The Mission

John 4:31–38 NKJV

31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

Just like Jesus, we are invited to partner with God and join Him working in the Father’s Business.

What is the Father’s Business? What type of work was Jesus sent to do and what does that mean for us?

In this text, Jesus had just had a conversation with a Samaritan woman at the well. His disciples went to go get food and had returned. After her encounter with Jesus, where He revealed Himself to be the Messiah, she went to tell people about Him and then His disciples approached him.

He told them that more important than natural food was the work that His Father sent Him to do. His desire was to finish that work. Then He uses an illustration of sowing and reaping and harvest to further describe the work.

So then what was that work?

Luke 19:10 NKJV

for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Do you remember what your life was like when you were lost? Do you remember what the condition of your life was like when God found you (cf. Isaiah 51.1)?

Jesus was devoted to this work. And He was devoted to the lost people that He was sent to.

Mark 6:34 NKJV

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.

We do not know the day nor the hour that the Lord is coming back. We only know that He is coming back.

Illustration: John Harper on the Titanic. The unsinkable ship hit an iceberg and was sinking. It was a matter of time. Scottish preacher John Harper, was on his way to preach at Moody Memorial Church in Chicago for revival meetings. He was sharing the gospel with people before the ship hit the Iceberg. But when it was clear the ship was going down, he put his daughter on a lifeboat. He then gave his lifejacket to another passenger. He began to declare, “women and children and unsaved first” and helped people to lifeboats. Eventually he was among those who were in the water and he could be heard asking people, “Is your soul saved?” He swam to as many as possible sharing the gospel and praying for their salvation until ultimately he was taken by the sea. The testimony of one survivor related the story and said that there, with two miles of water beneath them, they called unto Jesus and became the last convert of John Harper.

John Harper joined the mission of Jesus and sought to reach the lost.

And if we are going join in the Father’s work of reaching the lost, we need to look at them the way Jesus does. Every person we encounter was created in the image of God (Genesis 1.27, James 3.9). Sin has twisted and defiled that image. Christ came to restore it (1 Corinthians 15.49, Romans 8.29, 2 Corinthians 3.18, Colossians 3.9-10).

And when we join in the mission of God our church will be full of people who have stories to tell about how God saved them and restored them and then used them to help reach others. We will be like John Harper, aware that the boat is sinking, and seeking to reach as many as possible before it is too late for them to be saved.

Our Common Call

The truth is that one of the primary reasons that people do not know Jesus is that they have no one to tell them (Romans 10.14). One of the reasons that may be is that we have somehow believed that only certain people are called to share the gospel and make disciples.

Ephesians 4:11–12 NKJV

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,

There is a difference between the evangelist and the saint. The saint does the work of ministry, the evangelist equips the saints for the work of ministry. As a saint, the evangelist does the work of ministry. But as an evangelist, they equip.

We are all saints who follow the Lord in the Spirit. And therefore, we are all called to share the gospel message.

When we understand that all of us have a place in the kingdom and a work to do in the Father’s business.

And because of God’s love and for the sake of those who are lost, we need to join the mission of Jesus.

Matthew 28:18–20 NKJV

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 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, 20 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.

When Jesus commissioned His followers to go and make disciples of all nations, He gave them a promise—I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.

He also promised that He would give us the power and the ability to be witnesses to Him (Acts 1.8). Jesus would not have entrusted us with something so important if He didn’t think we could do it with His help. Now is the time, the fields are ripe, and time is running short.

Going On Mission

To take our place in the mission of God there are a few things we can do:

Accept the Mission

John 4:35 NKJV

Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

The first thing that we need to do is accept the mission. Look up, the fields are ripe. Now is the time.

But nothing happens if we do not accept the mission. There is a great need. There are people who are ready to respond to the message of good news in Jesus.

It’s not enough for us to know that fact. We must accept responsibility for our part. And when we do, lives will be changed.

Train for the Mission

Matthew 28:19–20 NKJV

19 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, 20 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.

Not only do we have to accept the mission and go. We also have to prepare and train so that we might be effective.

Discipleship is very much an on-the-way training. In order for us to reach the lost we have know Jesus for ourselves. And not only do we need to know Jesus, we need to teach them the things that He teaches us.

So we train. We become disciples and learners of Jesus with other Christians. We worship and pray and serve together. As we do that in God’s house we are equipped to do that in the world.

As we learn to live by the Lord’s standard we can teach those things to others.

Live On Mission

John 4:36–38 NKJV

36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

There are opportunities all around us. Other laborers have entered into the mission of God. They have sown seed of grace and good news. We are called to join them in the harvest fields.

Some of the people we come into contact with will be immediately ready to receive Jesus. Others will need more time.

Illustration: Average of 7 positive gospel encounters.

When we live aware of the people around us and sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, then God will create opportune moments for us to share with others.

The field is ready; are we ready? Let’s live ready to reach whomever God leads us to.

Conclusion

John 20:21 NKJV

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

When we respond to the sending of Jesus by accepting the mission to go to the lost we will be used by God to change people’s lives.

Many will say yes to our invitations—yes to prayer, yes to church, yes to Jesus, yes to salvation.

When we determine to train for the mission and prepare for the opportunities and encounters that we will have, we will be ready to speak (cf. 1 Peter 3.15).

As we live on mission we will discover opportunities all around us to do good works and share good news in Jesus’ name.

Ultimately, when we choose to join in on the mission of God we will win friends for eternity and enter into the joy of the Lord.

Pray that as we choose to enter into God’s work to reach the lost that He would empower us and make us fruitful. That as each one of us seeks to reach at least one person we would see many saved and the church grow as we make disciples of Jesus.