Mission: Montrose (Jesus wants Me?)

In 1990, a small group of teenagers came together for a DiscipleNow weekend in Burleson, Texas. They came to that occasion earnestly seeking God’s face and I am certain that none of them expected what was going to happen. God moved in a mighty way that evening and burdened the hearts of this group of teenagers like never before. Burdened over their friends and schools, they drove to three different schools that evening. When they arrived at the schools, they knew they had been directed by the Spirit of God to those places, but found themselves wondering what they should do.
It was at that point that this group circled around the flagpole and prayed with passion and conviction over their classmates, teachers, administrators, and country.
That particular evening sparked a movement in our country. Challenged by the heart of these young people, a group of youth ministers in Texas caught a vision for their state. After some promotion, later that year more than 45,000 young people gathered one morning around their schools’ flagpoles.
After expanding this vision even further, there were over a million young people that participated in See You at the Pole the following year.
Today, God has expanded this event that started in the burdened hearts of a single youth group to include more than 3 million students in all 50 states. Additionally, Christian students are now gathering in as many as 20 different countries to pray for God’s intervention in the lives of their friends, countries, and classmates.
This next Wednesday is the national See You at the Pole day. While I am a very strong proponent for SYATP, my main concern this morning is not an annual event at schools across our nation. Rather, I believe that each of us should be challenged by their burden. We should be challenged by their compassion and concern for their friends, their schools, and their nation.
If I may be blunt, I’m afraid that the church has become far too introspective. It seems that the church is becoming more and more concerned solely with what happens inside the walls of the church to the members of the congregation. We are consumed by our comforts and cares. It seems so many times that those doors are not simply shut to keep the elements, but often it feels as if the church’s concern and passion is limited by the confines of the church walls.
We must rediscover that urgency and compassion for those around us. Most of our church is not in school anymore. However, that does not mean that our mission field has closed.
I’ve been convicted that we must become more mission-minded. We must become less introspective and more prospective. We must be actively answering Christ’s call for us to serve as His hands and feet in our community.
Over the next several weeks, leading up to Harvest Sunday, we are going to examine a passage of Scripture that speaks to our need to actively work toward the harvest that God has prepared.
I would invite you to join with me this morning as we begin to look at Christ’s commission to His people.

Read text. (Luke 10:1-2)

While this passage is pretty direct, we are going to spend a few moments this morning identifying the various elements present in Luke’s account. As we look at this commission, we first notice…

1.) The Personnel
“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them…”
If we are talking about missions, we need to understand who exactly is expected to serve as the necessary personnel. And when we look at this passage, we find something a little different than what we are used to seeing in Scripture- especially from the lips of Jesus Himself. We may expect to see Him sending out the twelve disciples. However, that is not what we find here. We find that He went and appointed seventy others to serve His purpose and kingdom.
Jesus was actively preparing and training His disciples. He has already sent them out before, and we know that Jesus will send the twelve out again. However, at this point, we find that the group expected to serve as ambassadors and missionaries is larger than we generally accept. He sends out more than the “same old twelve.”
When you look at their description, in Greek they are called the seventy “heteros.” Literally, it translates as “other or another.” So basically we are told that Jesus sent out “another” seventy.
His work, his mission, was not limited to the elite twelve that were closest to Him. Instead, He intended that His message and mission be carried on by others as well.
While they are called “heteros,” or another seventy, we have to go a little farther in the passage. We are told, “The Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them.”
While they were a different seventy, they were commissioned or sent out by Jesus Himself. The word for sent is “apostellō.” Does that look familiar to anyone? Does it mimic a word that you and I are very familiar with?
It is the verb that is derived from the root for apostle. And just a side note, the word apostle simply means “sent one.” The other times in Scripture where this verb form is used, it is typically used to signify the commissioning and sending of the disciples.
Now would Jesus really send out men that were not the “trained elite” to serve as ambassadors and ministers to these locations?
Sure He would! Christ’s intended personnel is inclusive of the entirety of the body of Christ. There is not a man, woman, boy or girl that has received the gift of God’s grace and redemption that is not meant to enlist as a missionary.
There may be some of you that are thinking, “Well, we’ve heard that before.” However, I believe that we need to identify the personnel present because I’m afraid the modern church has missed the boat here. We have assigned the mission of the church to the professionally trained. Whether it is the fault of the pulpit or the parishioner, we have adopted this idea that the preacher and the church staff are the missionaries to our community.
No! That is not the case. That is not God’s plan and design. If you are His, if you are a child of God- a transformed and redeemed soul that places his/her trust in God’s grace and mercy, then you are a missionary. You are called to work and share.
We must understand the personnel then and the expected personnel now. Once we grasp the identity of the personnel, we note…

2.) The Partnership
“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.”
When we note the appointment and commission of the “other” seventy, we also come to grasp Christ’s design.
He sent them in pairs. He sent the missionaries by twos. Why?
First, I believe that it gave credibility to their testimony. You have to remember that official testimony in that time had to be confirmed by two witnesses. The pairs gave confirmation and credibility to their message. But I believe there was still more.
I really believe that Jesus saw through the frailty of human emotion. If we asked people why they don’t share the message of Christ more often they would share that they feel awkward and isolated at times when sharing. I understand. I grasp the fact that there are times when you are sharing your faith when it would be really nice to have someone there that understands what you are trying to share. It can be an isolating and awkward time. And while we are responsible for our personal witness, I believe that Christ does not intend that we go at it alone. I believe that the pairs not only gave credibility, but support. There was a two-fold partnership present.
There was a Partnership between the Sent. Because of their association with one another, there was naturally an association and bond between those sent on the mission.
Now, we don’t have specific recollections of the bonds that were established, but I believe that much can be inferred here. It would only be natural that those pairs regarded their counterparts as co-laborers and family. Their common mission created a relationship.
Just as it was then, the same should be true today. Christ’s followers are called to be partners with one another to work toward the fulfillment of His mission. In fact, I believe that is at the very heart of the purpose of the church.
The church of Montrose- whether it be Methodist or Baptist, non-denominational, Church of God in Christ, whatever it may be- the true church, is called to serve as “Missionary Sending and Support Stations.” The purpose of this body is not to merely assemble because of a Sunday ritual. Rather, this is the place where God’s individual servants (aka His missionaries) come together for fellowship, training, worship and encouragement.
This body ought to operate under the understanding that this church is a partnership of individually commissioned missionaries.
There is a partnership between those sent as well as a Partnership with Jesus Himself.
When we return to the passage, the other seventy were not merely sent to random places. Rather, they were purposely and strategically sent to those areas where Jesus intended to appear personally. They were basically sent as forerunners.
However, with that understanding, we grasp that this mission was a partnership with Jesus. They were working for and with our Savior.
Once again, things have not changed. We are still working alongside our God. We are still partnering in His work.
Let me explain briefly. We are called to share the message of the Gospel of Christ. We are called to serve with our lips, our hands, and our feet. However, when we share the gospel, what is it that brings conviction and causes transformation and regeneration? It is not us! It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Literally, it is the Spirit of Christ that is working alongside us. His partnership with His missionaries continues today.
When trying to understand Christ’s call, we note the personnel. We grasp the partnership. Next, we must see…

3.) The Prospect
“And He was saying to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…’”
While I believe this overall passage is a “call to arms,” Christ sends out His servants with a promise of a great harvest. He is basically assuring His people that the mission is worthwhile. There is both hope and a promise of success in their endeavors.
He begins with the Promise of a Great Harvest Then. As Jesus is sending out this “other” seventy, He gives His assurance that there is a great harvest awaiting them. Through the analogy of farming and harvesting, He assures them that their work and toil will be rewarded.
Just think about that for a moment. I am not a farmer. I cannot relate as well as many of you to the processes involved in farming. However, I do understand the basic concept of work and reward. It is a pretty universal concept. And let’s face it, if we invest the time and labor, we want to know that there is going to be a return and reward for that effort.
Jesus plainly told His people that the harvest was abundant. It was plentiful. He assured them that a great harvest was waiting then. And I believe that this also speaks to the Prospect of a Great Harvest Now.
You and I need to understand that there is still a great harvest awaiting us. Listen, I know that it feels like pulling teeth at times to get someone to surrender their life to Christ. Hey, it’s hard to get people to agree to come to church. However, we need to realize that there is still a prospect of a great harvest.
Let me make certain you understand just how vast and open our field is. We’ll start large and narrow it down. This world has a population of approximately 6 billion people. At the current time, there are approximately 1.5 billion people that have NO access to the gospel. If you take the population of the entirety of the United States and its territories and multiply it by 5, you have the number of people that have never had a way to hear the name of Jesus.
In North America, 7 in every 10 people are lost. If you narrow it down to the United States, 3 in every 4 people are lost.
Let’s get to our own backyard. In the state of Mississippi, we have a population of 2.95 million people. On Easter Sunday, the most attended Sunday of the year Baptist churches will have approximately 200,000 present in service.
That figure equals approximately 6.9 % of our state population. If you combine every other “Christian” denomination, the number almost doubles. If you count every church of every Christian denomination, we still see less than 14% of our entire state in church on any Sunday. And here is the part that will probably really bother you- In a recent survey, Mississippi was found to be the “most religious” of all of the states. Did you catch that? The most religious of all of the states has about 15% of its population in church on any given Sunday.
Our harvest is plentiful. There are plenty of fields to be worked. Even if every church attendee brought someone with them next week, 75% of our state would still be unaffected.
There is still the prospect of a great harvest! There is still a fresh field to be worked.
We note that we are the personnel. We are enlisted in a partnership together for the purpose of spreading the hope of Christ. We are still given a prospect of a great harvest. And lastly, we cannot ignore…

4.) The Petition
“And He was saying to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’”
While they are being sent out, Christ also urges His followers to pray for more workers.
Now, here is where I believe we take this passage incorrectly. So many times we look at this passage with the idea that we can merely pray for God to send someone out to reach these masses that we just mentioned. We pray for our missionaries. We pray for God to send out more workers and so many times we feel as if we have fulfilled our spiritual duty because we have done that.
However, that is not what is urged here at all. Rather, these seventy that are being sent out are urged to pray for more workers- as they are in the process of working for God’s kingdom.
The passage is clear. We are called to pray for more people to work the fields. We are called to pray for those that are laboring in the fields. However, that prayer should come from an active missionary.
You and I are called to pray, but we cannot merely ask God to send someone into the fields to cover our responsibility.
We must pray for God to send His people into the fields. However, when I think about it, my approach is this: When I pray for God to send someone to the fields- when I pray for Montrose, I pray that God will send someone that I can partner with in ministering to this community. In my prayers, I pray for God to send people into the areas that I cannot reach. I pray for Him to do things that are beyond me and my abilities.
Our call to pray is not a relinquishing of personal responsibility. Rather, it is a bid for God’s power and assistance in doing His work.
It is time that Christ’s church once again becomes a mission-minded church. It is time that we abandon our introspective attitudes, and begin to look at the white fields around us.
In the next several weeks, I hope to encourage our church to take a more active approach in reaching our community. I hope that while our giving to missions is important, we will be a mission.
And for us to answer God’s call to work toward His harvest, we must each make a personal decision as to what we are going to do.
Are you actively working for His kingdom? Are you truly burdened over the lost in our community? Are you burdened enough to be like those kids in Burleson, Texas and take action?