Mission

We're back in John 4 this week. But we've moved past the conversation that Jesus had with the Samaritan woman. The focus this week is on the conversation that Jesus had with his disciples. You'll remember that before Jesus met the woman the Twelve went off to buy some food. Our text is about what happens when they return. Please listen as I read John 4.27-42.

Let's start with something that I'm guessing stood out to you: Jesus' comments about food. He tells his disciples, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about'. The disciples hear what he says, but it makes no sense to them. 'Has anyone brought him something to eat?' So, Jesus then says, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.' Once again, Jesus uses something that is visible to talk about something that is invisible. He has used the birth of a child in his conversation with Nicodemus and refreshing water with the woman. Here, it's food. The Father reveals much in ordinary things. (Incidentally, this helps explain the sacraments.) In talking about food in this way, Jesus is applying something that Moses wrote. '… man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.' The enjoyment of a good meal is a picture. It's a picture of hearing the words of the Father and responding to them in faith. The promises are to be embraced and the commands are to be obeyed. And that's how to enjoy life. That's how you really live. Jesus has heard the words of the Father, and he is obeying them. 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.' And he finds that so satisfying.

In this saying we've bumped up against something that I've mentioned before. Jesus refers to the Father as 'him who sent me'. That means that Jesus is on a mission. The Father sent him on this mission. So, what's the mission? There are different ways that you can label it. Here's one way. Jesus' mission is to save the world. From John 3: 'For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.' And it is clear that the Samaritans got it. '… we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.' The Father sent Jesus on this mission. And as he pursues it, in obedience to the Father, life works. His life works. He is satisfied. And he is especially satisfied in our text because he can see progress. The Samaritans are coming to him. Another part of the world is being saved. And that is so good. It's better than a good meal.

There are reasons why this is so satisfying. For one thing, it's important to remember that there are obstacles to Jesus' mission. We've encountered two in this incident with the woman. First, she is a Samaritan. John makes sure that we know that this is a problem. 'Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.' For a proper Jew back then, a Samaritan is one of 'those people'. So, Jesus isn't supposed to even notice her. An obstacle. The other obstacle here is that this person Jesus is speaking to is a woman. Upright Jewish men just didn't do that. The Twelve had fallen into this trap. 'They marveled that he was talking with a woman.' Once again, Jesus surprises these men. So, Jesus' conversation partner has two strikes against her, and she knows that. 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' Obstacles. But Jesus deals with these obstacles. In fact, he obliterates them. There is a mission to pursue, a world that needs saving. And making progress in that mission is so satisfying especially when obstacles are overcome.

But saving a world costs. Do you remember how this episode starts? 'Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.' Jesus was tired. But it was more than just the journey that was wearing him down. After all, the disciples were also on that journey, and they were still going. Consider what Jesus faced. Wherever he went, people were flocking to him, bringing their diseased and possessed, begging him to take pity on them. Day after day, there were all these multitudes crowding around Jesus, pressing upon him, appealing to him to act. And healing all those people wasn't a matter of just saying some magic word and moving on to the next person. Do you remember the woman with the flow of blood? She snuck up behind Jesus, touched his robe and was healed. What happened next? 'And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?”' I don't understand all that's going on here, but, at the very least, it means that healing people cost Jesus something. '…power had gone out from him', and he felt it. Healing people cost him. It was draining. And do you remember that time when he tried to get away for a little break? What happened? The crowds heard and ran to the place ahead of him. 'When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.' Because he cares, because he loves all those people, he gives and gives and gives - and even when he needs a break he gives some more. So, is it surprising that in the middle of a huge storm, one so bad that experienced fishermen are terrified, Jesus is asleep in the stern? I think that you can see how the beginning of our text makes sense. Jesus is weary. So, he sits beside a well while the others get some food.

What is this but the costliness of the Cross. Jesus' suffering wasn't limited to one day. Pursuing the mission of God is hard. Jesus was tired, bone-tired. But that just highlights his excitement at the end of this episode. Jesus sees the Samaritans coming to him. 'Food? Who needs to eat at a time like this? Look, they're coming! The people are coming! The world is being saved.'

So, this is what we have. Jesus has been given a mission by the Father. He was sent to save the world. Pursuing this mission was hard. There were obstacles to overcome. And it was tiring. It was wearying. But Jesus did it gladly and got excited as he saw the fruit of his labor. The Samaritans believed. More of the world was being saved. 'I have food to eat that you do not know about'. And the words of Isaiah prove true: 'Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.'

I've explained the text, or a part of it. Now, how does this connect with you? This is the part of the sermon where I tell you what difference this bit of Scripture makes to your life. How should I do that? I could talk about how you are part of the world that Jesus came to save. I could talk about the costliness of it all to Jesus, the costliness of saving you. I could stress that he is so excited that you have come to him, how that makes all his suffering worth it. I could do that, and that would be good. But I'm going to pursue a different angle, a different way that this text connects with you. I want to talk about the mission. This text connects with you because of the mission.

Jesus was given a mission by the Father. That mission was to save the world. That is clear. But what should also be clear is that the mission is not yet completed. There's lots more of the world yet to save. But Jesus is no longer walking the earth. How can he complete the mission? Don't worry. Jesus continues his mission. But he pursues it in a different way now. I've mentioned before how Luke begins volume two of his work, what we call the Book of Acts. 'In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach…' Luke's point is that volume two is about all that Jesus continued to do and teach. But Jesus is in heaven. How could he continue to do and teach? He does it through his Church. He gives his Spirit to the Church on the day of Pentecost, and then he sends it out on this mission. And that's what the Book of Acts is all about. The mission to save the world is not yet completed. So, Jesus continues his mission. And he's using his Church to do that. We see the transition in a place like the Great Commission. 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' If that was meant only for the eleven men Jesus was talking to, then the mission ended in the first century. No, that mission was given to the Church. Since then, it has been handed on from one generation of Christians to the next. The Church does not pursue the mission on its own. Jesus is with us, by his Spirit, 'to the end of the age.' He guides, gives power and protects his Church. And that will continue until he completes the mission and the world is saved. Today, Jesus is using his Church to accomplish his mission.

So, let me put this plainly. Jesus continues his mission to save the world through his Church. That means that he continues his mission through you. You have a role to play in saving the world. It's all a part of what it means to be the Church. And that's how this text connects with you.

Now, if this sermon were being preached in the days of my youth, it would be at this point that the preacher would up the pressure. He would talk about how important it is to be a lively witness for Christ, how you need to make it a point to tell your neighbors and co-workers about their sin and how Jesus has come to save them. He might refer you to his favorite Gospel booklet or the church's evangelistic training program or tell you that a group is going door-to-door next Tuesday - and you really should be there. After all, how are the lost going to be saved if you don't go and evangelize them? Now, I am very sympathetic towards the desire of faithful preachers, back in the day, when it came to the spread of the Gospel. But I'm not going down that path. And I'll tell you why. It's because of what the Bible teaches.

The NT letters are filled with all sorts of information. You'll find instruction on the family, the job, dealing with difficult people, how to forgive and lots more. The men who wrote those letters were applying the Gospel to every aspect of life. All manner of topics are covered. But there is one thing you will not find. You will not find any instruction on how to do what we would call 'personal evangelism'. There is no comment like, 'You know, you really need to tell your neighbors about Jesus.' There isn't one command about it. Not even one. Isn't that interesting? The closest that you will come to something like that is what Peter wrote about being ready to give an answer to those who ask you about your hope in Jesus. But there, they come to you.

And that's why I'm not going to tell you that if you want to be a faithful disciple of Jesus you had better get out there and bang on doors to talk to people about the Gospel - or whatever the latest method of personal evangelism is. But I am still going to tell you that you have a role in this mission of Jesus. The Church is Jesus' tool to save the world. Faith Reformed is Jesus' tool to save the world.

So, what are you to do? What's your role in this mission? That's the right question. But let me say something before we get to that. And I want to lean on this. I want this to be very clear. Jesus' mission is your mission. This mission became yours when you were baptized into his Church. Jesus is going to save the world using you. And here's the sign that you are convinced of that. You get excited when the mission makes progress. You get excited just like Jesus did. 'Food? Who needs to eat at a time like this? Look, they're coming! The people are coming to Jesus! More of the world is being saved!' The emotions give telltale signs of what the heart desires. Those emotions will show differently depending on things like personality, but they are there and they reveal the heart. It's when you, in one way or other, get excited about the mission of saving the world that it becomes clear that the mission is dear to your heart. That's really what this sermon is about.

There is an assumption at work here. I'm assuming that the mission is an all-consuming thing. And I've got some verses that make me think it's a good assumption. This does not mean, however, that you need to drop everything and catch the next flight to some distant land to be a missionary. Pursuing the mission is much more nuanced than that. Bear in mind that Jesus spent thirty years at home, much of that time being a tradesman. And yet, he was on mission. For those thirty years, that was what the Father wanted him to do. To efficient, modern people that sounds like a waste of time. That just reminds us that the Father's sense of efficiency is so very different from ours. So, when I talk about the mission being all-consuming, I'm not talking about how much time you spend on some 'religious' activity. It's not about time. It's about how important saving the world is to you. It's about what you get excited about.

Let me insert a word, here, to you kids. Everything that I've said about being given a mission includes you. Remember, I said that the mission became yours when you were baptized into the Church. So, as you think about your future, you need to remember this mission. Some of you are thinking about what kind of job you would like, what college you want to go to, getting married, other plans. And all of that is fine. But you need to plan for them in the right way. You have been given a mission. Jesus is saving the world through you. Be sure that that is the starting point as you think about your future. You have a role to play in saving the world.

Now, to those questions I postponed. So, what are you to do? What's your role in this mission? There are specifics that relate to each of you individually. The Spirit will make those clear to you, so I won't talk about that. I want to talk about something that affects us all as a group. The Spirit made sure I saw this command from Jesus this past week.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

Jesus will use us to save the world by having us love one another. As we do that, the people out there will see, and then they'll know. 'Oh, so that's what it means to be a Christian. That's what Jesus is about.' We pursue the mission by being a community, by being involved in each other's lives and by loving each other as we do that. And the model for that love, the standard for that love, is Jesus' love for us. And as we work at that, the world will see the love of Jesus in action, and they will be drawn to it. They will be drawn to this love because they were made for it - and they don't have it. The only source of this love is Jesus. And when they come with their questions, then we can tell them about Jesus. Then we can tell them about being born again, about living water, about food that really satisfies. That's when we explain the Gospel.

Now, understand that pursuing this mission is hard. It can be very wearying. There are, after all, obstacles to overcome. Let me mention just one. Our culture is based on the individual. You might stretch that in some cases and include immediate family, but that's about it. That's how our culture is built and all of us have been affected by it. So, becoming a community in terms of what Jesus has in mind is weird. Most of us, if not all of us, have never seen such a thing: a community of Christians who are so involved in each other's lives, who love in such a way, that it becomes a witness to the Gospel, a witness that draws people to Jesus. And that's just one obstacle to overcome. Dealing with just this one obstacle - becoming that kind of community - will be hard. It will, at times, feel like too much. It will be wearying. It will cost you. Of that you can be sure. So, expect it. It's part of bearing your cross. But remember Jesus and how he gave. Remember how he bore his Cross. And remember that he said,

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?

But at the same time remember that, just like Jesus, you will forget all about the hardships, the weariness and the cost of the mission as you see people coming to Jesus. 'Food? Who needs to eat at a time like this? Look, they're coming! The people are coming to Jesus! More of the world is being saved.' You too will be excited because the world is being saved.

So, what do we do? How do we pursue this mission as Faith Reformed? This isn't going to work unless we pray. So, what should we pray? There are a handful of verses that are very special to me. I read one of them again this past week. 'Behold, the bondservant of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word.' Mary said that to the angel Gabriel after he told her that her life was going to be turned upside down. That's losing your life for the sake of Jesus and his Gospel so that you can save it. So, let me suggest what seems to me to be a good prayer for a disciple. I've mentioned it before. ‘Father, I am your servant. I want to do whatever you want me to do. Please make it clear to me and give me the ability to do it, for Jesus' sake.' I would encourage you to pray that prayer or something like it. And then, watch as Jesus uses us to save the world.