Mission & Commission . . . AND The Tragedy of Omission

Sabbath School Class—A Life of Discovery
March 22, 2008
Larry R Evans

Quiz for Reflection

1. Since our neglect of the poor and suffering can determine our eternal reward, it should be understood that we are justified by our deeds of compassion. [Mt 25:31-46; Jas 2:20-24] True or False?

2. When Christ gave the Commission to go into all the world, He did so with a group of disciples who finally showed faith in Him. [Mt 28:17; Mk 16:14] True or False?

3. A genuine miracle from God should be sufficient evidence for us to become believers. [Lk 24: 37-42] True or False?

4. We lose our witness because we have sinned. [1Pet 2:23; Rom 5:6-10; Lk 24:45-49] True or False?

Reflective Introduction

Most of us have been horrified because of the treatment given to the prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Appalling is not too strong of a word to describe the pictures of the prisoner abuse shown throughout the world. However, there is another kind of prison that should alarm us at least as much and that is “sin.” Sin has put all of us in prison! Shackled behind bars of guilt and misery it is easy to lose all perspective of what our lives were intended to be like. There is only one way out of this prison and that way is death! It’s good that that the story doesn’t end there.

Some years ago Charles Colson of Watergate fame toured a Brazilian prison near Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil now called Humaita. In 1976 the Brazilian government turned the original prison over to two Christians. With the exception of two full-time staff, all the work is done by inmates. Families outside the prison adopt an inmate to work with during and after his term. Colson describes his first visit to Humaita as follows:

“When I visited Humaita I found the inmates smiling—particularly the murder who held the keys, opened the gates and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men at peace. I saw clean living areas, people working industriously. The walls were decorated with Biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs. . . . My guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me that block house only a single inmate. As we reached the end of the long concrete corridor and he put the key in the lock, he paused and asked, ‘Are you sure you want to go in?’

‘Of course,’ I replied impatiently, ‘I’ve been in isolation cells all over the world.’ Slowly he swung open the massive door, and I saw the prisoner in that punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the Humaita inmates—the prisoner Jesus hanging on a cross. (Excerpt from In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado, p.113)

‘He’s doing time for the rest of us,’ my guide said softly.’

This is Easter weekend. Around the world we celebrate our freedom because Christ “did time for us!” More than that, He paid the death penalty for us! And even more than that “He rose” from the prison house of death to prepare a new home for us.

Today, because of what Christ has done and is doing, we will be reflecting about “Mission and Commission.” I’ve suggested a subtitle, “The Tragedy of Omission” which we’ll talk about later. We do have a mission with a commission telling us we must “go.” Our commission is, “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” (Isa 58:6)

Reflective Study

1. Since our neglect of the poor and suffering can determine our eternal reward, it should be understood that we are justified by our deeds of compassion. [Mt 25:31-46; Jas 2:20-24, Eph 2:8-10] False

Ephesians makes it very clear that we are not saved by our works but rather by God’s grace (2:8,9). The amazing thing in Mt 25 is that neither the righteous nor the wicked saw Jesus but Jesus says he was there!

REFLECTION: Why don’t you think the righteous saw Jesus? What about the wicked?

At that point its not what you do but who you are that matters because being a disciple isn’t doing what is right just because Someone is watching but because what that Person is we are becoming. It was Christ who said in Luke 6:45,

45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (NIV)

The question begs to be answered: Are we saved or lost because of the what we “do” or because of what we “are?” What do you think? What does James 2:20-24 add to our understanding? Does this conflict with Eph 2:8-10?

REFLECTION: Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbours through him.” What does that statement mean to you?Philip Yancey writes, “When I pray for another person, I am praying for God to open my eyes so that I can see that person as God does, and then enter into the stream of love that God already directs toward that person.” (Philip Yancey in Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?,p. 303.) What do you think he means and do you agree? How might this explain “unanswered” prayers?

2. When Christ gave the Commission to go into all the world, He did so with a group of disciples who finally showed faith in Him. [Mt 28:17; Mk 16:14] True and False?

Matt 28:16-20
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (NIV)

The Desire of Ages elaborates,
“At the time appointed, about five hundred believers were collected in little knots on the mountainside, eager to learn all that could be learned from those who had seen Christ since His resurrection. From group to group the disciples passed, telling all they had seen and heard of Jesus, and reasoning from the Scriptures as He had done with them. Thomas recounted the story of his unbelief, and told how his doubts had been swept away. Suddenly Jesus stood among them. No one could tell whence or how He came. Many who were present had never before seen Him; but in His hands and feet they beheld the marks of the crucifixion; His countenance was as the face of God, and when they saw Him, they worshiped Him.

But some doubted. So it will always be. There are those who find it hard to exercise faith, and they place themselves on the doubting side. These lose much because of their unbelief. (The Desire of Ages, pp 818-819)

REFLECTION: Do you think anyone listened to Thomas because he had doubted? Is it possible for someone who has had less than stellar faith to be a mighty instrument in the hand of God?

3. A genuine miracle from God should be sufficient evidence for us to become believers. [Lk 24: 37-42] True BUT . . .

Luke 24:37-39, 45
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." . . . 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (NIV)

“The man who makes the working of miracles the test of his faith will find that Satan can, through a species of deceptions, perform wonders that will appears to be genuine miracles.” Ellen G White in Maranatha, p.156.

We sometimes approach prayer as if we must have miracles before we can believe but not all prayers are to be answered in the way we pray for them. So was the case with Jesus . . .

“Not even Jesus was exempt from unanswered prayer. In Gethesmane Jesus prayed with both the faith of protest and the faith of acquiescence. He turned for help first to God, pleading ‘let this cup pass’; then to his friends, who were sound asleep; then to the religious rulers, who accused him; then to the state, which sentenced him; then to the people, who rejected him. Finally he uttered that awful cry of dereliction, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’ For C.S. Lewis, that sequence of helplessness illustrates ‘the human situation writ large. . . . Every rope breaks when you seize it. Every door is slammed shut as you reach it.’” (Philip Yancey in Prayer: Does It make Any Difference?”, pp. 233,234)

REFLECTION: What role should miracles play in our commission? In prayer?

4. We lose our witness because we have sinned. [1Pet 2:23; Rom 5:6-10; Lk 24:45-49] False

This is the amazing thing about God’s kingdom and our calling. We have all sinned yet once the Holy Spirit takes hold of our life the very thing that separated us from God is what God uses to defeat the doubts of others! Amazing!! But that is what makes God’s grace so amazing.

Rom 5:7-8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NIV)

Luke 24:45-53
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. (NIV)

REFLECTION: What is a witness? Does Revelation 12:11 have anything to say about our “evangelism” or is it just personal: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony?”

Reflective Review

“Sin does to a life what shears do to a flower. A cut at the stem separates a flower from the source of life. Initially the flower is attractive, still colorful and strong. But watch that flower over a period of time, and the leaves will wilt and the petals will drop. No matter what you do, the flower will never live again. Surround it with water. Stick the stem in soil. Baptize it with fertilizer. Glue the flower back on the stem. Do what you wish. The flower is dead.” (Max Lucado in In the Grip of Grace, p.60)

Our mission and thus our commission is not a fix-it-and-run approach any more than that was the approach of Jesus. He not only paid the price to give us freedom he made provisions for us to stay free. Sin has separated us from the source of life and it is only the miracle of recreation that reconnects us to Life. (Jn 3:3-18) Our witness is not empowered by technology though it may “carry” our witness. Our testimony is not about our talent or the organizational successes that abound around the world but about Him who has set us free. Our message to the world is not about the depravity of sin but about the new life He promises and that inspite of the prevailing prison of sin. What a tragedy, what an omission if we “go” into all the world without the promised Holy Spirit. Perhaps the most encouraging words of the entire commission given to us by Jesus are, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:20)