THE PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Almighty God, who by the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Your Son Jesus Christ, has fulfilled the covenant promises given to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David: we pray now that You will send forth the gift of the Holy Spirit upon us, to open our minds to the Scriptures, to renew our hearts in faith, and to set our souls on fire with a passion to proclaim the gospel throughout all the world, for the glory of Your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, and our eternal King. Amen.

THE SERMON

"The Great Commission" recorded in Matthew 28 is well-known among evangelical Christians. Jesus’ words in this passage are our "marching orders" for mission. His words to those eleven disciples, spoken after His resurrection from the dead and before His ascension into heaven, are His words to us. He has told us what to do. And, in fact, we would not be here today — none of us would be here today, none of us would be in any church building this morning, none of us would know the joy of salvation or have the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins or be upheld by the sure and certain promise of eternal life — none of us would know the true and living God, were it not for others who faithfully fulfilled this "great commission" in obedience to Jesus Christ.

It is amazing, is it not — now, this is really hard for us twentieth-century Americans to grasp and appreciate, but I want us to try — it is amazing, is it not, that in the first century, in the obscure region of Galilee, during the reign of the Roman empire, a man gave his "marching orders" to eleven ("11") ordinary, unarmed, uninfluential, unimportant men ...and the result of that ...is that you are here today worshiping the true and living God in the name of Jesus Christ. And, of course, people all over the world today are worshiping the true and living God in the name of Jesus Christ. That’s the whole point and purpose of the "Great Commission" — the worship of the true and living God through Jesus Christ by people from all over the world.

You see, we have to understand that the words of the "Great Commission" are not simply the sound-bite slogan for some "piddlin’ project," not simply an advertising jingle for some product we want to promote, and certainly not just a "motto" for our little "Christian club." No, we have to understand that the words of the "great commission" are the command of a king — the command of the THE KING: the King of all creation, the rightful King of every nation, the King of Heaven, and the King of all the earth. And when this King gives His "marching orders," He gives also the empowerment of all His resources to ensure that His mission will not fail.

There, on that mountain, before He ascended into Heaven to sit upon the throne at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, Jesus told His eleven disciples, "Surely, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age." He was about to depart from them physically, but He gave them the promise that He, He Himself, would be with them by the power of His Spirit from on high, until the end of the age, until the end of history, until the end of the mission.

And that is the reason that you are here today: because the King of Heaven did not and has not abandoned His mission; the King of Creation has been and is faithful to His promise, faithful to His purpose, faithful to the end. He is with us now! And what He said to those eleven ordinary, unarmed, uninfluential, unimportant men two-thousand years ago, He says to us today:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.

Those are our "marching orders." This is the King’s mission; it is our "commission."We have been called into service. We have been commanded to fulfill a mission-assignment. We have been promised all the resources necessary for the accomplishment of this mission. The King is marching onward in His world-conquering, world-redeeming mission. Are we with Him? Are we in the service of this King, whose Kingdom cannot fail?

You see, the "great commission," puts our lives — our individual lives and our life together as a congregation — in proper perspective in relationship to the King, Jesus Christ. Let me tell you what I mean by that; and by what I’m about to say, I don’t intend to lay a "guilt trip" on you, or make you feel "bad" — that’s not the point. The point is, really, to look at our lives in relationship to God from a different angle, a different perspective, I believe, a more Biblical perspective, and so that we can see our lives in relationship to God from the perspective of the Great Commission.

OK. It goes without saying that all humans, because of our fallen nature, are self-centered. We are born into this world believing that the world exists for us, and we demand that the world arrange itself to please us. Furthermore, the culture in which you and I happen to live — the individualistic, "me-first," "have it your way," customized consumer culture of the American Empire — reinforces and rewards the self-centeredness of our fallen nature. Now, how does this influence our relationship with Jesus Christ? Well, I’m afraid that, due to our own fallen, self-centered nature, and due to our conformity to this world, I’m afraid that without even realizing it, without even being aware of it, without thinking it consciously or saying it out loud, we tend to be very self-centered .. in our faith, in our understanding of the faith, and in our relationship with Jesus Christ. I include myself in that, as the "chief of sinners."

The danger is that, unconsciously, just naturally, we think or feel, and live, as though our faith in Christ is all about ... us: as though my relationship with Christ is all about ... my salvation, the forgiveness of my sins, the healing of my soul, the meaning and purpose of my life; the health and happiness of my marriage; the nurture, education, and discipline of my children; the significance and satisfaction of my work; the promise that all things work together for my good; in short, that the gospel is all about my happiness, my real happiness on earth and my eternal happiness in Heaven.

Stay with me, because I’m walking a tightrope here; I’m walking the razor’s edge of truth, and if I’m not careful I’m going to lose my balance and fall off. None of those things I just mentioned is bad or wrong or sinful. In fact, everything I just said is good and right and true, and I praise the Lord that it is true. I praise God that the gospel of Jesus Christ is about my personal salvation, the forgiveness of my personal sins, the healing of my soul, the meaning and purpose of my life; the health and happiness of my marriage; the nurture, education, and discipline of my children; the significance and satisfaction of my work; the promise that all things work together for my good; in short, that the gospel is all about my happiness, my true happiness on earth and my eternal happiness in Heaven. That’s all true, but that’s not the whole truth. And if I’m not careful, and if I’m not thinking from a Biblical perspective, from a God-centered perspective, from a Christ-on-High perspective, then I get it all skewed out of perspective, and, without realizing it or being aware of it, I begin to think and feel and believe and act and live as though the gospel were really only about me and my life, so that God, as a personal God who loves and cares for me personally (which is a precious truth of the Christian faith), is reduced to the status of being only my personal counselor or mentor or savior or friend — sort of as though, you know, God exists for me, or as though my life were the most important project He had to work on. Well, my life, quite frankly, is a "project," and I am thankful that God is at work on me and in my life and that He has promised to bring that work to perfection at the day of Christ Jesus.

But, you see, that’s a promise that He has given to all who love the Lord Jesus and have placed their faith in Him. And you see, now here we go, stay with me: the promise of our personal salvation through Christ, and the promise that He has begun a good work in us and that He will bring it to perfection at the day of Christ Jesus; the promise that He works all things together for good to those who love Him; the redemption of our lives out of the dominion of darkness into His marvelous light, in which we personally experience the healing of our souls and the restoration of our broken lives, and the renewing joy of the Holy Spirit in our lives personally; and all the promises of covenant blessings for this life and the life to come, to children’s children, upon those who fear Him and remember His commandments to do them — all of this and more that is given to us personally in the gospel, to be appropriated personally by us through faith in Christ, for our true happiness on earth and eternal happiness in Heaven, comes to us for the sake, or for the cause, of something that is far bigger, far greater, far grander, far more glorious than our own personal, individual lives.

You see, what God does in us and for us in our personal lives through Christ, He does as part of, and for the sake of His mission; as part of, and for the sake of His world-conquering, world-redeeming mission: which is to make disciples out of all the nations; to redeem, through His blood shed on the cross, a people for Himself out of every tribe and language and people and nation; to fill the earth with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea; to build His true Church, as that great mountain that fills the whole earth as the visible expression of His kingdom upon the earth. To put it simply, what God does in us and for us personally through Christ, He does as part of His world-conquering, world-redeeming mission of reclaiming and restoring His creation, His world, to its God-glorifying purpose. God has begun His redeeming work in the world and He will bring it to perfection. And that’s what the great commission is all about!

Yes, the gospel of Jesus Christ comes to me personally, and in Christ alone I have my true happiness on earth and my eternal happiness in Heaven, but my happiness is not the end or the goal of Christ’s work of salvation for me. No, my happiness through Christ is for the sake of glorifying God, it is the means by which I may truly glorify God. And what is true for us on an individual level is true on a worldwide level: the purpose of the great commission, the purpose of going into all the world and making disciples of all nations, is ultimately and supremely for the sake of bringing worldwide glory and honor and praise to God. Missions is not for the sake of missions. Missions is not ultimately and supremely for the sake of the people to whom we go, though surely if we are filled with the Spirit of Christ, then the love of Christ will compel us to go with love and compassion for those who have not heard or who have not yet received the gospel. But even then, even as we go with love and compassion for those people, we go ultimately and supremely for the glory of God, for the honor and praise of the name of Jesus Christ; for, as the Scripture says, you who trust in Christ are "a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light" (2^nd Peter 2:9); and as more and more people are called out of darkness into His marvelous light, more and more people declare His praises. And this is the goal of the "great commission," as we read from Psalm 96, "Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples!" And Psalm 67 sings out, "Let all the peoples praise You, O God; let all the peoples praise You. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy."

You see, the goal of missions is worldwide worship to the glory of God through Jesus Christ. And so, do you see, do you see the logic and connection here ...if our own salvation is God-centered and not self-centered; if our personal relationship with Christ is God-centered and not self-centered; if our worship is God-centered and not self-centered; if our lives are Christ-centered, and not self-centered; then we will see our lives right in the center of the "great commission," we will see our lives as part of that great, on-going, world-conquering, world-redeeming, God-glorifying mission and we will not be able to separate ourselves from it. We will understand and realize that the whole purpose of our salvation is that God might be glorified in us through Jesus Christ. And we will understand and realize that God is on a mission, a mission throughout the world and throughout history, and that we have been redeemed, called, and commanded to be a part of this world-conquering, world-redeeming mission for the glory of God. It’s God’s mission, and so it’s our commission. And if we don’t see our lives as part of God’s mission in the world, or if we think that the "great commission" really doesn’t have anything to do with us, then we’re missing it — we’re missing the whole point of our own personal salvation, and we’re missing the fact that Christ the King is on the move in this world. Right now, Aslan is shaking his mane and is bringing spring again to this world which has been frozen in the sins of idolatry and unbelief. And He has given us our marching orders and we are to go with Him on His world-conquering, world-redeeming, God-glorifying mission, and either we are with Him or we’re not, either we’re following His orders or we’re not, either we’re living our lives for the sake of the praise of God’s glory through Jesus Christ or we’re not. Are our lives God-centered or self-centered? If our lives are God-centered for the glory of God, through Jesus Christ, then our lives will be right at the center of the Great Commission. If we are Christ’s people, then Christ’s mission is our commission.

Now, to say that as Christ’s people, our lives will be right at the center of the Great Commission, does not necessarily mean that each one of us will be called to go physically to Nepal or Burma or Russia or China, or to become full-time missionaries elsewhere in the world. Yes, we do, here in Rivermont, have a stated goal of raising up and sending more full-time missionaries. But even if you are not called to go to the foreign mission field, you are still a part of the great commission: you have role to play in prayer for the missionaries and for those to whom they proclaim the gospel; you have a role to play with your financial of missionaries and their work; you have a role to play right here in advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ, supporting and participating in the work of the kingdom in and through Rivermont Presbyterian Church, or another local congregation. How many children in our Sunday Schools, in Pioneer Girls or Boys Bible Club, will someday be on a foreign mission field because they heard the gospel here, and were discipled in their homes by their parents, and experienced the joy of the gospel in the fellowship of this congregation, and were further discipled through Sunday School and Youth Group, and then caught a vision of missions while on one of our mission trips or at one of our Missions presentations or major Missions Conferences?

You see, it’s all part of one big, glorious picture — you can’t separate yourself from the "great commission" without separating yourself from Christ and His Church. And that’s the reason, by the way, that the Session sees no conflict or contradiction in the fact that today is the first Sunday of the Missions Conference and also the day on which we vote on the question of a stewardship pledge-drive for the addition of educational and administrative space. You have on one side of a bulletin insert the visual illustration of our congregation’s Vision Statement. At the heart and core is God-centered worship, and out of God-centered worship flows a life of education and nurture for the sake of living out our faith in daily life, for the sake of the great commission of proclaiming the gospel to all the world and making disciples of all nations ...for the sake of the glory of God throughout all the earth. It’s all part of Christ’s world-conquering, world-redeeming mission. And it’s all for the sake of the honor, praise, and glory, of the blessed Lamb that was slain, whose blood purchased a people for God out of every tribe, language, and nation. It’s His mission; and so it’s our commission. And remember, He is with us, even to the end of the age.

Now to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! AMEN!