“Getting Down to God’s Business”

Matthew 28:16-20 & Acts 1:6-8

Former PC(USA) Moderator Marj Carpenter is famous for these three words: mission, mission, mission. Related to that is one of her favorite declarations: Money follows mission. In other words, if we are faithful in being about our Lord’s mission – getting down to God’s business – the necessary funding will be there.

Retired Presbyterian pastor Joe Donaho’s assertion was that everything we do in the church – absolutely everything - be it a class, a meeting, or fellowship event should have mission as its reason for being. Mission. Mission. Mission.

With that in mind I’ll continue today’s sermon with some words taken from my 2012 Annual Report:

What do I expect of [this congregation] in 2012? Faithfulness. Spend time in prayer seeking God’s leading as to your role in Grace’s mission. Attend worship. Pay attention to the sermons. Study on your own the texts from which I preach and the books and articles I reference and quote. Join or organize a Bible study or prayer group. Contribute cheerfully of your resources, financial and otherwise. Pray for the pastor and church leaders as they seek God’s leading. Do more than just warm a pew once a week. Actively involve yourself in the mission efforts of Grace. And if the church officers and I are not providing you with the tools you need for mission, tell us. Participate in and take ownership of the process. Do I expect a lot of you? Yes, I do. But no more than does our Lord Jesus Christ, whose mission we are called to carry out.

In the 28^th chapter of Matthew and the 1^st chapter of Acts the risen Lord gave these final commands to his disciples: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” [and] “… you shall be my witnesses…” Those were his parting words to his church: go anywhere and everywhere and make disciples. Teach them everything I have taught you about living out God’s will, about the lifestyle and ethics of God’s Kingdom.

You shall be my witnesses, starting in Jerusalem but moving from there out into the entire world. You are to do this on my say-so. The authority the Father has given me I now give to you. By the power of the Holy Spirit I’ll be with you, indeed the power of the Spirit will be given to you. You have been taught. You are authorized. You are empowered: now go.

We have been given the greatest task in history: the mission of Jesus Christ, the tasks of evangelism at witnessing. Some words about this from our confessional documents: “God has not taken his people out of the world, but has sent us into the world to worship him there and serve all humankind.” We are a sent people. We are missionaries. Our mission field is the whole world, starting with those people just outside the church’s door.

“God sends us to proclaim the gospel… God is at work here and now when we obey Christ’s commission to witness to him and make disciples of all nations, when we spread the good news by our words and embody it in our lives.” We are a sent people, a commissioned people. We are ambassadors for Christ.

“In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage… to witness among all people to Christ as our Lord and Savior.” The world is a broken, fallen, dysfunctional, evil place, a place ruled by fear. We are sent out into the world to be the very salt and light of God’s love. We are sent out into the world to tell all people everywhere that the rulers and kingdoms of this earth – that the very Prince of Darkness himself – is not in charge. There is only one Lord. There is only one Savior. His name is Jesus. By the power of his Spirit, exercising his full authority, we find the courage to tell people that sin, death, evil, darkness, and hell do not have the final word. Jesus does.

Some of my favorite words about evangelism were written by Kenneth Haugk in his book Christian Caregiving: a Way of Life: “What greater gift could I share with others than love and life in Jesus Christ? … when I witness to what Jesus Christ has done for me – and all people – I show that I truly care for them. I show interest in the present and future.”

We have been given a powerful message that we are to share in dynamic ways. We have no need to apologize for doing so. That message is also a precious gift that must be given lovingly not arrogantly or pridefully. Evangelism is never to take the form of coercion. Witnessing is never ever to be manipulative. Before we ever talk the talk of evangelism we should already be walking the walk of evangelism. Before we invite anybody else to know Jesus we’d better dang sure know him ourselves. We can’t give the world a gift that we don’t possess.

If we’re going to take this mission and evangelism thing seriously – and we better be taking God’s business seriously – we need to remember why we’re doing so. We’re doing so because Jesus has told us to do it. We’re doing so because the message we’re called to share is the only truth in a lying world and the only hope in a sea of hopelessness. We’re doing it because we have no excuse for not doing it. We’ve been given all the tools we need.

Grace Presbyterian Church is not meant to be a warehouse in which the gospel is safely stored. It is to be a distribution center from which the gospel is shared. If we try to hold onto it, we’ll lose it. If we see mission and evangelism as tools of institutional survival – as gimmicks by which we recruit more folks to support the budget – we might as well close the doors and sell the building. If we try to save ourselves rather than risk ourselves for the sake of Jesus, we’re nothing more than a dead church walking.

In the words of Jesus, the field is white for harvest. There are folks out there who are literally dying to hear the gospel. We are surrounded by those who are full of spiritual yearning but have been alienated by that institution they have been taught is Christ’s Church. We are confronted by those who are fascinated by spirituality but are ignorant of Christianity. We are part of a culture that has an emptiness that only Christ can fill.

Let us therefore go forth and make disciples of all nations. Let us be Christ’s faithful witnesses. Let Grace Presbyterian Church be defined by mission, mission, and more mission. Amen.