Are We Thankful for Being a Part of God's Mission?
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Introduction
Introduction
1. Are we thankful for being fashioned or made in God’s Image?
1. Are we thankful for being fashioned or made in God’s Image?
We learned that God made every man and woman, every boy and girl in His own Image, after His own likeness. Even after the Fall, the image still exists and is present on every member of humanity.
We learned that God mounted a rescue mission to save humanity and restore His image. That mission not only saves you and me, it also enlists us to serve alongside of our Father in completing that mission for others.
2. Are we thankful for our prayerful dependence?
2. Are we thankful for our prayerful dependence?
We learned that God’s desire is that all people will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. As we seek to fulfill the mission God has given us, we learned that the starting point for us is not in developing strategies, but in depending upon God in prayerful dependence as we labor with him in this great privilege of rescue our fellow image bearers.
3. Are we thankful for Gospel Community?
3. Are we thankful for Gospel Community?
Sunday night we learned that a part of God’s rescue mission was to establish a new group of people, the church, who had everything in common in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
We were created for community? We have a common belief, a common life, a common meal, and a common pursuit!
Today, we are going to look at our last question in our series: Are We Thankful?
4. Are we thankful for being a part of God’s mission?
4. Are we thankful for being a part of God’s mission?
God is a missionary God by nature. The Mission of God, also called the missio Dei in Latin, refers to a part of the very nature of who we know God to be.
We know that this Mission existed in the heart of God even before the God inspired even one jot or tittle to be written in the Bible.
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Did you catch that? Paul says, “Before the foundation of the world.”
What we see here is the Bible revealing to us that the missionary nature or mandate is really a revelation into the character of God’s inner being.
God is a missionary God! The fact that He has revealed Himself to us is evidence that our God desires to be known.
The fact that He made us in His image (Gen 1:26-28) reveals how important we are to His heart. When we dove headfirst into sin, our Creator could have left us to die in our sin. But He didn’t!
He planned His rescue mission before the foundations of the world, before our descent into sin. Before Jesus came in the form of a helpless baby born of a virgin, the Mission of God was already in play!
Our God is a missionary God! As His Church, those adopted into His family, we have been graciously allowed a part to play in His redemptive mission.
As a part of God’s called-out, set apart, redemptive community, we are to be on mission. The very same mission that God has been accomplishing since the foundation of the world!
Are we thankful for being a part of God’s mission?
If you have your Bibles and I hope you do, please find your way to Luke, chapter 10. That is where we will find a passage that discusses what it means to be on mission with God!
Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’
6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.
8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.
9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Prayer
The main emphasis in our passage today centers around Jesus’ concern for missions during His incarnation as He sought to train up His future bride to carry on after His ascension.
Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. His time is growing short before His mission is complete, but much work remains. The Twelve couldn’t do it all, especially when they are busy arguing over silly things like greatness and prominence.
Jesus has slowly been training a band of seventy two disciples. In our passage, He sends those disciples out to prepare the way for His coming approach to Jerusalem.
Trent Butler has said,
“That is what Christian mission is, preparation for Christ to come into lives, into towns, and finally to come again into this world.”
Butler, Trent C. Luke. Vol. 3. Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.
This mission is enormous! As is our passage. There is so much going on in our passage. We could spend several weeks trying to unpack it all.
Today, I want to briefly show you some of the major principles related to our being a part of God’s mission for which we should be thankful.
1.We are the sent ones, Jesus is our sender.
1.We are the sent ones, Jesus is our sender.
Sent ones! The word Jesus uses here for sent is the Greek verb apostello, which literally means sent or to send. It is the same word that we get the term Apostles from. One lesson we should hear from this passage is this.
Disciples are sent ones who are tasked with the mission of God! The missio Dei!
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Seventy two disciples, hand selected and appointed by Jesus have been sent ahead of Him, two by two.
The seventy-two… “appears to be symbolic of the nations of the world, a view the Jews based on Genesis 10, where there are...seventy-two (nations) in Septuagint.” - Leon Morris
Morris, Leon. Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 3. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988.
The underlying message from Luke is that the gospel is for the whole world. This mission is similar to the mission of the church today. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to all nations. To proclaim the redemptive mission of God to a world that is far from Him.
Church if we believe we have been sent by our redemptive, missionary God, then the responsibility to proclaim the message of salvation lies at the heart of all we do in ministry.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
Church, we are the sent ones, Jesus is our sender.
Are you going? Will you Go?
8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
2.Our mission is enormous and urgent, therefore pray.
2.Our mission is enormous and urgent, therefore pray.
Even seventy two workers are not enough to accomplish this mission. Jesus uses the metaphor of the harvest to teach us about the scope and urgency of our mission.
2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Harvest does not wait. Eventually, it will whither and be ruined if it is not brought in. Either we reap it now or it will be lost forever.
Saying the harvest is plentiful means we have a lot of work to do. The harvest is the mission, and the field of harvest is the whole world!
Saying the laborers are few means we don’t have time to spare. We need to be about our labors with great urgency.
This is a task that is too large for us to accomplish alone, so Jesus tells us to pray to the Lord of the Harvest for help, for more laborers.
This emphasizes the need for prayer for more mission workers, not so we don’t have to, but so we have help in our urgent labors.
Our mission is enormous and urgent, therefore pray church!
3.Our mission is requires great faith.
3.Our mission is requires great faith.
We are sent on an enormous, urgent mission to point sinners to their savior. Surely this requires great faith. Especially when you hear the directions these seventy two received from our Lord.
3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
Jesus never promised that our task would be easy or comfortable. Jesus uses the simile here of lambs among wolves to point to the risk and danger of our mission. It also reveals our helplessness pointing us to our need to look to Jesus for our strength in less than ideal situations.
True Shepherds or pastors especially need to own this truth and love the other sheep, both the lost and found sheep. Jesus said in John 10:12
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
A false shepherd, one who is in ministry for what they can get out of it, will inevitably bail on the sheep when the wolves come. Not a true shepherd, He will rise up as shrewd and wise as a serpent and fend of the wolves. Remember wolves always run in packs. That shepherd will need divine assistance at all times. So pray for our shepherds.
By saying that we are to not carry things with us for our comfort and sustenance reinforces the idea of placing our faith in God to provide what we need to bring in the harvest.
Eastern greetings were long and time-consuming. So when Jesus tells them not to greet people on the road, He is not telling them to be impolite, but to not get caught up in time-consuming dilly-dallying with social acquaintances. Our overuse of social media could be prohibiting our effectiveness in the harvest season.
Our Mission requires faith, great faith!
4.Our mission moves through relationships as it affects whole communities.
4.Our mission moves through relationships as it affects whole communities.
Ministry is about relationships. There can be no true ministry if relationships are not being pursued and developed. Those relationships have the capacity to affect entire communities with the Gospel.
In Jesus’ instructions to the seventy two, He lays out in no uncertain terms how this is developed. First, He begins with individual households or families.
5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’
6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.
Say, “Peace be to this house!” The peace Jesus is referring to in these verses is a peace that God brings through the proclamation of the Gospel and the blessings it brings.
Paul taught that such peace is the result of justification.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Justification is God's act of declaring or making a sinful person righteous before God. Justification brings grace and peace into the lives of others as we proclaim the Gospel. This develops new relationships with God and man.
If a son of peace is present, you will know it, if it doesn’t your peace will return to you. In other words, you will know if your gospel proclamation has been effective in producing faith or not.
With the phrase, “Whenever you enter a town,” comes on the heels of the households receiving the attention. I believe Jesus is saying to His church, “by ministering to households you are affecting the spiritual climate of your community or towns.”
Our mission moves through relationships as it affects whole communities with the Gospel.
5.Our mission is sustained through generosity.
5.Our mission is sustained through generosity.
Missions, especially missionary missions that carry no supplies with them, need to receive support in order to be sustained. Jesus says that support comes through generosity.
7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house.
Gospel messengers are entitled to their keep.
6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
Now what the Bible is saying is that while on mission we merit provisions from the generosity of believers (even new believers) in return for our ministry to them.
These provisions involve sustaining the ministry not the minister’s luxury.
The exhortation to not move around from house to house warns us against using our ministry to gain better housing and food. This is a warning against using manipulation to gain comfort, rather we should be content, not self-seeking.
Generous believers propel the gospel to new levels of fruitfulness by becoming the vessels through whom God releases the storehouses of heaven to sustain the mission.
Our mission is sustained through generosity.
6.Our mission brings both healing and judgement through the Gospel.
6.Our mission brings both healing and judgement through the Gospel.
Healing through the Gospel.
8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.
9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’
While there is obviously the aspect of physical healing through faith, I believe from our context, that the main sickness to be healed through our mission is the sickness of sin.
Saying to them, “The Kingdom of God has come near to you,” means Jesus is near. Salvation is near because the Savior is near.
Matthew’s account of the mission of the twelve says.
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
Church healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, casting out demons. These are all physical manifestations of the kingdom of darkness. They are all a result of sin. In Jesus’ day many of these miracles occured to show that the Kingdom of God had come near.
The Gospel has the power to dispel darkness. We have been called to be people of the light!
Judgement through the Gospel:
10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’
12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
While the ignorant, personified by Sodom, are judged for their sin, their judgment would be less severe than those who are given the opportunity to hear the gospel and choose to reject it.
48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
Will you be exalted to heaven? Or. Will you be brought down to the depths of Hades, the place of eternal punishment for those who reject Christ?
Our mission brings both healing and judgment through the Gospel.
7. Our mission reminds us to rejoice at how blessed we are in Christ.
7. Our mission reminds us to rejoice at how blessed we are in Christ.
Look at the excitement of the disciples as they return to Jesus rejoicing at the success of their mission. Listen as Jesus instructs them of the right place of rejoicing. Pay attentions as Jesus rejoices at the missionary will of the Father being advanced through His future church. Hear why our blessing is greater than those prophets and kings that have gone before us.
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
Ephesus are we thankful? Are we thankful for being a part of God’s redemptive mission to rescue our brothers and sisters from all the nations who are made in the image of God. Are we prayerfully dependent on God to sustain us in our mission? Are we thankful that we don’t have to do this mission alone, like the 72, we have each other and we have God. Be encouraged, be thankful, be fruitful. If you are, then the gospel demands that we go share it with others. Will it happen? What are you waiting for?
Watch this brief video then we will sing our hymn of invitation.
Hymn no. 282
Living for Jesus