Global Missions

All right, team, shall we begin?

Well, the subject of our inquiry this morning is Jesus as our model for mission.

! And the question before us is, how does Jesus serve as a model for imitation in our mission?

That is the mission upon which he himself sends us.

That is the mission to declare the good news of God's saving action in Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth.

Now, it may seem natural, maybe even obvious, that we would take Jesus as our model for mission.

For much of his call upon us is expressed in, follow me.

Tread the path that I have marked out for you.

And that we, his followers, would follow him seems a large part of what it simply means to be a Christian.

But, if we were to ask, is there a clear statement that Jesus' mission is to be the model for us,

I know of no better place to begin than Jesus' own statement in his high priestly prayer in John 17,

where, addressing the Father and referring to his disciples, he prays,

As you, Father, have sent me into the world, so I have sent them, disciples, into the world.

Verse 18.

This very parallel formula Jesus reaffirmed to his disciples upon his resurrection when he appeared among them.

Peace be with you.

It comes from the Latin, missio, I send.

Now, we might legitimately ask, what is the comparison Jesus is making or directing us to observe?

See, whenever we make a comparison and say, this thing is like or is to be like another,

we rightly ask, in what way?

What is the relevant point of comparison?

So, when Isaiah tells us, all flesh is like grass, we ask, in what particular way?

Is it that we flourish better, like grass, in summer than in winter?

Or that we both enjoy a good shower regularly?

You know, what does Isaiah have in mind?

We need to press and try to discern what the point of comparison is.

So, when Jesus says, as the Father has sent me, so send I you, we legitimately ponder,

in what way is it to be the same or similar?

Is the parallel simply in the fact of being sent and no more?

The Father sent me, and I send you.

Well, besides this being somewhat trivial in observation, what might make us think Jesus is saying more?

Something thicker.

Something deeper.

That his parallel is more substantive than superficial.

Is the parallel simply the fact of being sent?

Like someone might say, close the door as I close the door.

Meaning, simply, close it.

Without any bearing on the manner in which it's closed, as long as it just keeps the cat out.

Or in.

Or is it thicker and fuller?

Imitate the manner in which I close it.

First the latch.

Then the key.

Then the deadbolt.

Finally the chain.

What might make us think Jesus is similarly saying more?

That contained in his statement is something deeper and richer.

Not merely that we have the commonality of being sent.

But beyond that.

Where the as.

In as the Father sent me.

Means in the same manner in which I was sent by the Father.

Reflecting those same contours I send you.

Your sending should reflect the same or similar features as mine.

It should exhibit the same character.

That we are on solid ground here with this further claim is suggested by the way Jesus explicitly grounds and applies this parallel.

Consider how he often characterizes the relation between the Father, the sender, and himself, the sent one.

Jesus asserts explicitly a congruity and correspondence between the sender, the Father, and the Son, the sent one.

The Father pulses through the Son.

The Son is never energized by anyone else.

I can do nothing on my own.

John 5.30

The works that the Father has given me to accomplish.

The very works that I am doing.

Bear witness about me.

That it is the Father who has sent me.

John 5.36

That is, there is a characteristic sent of the Father upon all the Son's words and works.

Indeed, the Father has, quote, set his seal upon them.

John 6.27

Thus, Jesus can assert, I have come in my Father's name.

John 5.43

He, the Son, represents or re-presents.

He makes it as if the Father is present.

He acts and speaks for the Father by acting and speaking as the Father would were he there.

So it is that Jesus can say,

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.

And then conclude, since he was present and so presenting the Father,

from now on you do know him and have seen him.

John 14.7

Failing to grasp what Jesus was saying, Philip responds,

Oh, well, just show us the Father and it is enough for us.

And Jesus responds,

Have I been with you so long and still do you not know me, Philip?

Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, show us the Father?

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me?

The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own authority,

but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

John 14.10

In other words, the words that I speak and the works that I do

are the Father's works for, because, the Father indwells me.

This, then, is the thick, deep, intimate connection between the sending Father and the sent Son.

Notice, it's more than imitation.

It is unindwelling.

And then, follows a stunning revelation that Jesus makes to his disciples.

So stunning that he prefaces it with his double truly.

Truly, truly, truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do,

and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

And how does his going to the Father explain how we will do his works?

As Jesus explains,

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper,

even the Spirit who will dwell within you.

So here is the parallel explicated and explained.

The Father sends the Son.

The Son reflects and re-presents the Father,

because the Father indwells the Son.

But so it is with us, his disciples.

Jesus sends us.

And we can and do reflect and re-present Jesus,

because his Spirit dwells in us.

As the Father to me, so I to you.

As the Father sent me, so send I you.

Yes, Jesus is our model for mission.

Yes, we strive to imitate Jesus.

We walk after him missionally.

The apostle uses that very word.

I imitate Christ, 1 Corinthians 11.

But, and is this not thrilling?

But, we have something more.

Ours.

Every disciple's is an indwelling of Christ

by his Spirit, which energizes and affects this imitation,

this re-presentation of Jesus.

The indwelling Spirit bends us to the model of Christ.

The indwelling Spirit replicates that pattern.

The indwelling Spirit causes to spring up

that fountain of the Christ life in us.

Does that make sense?

Well, it's a critical foundation.

Okay, now comes the, some even more exciting part, perhaps.

I don't know.

Some also exciting part.

So, what is the pattern to which we disciples are to conform?

As the Father sent me, so I send you.

So, we naturally ask,

how did the Father send the Son?

Now, there are no doubt,

multiple and marvelous answers to this question.

But, I want us to focus our attention

on the, perhaps, most fundamental

and astonishing answer.

And, surely, it is this.

How did the Father send the Son?

As a human being.

As a human being.

He took on our flesh, John 1,

and dwelt among us,

like unto us.

And, this is the rich vein that we want to mine.

That the Father sent the Son

incarnationally.

Incarnationally.

We want to ask what it meant.

What it involved for the Son.

And, what it might mean and involve for us

in imitative pattern.

So, here we go.

The incarnation of the Son

meant first and foremost that

one,

he came himself

personally.

He didn't send an angelic embassy.

He didn't dispatch a prophet

who bore his message.

He didn't convey to us a text,

even inscribing it, perhaps,

with his own divine finger

on two tablets.

He came himself

in person

as Emmanuel,

God with us.

So, here's our question.

And, we can kick it around together

a little bit here.

What implications

might this feature

of the incarnation hold

that he came himself

personally

for us

in our missionary activity?

Could this aspect

be part

of the relevant model for us?

that the shepherd

himself

goes out

in search

of the sheep?

So, non-rhetorical.

So, let's

kick this around.

What could this mean for us?

What if we were to take this

as a parallel?

Yes?

So, one of the things

that was fascinating

to me about

Jesus' conversations

is that he

knew

where to take them.

I mean,

you know,

he knew how to

he knew the trajectory

in people's lives.

And, I don't know it.

And, it takes so much

listening

and learning

and getting to know

someone

before you

maybe suspect.

Maybe this is where

the consensus

is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, and in order,

and insofar as

to do that well,

you wonder

if that can be done

remotely?

Probably not as effectively.

So, maybe there's

the significance

in actually,

you know,

personally showing up

among the people

that we're trying to reach.

I think that's,

that's,

that's,

that's true.

Yeah, yeah.

Anything else?

Yeah?

Yeah, I think it

highlights the importance

of, like,

the particular

and the personal

relative to the universal.

Yeah.

of their own role,

but, like,

Jesus didn't just

show up everywhere

to everyone

and heal everyone

immediately.

Yeah, yeah.

Because people

in particular,

it involves showing up

in a particular place

at a particular time.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Richard?

Richard?

So,

coming in person

would,

to me,

at least suggest

that,

as Jesus came

as a patrufer,

so we

must come

as

Christophers.

Uh-huh.

A God

carrier,

we must go,

a patrufer,

a God carrier,

he carries God

to them,

and we carry Christ

to him,

a Christopher.

Yes, yes.

We can't do that

unless we do it

in person,

is my point.

Yeah, yeah,

the personal nature.

Yeah.

I think,

yeah, I mean,

does this model

not encourage us

to just,

to go,

to go out,

to seek out?

I mean,

it's interesting

to contrast this

with largely

the Old Testament

pattern.

You remember

how God says,

look,

I want you

Israel,

to obey my laws,

and that's,

then display

a culture

and a flourishing

so enviable

that the surrounding

nations would be

attracted,

and to say,

wow,

they must have

a pretty amazing

God.

Let's serve him.

Deuteronomy 4,

5 through 7

talks about this.

There are many

places.

We might call it

centripetal.

That is,

it draws

from the outside

toward

the inner center.

center,

a centripetal

model of missions,

if you will.

Is that what we have

in the New Testament?

Maybe something

of that,

but is there

not a contrast

here?

Where we're told,

go,

we're sent out,

go into all

the world.

It's a centrifugal,

not a centripetal,

a centrifugal,

out from the center,

going out.

The pattern

of the incarnation

is to go out,

to seek

and to save

the lost.

We go to them.

We don't expect

them to come to us.

I mean,

it would be nice

if they do,

and maybe some might.

Queen of Sheba.

But,

are we a going

out people

here at Trinity?

Are we a going

out people?

such

imitates

the incarnation

most

fundamentally.

Let me ask also,

could this feature

of the incarnation

that the Son

came himself

in person

also

maybe have

an implication

of the necessity

or at least

the desirability

of more than

simply

a proclamation

of the message?

It's never any

less than a

proclamation,

but could it be

involved

something more

than just

proclamation

thoughts?

Yeah,

I was thinking

Jesus came

embodying the

Father.

We come

embodying Christ,

whether we

memorize a

certain way

of presenting

the gospel

glory.

It's not

solely in

those words

or in

the

out of

traffic

programs

or whatever.

It's who

we are.

Yes.

It requires

more of us.

Yeah,

that's so

helpful.

So,

we certainly

want to

declare

the gospel,

but then

let's also

display it

perhaps

enacted in

our lives.

John

Stott

that says

in order

for the

gospel to

be credible,

it must

be visible

as well as

audible.

Matt,

yeah,

yeah.

Oh,

sure.

Go ahead,

Matt.

Smith.

Matt Smith.

Matt Smith.

So,

little

missionary

story.

Yeah,

yeah,

we like

missionary

stories.

In the

1950s,

people

were being,

missionaries

were going

to people

along a

river,

and the

traditional

way was,

you know,

canoe,

and then

they go

in,

you know,

to the

village and

talk with

them,

and then

some other

missionaries

came along

and said,

well,

that's

inefficient,

so they

got a

bigger river

boat.

Yeah.

So,

they didn't

have to,

you know,

camp out

with the

people.

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

But the

people said,

in reflecting

on it,

those people,

they don't

love us,

they don't

like us,

you know,

they stay

up by

themselves,

coming to

be with

us.

Yeah,

yeah,

absolutely.

Did you

answer

something?

Yeah,

I think

it has

some

interesting

implications

if we

view our

cast as,

if everyone

has heard

the message,

it seems

that God

is far

more

inefficient

than we

want him

to be.

Oh,

yeah,

that's

great.

He

accomplishes

his purposes.

And I

think we

need to be

careful because

we could

swing too

far and

over-condemn

mass

communication,

technology,

21st century,

lots of,

you know,

I think we

could condemn

that.

Right,

right,

right.

But I

do think

there's a

gravitational

center here.

Yeah,

yeah.

That we

need to

keep

thinking.

God

intended it

to be

personal.

Yeah,

yeah.

To be

people,

not just.

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah,

yeah.

Yeah,

that's

certainly

conspicuous.

I mean,

he ate

with people,

he enters

into their

homes,

he attends

their weddings,

he touches

lepers,

he weeps

at their

graves,

he cooks

meals for

people.

Yeah,

yeah.

So perhaps

Christian mission

should strive

not merely

to be

proclamation,

it's never

less than

that,

but to

strive to

extend

presence also

along with

that

proclamation.

Yeah,

please,

please.

I think

for those

going,

as Jesus

has

dependence

on the

Father,

in our

weaknesses

and

imperfections,

you know,

imperfect

loving,

imperfect

doing

of things,

we learn

to depend

on

the

Lord.

Yes,

yes.

As he

depended

on the

Father.

And then

part of

that

expression

to those

that we

are serving

is

there will

be suffering

involved.

And

that's

part of

the

humanity

of

going

where

I think

for those

that go,

when people

see them

have problems

and suffering,

it speaks

to them.

Yes,

yes,

yes,

yes.

Well,

I'm going to

come to that

in just a

moment because

I think that

that's something

very central

implication.

That's right.

so,

the incarnation

of the

son also

meant that

he came

to as

a human

person,

a human

person.

That is,

he took on

all the

concrete

particularities

of those

that he

sought to

reach.

He became

like us

in all that

our humanity

entailed,

apart from

sin.

Technically,

humanity

doesn't

entail sin.

It can be

genuinely

human.

But he

took on

all the

particularities,

all that

our humanity

entailed.

This meant,

for one,

that he took

on a body

and a soul.

And with it,

just as we've

been reminded,

he,

with it,

all of its

vulnerabilities

in a fallen

world.

to be

with us

was to

be with

us in

our

griefs,

afflictions,

sorrows,

and sighs.

He bore

them with

us.

Surely,

he has

borne our

griefs.

He bore

them with

us,

even before

he bore

them for

us.

Like us,

he was a

man of

sorrows,

acquainted

with grief.

He was

like us,

hungry and

thirsty,

wounded and

weary.

He knew

what it is

to weep

and to

bleed.

He knew

betrayal,

mockery,

and

abandonment.

It's

amidst the

horrors of

Buchenwald,

the Nazi

extermination

camp,

some Jewish

prisoners

decided to

put God

on trial

for

neglecting

his people.

Witnesses

were produced

for both

the prosecution

and the

defense,

different

rabbis

that were

there.

But they

found the

case for

the prosecution

was overwhelming

and they

found God

guilty of

abandonment

of them

and condemned

him.

But

the

incarnation

was

in our

suffering.

But he

came into

the worst

of it.

It is

here that

Edward

Shilito,

shattered by

the carnage

of the

First World

War,

was able to

find deep

comfort.

He wrote a

poem entitled

Jesus of the

Scars,

which ends

like this.

The other

gods were

strong,

but thou

wast weak.

They

rode,

but thou

didst

stumble

to a

throne.

But to

our wounds

only God's

wounds can

speak.

And not

a god

has wounds,

but thou

alone.

So how

might this

be a model

for us

in our

missions?

What might

this look

like for

us at

Trinity?

And what

might happen

if we

forget or

neglect this

feature of

incarnational

missions?

Thoughts?

It seems

like if we

don't pursue

this,

it means

really our

identity

is true

beings that

we no

longer

represent

God.

no longer

living in

this world,

this universe

with true

humanity

that we

abandon

the issue

of self-sacrifice

and motivated

because of

his sacrifice,

but if we

didn't deny

that,

we're not

really

thinking

that we

were called

to lie

and we

have not

wanted to

that.

so it

seems like

there's

something

about

truth

that God

is trying

to bring

for life

in Jesus.

to Jesus.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think if we do not,

there's some words

like adapting culturally.

It reminds me of Paul

from the Southern Corinthians.

I became all thanks to all people

and I might live some.

It's an advertisement for next week

where we'll talk about Paul

as the missionary model.

Fantastic.

Thank you.

To be continued.

Go ahead.

But when we are incarnate

into communities

or groups of people,

we eat and drink like them.

We try to be part of their community as well.

Yeah.

But in certain cases

where Christianity is,

there's a certain culture

that's like enforced

or pressed upon the people

and it becomes just...

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's dominant.

Sure.

As Westerners,

I think we can appear

to come with everything.

Like from the eyes

of those that we may go to serve,

we may seem like Ubermensch.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

But we have finances

and they don't always maybe understand

like people come and have this

if you're not working there.

And if you appear like you don't have sickness

and you're fine financially and physically,

it feels like somebody that they cannot touch.

Right.

Right.

They can't reach.

Yeah.

There certainly has been a history oftentimes

of missionaries

and I'm sure the issues were very complicated

and challenging.

but to go and to have a missionary compound

and walled

so you were immured

against a lot of the dangers

and threats

and very vulnerabilities

that the people outside are exposed to

that you are actually seeking to reach

and your unwillingness

to make yourself vulnerable

in the same ways that they are,

I think you're right.

It can become a real barrier

and maybe even a stumbling block

to those.

Yeah.

And then there was, of course,

a reaction to that.

It's not as if all missionaries.

The Lottie Moon Fund that we have,

her story is remarkable.

You know, there was a woman

who the Chinese knew

she loved them so much

that she would give anything for them.

And when she finally came home,

she pretty much died of hunger

on the way home

and when,

because there was famine in China at the time

and when they opened up her steamer trunk,

they found it completely empty.

She had given everything away.

Everything.

She had not kept herself

from any of the vulnerabilities

that those who she was seeking to reach

were exposed to.

Yeah.

Well, that the Son came as a human person

and became like us

in all our humanity entailed

also meant

that he took on a human culture.

Jesus communicated his message

in a particular language,

for example,

Aramaic.

He used the local vernacular,

translating the divine words

into the cultural forms

of first century Palestine.

He took up their questions

and inflected his message

through their cultural consciousness

and their categories,

their traditions,

their figures of speech.

The incarnation shows us

the astonishing truth

that the divine person

and message

can be expressed

in human form.

that human cultures

actually have

a carrying capacity.

They are capable

of bearing the divine.

Just as Mary,

the mother of our Lord,

is called Theotokos,

the bearer of God,

as Richard has reminded us,

so also human culture

can be the bearer

of the divine word.

God can speak

his divine words

in Aramaic

with a Nazarene accent,

I suppose.

And indeed,

any and every culture

can be the bearer

of the divine word,

a Logotokos,

or a bearer of the word,

a carrier,

Logokristos.

This is what

the great missiologist

Andrew Walls,

probably the greatest missiologist

of the 20th century.

I think he just died

quite recently.

What he has called

the indigenizing principle.

The indigenizing principle.

That is to say

that the gospel

can make its home

in any and every culture.

Now, later we're going to talk about

it's never completely at home

in any culture.

There's also a pilgrimizing principle

that's going to call us

to another place,

but it can,

nonetheless,

make its home

in any and every culture.

The indigenizing principle.

And that the gospel,

indeed,

seeks embodiment

within every culture.

And this recognition

of the implication

of the incarnation,

has made for Christian readiness

to translate the scriptures

into every language.

That's just the first impulse,

and it's a good, right impulse

for Christians.

And this in contrast

to Islam's view

of the exclusivity

of Arabic

as the sacramental language

of Muslims.

Kenneth Craig talks a lot about this.

And this is one of the emphases

of the late Yale missiologist,

Laman Sané,

grew up as a Muslim,

who argues that Islam

is structurally tied

to Arabic revelation,

whereas Christianity

is structurally committed

to translation

because of the incarnation.

Andrew Walsh writes,

incarnation is translation.

When God and Christ

became man,

divinity was translated

into humanity

as though humanity

were the receptor language.

See how natural that it is

for us to seek

to translate the scriptures?

So,

what might be some implications

for this,

of this,

for how we do missions?

How might it make us,

let's think of this

for a little bit,

how might it make us

think

of the receptor cultures

we seek to reach

with the gospel?

Any thoughts?

If they have a caring capacity

for the gospel,

how might it make us

think about these receptor cultures

and regard them?

Yeah.

One interesting thing

is it seems like

there are in different cultures

that even in our experience

we don't give analogies

within the culture

that can carry the message

in a way to the heart

that you can't find

intellectual or

by individual.

Yes, yes, yes.

that there are,

that there are,

within each culture there are these resonances that will be there.

It's as if somehow God allowed something to grow up in the culture

that would be such a perfect receptor of the gospel

that when the gospel comes in,

the gospel illuminates this aspect,

but also this aspect illuminates the gospel itself.

So we go in with the expectation of cultures

that there are going to be some things in this culture

that will illuminate the gospel in a way that we might not have seen before,

almost certainly have not, because it's a very different culture.

So since the gospel can be at home, make its home,

sorry, never at home, but never completely at home,

since it can make its home in every culture,

what we want to do is we want to come in and seed the gospel into each culture

in their vernacular, maybe translating the scriptures,

translate the scriptures into the indigenous languages

and see how the gospel then germinates

and bears its native fruits in that particular soil.

And there will be expressions and embodiments of the gospel

that springing up from that particular cultural soil

will be new to the missionary.

There will be fresh discoveries of the applications of the gospel.

And this should give us a real openness to discovery.

And think about this.

It will take the whole people of God,

drawn from every tongue, tribe, and nation,

to discover, display, and delight in

the whole glory of Christ in his gospel.

It will take the whole people of God

to discover, display, and delight in

the whole glory of Christ.

So we come in seeking to plant the seeds,

but so eager to see what color is the flower

going to come up out of this soil?

What will it be like?

Andrew Walls.

I mean, this keeps us from being too paternalistic

about these things.

Andrew Walls has a wonderful image.

He says, imagine a great concert hall.

And we all, as Christians, we all have our seats

from all these different cultures,

and we're watching the same drama, and that's the gospel.

But some of us, depending upon where you're seated,

you're going to have a slightly different view.

Someone might be right up close to the orchestra pit,

so they pick up right away that little light pizzicato,

indicating that the villain is making an appearance soon,

and they notice.

Maybe, maybe you have a seat way up

in the nosebleed seats,

but you kind of have a nice, broad,

bird's-eye view of the whole thing.

Maybe you're sitting through your night,

so you see, just from your view,

the dagger of the assassin

before anyone else,

and you're attentive to that.

You get the picture.

And everybody has a slightly different take on this thing,

and then when the intermission comes,

you all get there, and over your tee,

you're talking about how exciting it was.

Did you, oh no, I missed that.

I hadn't seen that.

That's fantastic.

Oh, I see how that fits together with this.

I mean, what a wonderful, wonderful collective experience

to see how the gospel shimmers and shines

and is radiant from all these different angles.

So it's a great image.

So one other question.

What happens in our mission

when we forget that particular implication?

What can happen?

Yeah, my back.

Well, it's great to me,

just picking up on that,

that this dynamic makes,

hopefully, makes us more self-reflective

and aware that our own,

the thing that we've grown up in,

and this is such a danger for Western culture,

Christendom is to think,

well, we, our Christianity is acultural.

Exactly.

Acultural, not cultural.

Yeah, it doesn't reflect,

excellent.

Yes, yes, yes.

It's universal.

Yeah.

Rather than saying,

no, this is a Western expression of this,

and we need to continue to have the humility

to reflect on our own culture

and where we're culturally captive,

where we shouldn't be.

Yeah.

And, as you were saying,

then learn, because, yeah,

and then learn from others

and just grow in our richness of understanding

by having that humility.

And there are lots of tricky things

in the youth of that.

Yeah.

No, I think that's key.

It's really important.

Yeah.

It's interesting that,

so the Puritan,

the early Puritan missions in New England

thought that, you know,

just illustrating how, you know,

if we think that our culture is not a culture,

it's just normative,

and we prefer our culture,

perhaps even impose it,

our cultural forms on those we seek to reach,

really that's just kind of cultural imperialism.

And the Puritans,

and I love the Puritans,

the early Puritans in New England

where they were trying to reach the natives,

they expressed again and again

the need to,

I'll use their term,

to civilize the natives

before they gospelize.

That's also their term,

gospelize the natives.

They said, we gotta get them,

first, before we can give them the gospel,

we gotta get them to, you know,

to wear the right clothing

and to settle down,

not be nomadic,

settle down in a proper way

in villages with picket fences.

You know,

we can't do this church thing

off the back of a horse.

It just doesn't work.

We gotta civilize them

before we can gospelize them.

And they really believe that.

I mean, we kind of laugh,

but they really believe this.

This shaped the missionary enterprise

until David Brainerd

goes down,

and he's at the Forks of the Delaware

and cross Wixong,

and he's preaching to these

as yet uncivilized Native Americans.

And, I mean, the description's fantastic,

but it's just like a Pentecost.

You know, and he hears this mighty rushing wind,

and they're starting to rejoice in the Lord,

and they're soundly converted.

And they are still savages,

as they're described as.

But they are obviously regenerated.

And this just completely shook

the categories of the Puritans.

And they finally,

and kudos on them,

they shifted.

They said,

oh my goodness,

we never realized.

We don't need to civilize the Natives

before we gospelize them.

God can make Christians of them

without making fine Englishmen of them.

And maybe some of the clues in this

would have been from Acts 15

and the Jerusalem Council,

where do the Gentiles need to become Jews first

before they can become Christians?

They need to become culturally Jewish?

And the answer that they concluded was,

no, no.

So this is so important.

Well, finally,

and it's just going to be finally for us this morning,

for we're far from exhausting this topic

of the implications of the incarnation.

But finally for us,

the incarnation of the Son

meant an emptying that was costly.

An emptying that was costly.

As Paul writes to the Philippians,

though he was in the form of God,

he did not count equality with God

a thing to be grasped or hung onto,

but emptied himself

by taking on the form of a servant,

being born in the likeness of humanity.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on the cross.

Or as Paul expresses the incarnation

to the Corinthians,

though he was rich,

yet for your sakes,

he became poor

so that you,

by his poverty,

might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8 and 9.

When Jesus,

on the eve of his death,

wrapped himself in a servant's towel

and washed his disciples' feet,

that stunning act of self-abasement

was no isolated gesture,

but emblematic of his whole incarnate life.

I have come not to be served,

he explained,

but to serve and to give my life.

Mark 10.45.

When the Father sent the Son,

he gave him a cup.

Contained in that cup

was a life of pouring himself out

in sacrificial service,

even unto death.

Regarding his mission,

he said,

shall I not drink the cup

that the Father has given me?

John 18.11.

And as the Father sent me,

so I send you.

Jesus gives a cup

to each disciple.

As Jesus solemnly asked

the sons of Zebedee,

are you able to drink the cup?

They rather naively responded

with breezy confidence,

oh, we're able.

Matthew 20.22.

But the cup we are each given

is one of taking up a cross

and dying daily in our mission.

It involves,

as with the master

whom we follow,

a costly,

self-emptying sacrifice.

Unless a grain of wheat

fall to the ground and die,

it remains alone.

But if it dies,

it bears much fruit.

Whoever seeks to preserve her life

shall lose it,

but whoever gives up her life

shall gain it.

Well, the sons of Zebedee

did drink the cup

that Jesus gave them.

James, it seems,

was the first martyr

of the apostles.

He was beheaded by Herod Agrippa

as related in Acts 12.

For his brother John,

the cup was different.

His was a suffering

of a long endurance.

He was the only one of the 12

to die naturally

after a lifetime

of costly faithfulness.

We are each sent out

in mission

with a cup to drink

given to us by Christ.

And his own

self-emptying incarnate life

gives us some indication

of the nature of that cup.

So, finally, our question,

what might be some

of the implications

of this feature

of the incarnation

for our thinking

about and living out

our mission?

Any thoughts?

I've just been reflecting

really for all of these aspects.

Yeah, yeah.

It has to come out of love

because you can't,

like, you can't, like,

look for those touch points

in the culture

that you despise.

Yeah.

You can't seek to, you know,

enter into it

if you hate it.

Yeah, yeah.

It's so inventive.

But you have to love these people.

And that's true for, I mean,

suffering and giving stuff up.

If you don't do that,

unless there's love.

Yeah, yeah.

I think that's so key.

And this is what kind of goes back

to that first foundation

where if we're just called

to imitate,

here, be like Christ

in these ways,

who could do it

but for the fact

of the indwelling spirit

who,

and we're going to see this

a little bit

maybe next week,

causes to, you know,

so death works in me

but life in you.

Paul is able to pour himself out

for the benefit

of the spiritual life

of those he's seeking

because the spirit

wells up the life

of Christ in us,

the character of Christ in us.

Supreme part of which

is love,

is self-giving love.

Yeah.

I mean, it's,

yeah,

yeah,

and only for love's sake

are you willing

to take on these hard things.

And, you know,

the history of missions,

I mean,

I wish I had another hour

to illustrate this.

You think of the Moravians

that are trying desperately

to get to the slaves,

to reach the slaves

in the Caribbean

and they found no way.

so they sold themselves

into slavery

so they could be beside

the slaves they were seeking

to reach.

Or other Moravian missionaries

that would go into

leper colonies

two by two,

every year they would go in

to preach the good news there

knowing that they would

never come out.

They'd just be replaced

every two,

every year

by the next two

and the next two.

And it went on

for about a century.

Yeah,

it's,

it's,

it's,

it's,

it's,

it's remarkable.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Any other observations

or implications for us?

Thoughts?

Yeah,

yeah,

Matt.

An application for me

is this.

I felt about six months ago

God saying to me,

Matt,

evangelize your neighborhood

and various things

have happened since then.

Uh-huh.

But just today,

I think an application is,

Matt,

when you take the dog

for a walk,

instead of listening

to a book,

which,

you know,

isolates you

from interaction

with people

as you go through

the neighborhood,

uh,

you know,

pray for them

and,

uh,

be ready to make

the most of every

opportunity,

uh,

you have to pray for

and interact with

the community.

That's excellent.

I mean,

that's incarnational.

Wanting to put yourself

in terms of a presence

in their space

that's shared

rather than isolate yourself.

That's fantastic,

Matt.

I,

I,

I did the,

I decided to do

the same thing

in the gym

where just not use this

because I want to be

attentive to God's

providences

and just see

what sort of

conversations can come up

and,

and,

and this is,

usually communicates,

don't bother me,

I'm doing something.

Uh,

yeah.

I mean,

there'd be so much more

so I just,

I just commend to you

the incarnation

as,

as,

as a model.

You know,

there,

there's a,

it seems also to shape

the tone of our mission.

He came in humility

as we've said.

So how could we be

arrogant and triumphalistic?

It's excluded.

You know,

when he,

he,

he comes,

he,

he heals bodies.

He feeds the hungry.

So this seems like

the whole person matters.

The mission is hopeful

for us

because of the incarnation.

we know God has not

abandoned this world.

It's not simply

rescuing souls

from a doomed

material reality.

Rather,

participating in God's

renewal of all things.

It's holistic.

I mean,

there's so many aspects

that are,

that are,

um,

bound up in

the incarnation.

Well,

let's,

uh,

conclude then

with,

uh,

this remark

by John Stott

where he writes,

all authentic

mission

is incarnational

mission.

All authentic

mission

is incarnational

mission.

Uh,

well,

let's conclude

there.

And,

uh,

next week,

Lord willing,

we will,

uh,

take up a little

companion study

looking at the

apostle Paul

as a model

for our

missions

and missionary

activity.

So,

uh,

thank you

and hopefully

see you

next week.

Thank you.

Thank you.