Living Missional

Intro:

Have you ever had a time in your life when you were moved inwardly when you saw someone in need, or something unjust happen to a person or people group? Maybe it was a person holding a sign on the street corner, or you encountered a child growing up abused who had to be placed in foster care.

Maybe it was an addict on the street who seemed to be without hope or a clear path for the future, or a young widow thrust into being the sole provider and single parent unexpectedly. Maybe you were close to someone who received a bad medical diagnosis and the uncertainty of the future is overwhelming.

Maybe the intense reality of those dealing with poverty, starvation, or trafficking around the world finally hits home, or the suffering of those in war-torn nations. It may also be the moment you realize deep down how many people do not know Christ and have never heard the message of the Gospel.

I think so often when we see these things in life, something moves inside of us, and this thought arises: Someone needs to do something about this. Someone needs to alleviate the suffering, someone needs to meet the need of the afflicted and addicted, someone needs to comfort the widow, the orphan, or the sick, and someone needs to share the message of hope found in Christ.

The question is, who is the someone?

Awareness of need may evoke empathy, or even outrage. Campaigns can be created to raise awareness, but the question remains: Who will be the one to go?

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Submit:

I would submit to you this morning, the answer to the question is you and I. The answer and hope the world needs is Christ, but most often the initial encounter will come through people like us. Colossians 1:27.

Colossians 1:27 “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

This morning, I want to talk with you about being mission-minded. Mission is all about purpose. It is why you exist and do what you do every day.

As believers, we must learn to live mission minded. As unique individuals we will have nuance to the vocations we pursue in our lives, but ultimately, we operate under the purpose of the kingdom of God.

I believe that there are two primary calls in the Christian life the upward call, and the outward call.

One positions us in the family of God, affirming our identity, teaching us how to live in relationship with God while preparing us for the second call which is to go and demonstrate the reality of what we believe.

The Upward Call: Philippians 3:13–14

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The upward call begins with salvation. Salvation is the work of God to save and deliver. Jesus alone is the source of salvation (Jn 3:16-17). It cannot be earned by works (Eph. 2:1-9), it is simply a gift of God.

The outworking of salvation is a process called sanctification, which means to be made holy, or purified. This process of purification through alignment with the word of God leads us to a consecrated life where we are to be set apart for God’s use (The Outward Call).

The Outward Call: Matthew 28:18–20

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”

The Outward Call is a natural progression from the work of God in our lives through salvation and sanctification. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

The Upward Call is a process of becoming who He has made us to be, but the Outward Call gives demonstration to the world.

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Apply:

I believe the best example I can give you of this is Jesus. John 14:10-11.

In John 14:10–11, Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.”

Here we see intimate relationship. Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. The things that He spoke, the works He did were the result of the Father in Him. This reveals the upward call. The result of the upward call was the outward call. He did works to demonstrate the reality of that relationship with the Father. Matthew 20:28.

Matthew 20:28, reveals the heart behind the outward demonstration, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus came to serve and the result was living missional. The upward relationship He had with the Father, framed his view of the people around Him. Matthew 9:36-37.

Matthew 9:36–37 “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”

When Jesus saw the needs of others, he wasn’t simply empathic, He was moved with compassion. He didn’t look at their situation and feel bad for them, He compassionately used what He had to shift their situation.

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Closing:

The same holds true for us, we want to be empathic with peoples stories, but more than that we want empathy that moves us to Godly compassion that is marked by the Hope that is in Christ. John 14:12-21.

In John 14:12–21, Jesus shifts his focus from His relationship with the Father, to our relationship with Him, He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

We are called to alleviate the suffering in our world. We are called to serve the least of these, and to do the works that Christ did. The answer to those that are in need, is Christ in you.

We will need to live upward by pursuing deep intimate encounter with Jesus to learn both His ways and His heart, and we will need to live outward, demonstrating the missional nature of the kingdom.

Let’s Pray!

Jesus help us to know you like never before. Through your word, would you help us to create the lens of compassion with which to see the world, and through the power of the Holy Spirit let it move us from empathy to action.

Salvation.