To The Ends of The Earth
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INTRO
INTRO
Thank you and invite them to lunch after
Many years ago before I got married, I had a good friend of mine sit me down and describe to me the reality of what marriage would be like. Before this conversation, my idea of marriage was complete bliss. It’s going to be amazing everyday, my wife and I will never argue, we will always be happy with each other, it’s going to be a breeze and I will enjoy every day. But thankfully, by God’s grace this friend of mine prepared me for what the journey of marriage would be really like. All the ups and downs the challenges the joys in order to prepare for what is will take to walk marriage out. Today Jesus is going to prepare us as well. This morning our whole focus is taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This is the call of every Christian and of every church. But this task will not be easy as we will see, and so let’s all come with humble hearts and let Jesus’ words prepare us, change us, so we can all be a part of seeing the Gospel go to the ends of the earth.
After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. Don’t carry a money-bag, traveling bag, or sandals; don’t greet anyone along the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Don’t move from house to house. When you enter any town, and they welcome you, eat the things set before you. Heal the sick who are there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near you.’
MAIN POINT OF THE SERMON: Since Jesus has called and empowered you, we can face difficulty, danger, and our distractions as we take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The call is difficult, dangerous, urgent, but Glorious. (need to tease this out).
MAIN POINT OF THE SERMON: Since Jesus has called and empowered you, we can face difficulty, danger, and our distractions as we take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The call is difficult, dangerous, urgent, but Glorious. (need to tease this out).
1. We can face difficulty
1. We can face difficulty
The Lord appointed seventy two others and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town where He himself was about to go
Story of missionary to China? died in Taiwan
It will be difficult
“the harvest is abundant but the workers are few”
Jesus is going to describe the work of mission with a farming illustration. I know we have several farmers in the church, and Franklin county is a farming community. I want you to imagine a huge field with loads of crops. Wheat, rye, barley, corn. It is ripe, it needs to be harvested. This is what Jesus is describing. For farmers, maybe I will get an Amen here, harvest time is usually the busiest and hardest time of year. It’s good, but it’s a difficult process to go and work at bringing the crops in before it rains, or before it ruins. Not only is harvesting busy, but planting for the harvest is busy. Here is what Jesus is saying to His apostles and to you. Taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth, will be difficult. There will be seasons where you plant and plant and plant just hoping for the rain to come(story of missionary who did this, or us in Taiwan). Then there will be seasons where it’s going to take work to disciple and bring in the harvest.
The reality of this harvest is not that it’s just abundant, but the workers are few. Can you imagine trying to plant and bring in a harvest and there weren’t enough workers?
Bad things happen when there aren’t enough workers. Like not being able to get my side of Guacamole at Chipotole because they are understaffed:)
10/40 WINDOW. 69% of the world’s population live here, 63% of unreached people groups live here, 82% of the world’s poor live here. Jesus looks at this place and says the harvest is abundant! With so many unreached people groups here we would think the church is sending all their missionaries here. But here is the reality: only 3% of missionaries work here, and only 1% of finances go here. Let that sink in. Here is a huge harvest that is abundant, and yet Jesus says the workers are few.
How does Jesus say we respond to this need?
Prayer. Not clever recruiting schemes, not another book, but Jesus says pray to the Lord of the harvest. But by getting on our knees as a people and begin to pray for these parts of the world. 70,000+ people die everyday in the unreached world without Jesus.
You who are working, pray that He would send more workers into His harvest. Pastor Feng and praying for the church while he cleaned the bathrooms and mopped the floors. God answered his prayers. He is faithful. They planted 10 churches, baptizing people multiple times a year. It all began with prayer.
But the good news in all of this, is that Christian since Jesus has called you and He has empowered you, we can face the difficult task of taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Not many people sign up for a difficult task. There were days for me that I wanted to walk away from the church when we planted. It is a hard work. The only way we face is if we remember Jesus has called us to this work and He has empowered us to do it.
2.We can face danger.
2.We can face danger.
“Now go I am sending you out like lambs among wolves”
Not only will this task be difficult. But church family this will be a dangerous task. Can you imagine you were one of these seventy Christians and you were listening to Jesus and HE said okay, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. And at that point you were like, sign me up! I want to go an be a part of this. But then Jesus continues and says, okay, well Go buddy! Go get it! I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves. Who would sign up for this? Don’t we want Jesus to say, “I’m sending you out like a conquering army”. Don’t we wish that Jesus would go Old Testament and say Go out like Joshua, conquer! No. We get sent out like lambs among wolves.
Lambs are not a symbol of strength. I don’t know of one sports team that is called The Lambs. Why? Because they are a weak needy creature. And we all know what happens when a little lamb wanders off and gets found by a pack of wolves. We’ve all seen discovery channel. Not pretty.
Jesus is using a very vivid description of what it will be like to obey His call. It will be dangerous. To take the Gospel to the ends of the earth will require the church going into some of the most dangerous places on earth.
three times here it doesn’t say everyone is going to listen! People will reject you.
some of us struggle and say I will believe in Jesus as long there is no risks. But Jesus makes it plain. The call of a Christian is to suffer. Our faith and our obedience to Jesus leads towards danger, towards suffering, not always away from it.
A close friend of mine would go out into the marketplace every week. I joined him a few times. We would stand up on a box in the middle of this ridiculously busy market. People buying fruit people trying to run their businesses. There is a sea of people. We would take turns and stand on the box and preach the Gospel in Chinese. We weren’t stoned, in fact because Taiwanese are so hospitable they would sometimes bring us coffee. But after months of this, my friend Scott came to me and said that the Taiwanese business owners came to him, and asked if he would please leave. They said they were just tired of hearing his voice over and over again. His response, although discouraged, was a belief that because Jesus has called him and empowered him, he can face this kind of rejection. He can continue to go somewhere else and preach the Gospel.
The world-wide church knows this and understands this.
322 Christians are killed for their faith every month (Open Doors).
214 churches and Christian properties are destroyed every month (Open Doors).
772 forms of violence (beatings, kidnappings, rape, arrest, etc.) are committed against Christians every month (Open Doors).
Roughly 1,093,000 Christians were martyred, worldwide, between 2000 and 2010
A book that I will use several times today came out recently called Faith in the Wilderness. It’s a book that complied teachings and exhortations from the Chinese Church that faces persecution on a daily basis. Here is what Pastor Liu said about suffering and death
We face the danger of the lions den every day. Maybe the virus will get us, maybe an illness will get us. In this deadly world there is no time to entertain and serve false gods that lead to death. We are called to practice death everyday: to follow closely our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave his life for us. The mission of a Christian is fearless faith in this deadly world. To a christian, there is no death, only a change of address.
They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; for they did not love their lives to the point of death.
I know this. My family came under serious spiritual attack. We came under personal attack relationally. It’s a dangerous call. To accept the call of Christ is to accept the call to suffer.
Notice in the text, the danger of obedience is not what’s to be feared. That’s not the scary part, it’s the danger of disobedience and of people rejecting the Gospel. That’s the fear, the urgency that Jesus wants us to understand. That leads us to our next point.
3. We can deal with our distractions
3. We can deal with our distractions
“Don’t carry a money bag traveling bag or sandals, don’t greet anyone along the road.”
Just this past Christmas, were vacationing in a place called Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. While we were there, my boys and the other family we were with were playing tackle football. Me and the other dad were enjoying seeing our boys go at it until I heard a scream and yell. We ran over and Hudson had landed hard on Isaac. He was screaming and holding his shoulder. Now at that point it was around dinner time, I was getting hungry, there were also a lot of friends around to talk to. Do you think that I said, “son I know you are hurting, and in need, but you need to hold on I need to do this first..?” Of course not! I pushed aside anything else that I had planned, and raced him to the hospital 30 minutes away. He had broken shoulder.
This command may sound like a weird command from Jesus. But Jesus is actually alluding to an Old Testament story. There was a young boy who came in from the field complaining about his head and died. A servant ran and told the prophet Elisha, and Elisha gave his staff to his servant, and said “hurry, run, don’t greet anyone, don’t do anything else, run and take this staff and lay it upon the boy.” Just like my son, and this boy, Jesus is telling us that this call is urgent. It’s an urgent call. And while Jesus is wanting His disciples to rely upon God’s provision, more than that, He is telling them to get rid of anything extra that would distract them from obeying His call. Since Jesus has called you and empowered you, we must deal with our distractions. These things that keep us or distract from obeying Jesus. Sandals, money bags, those aren’t sinful things! In fact later, Jesus tells them to take them, but for this mission He tells them to get rid of them. Non-essentials.
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
This call isn’t something we can put off.
]every hindrance and sin. It’s not just sin that distracts us, it could be. But it could also be good things. What’s your money bad? What’s your extra pair of sandals? What’s mine? Tease these out. What is this for you? How to know what distracts us? Think about this and ask them. Could be good things, but they become sinful things when they hinder us from obeying Jesus’ call.
I promise you when we get to heaven and we stand before Jesus, my one concern will NOT be, man I wish I would have played more golf.
Because Jesus has called YOU and He has empowered you, we CAN deal with our distractions. This is a work of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God.
Story from muslim book. Kamal a Christian in Cairo Egypt was walking through a crowded marketplace on a Friday morning. It is dangerous to be a Christian in Cairo. Particulary at this time they had just had an attack from an extremist Muslim group. Kamal was walking through the marketplace, when he heard someone shouting at him. “You’re the one!You’re the one!”A woman came running up to Kamal, and she said, “it is you. You were in my dream last night. You were wearing these clothes that you have on now!” Kamal was completely stunned and asked the question, “Was I with Jesus?” The woman cried yes! You were with Jesus. In her dream Jesus visited Noor and told her to ask His friend tomorrow why He visited her. This friend was Kamal. Kamal didn’t want to go to the marketplace that day, he was busy, he had other things to do, but he had laid those things aside because he knew the urgent call of Jesus. All he needed to do was show up! Jesus was already doing the work.
The question we have to ask is NOT Is God still working? He is, He is moving mightily. The question we have to as ourselves is, are we still going? Are we still obeying this call to the ends of the earth.
4.Finally We can demonstrate the power of God’s Kingdom
4.Finally We can demonstrate the power of God’s Kingdom
“Heal the sick who are there and tell them, “the kingdom of God has come near to you.”
message to be displayed not just declared. These are both biblical and needed to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
This is a theme that runs through the book of Acts. As God’s mission goes forward He displays His power through the church. I don’t have time to run you through church history and show you how God continues to work these miracles and the Gospel is proclaimed. In the book of Acts 42 of the 44 recorded miracles occur outside of the church. Declaring and displaying.
The Washington Post, which is a not a conservative magazine and definitely not Christian wrote and article and wrote that one of “the driving forces of the growth of Christianity in China has been healing and miracles in rural places where they did not have access to any type of healthcare.” Jesus is still empowering, He is still calling, and He is calling and empowering you.
Story of Evelyn, coming to faith because God healed her of bleeding.
Story of people being healed. The Gospel is being demonstrated by God’s power through God’s church.
APPLICATION
For everyone: the “others”hammer this.
Others(not apostles, no names written in the bible, but these “others” were called and empowered by Jesus to go ahead of Him and take the Gospel. I’m so thankful the Holy Spirit put this text here, because we can read the Gospels and the bible and think that these are super christians. People who are not like us, people who are so much better than us. But Jesus is calling and empowering normal Christians just like you and me. Most likely many of these were new Christians. HAdn’t been to seminary, hadn’t been in the church along time, and yet Jesus called and empowered them. Church family, Jesus has called and empowered you. New Christian, older christian, struggling Christian, strong Christian, Jesus has called and empowered you.
There was only one person who was obedient to God’s call completely and fully. That’s Jesus. Jesus alone face the difficulty, the danger, and threw off any hindrance so that He might obey God’s call to suffer and die so you and I could be reconciled back from God! He alone has obeyed this perfectly, not you or me, nor any missionary. Because He obeyed perfectly on our behalf, we can obey! You can obey. He has given all that we need for life and godliness.
There was only one person who was obedient to God’s call completely and fully. That’s Jesus. Jesus alone face the difficulty, the danger, and threw off any hindrance so that He might obey God’s call to suffer and die so you and I could be reconciled back from God! He alone has obeyed this perfectly, not you or me, nor any missionary. Because He obeyed perfectly on our behalf, we can obey! You can obey. He has given all that we need for life and godliness.
\“The Christian’s hope is this: we are not stronger or purer than others. Instead, rather than believing in ourselves, we believe in Jesus, who upholds us when we fall, who comforts us when we give up, who strengthens us when our strength is dried, who loves us when we are in pain, who does not give up even when we are hopeless about ourselves. To every type of Christian there is perfect Savior who calls and empowers you.
God’s power made manifest through weakness.
Story that Brandon and Jess shared of a resurrection. Brand new believer. I’m sure theology wasn’t perfect, I know they still had sin in their hearts, yet, their faith, in a strong and able Christ, anything is possible Resurrrection and angel story.
Missions need coaches, teachers, bankers, farmers, do what you love somewhere strategic for the glory of God. Where your passion and this need meet.
At the end of the day its only a change of address.
So What?
APPLICATION:
Who? As a Christian we all have a part to play. All of us have to ask these questions this morning. Jesus what do you want me to do?
What? We can pray, we can give, or we should go. But we must have this call as a focus on our lives.
When? Now. Not tomorrow, but this starts today.
Where? Not just overseas, but at our workplaces in our homes, just starting by believing that Jesus has called you and empowered you.
How? Practical stuff here.
The end of this story of Revelation 7:9-10
After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!
Let’s pray. and respond.
If you believe you’ve been called and empowered walk in obedience. Find someone today and pray. Respond now. Pastoral prayer stuff. connect.