I'm thinking what a privilege it is for me to have the best job in the church,
to be the ministering in charge of mission,
and to have a whole month.
Like, we don't have a month of membership.
We could, but we're not.
But we got a whole month of global missions.
So, wow, you know, that's pretty privileged.
And as I sought to argue in that video,
that mission, a global mission, is a gospel imperative.
I urge you, if you're not convinced, to check it out,
even if you were convinced, to check it out in Luke 24.
Luke 24.
So the context is post-resurrection,
and Jesus was explaining to his disciples what just happened
and the meaning of it.
And he kind of said, well, you should know this
because the Old Testament has taught you this,
that the Christ must die, the Christ must rise,
and repentance of faith must be preached to all the nations
in the name of Jesus.
So global mission, gospel imperatives.
And again, you know, just to reiterate,
there are lots of things we can do without.
Okay?
And we still have the Christian faith, Christianity,
and you can still be a Christian.
We don't need this building.
Okay?
Unless it rains.
Christianity, we don't need this building to, you know.
We don't, God forbid, need a parish council.
If that disappears tomorrow, there's still Christianity.
You don't even need the ministers.
It's quite amazing.
We're not Roman Catholics.
We could all get, you know, the staff could die tomorrow
or horrible disease, and you could still be Christians.
That's one of them.
But you can't do without the death of Jesus,
the resurrection of Jesus, and the mission, global mission,
to proclaim.
What do I mean by mission?
I simply mean the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom of God.
It is as simple as that.
It is telling people about Jesus who's king of the kingdom.
So mission.
Simple enough.
What do we mean by global mission?
Global mission.
And that's quite easy.
Global means the world.
Okay?
Global mission involves preaching Jesus to all the world.
And I'm slowly coming to the conviction
that global mission is not just going from here to there.
I think that the world has changed, has moved on,
that the here and the there sort of distinction is no longer valid.
So if I can so tentatively and nervously suggest,
perhaps we should change local and global impact
to just global impact.
Just to help us to see that what we do here
is part of what's happening in the whole world.
I think nowadays, everyone goes from everywhere to everywhere.
What is, I think, most challenging in the task of mission
is crossing barriers, crossing cultural barriers
to different parts of the world,
perhaps to different type of people,
even in this part of the world.
I don't know whether you're convinced of this,
but ironically, I think globalisation and technology
are both making us even more homogenous.
You know, on Facebook, you might think,
wow, I've got a million friends,
but most of them are people just like you and me.
Well, maybe, no, I don't know.
But technology is making us into sort of siloing
with people just like us.
In fact, increasingly, I look at churches around in Sydney,
we are becoming more homogenous than ever before.
You might look, oh, you know, no, no, that's not true.
There's Chinese people and non-Chinese people and whatever.
But at some level, no, actually, we're all pretty similar.
We all live in the North Shore.
We have sort of vaguely similar sort of values.
They're not sort of, you know, really crazy people in our church,
except for Josh.
You know, but he's an exception.
But he's from Canada.
You know, it's...
We...
There was a book that I was reading
that was kind of saying that it makes a hard...
Like, we actually lost the skill
of relating to people who are just different to us.
We don't know how to talk to them.
We don't know how to disagree with them.
We just give up, you know.
They are not our Facebook friends.
And we just stick with people that we can talk to,
that we can agree with.
And church becomes a...
And this is why I think in global mission,
the biggest challenge to us is to cross those barriers,
to take Jesus to people who are just different to us.
And that's what we're talking about.
And it is imperative.
It is not an optional extra.
For those of us sitting here in the North Shore today,
we need to be taking Jesus to people not in the North Shore.
Why aren't we running missions in Mount Druid?
Why are we doing that?
Why aren't we...
I don't know.
Like, it's not an...
We need to take Jesus to all those people.
And we'll be looking at different elements of this global mission
in the course of the next few weeks.
But this week, just three things.
I want to focus your attention on the passage
that we're looking at tonight.
The first thing that I would say is the context of the passage
is very different to our own.
I want to say this because just in case you're really naughty
and you go beyond chapter 9 into chapter 10,
and you actually see Jesus sending off his disciples,
and he makes sort of funny statements and saying,
don't...
Whatever you do, like, go on this mission,
don't go to the Samaritans,
and don't go to the Gentiles.
Right?
And you might think, well, what's going on there?
Can I just ignore that part?
Or how can we be consistently saying global mission means evangelising everyone
when Jesus...
Well, it's a different context.
It's a different salvation historical context.
The Bible itself explains it.
There is a plan at play.
The Jews, the people of Israel,
is a beneficiary of the gospel,
of the work of the Messiah first,
and then the rest of us.
So there is a priority in the plan.
And Matthew 9 and 10
is kind of like an expression of that.
The plan is still continuing
and therefore is still relevant to us.
So I want to point out approximately four things
out of the passage that we're reading.
If you go to the passage,
Matthew 9, verse 35.
Sorry, let me call up.
35.
Jesus went through all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the good news of the kingdom
and healing every disease and sickness.
It's a summary statement of what Jesus has been doing.
If you look at chapter 8, chapter 9,
all of it,
you'll find that Jesus is doing exactly what that statement says.
He's going around preaching
and he's going around healing.
He might, you know,
he's rather restrictive.
Surely he was doing more than just preaching and healing.
Surely he was eating and chatting to people,
going to part.
But no, no, no.
The two activities
which Matthew focused on
are these two.
Preaching the gospel of the kingdom
and healing every disease.
Well, preaching.
It tells us something about
the central core of Christianity.
The core of Christianity,
the central message of Christianity
is not be a good person.
Okay?
And if that is what you think,
I want you to throw that away.
Okay?
The central message of the Bible of Christianity
is not be a good person.
Nor is it come and join a religion.
In a sense.
It's not, that is not,
the message,
the central core of the message of the Christianity
is a warning.
A warning.
It is like a sign on a highway.
If you're on your L's,
you dread to see the sign
because it says,
wrong way,
go back.
Okay?
That,
that is the message of Jesus.
Matthew chapter 4, 17.
Jesus says,
repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is near.
Repent.
Wrong way,
go the other way.
Turn, turn around.
Why?
Because the kingdom of heaven is near.
Because,
if you keep going the way that you do,
you will have a head-on collision with God.
And when his kingdom comes,
his judgment comes
to destroy evil and wickedness and rebellion.
And you are heading,
and you are heading face-to-face on a head-on collision with God.
So,
wrong way,
go back.
Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is near.
The core of the Christian man.
Secondly,
we are told that Jesus was healing every sickness and disease.
And if you go back to chapter 9,
chapter 8,
what do you see?
Well,
chapter 9,
verse 1,
Jesus healed a paralytic man.
He forgave his sins.
Chapter 9,
verse 18,
there was a dead girl,
and Jesus gave life back to her.
In the same little passage,
we read of Jesus healing a woman who's been bleeding for 12 years.
Verse 27,
Jesus overcomes an evil spirit
and gives sight and speech back to a man.
What's that about?
It is about the world that we live in.
What is the world like
that is not the kingdom of God?
Where God is not,
as it were,
ruling in an absolute sense.
Where we are ruling.
Well,
that is the world that we live in.
And it is a world that is broken and cursed.
Long enough,
we all experience it.
It is a world of sickness and disease and tragedy and war and injustice
and self-serving ambition.
And above all,
it is a world of death.
Jesus has come
to preach
the news that God's kingdom is coming.
And what he does is he demonstrates what that kingdom is like.
And so he
went to the towns and villages
to heal every sickness and disease.
He freed people from evil and oppression.
He gave life
where there is death.
He
has come to bring a foretaste
of the kingdom
of heaven
where the good rule of God
reigns supreme.
So 35,
verse 35,
is a summary statement
of the work
of Jesus.
Jesus has come into the world
to do that.
Well,
what's that to do with
our mission?
Well,
there are three things to note.
Firstly,
the motivation
of mission.
Come with me
to have a look at
verse 36.
So a summary statement
of what Jesus has done.
36,
when he saw the crowds,
that is,
as he went around
to the towns
and the villages
and he saw the people,
what did he see?
He had compassion on them
because they were harassed
and helpless
like sheep
without a shepherd.
The motivation
for mission.
We
have inherited
this idea of God
from
the 19th century.
It's called deism,
for those of you
who are interested in this.
This idea of God
is,
we look at the world
around us
and it's a wonderful,
complex place.
It's a complex machine
like a supercomputer,
right,
with all the little bits
and,
and what we do in science
is that we discover
the intricacies
of the world
and,
and God is this genius
who kind of built
this amazing computer,
computer in his backyard.
You know,
he's that clever.
But the thing about
this genius,
inventor God
is that he's both
blind and indifferent.
You know,
he's built this machine,
he flipped the switch,
and the machine just,
you know,
it just churns.
It runs his routines
and sometimes things
happens in a routine
and,
you know,
he's,
and he doesn't do
anything about it.
He's blind
to whatever
happens to it.
You know,
when tragedy
strikes in our life,
you know,
there's a terrible
car accident
that takes away
the life of somebody
who cares about,
the inventor,
God,
can't see it.
That's why
he's not there
to do anything.
He didn't do it
because he's blind
or he's indifferent
or he can't do
anything about it.
It's called deism.
You know,
another sort of
popular conception
of that is
God off the gaps.
You know,
if we can't explain
something,
it must be God.
Everything else
we can explain,
it can't be God.
this is not
the picture
of the God
of the Bible.
What happens
when Jesus saw
the suffering
of the people?
We are told
in verse 36
that he was
moved
by compassion.
Not unmoved.
Not just
a God of the gaps.
Not this blind,
indifferent,
genius,
computer maker,
designer person.
He sees
your pain
He sees
your trouble,
He sees
your suffering
that you are
experiencing
and it breaks
His heart.
And He
did something
about it.
He sent
His Son
into the world
to deal
once
and definitive
of all
our suffering.
You know,
global mission.
The word mission,
it comes from
a Latin word,
missio,
which means
sent.
The Father
sent the Son
as He sees
your suffering,
my suffering.
And the Son
has come
to heal
every disease
and sickness,
to give life
where there's death,
to overcome
evil,
to bring in
to announce
the kingdom
of God.
God.
And the first
thing that we
need to
understand
in our
global mission,
conception of
our global
mission is
as followers
of Jesus,
we need to
have the same
compassion
that He has.
He wanted
His disciples
to see
that the harvest
is plentiful
but not
enough workers
to be
motivated
by His
compassion.
I was reading
this week,
apparently a study
was done by
the University
of California,
Berkeley.
The report
of the study,
if you want
to look it up,
is published
in a journal,
Social,
Psychological
and Personality
Signs.
And apparently
this is the
result of this
study that
they've done.
Atheists
help people
because of
compassion.
Right?
They see a
child
on a TV
set
and they're
not unmoved.
This study
concludes
that religious
people,
that is people
like you and
me,
we help
people
because of
our doctrine,
because of
our communal
identity
and our
reputational
concerns.
Now,
I don't know
how,
you know,
the parameters
and scopes
of the study
and all,
but assuming
that it is
true for a
moment,
that would
be awful,
wouldn't it?
Imagine
if your
parents were
to treat
you like
that,
or your
boyfriend or
girlfriend or
your wife,
you know,
I noticed
that you
were sick,
so I'm
calling,
but please
note that
I'm calling
not because
I care,
I'm only
calling because
that's just
something that
I have to
do,
you know,
is that
so in my
royal description?
And I'm
calling because
that's what I've
been told that
I have to
do.
Worse still,
I'm only
calling because
that's what
people at
church would
do as well
too.
Not because
I care,
frankly I
don't.
Imagine
that.
Awful,
wouldn't it?
That is
not the
God of
the Bible,
that is
not the
Jesus whom
we worship,
Jesus cares.
He sees
people in
need and
it breaks
his heart.
And as
followers of
Jesus,
we are to
be like
Jesus.
Look
around you,
look at
the world,
look at
Sydney,
and see
the needs
of the
people.
Can you
see it?
The lost
and harassed
and helpless
people.
We are
meant to
see those
people and
that ought to
break our
heart.
And mind
you,
not the
staffing kid
on TV,
you know,
not the
sick person
in the
hospital.
Of course
that would
move us
to tears.
but the
sinful
person
around you
who is
acting
sinfully,
who because
of their
sinfulness
is offending
you,
who is
taking
advantage
of you,
who tramples
on your
values,
we are
to feel
compassion
for them.
When they
behave in
their self
destructive
way,
we are
to recognize
that that
is part
of their
lostness.
And that
ought to
break our
heart instead
of us
getting angry,
getting even,
putting our
foot down and
asserting our
rights.
No,
when Jesus
saw sinful
people in their
sinfulness,
he had compassion.
what did Jesus
do when he
had compassion
on the
crowd?
What did it
move him
to do?
Well,
eventually,
to the cross
to die for
them and to
save them.
But in this
particular context,
what did it
move him to
do?
Verse 38,
they looked
like sheep
without a
shepherd.
And he
said to his
disciples,
the harvest
is plentiful,
but the
workers are
few.
Therefore,
38,
ask the
Lord of
the harvest
therefore to
send out
workers into
his harvest
field.
What did
it move
Jesus to
do?
His
compassion.
It
moves him
to command
his followers
to pray,
to ask
the Lord
of the
harvest to
send out
workers.
So that's
the second
thing.
The first
is the
motivation for
global mission
is to
compassion of
God.
Secondly,
the first
thing that
we do,
first activity
is prayer.
I think
when we
come to
global
mission,
if we
think that
it all
depends on
us,
you know,
when we
see a
needy
person or
an
unrighteous
person,
then what
we need
to do is
to,
you know,
organize
ourselves
and,
you know,
raise money,
social action,
change,
whatever it
is,
the last
thing that
we would
do is
to pray.
But the
first thing
that we
need to
recognize
is that
this is
not our
mission.
This
global
mission
that we
speak of
is not
our
mission.
In fact,
I'm going
to throw
something
theologically
controversial
out there
for you.
I want
to suggest
that St.
Paul's
has no
mission.
In fact,
no church
has a
mission.
Rather,
what we
have is
a God
who is
on a
mission.
Matter of
semantics,
yes,
but
important
distinction.
God
has a
mission.
We
don't.
He
invites
us
to take
part
in
his
mission.
It
is
his
mission.
The
workers
are
his.
The
world
is
his.
The
money
is
his.
The
harvest
is
his.
That
is
why
Jesus,
first
thing,
commands
his
followers
to pray.
We
may
subconsciously
have
adopted
this
thinking
that
praying,
yes,
is
important
for
mission,
but it's
the type
of thing
that you
do when
you can't
go to
Peter
Marisberg.
If you're
a
clean toss,
that's
where you
go.
If you
are
working
and you
earn a
decent
salary,
you can
give.
But if
you're not
a clean
toss and
you're not
working,
then maybe
you pray.
I want
to suggest
to you
that is
so far
from the
teaching of
scripture.
Prayer is
not something
that we
do when
we can't
do anything
else in
mission.
I want
to suggest
to you
that praying
is part
of the
mission,
that praying
is just
as important
as going.
Here's
something else
controversial,
that when
you're praying
your 30
days of
challenge,
that you
are engaging
in something
that is
just as
important
as what
the
Clint
Hosses
are
doing
in
Peter
Merisberg.
Every
Christian is
engaged in
this global
mission.
Mission
isn't just
for the
professional
missionary.
Going out
to Mount
Druid or
reaching out
to the
homeless people
in Chesswood
isn't just
for someone
who's gone
to Bible
college.
Global
mission is
for all
of us.
And you,
it doesn't
matter what
stage in
life, what
capacity, what
resources, you
can get
involved in
it.
And the
most important
thing that
you can
do is
to pray.
Move
by God's
compassion,
move to
prayer.
Well, what
do we pray
for, verse
38 again?
Jesus says,
pray for the
Lord of the
harvest to
send out
workers.
I have to
say that this
is actually
quite hard to
comprehend in
many respects.
It's kind of
like an odd
thing to pray
for.
You know, you
would have
expected Jesus
to say, no,
pray that
the harvest
is plentiful,
pray that the
harvest will be
harvested.
You know,
there's a
world of
needy people
out there,
pray that God
will meet
the needs of
people.
I mean, he
can do that,
can't he?
He's our
almighty God,
created
everything.
This is why
this prayer is
so odd,
that of all
the things that
we are to
pray for,
that his
disciples are
to pray for,
that we are
to pray that
God will send
out workers.
Yes, our
God can meet
human needs
directly, he
can rain down
manna from
heaven to
feed the
hungry, he
can rain down
fire to
devour the
wicked.
But here,
Jesus commands
his disciples
to pray, not
just to save
people, but
that God will
send out workers
into the
harvest field.
The harvest
is plentiful,
but more
workers is
needed.
just to skip
forward in
chapter 10,
you see that
Jesus then
immediately sent
out the
disciples into
the world.
The followers,
in fact, became
the answer to
their own
prayers.
It is true
that God could
fix the world
with a
snap of
finger.
That might be
our wisdom
and how we
might see
things, but
God in his
wisdom and
in his
might has
chosen to
save this
world to
meet the
needs of
people through
other people.
Proclaiming,
bringing the
kingdom of
his kingdom.
For global
mission is
just not a
task to be
done, not
just a
project to
undertake, but
relationships to
be formed.
When we pray,
when we engage
in mission,
we're forming
a fellowship.
We're being
involved in
the lives of
people far,
far away.
There's
relationship.
It is not
just superstition.
Somehow, if we
raise X dollars,
then things will
happen.
global mission
involves faith.
It's not just a
forming of
relationship with
other people, it
is a forming of
relationship with
God.
Fundamentally, at
a theological
level, we see
here that global
mission, the
underlying
theology, that
God uses
people, that
almighty God
who can use
anything that he
wants, use
you and me, to
save people.
That is why
Jesus commands
his followers to
pray for God to
set out workers.
The context of
the passage is
different to
ours in terms of
its salvation
historical context,
but the plan
continues.
There are
still things
relevant for
us today, and
I want to draw
four conclusions
from this
passage.
The first
thing is,
God's kingdom
is still
coming.
As Jesus
went around
the towns and
the villages
proclaiming the
kingdom of God,
saying, you're on a
collision course, so
repent and believe
in the good news,
that is still
true.
The kingdom of
God is still
coming.
The judgment of
God on this
world is still
coming.
This is still
the time to
repent and
believe the
good news.
If you haven't
done that, let
me invite you to
take the
opportunity, for
the window of
opportunity is
getting smaller.
That is still
true.
The kingdom of
God is still
coming, the
opportunity,
to escape the
judgment of God
is still there.
Secondly, what
is still true is
the compassion of
Jesus.
Don't prove
this Berkeley
study to be
true.
As a religious
person, don't
be motivated by
simply your
doctrine.
Let your
doctrine move
your heart.
Don't do
things because
you have to,
or because
everybody else
is doing it.
lift your
eyes.
See the
needs.
As you
experience and
see sin in
this world, let
that break
your heart.
Don't be
unmoved.
Do something.
Well, what to
do?
Pray.
Take that
challenge.
Take the 30-day
challenge.
Every day, not
asking you to
wake up at 4 in
the morning, not
asking you to
spend 6 hours
praying, although
if you want to
do that, go for
it.
How hard is it, do
you think, to pray
for the
Goskins?
How long do you
think they will
take you?
I don't
know, 10
seconds?
30 seconds?
It might take you
a little while
longer to find
out where they
are and what
they're doing, but
that wouldn't
take more than
two minutes or
five minutes.
Spend five
minutes every
day just
praying for the
work of God in
this world.
Think about all
the lost tribes,
even in
Chastwood.
Do you know
there are
Napoles in
Chastwood?
I met a
few.
I didn't
know that.
Is there a
Napoles church
in Chastwood?
I don't think
so.
Pray for them.
Where are the
lost tribes?
Where are the
cultural barriers
that we refuse to
cross?
Who are the
lost people in
our midst?
Is it a certain
age group of
people?
Certain
lifestyle of
people?
Certain
professions?
I mean, how
many people
working in
restaurants could
go to church
on a Sunday?
Who reach out
to them?
Pray for
them.
Lastly, so
God's kingdom
is coming.
Be filled with
God's compassion.
Pray.
And lastly, pray
that the Lord of
the harvest will
send out workers.
workers.
Okay?
This is not an
imprimatur to
think of the
person you
dislike the
most and say,
God sent him
out to
Afghanistan.
Okay?
It's not, you
know, pray that
God will send out
workers.
I mean, God has
already sent out
workers.
Look at all
these columns.
God has sent
out people.
Pray for them.
Not just pray for
them.
It's a whole
world that
still does not
know Jesus.
Pray that God
will send out
workers, not
just from out
there somewhere.
Pray that he
might send out
workers from
in here.
But it could
be you.
How about
that?
So when you
pray and God
answers your
prayer, be
prepared to go
as well too.
We'll come to
that.
in a few
weeks' time.
But for the
moment, God's
kingdom is
coming.
Be filled with
God's compassion.
Pray.
And finally, pray
that God will
send.
Shall we
pray?
Gracious
God and
Father, we
thank you that
as you see
our needs, as
you saw our
needs, you
did not remain
unmoved, but
you sent your
Son, our
Lord Jesus
Christ, to
come into the
world to deal
with our sin
and suffering.
Thank you
that you
have promised
that you
bring an
end to
evil and
death and
sickness in
the world.
And we
pray, Father,
that Lord Jesus
will come
soon.
And we
pray in the
meantime that
you will, in
your great
mercy, continue
to send
people out
into Chesford,
into Sydney,
into Australia,
into the
world.
It is a
world that is
desperately lost
without you.
Break our
heart, we
pray, Father
God.
Help us to
see those
needs as you
do.
Help us to
react emotionally
the way that
you do.
We pray not
only that you
will send
people out,
that you will
send us out,
that we will
meet those
needs, that we
will proclaim
the kingdom.
And we pray,
Father, that
through this,
that you might
save many.
And we pray
this in Jesus'
name.
Amen.