulness to Christ. There is nothing cooler than seeing spiritually dead men and women brought to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing more glorious than seeing people who have lived with life-dominating sins finally be free from that and living as God designed. When you see people get it and their eyes light up, when people repent from their sin and trust the savior, when people’s eternal destinies are forever changed...
God does all those things! And he used his commissioned disciples to do it!
Why wouldn’t you want to be part of that?
A life on mission is a mission-active life. Let’s get after it. For his glory and for His name.