Mission: Montrose (He Wants Me, but It is Not About Me)

This is from the AM worship service at Montrose Baptist Church on October 4, 2009.


The families in the Sahel, a four thousand mile wide stretch of savannah just south of the Sahara Desert, understand the cost of the harvest. That particular area receives all of its precipitation in a four month period: May, June, July, and August. After that, not a drop of rain falls for eight months. The ground cracks from dryness- as will your hands and feet. The winds of the Sahara pick up the dust and throw it thousands of feet into the air. It then comes slowly drifting across West Africa as a fine grit. It gets inside your mouth. It gets inside your watch and stops it. For those areas, the year’s food must all be grown in that four month period. The natives grow sorghum or milo in small fields.
October and November are beautiful months. The granaries are full, the harvest has come. People sing and dance. They eat two meals a day.
The sorghum is ground between two stones to make flour and then a mush with the consistency of yesterday’s Cream of Wheat. The sticky mush is eaten hot. They roll it into little balls between their fingers, drop it into a bit of sauce and then pop it into their mouths. The meal lies heavy on their stomachs, and sleep comes easily.
December comes and the granaries start to recede. Many families begin to omit the morning meal. By January, perhaps one family in fifty is still eating two meals a day. By February, the evening meal begins to suffer. The meal shrinks even more in March and children begin to succumb to illness. You don’t stay well on half a meal a day. April is the month that haunts the memory. In it, you hear the babies crying in the twilight. Most of the days are passed with only an evening cup of gruel.
Then, inevitably, it happens. A six or seven-year-old boy comes running to his father one day with excitement. “Daddy! Daddy! We’ve got grain!” he shouts. “Son, you know we haven’t had grain for weeks.” “Yes, we have!” the boy insists. “Out in the hut where we keep the goats, there’s a leather sack hanging up on the wall. I reached up and put my hand down in there. Daddy, there’s grain in there. Give it to Mommy so she can make flour, and tonight our tummies can sleep!”
The father stands motionless. “Son, we can’t do that. That’s next year’s seed grain. It’s the only thing between us and starvation. We’re waiting for the rains, and then we must use it.”
The rains finally arrive in May, and when they do the young boy watches as his father takes the sack from the wall and does the most unreasonable thing imaginable. Instead of feeding his weak family, he goes to the field with tears streaming down his face, and takes the precious seed and throws it away. He scatters it in the dirt! Why? Because he believes in the harvest.
The act of sowing that seed hurts so much that the sower cries.
But we must realize that this is God’s law of the harvest. Don’t expect to rejoice later unless you have willing to sow in tears.
How much would it cost us to sow in tears? Now, I don’t mean out of our abundance. Are you willing to get to the point where you say, “I believe in the harvest and so I am willing to do what makes no sense”?
As we continue to look at our call to missions, we must realize that it is not about us. It is not based on our desires or feelings. It is not determined by our abundance or lack. It is simply a call that we must answer.

Read text. (Luke 10:5-12)

If you remember two weeks ago, as we began to deal with this passage, we have discovered the personnel. We have been reminded that you and I are called to serve as active missionaries to our community. We also discovered the partnership that is present between fellow workers and Christ personally. We considered the prospect of the harvest. Remember, approximately 85% of our state is not in service this morning. And we also looked at the petition that we are expected to make for more workers.
Last week, we added an understanding of the authority of the Person that sends us. Because Jesus sends us, we do not have a sufficient excuse for neglecting our mission. We also noted the adversity of the sinful. Our message is not always going to be well-received. We discovered the adornment of those that are sent. We are not to carry a money belt, bag, extra shoes- or anything that would hinder us or relieve our dependency on God. And then we saw the appearance of snares. We were reminded that our mission is so important and urgent that we are not to be entrapped in meaningless chatter.
As we continue to investigate Christ’s call to those that He sends out, we are going to amend those things that we already understand.
The first thing that we find is the proper…

1.) Disposition (v. 5)
“But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’”
As Jesus is addressing this “other” seventy, he tells them how to approach potential hosts and converts. Rather than coming with an overbearing, powerful attitude, He instructs them to come in peace. He commands them to have a peaceful disposition.
Specifically, Christ tells these that they are to immediately greet those potential helpers with the statement, “Peace to this house!”
Now, when we look at that particular greeting, it was not uncommon during that time. In fact, it was understood much like you and I understand it today. It was a pleasant greeting that promised good intentions and desires for those that dwell in a particular house.
It was a simple address that anyone in that time would have understood. However, when it came from one of the servants of Christ, when it came from one of these men that were entrusted with the greatest treasure on the face of the earth- the gospel of Christ, the meaning was much deeper.
The Greek used was “eirēnē.” Where most would understand it to simply mean peace and rest, it actually carried a larger connotation. The word referred to peace, tranquility, harmony, safety, welfare, health. It had a special emphasis on a lack of strife in a relationship.
For these commissioned ambassadors, their offering of “Peace to this house” actually offered a hope of intimacy and lack of strife in that family’s relationship, not just with themselves, but with God.
Do you realize that is what we are essentially offering as we carry the message of Christ to a lost and dying world? We are offering reconciliation and intimacy in a relationship with God Himself.
When these men went out, they were to go with a peaceful disposition.
Where I’ve said that there are elements we’ve lost through the years, I believe that this is one of them. Instead of going in peace, we are taught to be confrontational. Instead of offering reconciliation, we believe that we go in condemnation.
Let me illustrate. We believe that the best way to evangelize is (in the best old country preacher tone and drawl we can manage) to attack those that we are witnessing to. We come with the, "THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND! REPENT YOU SINNER AND SAVE YOURSELF FROM THE FIERY PITS OF HELL! IF YOU DON'T PUT DOWN THAT BOTTLE AND GET BACK TO CHURCH, YOU ARE GOING TO UNDERSTAND THE MISERY OF ETERNAL DAMNATION! YOU SORRY SINNER, YOUR WRETCHED EXISTENCE IS A PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR LIFE. Now don't you want to ask Jesus into your heart?!"
We are taught, often through preaching, that the most effective means of reaching someone is to yell and scream and condemn their sin. We act as if we are supposed to produce fear and conviction in the hearts of the people we are called to evangelize. However, we must remember, we go in hopes of providing reconciliation. We go to bring peace. We offer a message that produces harmony.
We have to go in peace and be willing to leave the conviction up to God. Hear me again. We go in peace and we allow God to produce conviction. We are not called to produce a reaction through manipulation and guilt.
We find the disposition. Next, we note the call to…

2.) Contentment (v. 7)
“And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.”
In addition to finding a peaceful disposition, those that are sent are expected to be content with the provisions that are made.
When they entered into the cities, they were immediately trying to locate a place to stay while they fulfilled their mission. Now, you need to remember what we already know about these men. They were another seventy that were sent out in pairs to thirty-five different locations. And while they went, they were commanded to leave their money belts at home.
These men could not pay for a room at an inn. They were not able to provide for themselves through monetary means. Rather, they were falling on the grace and goodness of the people of that location.
And remember, additionally, if they went in pairs, a host would likely have to house two men as opposed to just one.
One of the pressing tasks in the mission was to secure a place to stay.
Once these men secured a place to stay while working with the people of that area, they were commanded to stay there. They should remain in that house and evidence their appreciation and contentment with the provisions made by God and those people.
House-jumping in search of a more comfortable place was prohibited. Now, why would Jesus prohibit this? Is it really wrong to want to have the best things available to you?
I believe that while there was a temptation to seek “greener pastures,” it would ultimately undermine their witness in that region. For the original hosts, what would it communicate if your guests left because they thought the offer from your neighbor was better? Additionally, this move would simply be wasted time. We must remember the urgency of the mission.
Being settled and appreciative gave an opportunity to be more focused on the task at hand and preserved their reputations.
Let’s bring this to today for just a moment. Have you heard of pastors that seem to jump from place to place, always looking for the better deal? While we are going that route, do you know of church members that do the same?
I believe that discontentment communicates the same thing today that it did then. It downplays the obedience and goodness of those that God has used to provide and it robs those people of time and opportunities to serve in their areas.
We are instructed to be content, but also see Jesus reassuring those He sends out. He tells them that a “laborer is worthy of his wages.” He basically assures them that they deserve the things that are provided for them.
Let me take a quick survey. How many of you in this room are paid what you are worth at your job?
Where some might have questioned their worth, Jesus told His followers, “Listen, you are worth what you earn. You are not a charity case. Instead, you are fulfilling an important mission and I am using those people to provide what you need and deserve.”
Jesus’ followers were deserving of what they made because of the magnitude and importance of the task they were fulfilling.
We are expected to have a peaceful disposition. We are called to be content with the provisions that God provides. We then note the duty of…

3.) Determination (v. 10-11)
“But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’”
Jesus did not ever attempt to mislead those that were being sent out. He did not pretend that their task was an easy and certain venture. Rather, their mission would prove difficult in some circumstances. In some areas, they would not have the opportunity to stay and witness because the entire community would refuse to be hospitable. There were going to be places where everyone refused to harbor and support these men.
In anticipation of this rejection, Jesus instructed these men how to approach that problem.
If everyone rejected God’s chosen messengers, they were to go into the streets and publicly knock the dust off of their shoes in protest.
Now, think about this for moment. If everyone rejected these men, they would stand in the middle of the road and wipe the dirt off the bottoms of their sandals.
This is pretty strong imagery. These men, as a form of judgment and declaration, would stand in the streets and remove the lowest things of that city. They were literally declaring to this city, “The kingdom of God has come near you. We came to offer peace and reconciliation and you refused. So, we are making certain that we owe you nothing. We are not going to be associated with you in any way. We will not even allow the dust of your streets to go with us!”
And after this determination and declaration, they simply left.
Now, this is something that we might have a difficult time with. We like the image of a longsuffering God that will never give up on us. However, when considering the urgency of the mission- and the necessary response, they simply did not have time to stay and argue with those that refuse to accept.
They moved on.
While we want to do all that is in our power, I’m afraid there are times that we spend so much time trying to persuade certain people that we neglect others. There will still be times when we have to wipe the dust off our feet.
Now, this is not necessarily something that everyone will take from this passage, but it was something that God spoke to me.
When Jesus prepared them for a potentially negative response, He was communicating to them, “You are called to go. God will handle the response. And if they reject, it is not you they reject, but God and His Son.”
We are called to go- and if we are rejected, it is not us, but Jesus that they are saying no to.
We note the disposition, the contentment, the determination, and lastly the…

4.) Destruction (v. 12)
“But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.”
I believe that those that were sent out went with enthusiasm and excitement. Certainly there was some fear, but they went with high expectations.
In those times, when they were rejected and denied shelter, it would have been easy to want to declare judgment and lash out. However, this commissioning continues to follow the pattern consistent through Scripture.
We find in the book of Romans, “’Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ saith the Lord.”
Over and over through Scripture, we find God’s people instructed to remain peaceful and trust that God is going to take the job of condemning and punishing evil.
God is not going to allow the rejection of His Son’s sacrifice on Calvary to be trampled in the dirt without consequence.
Jesus warns that it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of recompense and vengeance than it will for those cities. Now, that should scare someone. Does anyone remember exactly what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah?
God rained fire and brimstone from heaven on that city. It destroyed the cities, the growth, the people- everything. God is promising His ambassadors that complete annihilation is desirable compared to what awaits those that refuse the gospel.
If we look at the book of Mark, we are told that the place of assignment for those that refuse Jesus and His sacrifice is hell. It is the place where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die. It is a place of complete isolation from God and everything good, where the fire burns eternally, and the suffocating gas of brimstone rises from the lake of fire.
Do you know what the worst part of hell is? It is not the torment or the burning. Hell is hell because you are completely removed from God’s care and restriction. Satan no longer has to refrain from his desires when the hand of God is removed.
For those that refuse the message, their fate is so severe that they would desire fire to fall from heaven and consume them.
As followers of Christ, when our mission field refuses to surrender and bow a knee, it is not our job to take things into our own hands. We are not afforded the right to pass judgment. Rather, God assures us that He will see justice through.
Looking at the account of the seventy others, we discover that we are commanded to go. We are told how to go. And then we are reminded that God is in control and it is not about us.
When we discover that this is not about us, we must come to the realization that our task is simply to go. God is in charge of the response. However, He needs us to seek to faithfully serve Him to accomplish His will.
I know that the same question has been asked for the last three weeks, but it is going to be asked again. Are you going? Are you reporting for your missionary tour of duty? Are you making a difference in your community?
If you have not reported for duty, isn’t it time that you begin to do what you were made to do?