Tell me, have you ever walked into a room and thought to yourself, “Why did I come in here? Man, there was something I needed to do. I can’t remember, what am I doing here?” Tell me, am I the only one that happens to? Is that just a “Raasch thing?” No, it happens to you too? Times when you forget what you’re supposed to be doing? I mean, isn’t that why we make lists? So we don’t get to the grocery store and say, “Now, what was I supposed to get?” Sometimes we need to be reminded why we’re where we are and what we’re supposed to do when we’re there.
Well, you realize, that’s true not only of the little moments in life (like when we’re standing in the grocery store). That’s also true of the big moments in life. Sometimes we can find ourselves asking not just, “What am I doing in this store?” but rather, “What am I doing in this world? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life?” As human beings, we need to know that our life has a purpose. We need to know that we have a mission to accomplish.
And so, in love for us, our Savior God gives us a mission to accomplish, a mission that is tied to the greatest need that any human being could ever have—and that is the need to know that for the sake of Jesus Christ alone, God in heaven has forgiven all their sins. In our world today, there are billions and billions of people who still don’t know that. And it’s that fact that gives you and me a mission in life. St. Paul alluded to it in our epistle lesson, when he asked, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14). But really, it’s Jesus himself who crystalizes the mission of every Christian when in a post-Easter appearance to his disciples Jesus gives this command, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”
You realize, that’s a mission for more than just a handful of Jesus’ original disciples. That’s a mission he’s given to his entire Christian Church. It’s the mission that God has given to each one of you. In fact, if God has given you that mission to accomplish, then you might say that:
God Has Made You His Missionary
Now, when you first hear that, that God has made you one of his missionaries, you maybe feel a little like I felt the first time I learned that I was going on a mission trip overseas. I’m thinking, “Really? I’m going to Indonesia? I’m not sure I’m ready for that! I mean, what do I need in order to go on a mission trip?” Well, the guys on the Mission Board were quick to tell me: “First, you need to get your shots, your immunizations. Secondly, you need to bring along your anti-biotics for all the sicknesses that the shots can’t prevent. And bring plenty of Pepto-Bismol, or better yet, some activated charcoal. Bring a tarp to keep the bed bugs off you, and some netting to keep the mosquitoes at bay. And oh yes, in light of where you are going, don’t forget the toilet paper.” Oh.
So, once I had collected all those items, did that make me a missionary? No, only God can make you a missionary. And God has already done it by giving you three things:
- He’s given you a message to share
- He’s given you a reason to share it
III. And he’s given you an opportunity to share it.
First, God has given you a message to share. What’s the message? Well, Jesus tells us here in our text. What did Jesus say to his disciples? “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Now, don’t be thrown off by that word “preach” the good news. The Greek word used there for “preach” doesn’t really mean to get up into a pulpit and unload a boring speech on people. Literally, the word means to simply “be a herald”, that is, to bring an announcement from the king. And the announcement is, “For the sake of Jesus’ perfect life and sacrificial death, God the Father has declared a world full of sinners, ‘not guilty.” That’s the Gospel, isn’t it? The Good News that for Jesus’ sake your sins are forgiven. That’s the message that God has given you to share with the world. It’s how God made you a missionary. He gave you the gospel.
But maybe you’re thinking, “Wait a minute, I can’t be a missionary. My faith is not strong enough. I don’t know the Bible well enough. I don’t always live like a Christian. People are going to see right through me. They’re going to see what a phony I am. They’re going to see that I don’t have my act together.
Wait a minute. Do those things disqualify you from being a missionary? Do you remember who Jesus first gave this mission to—to preach the good news to all creation? Let me read to you the verse immediately before our text for today. “Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.” (Mark 16:14) That’s right, he rebuked them for their lack of faith. And then he says, “Now, go and preach the good news to all creation.”
Really? Why would God do that? Why would he use such imperfect people to carry out such an important mission? First, because all God has to work with is imperfect people, like you and me. And secondly, who better to tell of God’s love for sinners than a bunch of sinners? I mean, we can speak with the voice of experience. No matter who were talking to, we can say, “I’m not perfect. I prove that every day of my life. But here’s what I know. For Jesus’ sake I am forgiven. And for Jesus’ sake, so are you.” That’s my friends, is the good news. It’s the message that God has given you so you can be his missionary.
But not only has God give you a message to share.
- He’s also given you a reason to share it.
What reason do you have to share the gospel? Well, Jesus tells us here in our text. He says rather bluntly, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” I don’t know about you, but I find it awfully easy to focus on the first half of that passage and kind of ignore the second half. To think, “This is great! God the Holy Spirit has worked saving faith in my heart through his Word and the sacrament of holy baptism, so that one day I will experience eternal salvation!”
And yet, what about the flip side of that coin? I mean, did you know that of the approximately 7.2 billion people who live in the world, only about one third of them profess to be Christian? Do you realize what that means? It means that each year, 37 million people die without knowing and believing in Jesus Christ as savior. That figures out to approximately 100,000 unbelievers a day, or 70 people a minute or a little over one soul every second, going into the fires of hell, where Scripture says, “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:48)
You think about that a moment. All around the globe, there are entire nations, millions and millions and millions of people living in the spiritual darkness of Islam, or entire nations who have known nothing but Buddhism or Hinduism for centuries, people who are trying to ward off evil spirits with their various sacrifices and incantations. Ultimately all these people are putting their trust in someone or something other than Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God. You heard what Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” You realize what that means? It means that without faith in Jesus, people are not merely on an alternate path to heaven. It’s not like God will let them in the back door.” No, what did Jesus say in John 14:6? “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
You understand, that principle applies to more than just people overseas. It applies to the people in our backyard, too. What percentage of the people in the Fox Cities do you think believe in Jesus as their Savior? In a recent survey, when people were asked the question, “What will make the difference whether you go to heaven or hell” only a third of the respondents said something like, “It will be faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior.” That means the majority of the people in our community are headed the wrong way. We’re talking about people you know, people you work with, people you go to school with. They all have one thing in common. Without faith in the good news of Jesus, they are all doomed to die forever.
The question is, is there anything you or I can do to prevent that from happening? Well, maybe there is. For you see, God has made you his missionary. He’s not only given you a message to share and a reason to share it. III. He’s also given you the opportunity to share it. Think about it. Throughout your life, God puts you into contact with people who need to hear the gospel. Can you build a bridge to them? Can you let your light shine around them? Can you show them the love and forgiveness that Jesus has shown to you? Can you ask them where they are in their spiritual life? Do they know where they are going when they die? Do they have a church home? Can you invite them to yours? My friends, we need to seize these opportunities before it’s too late. You realize how many people will breathe their last breath long before they expect to breathe their last breath?
But it’s not just the opportunities that God gives to us as individuals, but also as a church body. Do you know how many people around the world who are pleading with the WELS to bring the gospel to them? For the last four years, one of our WELS pastors has been making secret trips into North Vietnam to offer Biblical training for a church body of some 70,000 people. These people are hungry for the gospel! They are pleading with us to bring them more. Two years ago, I received an email from a man in the Philippines. He had found the WELS on the internet, studied our doctrinal statements and was convinced that our church is teaching the truth. He pleaded with us to help him bring the gospel to the people of Manila. He’s now Mount Olive’s Mission Partner. He’s helping us translate our Christ-light materials and the Road to Emmaus movie into the language of his people. In places like China and Thailand and Laos and Indonesia there are groups of people pleading with us to provide them with further training in Biblical Christian theology. You realize, these people are making tremendous sacrifices, travelling hours and sometimes days on foot or motorcycle or bus to attend our seminars; they are putting themselves at risk of their lives at the hands of hostile governments. They are sending us pictures of the men who have been beaten black and blue for their allegiance to the gospel. And yet they are willing to make that sacrifice to hear and share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
The real question is, are you and I willing to make a similar sacrifice? Let’s face it. God has given us a certain amount of time and a certain amount of money to carry out the mission he’s given us to do. That means that we need to seize the opportunity God gives us to take a good, hard look at what we can be doing to bring the gospel to more and more people—whether it’s through our prayers, or through our personal testimony or through our God-given treasures. God gives us the opportunity to support the mission he’s given us through our regular weekly church offerings, or by making a special gift to our mission partner, or by remembering the work of our synod in our estate plan.
The bottom line is this: God has left you and me here on this planet for a purpose. He’s given us a job to do, a mission to accomplish. God’s not going to send angels to do it. He’s going to send you and me. You, dear Christians, are God’s missionaries. God’s given you the message to share; he’s given you the reason to share it; and he’s given you the opportunity, and yes, even the means to share it. So let’s “get ‘r done”! To God’s glory and the salvation of many souls, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.