Hearing the Music

Missional Task

As the snow flies and we begin to head into the Advent and Christmas holiday season, we ask ourselves again, "Why did Christ exchange the comforts of heaven for a wallow in the mud of fallen humanity?" Answer: to bring reconciliation, to offer to the lost a way of redemption, to effect rescue for those who could not save themselves. It is our prayer that over these next six weeks or so, this story would grip us afresh with all the attendant emotions and motivations.

One such motivation might be toward extending the good news of this rescue to those who remain wandering. Last week I attended a gathering of PCA folks representing what they call the Midwest. It includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, North/South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan (I guess the people in Atlanta came up with the "midwest" for that group?). It is 13 States totaling 72,439,000 which is 21% of the U.S. population. As a region it is the world's 15th largest mission field, having in excess of 60 million people who are not connected to a church, and many of whom are not in relationship with the Lord. It is the mission of our churches to reach these lost or dechurched people with the good news of the gospel.  To put that in perspective, the midwest region is right behind Turkey and Germany for unreached.  

Our goal as a denomination, as a midwest alliance, as presbyteries, and as individual churches is to proliferate the light of the gospel in the darkness of peoples' wanderings. At a regional level, we would love to see over 500 churches where we currently have 244. Closer to home, our desire is to see our West MI PCA double from our current 9 churches to 18 by 2035. Our recent Muskegon church plant and our enfolding of New City Fellowship are the first two of the 9. But we are still praying for cities like Benton Harbor, Allegan, Grand Haven/Spring Lake, and seeking for wisdom as to our own Grand Rapids daughter plant.

While it can be easy to get lost in goals and numbers of churches, all of these endeavors have people in mind.  If we were to plant or enfold 250 new churches across the region and each new church reached only 20 people who were either lost or dechurched, that would be over 5,000 souls connected to the gospel, in addition to all the other good work being done through the churches.

Planting churches and seeing people won to the gospel is the same mission that Paul so earnestly pursued until the very end of his life. This week we will take up the very last words that we have recorded from this ordinary man who God used to do extraordinary things in 2 Tim 4:9-22.  May our hearts be as galvanized as Paul's was to see the gospel go forth!

Flickering Torches

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;  always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.  For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. . . So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. . . All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”   - excerpts from 2 Corinthians 4:6-5:20

Christ has shone in our hearts! In my heart; that is the light I am called to share with the world. It is in that joy, that hope, that I am to follow my Shepherd's endurance. And when I doubt, when my jar of clay looms large, God graciously gives me the Hall of Faith - Hebrews 11, life accounts of Christians through the ages, each of your lives, and, most intimately, my family: all jars of clay through whom I have more clearly and intimately been given the knowledge of the glory of God.  

I thank God for this nuanced, beautiful view of his glory. I pray for each of us as we seek and obey his specific callings in our lives; as his light goes to our families and neighbors, our city and to the world. How has he called me to yield my flickering torch?  

Let us join Jon and Jo Ellis in prayer as they go to teach English in refuge camps in the Middle East; 
Let us join Greg and Ingrid Orr in prayer and finances as they go to Berlin with Pioneer; 
Let us join with Gracehill as we pray for our city;
Let us join Grace’s Table and Safe Haven as, in Jesus' name, they minister to Grand Rapids;
Let us join our children as they learn and grow in faith; 
And let us not lose heart as we are renewed daily by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus!

O Light that follow'st all my way, 
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
may brighter, fairer be.

O Cross that lilftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
and from the ground there blossoms red 
life that shall endless be.

- stanzas 2 & 4 of O Love, That Wilt Not Let Me Go

Photo by Geert Pieters on Unsplash

On Mission

The Missions Festival is in full swing. It’s been a joy to see, hear and even taste of other cultures and countries. If you’re like me, exposure to these sorts of experiences and ideas leaves me asking a single question: Why? Why do we consider other cultures and countries? Why connect to them? Why spend our valuable time, and often money, on this sort of thing? Why do we keep doing this? Is it simply to know more, see more, to be more “well-rounded” Christians? I guess what I am asking and wondering is: is there more to these sorts of things than meets the eye (or the occasional taste bud)?

When we look to the Bible to answer this, we get a resounding, "yes". It may not surprise you that mission was at the heart of Jesus’ incarnation and ministry. To say Jesus was “on mission” seems a bit silly to say because it seems so...obvious. However, in an evangelical world that seems to tag “missional” onto just about everything, tagging it onto the life of Jesus is actually a correct fit. Consider what Jesus says early in his ministry: “but he said to them, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose'" (Luke 4:43). Jesus names what he is doing as preaching, as taking “the good news” to different towns; that is his purpose. In other words, he is on mission. Also, consider Jesus’ parting words known as the Great Commission in Matthew 28 to his disciples. He is having them "go, make disciples… of all nations." His value of mission was passed on to his disciples. This certainly isn’t a new theme in the Bible either. God was fully aware of this dynamic when he was sending Israel into the Promised Land. The same can be said for the distinctives God was giving the Israelites in Leviticus about what it looked like to be YHWH followers.

So, let's attempt an answer to the many "whys" that were asked. We are on mission because Jesus takes mission seriously, and as Christ-followers we also take mission seriously. Highlighting the way Christ Church is on mission through the Missions Festival is more than tastes, words and experiencing other cultures, it’s being faithful to our call as Christ-followers in our current context. We are seeking to expose many others, in many other nations, to the saving power that is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

_{Illustration by Lillian Fuller}