OUR RESPONSE TO
GOD’S MISSION
What is the purpose of the church? Why did God call out a
people who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, to be a cohesive group?
It is
far too easy to get lost in traditions and habits, programs and policies,
services and functions, to answer this question. Why do we come to church? To
worship God. To hear some teaching. To meet with friends who share common
values. To take advantage of the children’s programs. To be encouraged. These
are good things. But is there more?
We
naturally turn to the NT church, to Acts and to Paul’s letters to further answer
this question. You might be intrigued by those who express a desire to be more
like the NT church. Wow, wouldn’t it be great to be part of the church right
after Pentecost when the church was on fire? If only we could be like the NT
church again.
Which
part? Only a short while after Pentecost the church was in conflict over the
unfair distribution of food (Acts 6). Which church in the NT do we want to
emulate? The immoral Corinthians, the loveless Ephesians, or the
angel-worshiping Colossians? Even the Early Church was made up of flawed people
and values.
Yet,
despite these flaws God chooses to work in this community of people with a
common faith. The greatest secret of the Christian faith is the community of
the local church. There is nothing like it on the earth. But to be the church,
the Lord’s “called out” people, will mean a fundamental rediscovery of what it
means to be the church of Jesus Christ. For it is in the church, in the midst
of a community of frail and fickle people that God has placed His mission. God
calls out a people, the church, to be a peculiar people set apart for the
mission of fleshing out the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. In us, the world
sees Jesus.
To begin
this rediscovery of purpose, we turn not to the NT, but to Deuteronomy.
1. Standing on the cusp
Forty years have passed. When the children of Israel left
Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and were on the brink of entering the Promised
Land, they disobeyed God. So God had them wander in the wilderness until all
those who doubted His gift had died. Now a new generation stood at the cusp of
the Promised Land. They are about to leave the wilderness.
Deuteronomy
comprises Moses’ last words, his final package of sermons, for Israel before
they enter the land. Deuteronomy has been wrongly called “Second Law” (Deutero
= two; nomos = law). It is in fact entitled “These are the words” in the Hebrew
Bible. What scholars call Deuteronomy today is the Gospel of Moses.
Deuteronomy
is the gospel because Moses doesn’t just remind the people of a set of laws; he
preaches to them. This is emphasized in the first five verses: “These are the words Moses spoke to all
Israel…” (1) and “Moses proclaimed to
the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them” (3) and
“Moses began to expound this law”
(5).
But how
could “law” be called gospel? Isn’t the gospel about grace? Yes it is. And
look, v. 2 says it takes 11 days to go from Horeb (Mt. Sinai) to Kadesh Barnea;
then in v. 3 it says “In the fortieth year…” That’s grace. Wait, what? Consider
that when Israel left Egypt they came to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments
and the covenant to be God’s people. At that moment they were eleven days from
the PL, but they sinned – worse, they rebelled. God could have said “Forget it.
These people are sick and demented. I will start over,” but He didn’t. Forty
years later, God is ready to begin again with this same ethnic people. That’s
grace.
Now
Moses is preaching to them that this same gracious God who called them still
wants to use them, flaws and all, to accomplish His purposes. Moses preaches
the Word of God to them to prepare them to enter into a foreign land, a foreign
culture, and face an idolatrous people. On the cusp of the PL they are a people
being shaped by the Gospel of Moses.
To be a
missional church, we must be shaped by the gospel of Christ. It was not enough
for Israel to enter a culture and make it their own; it is not enough for us to
understand our culture. We must be shaped by the gospel so that we can stand in
the midst of our community and say, “We are for you but you need to know that
our values are shaped by the Gospel.”
2. It’s time to move
People generally like routine. We get comfortable in our
ruts and rituals. We don’t want to change or move. Things might not be perfect
but changing things sounds like effort.
The LORD
says to the people, “You have stayed long
enough at this mountain” (6). It’s time to move. The people camped at the
mountain needed to move out of the comfort zone and cross the boundary, enter
into God’s mission.
The
thing about Mt. Sinai is that God was known to be there. It feels safe to be
where God is. But to move into strange territory is not safe. Staying in church
settings and huddling with Christians feels safe. We know though, that God does
not want us to dwell on our mountain-top experiences; He wants us to venture
out into the world to find Him there. We find more of God when we cross the
boundary.
The
LORD’s speech in vv. 6-8 describes His purpose for this people, His mission
(read v. 8). When God rescued His people from slavery in Egypt, He had promised
them the land of Canaan, which would provide them the context from which they
would fulfill their mission. What mission? To be a light to the nations. As
they were shaped by the Word of God they would influence the world (see 4:5-6;
26:19).
In the
ultimate purpose of the LORD there was a lot more at stake than Israel crossing
the Jordan to take the land. It was not merely getting out of the wilderness.
This was a step of obedience; that step would lead to the redemption of the
whole world. One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind. They needed to
be motivated to take that step to move forward in God’s strategy to be a
blessing to the nations. There was a missionary dimension to Deuteronomy’s call
to obedience.
Connect
the dots. God’s plan was to call a people – Israel - to take the Land and live
in a way that was unique, to be shaped by the truth of God, and
to display that life as God intended originally in Eden. Without Canaan,
there are no people of the promise; without the people, there is no message of
redemption, no prophecy, no law; without those truths, there is no vehicle for
the Son of God to enter into our world. One small step into Canaan unfolded the
plan of redemption. Coming to Mount
Sinai was not an end it itself. It was the beginning. The church is not an end
in itself either. God does not call us out of the world to be a cozy little
clique or a “holy huddle.” The church exists to carry on the work begun by
Israel when they stepped into the Jordan River – to be a light to the nations,
to influence our world.
3. Hesitation may cost us
Moses takes care to remind the people that 40 years ago
they hesitated. They can’t make that mistake again.
Forty
years ago, they were in this exact spot. In v. 8 and again in v. 21 they are
given marching orders: God has given you this land – go and take it.
Instead,
they hatch a plan. Let’s send spies into the land and check it out. Oddly
enough, when Moses first recorded this event in Num. 13 he said that God
commanded him to send spies. Here in Deut. Moses says that the people came to
him and suggested the scheme. Forty years of hindsight reveals that sometimes
what seems to be of the Lord may be our own imagination (?). Using the language
“the Lord told me” can get you into a sticky situation.
There
are three ironic outcomes from sending the spies: 1) They went out to gain
intel to be used in military strategy but their report focused on fruit and
fertility; 2) They reported that the land was really good, but promptly
demonstrated that it wasn’t worth the risk; 3) They referred to the land as
“the land that the Lord our God is giving us” but refused to accept it from His
hand. As a result they grumbled that God’s plan would get them all killed so
they sat in their tents and pouted. Forty years later…
Hesitation
will cost us. Moses was guilty of caving to the people too. God said “Take the
land – I’m giving it to you” so that spies were unnecessary. Just go! Just do
it! Don’t think about it too long. You know what you have to do.
South of
the border lives a people who are very quick in their movements and decisions.
It is an admirable quality and one that drives their entrepreneurial spirit. To
them, every problem has a solution. This may lead to quick fixes and easy
solutions and less of a thought process, but still admirable.
Here in
Canada, we are frozen in analysis. We can see the problems clearly, but we have
to examine the problem from all sides while unconsciously attempting not to act
at all. We think we’re so smart for not running at the first solution; we’re
great thinkers. But the person who doggedly examines and analyzes is a lot like
the hurried problem solver. They both find comfort in the fact that at least
we’re doing something. Canadians just do it in their heads. Americans act; we
think.[i]
What is
God telling us to do as a church? And why aren’t we doing it? Are we
hesitating?
4. Go, the LORD goes before us
If the Lord says “go” we must know that where He tells us
to go, He has already been. This is the most excellent quality of Jesus
Himself; He does not call us to anything except that which He has actually
already done (1 Pet. 2:21).
Moses
challenged Israel with this encouragement: “Do
not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The LORD your God, who is going
before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt,
before your very eyes, and in the wilderness” (29-31a).
In spite
of the evidence, that God had rescued them from slavery in a most miraculous
manner, that a pillar of fire led them at night and a cloud by day, and that
God had proven His faithfulness over and over, they could not move forward in
faith. But faith was not leap in the dark, but a perfectly reasonable step
forward with eyes opened wide to what God had already done in the past and
promised to do in the future. God went ahead of them even as He had been behind
them.
We will
never know what God has in store for us if we do not step out in faith. To be
content with what we have done in the walls of this church, with the status
quo, means missing out on the great adventure God has in store for us.
Mission
means “sending” and it is the central theme of the story of Israel, and by
extension through Christ, the Church. The question that Deuteronomy 1 asks us
today is will we be faithful to the Lord and His love and His promise?
As we study Deuteronomy I cannot help but think of the
Gospel of John. First of all, John writes, “For
the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
(Jn 1:17). Those two aspects are not in competition: law vs. grace & truth.
They are together the gospel. The Law that Moses preached was the gospel for
the people of that day and speaks to us even now.
One of
John’s favorite metaphors for Jesus is light. What Israel as a people failed to
do, Jesus did – He fulfilled all that God had intended for Israel to do.
Therefore, Jesus is the light of the world (Jn 8:12). He is a light to the
nations, and whoever follows Him will not walk in darkness anymore. We are not
the light but we witnesses to the light; we are not the light but we can point
people to the light. We are not saviors but we know the Lord Jesus who is the
Savior of the whole world.
People
that we know need to see the light. Earlier I said, “God’s plan was to call a
people – Israel - to take the Land and live in a way that was unique, to
be shaped by the truth of God, and to display that life as God
intended originally in Eden.” That is the beginning of a people shaped by the
gospel for God’s mission.
Jesus
said, “I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). That’s
something that shocks people, changes us, and creates urgency in us to share
this Jesus.
To be
missional means to adopt the posture, thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to engage others
with the gospel message.
AMEN
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