Shortly after Jesus’ birth, his parents took him to the temple in Jerusalem, as was the custom of Jews at this time. And while they were there, they were approached by an elderly man named Simeon. When he saw the baby Jesus, he knew something was being fulfilled that the O.T. scriptures had been promising for centuries. This is how he praised the Lord for this: (Luke 2:30-32)
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
While most of Simeon’s fellow Jews were eagerly waiting for the Messiah to deliver Israel, he knew, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus’ arrival was about something much bigger than that.
This morning, we are going to talk about International Missions and the Biblical basis behind it. As a church, we support both short-term and long-term missions efforts, through giving, praying and sending people around the world to share the Gospel message. [SLIDE 2: IMB, OneLink Logos] And we do this primarily through our partnership with OneLink International, the organization that I lead, and the International Mission Board, which serves our broader church denomination. And our two organizations work very closely together.
But in light of the incredible need and opportunity right here in Wichita (which we spoke of last week), I think it is a fair question to ask: “Why? Why do we do this as a church? Why give time and effort and resources to reach people on the other side of the world?”
In answering this question, I’d like to try to hit two birds with one stone. As you may have heard, we are going to be reading through the entire Bible together as a church in 2025. And as you do this, I want you to keep an eye out for a central theme that is woven throughout the Biblical narrative. And here it is: [SLIDE 3: Central Biblical Theme]
A.) God desires for all nations* know him and become worshippers of him only.
B.) God plans to use his people to accomplish this mission.
So, this morning, we are going to take a fast paced trip through the Bible. And this might be a bit of scripture overload (if there is such a thing), but hopefully it will serve to highlight this theme throughout God’s Word.
*And as we read about the “nations” keep in mind that we aren’t talking about geopolitical nations (Russia, China, USA). We are talking about people groups/ ethnic groups- of which there are roughly 17,000 in the world.
We’ll start in the very beginning, a passage you will probably read on Jan. 1st.
- Gen. 1: 27-28
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
So, God creates Adam and Eve, and commands them (and the rest of humanity) to spread out across the earth as image bearers. Now there is a lot we could say about what it means to be made in the image of God, but certainly this meant that they were called to obey God and worship him alone. But as we will see, a couple chapters later in Genesis 3, rather than obeying and worshiping the Lord, Adam and Eve think that they know better and succumb to the serpent’s temptation to disobey God. Sin enters the world (what is commonly called the fall of man).
Here is how Paul describes the consequences of this for humanity (Rom. 5:12) [SLIDE 5]:
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
Now, there is a lot we could unpack in this verse and I don’t want to get too far into the weeds. But what I want to highlight is this: in the following chapters of Genesis, we do see humanity spreading out across the world, but rather than obeying and worshiping the Lord, they begin to descend into sin and darkness. And the consequence of this is death (physical and spiritual death) and separation from God.
But, out of his abundant grace and mercy, God begins to carry out his plan of redemption for the whole world. A crucial moment in this story takes place in Genesis 12, where we meet Abram (later called Abraham). Here’s what we read about him
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
God develops a special covenant (special relationship) with this “great nation” of Abraham’s descendants, who we know as the nation of Israel. And the Lord says that this will ultimately lead to all peoples on earth being “blessed.” So, what exactly is this blessing? This will become clearer as we continue in the O.T.
For example, here is what the author of Psalm 67 writes
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
So, God begins to have a special relationship with and bless the nation of Israel (this is the “us” in this Psalm) and the purpose of that is that the whole world may know him and receive his salvation. It is easy to lose sight of this in all the ups and downs and wild stories of the nation of Israel that you will read about in the Old Testament. Ultimately, salvation for the world would come through them.
What could be considered the climax or “high water” mark for the nation of Israel was the completion of the temple in Jerusalem. And during the ceremony to dedicate it, King Solomon prays this” (1 King 8:57-60)
57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other.
Solomon’s prayer is that the nation of Israel would obey the Lord and be blessed by him. Why? So that all the peoples of the earth would know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. Throughout the O.T. narrative, God is calling the Israelites, his people, to be a light to the nations. So, how did this go?
Well, not very well! As we continue to read in the Old Testament, we see that, rather than being a light to the nations around them, the Israelites are largely corrupted by the nations around them and descend into idolatry and sin. Eventually they are sent into exile because of this. At this point in the story, it may feel a bit like God’s rescue plan for a sinful world isn’t going very well.
But God’s plans are not derailed by Israel’s lack of faithfulness. Throughout the Old Testament there are prophecies of a Messiah that will come and be the ultimate light for the nations. The book of Isaiah is full of these prophecies. Isaiah 49:6 (speaking of the Messiah):
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
This coming messiah will do more than redeem the nation of Israel, he will be the Savior of the entire world. And that Messiah, of course, is Jesus.
Simeon’s prayer over the baby Jesus, that we read earlier, was his way of saying that Jesus is the fulfillment of all these Old Testament prophecies. From the very first blessing promised to Abraham, to Solomon’s prayer at the temple dedication, through all the utterances of the OT prophets…they spoke of God’s ultimate plan of salvation for the world, Jesus.
And from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he was a light to the nations.
- Jesus ministered to the gentiles: a.) Samaritans. b.) Greeks. c.) Roman Centurion d.) “Wise Men” from the East.
When you see these mentioned in the Bible, it isn’t random. The Gospel writers are highlighting Jesus’ ministry to Gentiles. This was quite shocking to 1st Century Jews who thought the Messiah would come to defeat the Gentiles, not minister to them.
- Jesus taught about God’s plan to reach the nations with the Gospel message [SLIDE 12]
Matthew 24:14 – “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
-Jesus connects his very return to the completion of the task of preaching the Gospel to all nations.
Luke 24:45-47– “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ”
-Jesus explained all those OT promises we just looked at (and probably more) to these two disciples to help them understand God’s plan to reach the world.
- And, ultimately, Jesus gave his life for the nations
“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2
- And finally, after Jesus rose from the dead, he sent his disciples to the nations
Matthew 28:19 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:8 – “‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”
These are Jesus’ marching orders for the church. And we read about Jesus’ followers– Paul, Peter, others— beginning to take the Gospel message to the entire world in the book of Acts.
And this mission continues. This command to make disciples of all nations is the central task that the New Testament church had been given. And it will continue until there are representatives of all nations (all people groups) worshipping the Lord in eternity. Let’s look at the final chapter of this redemption story (Rev. 7:9-10): [SLIDE 15]
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
This is where the Biblical narrative ends. And, for eternity, we will worship the Lord, surrounded by believers from every nation, tribe, people and language. It will be more amazing and beautiful than we can imagine.
So, hopefully as you read the Bible this year, you will see this theme of
A.) God desires for all nations* know him and become worshippers of him only.
B.) God plans to use his people to accomplish this mission.
But, here’s the question: What should we do in light of this, as we sit here in 2024 in Wichita, ThemeKansas? What does faithfulness look like? Well, As we often say here at River, “What matters most in the end, matters most now.”
Perhaps this is a good place to start: If it is God’s will that all nations know and worship him, it may be helpful to understand where we are at in the process of the Gospel going to all nations.
Let me show you a map
This represents, as best as researchers have been able to determine, the progress of the Gospel in the world. You see three different colors on this map. Green areas are places where we could say that the Gospel message has been “established.” Now, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t lost people or great need in these areas. I think we all recognize that there are many right here in Wichita who don’t know Jesus. But it does mean, that if you live in a green area, you know some Christians– you very likely have Christians in your circle of relationships somewhere: family, co-workers, neighbors. If you decided to read the Bible, you could find one in your language. If you decided you wanted to go to church, you could find one in your community (and attend without fear). Now, it will still likely require believers being intentional and reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus, before they will take advantage of these opportunities, but the opportunities exist.
The areas on this map that are red are what we call the “Unreached” part of the world. This means that less than 2% of the population are followers of Jesus– and in many places it is less than 1%. So, why is this significant? Let me tell you a personal story that speaks to what it looks like to live in one of these areas
My wife, Marci, and I lived in an Unreached muslim part of the world for about 15 years, before we moved to Wichita. And, at one point, I hired a new tutor to help me learn the local language. I’ll call him Ahmet. When Ahmet showed up for our first class, we started chatting and getting to know each other. Like many people in that part of the world, he was interested to know about my religious beliefs. I told him I was a follower of Jesus and that I believe in the Bible. He seemed particularly interested when I mentioned the Bible. The New Testament had just been translated and printed into his language a few months earlier, so I asked him if he would like to see it and he very eagerly said “yes.”
After I handed it to him, he began to explain why he was so excited: He said that his father had always wanted to get a hold of a copy of the Bible, so that he could read it and let his kids read it. I don’t know if his father was just curious because he had never seen one or if there was some spiritual hunger there. But sadly, for his father’s entire life, the Bible had not been translated into his language. And there was no church in that area where they lived. As I got to know Ahmet I learned that I was the first Christian friend he had ever made.
Ahmet and I continued to deepen our friendship. And we also continued to read the Bible together and one day, I asked him what he thought about everything we had studied together, and he told me that he believed in it and had decided he had put his faith in Jesus. First person our team had seen come to faith in several years.
Shortly after this time, we had to leave that area, because we couldn’t renew our visa. And I desperately wanted to help get Ahmet plugged into a local church…that’s what I would do here in Wichita. But there was no established local church in that city. I did know of two other believers in the area, but they were too scared to meet with someone they didn’t know, fearing that he might report them to the police (conversion to Christianity was illegal in this area).
And so, as we left, I prayed and trusted that the Lord would keep hold of him and encourage him in his faith, despite the challenges he faced.
This is the reality for many of the people living in these red areas: they very likely don’t have any Christian friends. There probably isn’t a church in their community. They don’t have a Bible and likely don’t know how to get a hold of one, if one even exists in their language.
So the difference is simply this: they have limited to no opportunity to hear about this great salvation story that we just read about in God’s Word.
The Apostle Paul summarized it this way in Romans 10:13-15 [SLIDE 20]:
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
In other words, if you don’t know any Christians in your circle of relationships, someone will need to come from outside of your existing relationships to tell you about Jesus. If there are no Christians in your community to form a church, someone will need to come from outside of that community to share the Gospel and help plant one. This is why we as a church support missionaries who have gone out to help share the Gospel and plant churches in Unreached areas of the world. We have the incredible privilege of playing a part in bringing this opportunity to hear the Gospel, read God’s Word and participate in Biblical community, to places that have little or no access to any of these.
Application:
And I know many of you care very deeply about those we have sent out from River. And, like me, you want to see the Gospel go to all nations. But, perhaps our greatest challenge is knowing what to do about this when we are up to your eyeballs in work responsibilities, classes, family needs and lots of activities. Our plates already feel maxed out, so it is daunting to think about how you would add something as massive as Global Missions onto it. I feel that way sometimes and I work for a Missions sending agency! But I want to encourage you that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Let me challenge you to take one step of faithfulness towards co-laboring with God in this area in the coming weeks. Here is one idea to consider: There is an app that my staff and I at OneLink use regularly to pray for the nations– its called the Unreached of the Day . Every day, it highlights a different Unreached people group to pray for. I just wonder, if we took a few minutes every day to pray for the Unreached world (probably all we’d have to do is replace one session of mindlessly scrolling on your phone) the impact it would have both in the world and in our own lives. Step one in knowing how to apply what we’ve just talked about to a busy life is beginning to align our hearts and priorities with God’s. And I’ve found that prayer often does just that. So, challenge yourself to take a few moments each day to pray for the Unreached and pray for those we’ve sent out and see what God shows you through this habit.
And please continue to pray for those we have sent out. We are actually going to do that right now. I’m going to have my wife Marci come up on stage and pray for these people…