From Worship to Work: The Mission of the Church

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott Chairman Mao on Counting the Cost, Part Two

Chairman Mao on Counting the Cost, Part Two

Themes: Calling; Commitment; Discipleship; Victory and Defeat

The Thoughts of Chairman Mao contain chapters entitled “Revolutionary Heroism” (19) and “Self-reliance and Arduous Struggle” (21). Most of the quotations in these chapters come from the crucial days of 1945:

• “We must thoroughly clear away all ideas among our cadres of winning easy victories through good luck, without hard and bitter struggle, without sweat and blood” (p. 111).

• “There will be many twists and turns in the road. There are still many obstacles and difficulties along the road of revolution.… There are no straight roads in the world; we must be prepared to follow a road which twists or turns, and not try to get things on the cheap” (p. 111).

• “Thousands upon thousands of martyrs have heroically laid down their lives for the people; let us hold their banner high, and march ahead along the path crimson with their blood” (p. 102).

• “Be resolute, fear no sacrifice, and surmount every difficulty to win victory” (p. 102).

The mission of the church is to be about our Father’s business as Jesus instructed his disciples in Matthew 28:19-20. Missionary work is the church’s business, but we leave the church’s business to mire ourselves in other people’s business. The church God designed for mobility have become a museum for spectators, and some seem comfortable being exhibits on display rather than exhibiting God’s power to those in need. Why do we have the name “missionary” in some churches when there is no mission or missionaries?

Propositional Statement

The church has been sending out missionaries since the beginning, therefore, mission work must be priority for the contemporary church.

Brief Synopsis of the Chapter

We are unpacking the selection and sending of Barnabas and Sual (Paul) out into the mission field to preach the gospel to the “Jew first” then Gentiles throughout their known world. Saul went from persecutor to one of the most prolific missionaries in history, planting churches in Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, and Thessalonica. It was Peter’s vision changed his perspective on carrying the gospel to the Gentiles. Acts 11:15-18

Acts 11:15–18 ERV

And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, even as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. If then God gave unto them the like gift as he did also unto us, when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I, that I could withstand God? And when they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life.

A church is planted in Antioch and people come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and it would be here the followers of Jesus are dubbed as “Christians” (Acts 12:26) for the first time. James is killed by Herod, which pleased the Jewish people, so Peter is arrested and through the power of prayer is miraculously freed. Eventually Herod is struck down because he “did not give glory to God” and he was eaten by worms. Even through persecution, the word of God increased and multiplied. Barnabas and Saul are sanctified and separated as missionaries. They traveled to Salamis where they met opposition. God dealt with their opposition and many came to the knowledge of Christ. They traveled to Antioch in Pisdia and Paul preached in the synagogue as Jesus stated that salvation has come for the Jews first, then the Gentiles. After Paul sermon, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas as the urged them to continue in the grace of the Lord. The Gentiles heard the gospel and believed. But there are those who incited some of the “religious” people and Paul and Barnabas were persecuted and driven our of the district. They remembered the words of Christ and shook the dust from their feet and continued to preach in Iconium.

Work is born out of a culture of authentic worship

The scattering of the believers brought the establishing of the church in Antioch. The men of Cyprus and Cyrene spoke to the Hellenists preached the Lord Jesus, and as a result, a great number of them turned to the Lord (vs. 20). What had transpired in Antioch made it to the “mother” church, and they send Barnabas to Antioch. Barnabas (“son of encouragement”) the Apostle was given to Joseph, who was a prominent member of the early church. Later on, he became a companion of the apostle Paul during the early years of his ministry. It was this Barnabas that introduced Paul to the other apostles after his conversion, and they made Antioch their home base for their mission to the Gentiles. The early church’s emphasized worship and fasting, but not for religious practice. The use of the word worship here is leitourgeo (λειτουργέω) where we get our word liturgy. The prophets and teachers were in a formal worship service rendered to God by the people, including Sunday worship, the Daily Office, baptism, the Eucharist, etc. The liturgy is a drama involving both God and the people, the exchange of prayers and graces, taking place in sacred time and in sacred spare. So it is wise to ask whether our worship service are dramas that involve both God and people, or does our worship just involve people. Here it means to serve, with the implication of more formal or regular service. Luke records that the prophets and teacher were fasting. The word fasting here is nesteou (νηστεύω), meaning to go without food for a set time as a religious duty. Fasting is a way to pause your life and wait on God. Fasting is not just a way to shed unwanted pounds as this new intermittent fasting is the new craze. These men sought a way to continue sharing the gospel to the Gentile nation, so they sought God’s will on how to go about this mission--or at least God’s will for their church through fasting and worshipin.

John v. Taylor, at the time bishop of Winchester, began his book The Go-Between God with these words: “The chief actor in the historic mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. He is the director of the whole enterprise. The mission consists of the things that he is doing in the world. In a special way it consists of the light that he is focusing on Jesus Christ.”

The focus of the early church was not on budgets, buildings, and membership. Evangelism and missionary work was the focus of the early church. What does the modern church focus on now? Barnabas and Saul (Paul) were chosen for this new missionary work of spreading the gospel to the Gentiles. “Everyone is not equipped to physically go into the missionary field to witness and work the harvst, but everyone can be on the mission field through missionaries set apart by God, and sent by the church. If your ministry has any type of outreach, and you do not support with your talent, time, and treasure, then you are called to go in to the mission field. If your church is not doing mission, then it is quite possible that your church has become a mission.” The prophets and teachers laid hands, a spiritual and symbolic tradition and transfer from leader to laity. The laying on of hands by the prophets and teachers on Barnabas and Saul is symbolic to the Old Testament anointing of the new king. The word “laid” here is epitithemi, meaning to place something on or transfer to a place or object. The text’s recognition that the expansion of the gospel was not the work of individualist mavericks, but the response of the church to the guidance of the Spirit. Authorization by the faith community does not magically transfer some mystical quality to the individuals. Rather, it offers testimony that the work they do is recognised as valid by a larger community, guarding against the danger of individuals being led by their own whims or idiosyncrasies.

Application: God choses whom he wills to carry out his Great Commission, which is evangelism and discipleship. If a person is not willing to sit under leadership, then, you cannot expect to stand strong in leadership. Don’t leave your seat before your leader “releases” your for mission. Just because you “think” you ready to go, does not mean you are ready to “go.”

Illustration: Luke 10:38-42 describes the scene when Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. Jesus enters her home and began to teach those present, but Martha was busily serving, and as the Scripture says “distracted” by her serving. She asks Jesus if she cared that she’s serving while Mary has left her to listen to Jesu. What this teaches is that there is a balance between worship and work, yet, both are needed to carry out God’s will. We bash Martha, but it takes “Martha” to move ministry forward and it takes a “Mary” to always make worship matter.

An Obedient Response

There is a difference between those God sends and those who send themselves. Yes, Barnabas and Saul were sent away for a purpose, but they were sent by the Holy Spirit. Jesus in the gospel of John spoke of the Holy Spirit guiding the disciples into all truth (John 16:13-15). If you go without the Holy Spirit, then, your mission is doomed to fail, just like the sons of Sceva in their failed attempt to cast out demons in Paul’s name. The ministry of the Holy Spirit does not create a warm, fuzzy feeling in worship, but he is the force by which we carry on the ministry Christ left for the church. The church in its inception is mobile, just like the Tabernacle in the Old Testament. The church is not a stationary exhibit. The church are the laborers Jesus sought to gather the great harvest. The church does not have a harvest problem, we have a labor crisis. The mission field is ripe for the laborer, but the labor shortage is noticeable. God called Barnabas and Saul to the mission field, but it was up to Barnabas and Saul to respond to God’s sending them out. These two men could tell their kids that they walked from Antioch sixteen (16) miles along the Orontes River to the port city of Seleucia, then sailed to Cyprus.

Landing at the closest seaport on the eastern shore of the island, they immediately went into the synagogue which, as we know from other texts in Acts, demonstrated a basic plan for missionary ministry in the New Testament. Basically three things emerge in this short verse to be fleshed out in Luke’s expanding narrative across following chapters. In no small way they form a missionary strategy.

Go to the cities.

Go to the synagogues first (Romans 1:16-17); but if they don’t listen, proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles.

Carry out all ministry as a team (the only exception arising in Acts 17, Paul’s spontaneous speech on the Areopagus).

R. K. Strachan in his book The Inescapable Calling said: “Discipleship begins with an unconditional commitment to Jesus Christ and with the acceptance of a sentence of death.”

Application point: The Holy Spirit calls us, and the Holy Spirit sends us. We respond in faithful obedience to that which God is calling them to this. Like them, we travel to new lands, first to find a community that worship God. God does not confine his mission to your particular edifice or pew; he calls the church to reach the masses, men of every birth telling that Jesus gave the key, that if he be lifted he would draw all men unto him. Missionary work requires dedication to the mission, even at the cost of their lives. Jesus told his disciples that if would follow him, he would have to take up their cross and follow him (Matthew 16:24-28). Have you taken up your cross? Or do your feel that you’ve got time served, so you can just coast until Christ comes?

The Right Message for a Mixed Crowd

The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott The Qualities of a Missionary

In an early CMS anniversary sermon (1805?), John Venn, rector of Clapham, described a missionary in these terms:

With the world under his feet, with Heaven in his eye, with the Gospel in his hand and Christ in his heart, he pleads as an ambassador for God, knowing nothing but Jesus Christ, enjoying nothing but the conversion of sinners, hoping for nothing but the promotion of the Kingdom of Christ, and glorying in nothing but in the cross of Christ Jesus by which he is crucified to the world and the world to him.

Barnabas and Saul arrives in Salamis, and began proclaiming the word of God surprisingly in the synagogues of the Jews. Why is that surprising? The purpose of the mission was to carry the gospel to the Gentiles, yet they started preaching in the Jewish synagogues. Just because they were sent abroad as missionaries, their first mission is to preach the gospel to all who would listen. Your greatest ministry begins at home, and even in another city the Holy Spirit led them to first preach in the synagogue to their Jewish counterparts. The word proclaim here is katangello (καταγγέλλω), “make proclamation with authority.” The word here proclaim is a technical term for missionary preaching. Barnabas and Saul were announcing to the public the gospel so they could disseminate throughout the land. The content of the preaching, even with all of the differing of nuances of the speeches, it is clearly unified in Jesus. Pre evangelism Barnabas and Saul with the authority of the Holy Spirit and the church, they proclaimed the word (logos) of God.

Application Point: Today, the message of Christ has devolved into rub the magic lamp, and whatever you want comes. The message of Christ is now more comfortable that convicting, more offensive to saints than sinners. The only message that saves is the gospel....