Movement | We Have A Mission - Proverbs 29:18, Matthew 28:19-20 | July 7
INTRO
Hey family!
It’s so good to see you all. I hope you had a great 4th.
I didn’t really make the connection until later this week, but it’s interesting that we find ourselves here, after all we’ve come through in Corinthians and where we’re headed in just a couple months. To be here on the 4th of July weekend. I would say it’s a coincidence, but I have learned not to believe in coincidence.
Of course, the 4th of July doesn’t really have anything to do with what we’re going to talk about today except for this. As those 56 or so men sat in that room in Philadelphia on a hot summer's day in June of 1776 with the windows nailed shut, they set their hearts, single mindedly, on one specific mission – independence.
Committing treason, knowing they could be hanged and their families destroyed, they gave themselves completely to that mission. There was no turning back.
We too find ourselves at a similar crossroads, not against tyranny, but a mission lies before us nonetheless. We have a mission! It’s not independence. Perhaps it’s more akin to a greater dependence. But we have a mission!
The next five weeks, we’re going to be talking about our mission. What is it that we are setting our hearts to, single mindedly, as this expression of the family of God? What vision do we have of the future that motivates and compels us forward? What’s our focus? What’s our mission? Mission, put simply, is a purposeful movement. Purposeful movement. We are making purposeful steps, purposeful movements toward something.
WE HAVE A MISSION
We have a mission!
Proverbs 29:18 says, “18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he who keeps the law is happy.” (KJV)
This may seem like an obvious choice of Scripture for us this morning, if you’re familiar with this particular proverb.
I could have gone even more obvious. Matthew 28. The great commission. We’re going to get there.
But this verse in proverbs is an interesting verse. It doesn’t quite mean what you may think it to mean, or at least what it seems to be communicating on the surface. There is an even deeper truth to be grasped.
The King James, of course, reads “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
Most other translations say something to the effect, “18 Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” (NIV)
It’s not really talking about vision then is it, at least not in the broad sense of any old vision. There is a specific idea in mind here and that is revelation. The revealed word of God, it’s a prophetic vision of God’s purpose and mission for our lives.
Where that doesn’t exist, people are lost. Lost and restless souls, wandering without purpose. Worshiping whatever they turn their minds to. But there's no life there. This is a picture of the golden calf in Exodus 32. Moses goes up to commune with the Lord. He’s up there a long time, at least longer than the people believed was reasonable. But of course they were impatient, so what can we gather from that? They begged for Egypt after a page of the wilderness.
At this time, Moses was Israel’s link to the revelation of God’s mission and purpose. Moses spoke to the people the very words of God. When that was absent even for the shortest period of time they set their mind to whatever they thought up. A golden calf, here’s your god – yeah, okay, why not? The people had cast off restraint and wandered wherever seemed good to them. But there was no life in that gold cow.
“God has given us the written Word, the Bible [which points us to His living Word – Jesus]. When we fail to read God’s Word and live it out in our lives, we become people “without vision.” When we ignore God’s Word, we begin to live without restraint to our own peril. Conversely, when we heed God’s Word, we are blessed.”
We, as humans created in the image of God, long for life. We desire purpose and meaning. We crave it.
If you were to poll the graduating class at ASU, what are the top three things you want most as you head into your adult life, among those answers would be a resounding desire for meaning and purpose.
Studies have been done with actual statistics and numbers. I’ve seen them. I didn’t quote them because then I’d have to cite them and reference them to prove that I’m not making it up and that it’s actually 78% rather than 80% or whatever the actual numbers are.
I know right, such a hassle.
We crave meaning. We desire purpose. The reality is that we search for it relentlessly. The book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s pursuit of meaning in all the ways that you could possibly hope to find it. And in the end, Solomon concludes that life is about doing God's will. The only meaning and satisfaction to be found is in submitting yourself to God’s mission for your life. “13 That’s the whole story… Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
We are lost without the vision of God’s purpose and mission for our lives.
We see this in the world, we see this in the church when the word of God is not understood or prioritized we lack vision and end up doing any manner of things that we deem to be good missions but are not God’s ultimate mission. His mission.
We need His mission. That’s what fills our tank of meaning and purpose. It’s who we are. It’s why we were created. Without it we are restless souls as Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
God has revealed to us in His word a beautiful purpose for our lives, a mission – purposeful movement. When we lose sight of that purposed movement, we are no longer functioning as the body of Christ.
As we learned from Corinthians, to be the body of Christ we must all be working together in coordinated movement. What we’re talking about here is that we must all be headed in the same direction with purposeful movement.
Missio Dei - what is the mission of God?
THE MISSION OF GOD
The mission of God is the answer to the question why? Why do we do this? What’s it all for? The Church exists because God has a mission. The Church exists because God has a mission, not the other way around.
According to some, God became the first missionary shortly after creation, at the beginning of salvation history. To rescue us from our slavery to sin and death. To redeem us from our guilt and shame. To transform us that we may reflect His glory as His image bearers. To transform our culture, this world into His kingdom.
I do want to say this before we get too far. Worship is the destination. Worship is the goal of life. I don’t want us to lose sight of that. Micah 6:8 communicates it. Matthew 22 says it. The purpose of mankind is to love God passionately and love people purposefully.
There has always been a doxological intent to humanity's existence. We are here for God’s glory. We have been brought into the glory of God and He has made us to be that glory in some strange way that we can’t really understand. We express our love and thankfulness for all that God has done. It’s about the glory of God.
There is a famous quote that says something to the effect of the mission exists because worship doesn’t. In other words, we don’t have a clear picture of revelation where every knee is bowing and every tongue confessing so the mission, the call will be necessary until that appointed time is fulfilled.
There will be some time in the future where the mission will cease to exist, but worship will continue. Worship is the destination. The mission of God is the vehicle.
And so, it is such that God’s mission is central to His being because God desires that all would be saved. Peter writes, “8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9)
This mission is at the heart of God’s very self. Mission is His task not ours. We are His chosen instruments, but it’s His mission. We see this from the very beginning.
THE MISSION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
This may be surprising to you.
God’s mission hasn’t changed that much over the years.
In the last eon of human existence, it’s still the same. God is still winning back the hearts of His people.
God told Abraham, “17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Genesis 22:17-18, ESV)
God has called out a people so that the world might know and experience Him. That the nations may see and encounter the presences of the real God. That’s what He told Abraham.
Yes, Israel failed so many times. But there are still glimpses of this picture throughout the Hebrew Bible. The beautiful picture of Ruth just to name one. “Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16).
It’s always been about the nations. Not one of them – all of them!
We see it in Egypt. Even as the people of Israel walked out of slavery, thousands of Egyptians went with them. It’s never been about one people. It’s about all peoples. Everyone needs Jesus. You will never meet a person in this life or the life to come that doesn’t need Jesus.
If you’ll permit me the potential risk of misinterpretation, I see the beginnings of the mission even there.
God created mankind on the first page of the Bible, in the first chapter, to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth, and to subdue it. (Genesis 1:27-28, ESV)
He created us in His image that we might multiply ourselves. From the very beginning, God’s command to humanity has always been creating a family. Be fruitful. Make more of yourselves.
It’s interesting. We see Jesus in John 15 tell His disciples, “8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” You’ll see quite a large number of well known pastors teach this as a rallying call to go and make disciples.
I’ve always seen it much more a statement to let the fruit of God’s Spirit increase in your life. I always wondered where they were making the connection for this to be about evangelism and discipleship. Here in Genesis is where we make this connection. Make more of yourselves.
“You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others.” (2 Timothy 2:2, CEV)
Teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Go forth. Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the earth with My glory.
This is an invitation from God. Rule with me. Be with me. Let’s do it together. I am with you always. This is my mission. My purpose in the world. Join me in it.
THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH
“There are people, maybe you’re one of them, who are trying to figure out God’s will for their lives. You're trying to figure out God’s will for your life without first considering what God’s purpose in the world is.”
God’s purpose for the Church is to multiply ourselves, expand, and fill the Earth with His glory.
Jesus said, “19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NLT)
Make disciples! That’s God’s purpose in the world.
Make disciples.
This is such a great verse. Isn’t this a great verse.
I don’t know, maybe you don’t think it’s a great verse because now you have to go do something you don’t want to do. Or something you don’t know how to do.
You know what’s so great about this verse?
There’s only one command here. There’s only one verb. Make disciples. That’s it. That’s God’s mission. That’s God’s purpose. Multiply. Expand. Fill. Make disciples.
The rest of the sentence answers the how. In your going – make disciples.
In your neighborhood. Down your street. In the grocery store. At work. Wherever you are going, whatever you are doing, make disciples while you’re doing it.
Baptizing them. Teaching them. What should we teach them Jesus? Everything! Everything, as it pertains to Me and life and holiness. Teach them everything about Me. help me win their hearts anew.
How do we make disciples again? That might not really clear it up for any of us.
Here’s what it means to be a disciple who makes disciples. That's what we’re after.
“To be a disciple means to do what you do well for the glory of God and to do it somewhere strategic for the mission of God.”
That your ability would meet God’s ambition for His lost children. That’s what it means at its simplest.
“Local churches are signposts pointing the way to Christ’s kingdom—embassies of heaven on earthly soil. As we gather for worship, teaching, and table, and scatter for global witness, the goal of missions is the worship of God. And worship necessarily drives us to establish faithful churches of disciple-making disciples among all peoples.”
That’s the mission of the Church. As followers of Christ, our mission is to be disciples who make disciples.
I know that many of you, maybe most of you, did not end up here in the High Country because of God’s mission. Maybe a lot of this has taken you by surprise. It is too rare for people to be confronted with this reality in many churches today. It’s just unfortunate. But this is what we are setting our hearts toward.
And “my heart for you, my heart for us, is that the Gospel would multiply deep in our lives and wide throughout the High Country and the world.”
Whether you came here because this was a strategic place to join the mission of God. That God was calling you here. Or if you ended up here by coincidence. Which I don’t believe in, remember. I pray that the Gospel would take root deep down into your hearts and change you in such a way that it spreads wide among your neighbors. Through Boone, Blowing Rock, and to the ends of the Earth.
OUR MISSION
We have a mission.
Whether you like it or not, we are on a mission.
Jesus came proclaiming the universal reign of God – that the kingdom is here, the kingdom is now. He came to seek and save the lost. He came that the prodigal Son might find his way home and the older brother might rejoice in his inheritance. He came for you.
And Jesus tells us, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20:21, ESV)
That’s the mission of God, the sending of God. Purposeful movement.
We are trying to respond to what God is doing in the world – and this is what God is doing. It’s His mission. So, we’re just asking the question, what do you want to do in me? What do you want to do through me?
The elders got together a few weeks back now and we’ve been asking that question. Lord, what do you want for Mountainside?
Here’s what we feel God calling us to:
We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.
We want to proclaim Jesus with our words and demonstrate Jesus with our actions in such as way that what we speak and how we love ar in agreement with each other and don’t cause confusion as we invite our neighbors to join us in this family, creating places in our communities where the distinction between Heaven and Earth becomes very thin.
That’s what we are setting our hearts to. That’s our single minded pursuit.
Do you want to know what that means? Well, come back next week and find out. Where going to spend the next four following weeks unpacking this statement.
We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.
Why not make our mission statement: we want to make disciples, a whole bunch of them, as many as we can? Why not that?
Well it is that.
The phrase making disciples by itself also opens up that all to familiar question, how do you do that? How do you make disciples?
WHY WE NEED VISION
And we may lose that fervor that, “our mission as Christians is nothing short of incredible. It's a mission that calls us to live out our faith in every aspect of our lives and to spread the love of Christ with every step we take. It's about being agents of change, living embodiments of grace, and illuminating the darkest corners [of the world].”
We have a mission!
And what an incredible mission it is.
Unfortunately, the church in our culture has in many ways lost sight of the mission. We have lost our vision. There are sort of two ways this happens. Maybe more, I don’t know.
We as the church can often tend toward being a bit too myopic or a bit too hyperopic. It’s the two sides we veer off. Nearsighted or farsighted.
We lose our vision for God’s mission when we become a bit too caught up in the details and maintenance that we forget the focus, the heading, the direction, the mission. We become good at being spiritual as Paul might say to the Corinthians, but we end up being really bad at following Jesus.
The other problem is that we can zoom so far out that we either begin to make every good mission God’s mission or we become paralyzed to inaction and ultimately say that’s not how I’m gifted. We can get wrapped up in social justice, which is a good mission and arguably has a role to play, but it alone is not God’s mission for us. It’s not our purpose. It’s not what we were made for. In fact the Bible repeatedly says that ultimate justice is God’s thing. That’s His bag. Yes, we seek the good of all people. We seek justice and reconciliation. But in the end, vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord.
Similarly, we can get so focused that there is a mission, that even if it is God’s mission we lose sight of our role in His mission. We may even think, that’s what we pay you for Zach. You’re our role in God’s mission – right? After all, I’m paid to be good, as Roy would say. You’re good for nothing.
And so you can lose sight that this is your job. It’s His mission and it’s your job. And maybe you just need to preach that to yourself on repeat. This is my job. This is my job. Until it sinks in deep.
Do you mind if we just have a quick activity? I know these kinds of things usually come at the beginning of a sermon, but I’ve seen this work pretty well at another church, so maybe it’ll serve to drive this point home for us as well. I think this is going to work. I have high hopes. Let’s give it a shot anyway.
I’ll need four volunteers to come and help me out though.
Okay, what we need to do collectively now, is suspend our disbelief and imagine that you four are firefighters and that there is a fire engine here before us.
Now, I’m going to give each of you your riding assignments, these are your responsibilities as you are putting out a fire, bear with me. Alright, this varies from state to state and company to company, but applies generally enough.
A Seat - The Truck Captain: You’re in charge. Can you do that? When we arrive at the fire you're going to be calling the shots, sizing-up the task, and making sure everyone else is doing their part.
B Seat - The Irons Man: Not Ironman. You’re in charge of busting down the doors when we arrive. What are our points of entry? You’re getting our people in to contain and control while making sure everyone else is getting out.
C Seat - The Hook and Can Man: You’re the assistant to the regional manager. You got that? You are assisting the irons man in entry and the primary search and recovery. You’re following behind with a pressurize water can or hose making sure all remnants of the fire are dealt with. You’re the hoser.
D Seat - The Driver: You’re responsible for everything outside the fire building. You’re carrying the ladders. You’re directing the hoses. You got that?
Tell me who you are again so I’m sure you got it. A Seat? B Seat? C Seat? D Seat?
Perfect, what’s your primary job, again?
No! Your primary job, your mission is to put out the fire.
The church has one mission.
Thank you all, you can go ahead and sit back down.
“The church has one mission. That “those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (Romans 15:21)
We can’t get distracted from this. We can’t veer off and get lost with a lot of good things. We have a mission.
“Making the mission of the church central to who you are means encouraging and preparing every member to share and embody the gospel in every aspect of life. The mission of the church is not just the work of faraway missionaries or even pastors. It’s for the whole body of believers.”
“We are so excited about what God is doing… we see the opportunities. [It is at times slow, tedious, painful work that can go unnoticed by people at first.] But He has blessed us so much.
God has put us here. God has put you here at this time, for this hour. We understand His purposes in the world, and He’s given us a vision for the future, a heading, a course to reach the High Country and expand our reach into the world. Step by step God is revealing his even greater plan for us to do that. “
I love this verse in Isaiah 30, “21 Your own ears will hear Him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”
We want to be a place where Heaven meets Earth by proclaiming the universal reign of God, embodying Jesus to our communities, and inviting our neighbors to join us in becoming real people, who are part of a real family, and who worship the real God.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Why is this important? Why now? Aren’t these messages better suited for January? Like a resolution for the new year or something like that? More than half of our people aren’t even here to hear it? Why now?
In just another month, yes summer is almost ever, I can’t believe it either. It also just started so that’s weird. Time really speeds up the older you get.
In just another month, there are 18 - 20,000 people who will enter this small mountain town, nearly doubling our population. 20,000 people who find themselves at critical decision points in their lives. 20,000 people who desperately need Jesus.
Now is the time. Now is the time for our neighbors who are here year round, for the transient young professionals who come and go, the “Boonerangs”, for the college students. The time is now for us to step into our mission as true disciples of Jesus.
Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):
https://www.cornerstonewestford.com/sermons/the-mission-of-god-acts-181-17-misseo-dei/
https://churchonthemove.com/parterning-with-gods-grand-mission
https://summitchurch.com/message/my-role-in-the-mission
https://summitchurch.com/message/the-mission-making-disciples-matthew-2819
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-goal-of-missions-may-not-be-what-you-think/
https://www.gotquestions.org/without-vision-people-perish.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzwEFyNMzgo&ab_channel=TheVillageChurch-FlowerMound
https://www.amazon.com/Master-Plan-Evangelism-Robert-Coleman/dp/0800788087