REMEMBER THE MISSION--PART1

Sermon Notes, November 13, 2016

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

Pastor Garry’s sermon this week was titled “Remember the Mission,” and he started his talk with a review of the way biblical scholars have broken down the scriptures into two sections we know as the Old and New Testaments.  They broke them down further into 1,189 chapters and 31,103 verses.  If asked how many of those verses spoke about mission, locally and globally, most Christians would be able to come up with about half a dozen verses, and “The Great Commission,” of Matthew 28:16-20 would be chief among them. 

The reality is that the scriptures are rich with verses about missions, locally and globally.  In fact, one of the recurring themes throughout the Bible is that all of humanity must hear of God’s glory and of His desire for all of mankind to be reconciled with Him once again.  In other words, people are important to God, and therefore, missions are of great importance to the Creator of mankind. 

Ralph Winter, former director of the U.S. center for World Mission, once stated “The Bible is not the basis of missions; missions is the basis of the Bible.”  And Dr. Nina Gunter, former General Superintendent, and Nazarene Missions International director has been quoted as saying “If you take missions out of the Bible, there’s little left but the covers.”

This leads us to believe that God is in the business of reconciling all creation back to Himself.  Reconciliation by definition is the unification of two opposing parties.  For us this means that God desperately wants to be united with all humanity because since the fall of mankind, we are in direct opposition with our Creator. With this lens of reconciliation in place, we can see that God laid the framework for missions throughout the Holy Scriptures.

In Genesis 1, we see that God created earth from chaos. Before God was identified as the God of Israel, he was revealed as the God of mankind.  We see His desire to be with His creation.  This desire is revealed throughout scripture.  He initiated open communication with people, and He continues to do so today.

Let’s look at Abraham.  In Genesis 12:1-3, God instructs Abraham to drop everything and go to a foreign land.  But these verses also have a promise: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  In other words, leave your comfort zone and go where I tell you to go and you will be blessed, and because of this blessing everyone around you will be blessed through you.  The promise in verse 3 is the climax of the covenant God made with Abraham, and indicates that God has sent an invitation for Israel to play a vital role in His global mission strategy.

From there, let’s go to Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:5-6, where Moses is leading the people out of Egypt into the desert and God renews His covenant with His people.  In 1 Peter 2:9-10, Peter explains that to be called a “nation of priests” meant they were to be His light for all nations to see: not just to be His light, but to share that light to the world.

God’s desire is to be shared, reconciled, to all people.  We see this in 1 Chronicles 16:8, when David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel.  David talked about God’s desire to have a relationship with all people in other psalms, such as Psalm 67.  Solomon’s dedication prayer at the Temple in 1Kings 8:59-60 also says “so that all the peoples of the may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.”  Isaiah 49:5-6 says that God “will make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”  God set His missional plan into motion after the fall of man, and He continues today to point the believer toward his plan to be reconciled with all creation. 

The New Testament turns up the intensity of God’s missional heart.  We see from the first verse of Matthew to the last verse of Revelation that God still strives to have relationship with us.  Even though we are on the opposing side of God’s true heart He has made a way for modern mankind to dwell in His presence.

In Acts 15:12-21 we see that God’s desire to be reconciled with His people is the topic.  James quotes from Amos 9:11-12 to show God’s missional heart.  It is our privilege to be asked to partner with God in His mission.  We are to be a reflection of His missional heart.  He blesses us so we can help someone else hear the Good News.