Like Sands Through The Hourglass--Mission

 

Matthew 28:18-20

Acts 1:8

John 3:16-17

Romans 10:14-15

Romans 1:16-17

Jeremiah 20:9

Acts 4:20

1 Chronicles 16:23-24

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

John 17:18-23

Our last stop on the hourglass. (but don't leave!  We have two more lessons!)  Mission.  We are on a mission to tell the world about Jesus!  He has been the focus so far and always will be.  Everything from creation to Noah to Abraham to David has been flowing to the truth of the Person of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made to pay our debt.  The covenants have outlined the character of God, finally perfectly imaged in Jesus.  We have been dismal covenant partners, but God has been faithful to His promises because of His Great Name, sworn on because there is nothing higher.  

We learned in the very first lesson that covenant is a "sacred partnership, binding resources to accomplish a purpose".  Through the covenant partnership of Jesus with His church, we have a purpose to accomplish.  The great commission (Matthew 28:18-20) is our marching orders.  The word commission means "a group of people officially charged with a particular function."  In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish all He has for them to do.  And the rest of Acts, the history book of the earliest church, is story after story of them doing just that.  Oh, they sometimes failed--just like all God's covenant partners who came before them-- they argued, they learned, they preached, they kept silent, they split.  But Jesus never, ever let them down.  

John 3:16 was the message they were entrusted with.  The Gospel--"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."  This is the good news they were to continue spreading, following the example of Jesus who taught Nicodemus this same truth under cover of darkness.  Because if they didn't tell them, how would anyone know?  This little sect--called the Followers of the Way--  had no time to be ashamed of the Gospel.  Their eyewitness accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus would be the blueprint for us to tell their story over and over and over again.  

I often think their job was so much easier than ours.  After all, isn't it easier to tell a story when you saw it with your own eyes?? We can give details with confidence because we saw it, we were there, we lived it.  But if we hear it second hand, we wonder if it's true.  We may say "Well, that's what I heard at least" as a disclaimer that it may or may not be true and no blame can be laid at our feet if it's not.  The great apostle Paul, who wrote the biggest chunk of the New Testament, felt the same way.  He wasn't a direct eyewitness to the life of Jesus.  He told the Corinthian church when he first came to them, he didn't have any brilliant or persuasive speech or wisdom.  He was weak, afraid, trembling.  This is what he knew--Christ and him crucified.  And with the power of the Spirit, that was more than enough.  

The SAME POWER that lived in the disciples, in the early church, in Paul, lives in YOU.  Jeremiah said in fear for his life "I will not mention him or speak any longer in His name.  But His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones.  I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot."  Peter and John, after being arrested for teaching about Jesus, said to their accusers "Whether it's right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."  When you truly know and truly love God, you can't stop talking about Him.  

Jesus prayed for His disciples.  He guarded them and taught them and poured in to them--drip by drip as they could handle it.  He gave them the word of God, He showed them the way to eternal life.  He prayed for the protection.  They were His inner circle, but He didn't want them to stay so small.  He prayed for everyone who believe in Him because of them.  That's us!!  He made God's name known to them and will continue to make it known.  Jesus's prayer is full of covenant language: "I am, I will, I have!!"  Although His sacrifice will take place over the next several hours, Jesus completed the requirements by being obedient from the foundation of the world.  Jesus poured life into the church through the Spirit who gives life, and that life continues pouring into and through us.  That's why we are making the word "Mission" green--it's a grassroots, living, growing movement to proclaim Jesus--crucified, risen, and coming again.  To grow a nation from a house. Not one made of common DNA, but built from those whose sins are covered in His blood.   

I'm not a bold person.  I'm more like Paul when he is weak, afraid, and trembling than any other time. And I wonder if you struggle with it too. The early church witnessed some miraculous events that helped confirm the truth of their words which we may not experence.  But we need the same measure of boldness.    I'm going to pray this prayer for boldness over us all.  Straight out of the book of Acts--the history of the same church that Jesus is the head of still today.  We need to know of whom we speak.  We need to love Him.  His message needs to burn in our hearts and not be able to be stopped.  The world--our neighbors next door and around the world--are counting on us.  

"Master, You are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them....And now Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak Your word with all boldness, while you stretch out Your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus."  When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly."  (Acts 4:22, 29-31)  

You heard Your children then.

You hear Your children now.

You are the same God.  

You are the same God.