Kingdom Mission

Introduction

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54 missionaries just lost their jobs. They were let go, fired by a denomination trying to downsize. This liberal denomination in decline decided one of the first things to go was their mission agency. Just a few weeks ago, the PCUSA dismantled their missionary sending agency. This ended a 200-year legacy. Dr. Albert Mohler, in his April 25 episode of The Briefing, described this as a “symbolic death of missions” within the denomination, attributing it to a theological shift that has deprioritized evangelism in favor of social justice and institutional survival.

At one time, the PC(USA) believed that the world needed to hear about Jesus Christ—his identity, character, accomplishments, and mission. Now, the PC(USA) has redefined the mission. They focus on showing hospitality to migrants, getting rid of poverty, ending systemic racism, and addressing militarism and climate change. Jesus is just a means to get to that mission. They have a kingdom of this world, a kingdom cursed to be shaken.

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With all the things we can accomplish as Christians, what really is our mission?

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Discovering Christ’s mission can help us discover ours.

R

Matthew 9:32-38 begins to describe what exactly Christ’s mission is.

O

Mission flip: use Jesus as the means to accomplish a different mission rather than the other way around.

Folly brings fascination

Matthew 9:32–33 ESV

32 As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. 33 And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”

Revelation

A similar event to this takes place again in Matthew’s gospel. Both times, Matthew uses it to focus in on people’s responses. Notice that the faith of the mute man nor the faith of the people who brought him are mentioned. Yet, he is still healed. It’s because the point of the story is no longer on the faith, Jesus’s identity, but rather on people’s response to that identity.

You see, Messianic fervor is at an all-time high. People are gathering huge followings, claiming to be the Messiah then getting killed for trying to start an insurrection. Because of this great misunderstanding surrounding the Messiah’s mission, Jesus wants to keep his Messianic identity on the down low. This is not to say that he does not agree with his Messianic identity, but he does not want people to make him a king by force as it mentioned they tried to do in the gospel of John.

The people want a Messiah to establish an earthly kingdom for Israel to overthrow the Romans. The Messiah’s mission is much wider than that. He will establish the kingdom of God for the entire world to save people from the oppression of sin and the devil. To establish an earthly kingdom to overthrow the Romans would be a rejection of his true mission.

This is why he tells the two men who were blind to keep quiet. But their disobedience leads to this. People here about this guy and bring him a mute man. Because there is no mention of their faith, it’s safe to assume their relation to Jesus is similar to the crowd: mere fascination. The crowds “earthly kingdom” focused is emphasized when they say, “In Israel” at the end of v. 33

Relevance

A long time ago after Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, God kicked them out of the garden. God knew the eternity he had intended for their blessing would be twisted in their sinful state and become a curse.

Genesis 3:22–24 ESV

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Think about it. Sin has turned the human race into monsters. We take the rock that God has given us to stand on and pick it up to kill our brother. We take fire God gave us to cook and purify and use it to destroy. We take the beauty God gave a person and use it to fulfill our own lusts. We take every good blessing God has given us and greedily twist it into a cruel selfish fulfillment.

If this is true with the Tree of Life how much more is this true of the Messiah?

Everyone wants Jesus on their side. You have the cosmic Christ of the new age which is the positive energy everyone can feel. You have the liberation Jesus who died to set people free from oppression of the oligarchy. The Muslim Jesus who was a prophet that foretold Muhammad would come. You have the mormon Jesus who can make you a God too. And the JW Jesus who wasn’t really God at all (but the angel Michael). You turn on the Christian radio and you hear about the Jesus who wants to woo you like an emo middle school boyfriend. You have the mega church Jesus who’s really just the greatest showman who promises to make your life better. I heard an “impastor” say the other day that Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a political protest. Another impastor took it further and said it was a drag performance because Jesus was pretending to be a Roman ruler to mock them. . .Wow.

And all of this can call into question my own view of Jesus. Do I make Jesus into something I selfishly want him to be, or do I understand Jesus for who he claims to be.

The real question for us is who does Jesus claim to be? Is our vision of the Messiah who he really is or a dream to fill our selfish desires?

Resentment brings resistance

Matthew 9:34 ESV

34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

Revelation

Notice that these Pharisees know the truth. They’ve seen Jesus just as much as anyone else. They know the Old Testament. They know the things Jesus is doing is fulfilling the prophets. And yet, they show no fascination instead they harbor resentment in their hearts. And so they hurl false accusations to make Jesus seem to be something that he’s not.

And this might seem like a completely different response than the crowd, but it’s really quite similar. The crowd is eager to use Jesus to achieve their selfish ends. Their greed motivates them to accept him and get him to do their bidding. For the pharisees, they also want to be int he center of it all. They believe if they can dethrone Jesus, so-to-speak, they will remain the center of their lives and central in the eyes of the people.

Both the crowd and the pharisees are motivated by greed to use Jesus to achieve what they selfishly want.

Relevance

Consider the mere Jesus of liberal theologians. Liberal theologians deny the truthfulness and veracity of Scripture. They say things like, “Did God really say. . .?” They deny the miracles of the Scripture, like the resurrection. With all this denial, you may wonder what positive claims they make.

Well, They claim that Jesus was just a good teacher, a good moral example. Jesus died, these liberal theologians claim, just to set an example of how we should give our lives too.

Of course there’s a major problem with this. Jesus claimed to be God. He claimed to be the Messiah. If Jesus was just a good teacher, then why would he lie about his identity. Furthermore, we could argue that someone who lies about their identity could not be a good teacher.

In trying to defang Jesus, the liberal theologian creates a contradiction. But, now this person can use Jesus to get what he wants out of him: morality, or a sense of purpose, a fuel for social work. In rejecting Jesus’s own self-identification and purpose, the liberal theologian can seize a Jesus that he wants to accomplish his own end.

Harvest

Matthew 9:35–38 ESV

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

V. 35 is a summary statement indicating for us a transition in the Gospel. We saw the same thing in 4:23 where the Gospel shifted from Jesus’s private to public ministry.

V. 36 shows the transition of the text focusing on Jesus’s identity to his mission: his great invitation into the kingdom of God.

When the crowds saw Jesus, they were not moved to repent as is Jesus’s intended mission, they were merely fascinated and ready to use Jesus for their own ends. They were ready to use Jesus to build an earthly kingdom.

The irony is, that when Jesus sees the crowds he does want to take them to fulfill his own selfish ends like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead, he is moved to compassion.

The crowds were harassed and helpless, unable to save themselves. They needed a shepherd to rescue them from the harassment.

But this demands the question: what does the crowd need to be saved from? More specifically, what does Matthew believe Jesus will save this crowd from?

Let’s examine.

Matthew 1:21 “21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.””

Why was Jesus baptized? to fulfill all righteousness (3:15)

When Jesus was tempted, one of the things satan offered him was to rule all the earthly kingdoms. Becoming an earthly king would have been a detriment to his mission.

Jesus’s first sermon Matthew 4:17 “17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

What is repentance but turning from sin?

The Sermon on the Mount was all focused on the heart that is truly pleasing to God. Jesus constantly made statements about who gets into the kingdom and who doesn’t. He was clear. There was no guess work.

Matthew 5:20 “20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 7:21 “21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

So what is the great oppressor which our shepherd leads us away from? The sin that is within.

What is the message? Repent. An individual turning away from sin and toward Christ. Christ is the shepherd, Christ is the narrow way, Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. It is only through Jesus Christ that anyone can be rescued from the oppression of sin.

So Jesus speaks to his disciples and image of a harvest. The harvest is those people who are willing to repent and trust in Christ. The laborers are those who are teaching and preaching about the kingdom of God and repentance.

And the call to pray in v. 38 is the same today. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

There is a harvest here in lower AL. There is a harvest across the US. There is a harvest all around the world. How often do you pray this prayer?

Relevance

And yet, churches like the PCUSA have flipped the mission.

The PCUSA has a document on evangelism. They warn of evangelism becoming a dirty word:

“When an essential ministry of the church is distorted by religious zealots and used to judge others to determine who is “in” and who is “out” of the community of faith, the message of glad tidings is turned into judgment and exclusion—a dirty word.”

This sort of reminds you of the things Jesus has taught so far in Matthew, right? When Jesus said things about who is in and who is out of the kingdom of God.

This document goes on to say:

“” If evangelism is simply a tool to bring more people into our churches, evangelism is not good news. Evangelism is not good news when it is used to focus on one aspect of the faith, like eternal life. Separated from justice, evangelism is bad news.”

No wonder they ended their missionary agency.

But I agree with what is said here. When we see the crowds are we motivated by selfish gain and want to get them in our church? So we can have the bigger church and budget? Are we motivated to get them to make a decision so they go to heaven? What’s the point of going to heaven, by the way?

I also agree with the statement that “Separated from justice, evangelism is bad news.”

Of course the author mean by that statement, “social justice” things like poverty, systemic racism, maligning people from the alphabet community, etc.

Which is ironic, because something in much greater view of the gospel is the judgment of God. God, you know, the one who determines who’s in and out of his community. The one who has the power to torment both body and soul in hell. The one who will justly judge all the earth.

And there’s yet another problem. All have sinned and justly earned God’s righteous wrath.

But the PCUSA will sure make sure you don’t have to worry about poverty or getting your feelings hurt. Really? What a joke!

These denominations are alike a doctor who stopped diagnosing patients.

Imagine a doctor spent years of his life training for the profession. Motivated by the passing of his mother to cancer, he decided to specialize in oncology.

After years of diagnosing, treating patients, putting them through grueling proceedures to make them well, he decides that giving people bad news makes them uncomfortable. So instead of telling patients the truth, he tells them they’re fine. He just gives them lifestyle tips instead, get good sleep, eat better, etc.

People leave his office feeling good. . .until their illness overtakes them.

What good is a doctor who refuses to diagnose and implement a plan for cure?

What good is a church who refuses to speak about sin, repentance, and need for Christ for salvation?

And though we should help to alleviate the symptoms of sin as our Lord himself did heal every disease and affliction. The alleviating of symptoms is only secondary to getting to the root of the problem which is individual sin.

Listen to this medical doctor turned preacher:

There are so many people trying to diagnose the human situation; and they come to the conclusion that man is sick, man is unhappy, man is the victim of circumstances. They believe therefore that his primary need is to have these things dealt with, that he must be delivered from them. But I suggest that that is too superficial a diagnosis of the condition of man, and that man’s real trouble is that he is a rebel against God and consequently under the wrath of God.

Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn . Preaching and Preachers (p. 38). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

What is our mission?

It’s not just to alleviate suffering.

It’s not to build our church or our budget.

Christ is not some stepping stone to some other mission, he is the mission

The world can destroy our building, our budget, and even our bodies, but we have Christ.

And so our mission is to tell the truth about Christ so that other people can have that essential relationship with him.

It’s more than just an eternal destination or church membership. It is a life bringing relationship with the one who brings true life.

Application

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One of the biggest evangelistic events that we put on as a church is Vacation Bible School. I’m sure you know the application is clear. You should register to volunteer with VBS.

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