Mission - For the praise of God’s glory

Good morning, church family.

Like Dave said, we're reading from Psalm 96.

O sing to the Lord a new song.

Sing to the Lord all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless his name.

Tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvellous works among all the peoples.

For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.

He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendour and majesty are before him.

Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples.

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.

Bring an offering and come into his courts.

Worship the Lord in the splendour of holiness.

Tremble before him all the earth.

Say among the nations, the Lord reigns.

Yes, the world is established.

It shall never be moved.

He will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice.

Let the sea roar and all that fills it.

Let the fields exult and everything in it.

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord.

For he comes.

For he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Well, Matt and Grace, you're probably feeling a mixture of things.

I'm not quite sure what you'll be feeling, but a bit of excitement.

But I'm also guessing this is one of the most uncertain times of your life

that you've experienced.

With the future, very uncertain.

So this morning we really want to just commend the truths of God's word

that us elders, we know you already know these things.

We wouldn't be sending you if you didn't.

But it's no trouble to us to encourage you to fix your eyes on these things.

And it's good for us as a church family to remember these things as well.

So I think as a church family, we're starting a new year.

I don't know about you, but I'm setting plans for the year.

I consider the hardships that I'm facing, that my brothers and sisters are facing,

and we want to find meaning and strength in them.

And I think in all that, we need to come back to that ultimate question of

if the Lord has delivered us out of the world,

it would be so much better if we were with Christ right now.

So why has he got us here, sending us back into the world?

So this morning, yeah, I'm going to be talking to you, Matt and Grace, a lot.

But it's really for our whole church family to be hearing these things as well.

So why on earth would you leave all that's familiar,

your country with all the rights and security that are easily accessible,

and your parents and wider family and taking their granddaughter away,

your home that you built that we love to fill stuff with,

and the comfort and nourishment of belonging to an established church,

why would you leave all that behind and go into the unknown,

to the people and language and culture you don't know?

You can only plan a few days ahead of you, and even then, that's not certain.

You're trying to take on a new skill set from what you've vocationally done thus far.

And you know that you're going to a people who don't want to hear what you've got to say.

You know that your goal is an impossible task,

that people who are happy living for themselves, apart from God,

will turn to Christ in faith and joy.

What's going to keep you grounded?

How are you going to keep your bearings?

I think you need to keep clear what the basis of mission is.

What is the fundamental reason you're going?

You've got to keep this clear in your minds.

So what is the purpose of mission?

What is the basis of mission in the world?

I think many Christians might answer,

because people are lost and in danger of judgment.

And that's true.

If we were, with our compassion as we went about mission,

someone would be very cold and heartless.

Something wouldn't be right.

But it's not the basis.

The basis is in Psalm 96.

Because from verse 4,

The most basic truth of all reality

is that there is one God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Now, in our present time,

many people are worshipping,

I think, Linal Messi at the moment.

After winning the World Cup,

I saw in the news feed

that one guy got a tattoo of Messi on his forehead.

There's an option.

You could get Jesus on your forehead if you wanted.

Anyway, that's not in my script.

Linal Messi.

People are worshipping him,

but his splendour.

Just consider his splendour.

Why people are worshipping this guy.

It is so limited to a soccer field.

And his splendour is already fading in his 30s.

He's going to have to retire soon.

And like Pele before him,

he's going to be dead one day.

And people will be cheering for someone else.

People are worshipping this man.

And what puny splendour.

But then compare that to the splendour of the Lord.

Like, I got to be in Jindabyne over the Christmas break

and just getting away from the light of the city.

Again, you just get the night sky.

My dad was trying to film auroras.

Just the galaxy that praises him.

The sun that comes up every day declaring his mercy,

his goodness to mankind.

You just look at the creativity in this room of all the personalities.

And that's just the reflected glory of God that we see in creation.

Like, what splendour the Lord has.

That the oceans roar his greatness.

That splendour.

And his majesty is like no other person in authority you've ever met.

Like, some people in authority, you shake before them.

But scripture tells us the people who have got even a glimpse of his majesty

haven't just shaken.

They've fallen down dead as though dead before him.

His majesty is that great.

All strength belongs to him.

All beauty is from him.

It reflects his own beauty.

He is beauty.

He has made all things to show how glorious he is.

And if even inanimate stars and galaxies and trees sing and oceans roar,

all things were made to worship him,

how much more should men and women and boys and girls

who have the faculties to know him personally be worshipping him?

In light of that, how awful is the current state

of so many people's hearts and the state of the world?

Even here in Newcastle, people were worshipping worthless idols.

Setting themselves up as if they can determine life.

That what I think equals reality is what our culture is saying here.

People were just devoting themselves to worthless things.

And then where you're going, people were bowing down towards a God

that cannot hear them.

A God that cannot speak to them.

A God that cannot save them.

The world is in an awful state.

The world is worthy of every person and every nation's delight.

And yet, so many are delighting in worthless things.

And the Lord takes himself seriously.

He's determined to have all creation respond in ecstatic rejoicing in him alone.

He is so determined to bring this about

that he's brought about a great salvation for all the world.

For us who have plunged ourselves into impurity,

he has made a way to wash us clean

through the death of his son

so that we can stand before the splendour of his holiness

and not tremble in dread,

but tremble in delight.

He's made a way.

And he's made a way

for us to know real life

in raising his son from the dead.

He raises us also.

He has conquered everything.

He is the source of life.

He is determined to rescue his people

from every nook and cranny of this world

so that the whole world might give him the praise

he is worthy of.

He wants people to delight in him,

in what is true,

what is good,

what is beautiful.

So why does mission exist?

Well, I'm going to quote John Piper here

and there's a little article

on the second page of the bulletin

which is well worth your time.

Missions exist because worship doesn't.

The Lord is worthy of every person

and every nation's total delight

and he's achieved everything to bring about that

through his son's death and resurrection.

Mission exists because worship doesn't.

So Matt and Grace,

your task is done,

our task is done

when that day arrives

that's pictured in Revelation chapter 5.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

The day is coming,

it's already begun

but it's going to be brought to completion

when everyone is singing

worthy are you

for you were slain

and by your blood

you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language

and people and nation.

When the whole world

is singing with the angels,

worthy is the lamb

who was slain

to receive power

and wealth

and wisdom

and might

and honour

and glory

and blessing

when everyone's saying

life is in

you

Lord Jesus.

When that day comes

mission can stop.

When the whole world

with the ocean roaring

and the trees singing

and every human being

singing the praise

of the one

who is worthy of all praise

we won't need to be on mission

and God is determined

to bring that day about.

He's done everything

to secure it

in the death and resurrection

of his son.

So the basis of mission

is that God

is worthy

of

every person

and nation's delight.

He's worthy

of all worship.

Christ is

worthy

to receive

the reward

of his suffering.

He was determined

to bring it about.

So that's the basis.

So how should we

considering the next question

how should we think

of ourselves

in this task

of being sent

into the world

to represent God?

How should we think

of ourselves

in this task

of mission?

I think Psalm 96

is again

a great picture

for us

in the first verses.

Oh sing

to the Lord

a new song.

Sing to the Lord

all the earth.

Sing to the Lord

bless his name

tell of his salvation

from day to day

declare his glory

among the nations

his marvellous works

among all the peoples.

This isn't a description

of what we call

missionaries.

This is a description

of what we call

a Christian

a believer.

Missions

isn't

primarily

a task

that we have

to accomplish.

Singing

his praises

declaring

his glory

is

just the natural

overflow.

It's the natural

response

to what we've received

from God

in Christ.

It's not that

I have

this task

called telling people

the gospel

and I need to find

creative

manipulative

ways to

help them

buy into it.

That's not what it is.

It's

I praise

his glory

and I want people

to join that song.

I think it helps

to realise

and C.S. Lewis

helped me

grasp this point

that we all praise.

We all praise

what we love.

We can't help it.

Whether you think

about what gets

you excited

what your mind

just goes to

and you love

thinking and planning

what

gives you delight

and what comes

out of your mouth

therefore you can't

help but speak

about it.

people praise

books and

restaurants

and their

romantic loves

and they praise

like Messias

talking about.

We can't help it.

Everyone is praising

praising, praising.

The only question is

is it worthy

of our praise

and

so a Christian

is someone

whose heart

has just been

captured by the

love of God

and so they

naturally just

sing.

It just comes

out of them

and not just

sing with our

words but you

can just see it

in our choices

in our life.

So Matt and

Grace, this new

identity that you're

taking on

called missionary,

I'm going to

suggest to you

that that's not

fundamentally who

you are,

missionary,

because the

Lord might

decide you're

only going to

be overseas

for a couple

of weeks.

We don't

know or it

could be the

rest of your

lives but it's

not fundamentally

who you are.

He wants you to

sing his praises

wherever you are.

You have already

been singing his

praises since the

time that Christ

has captured your

hearts.

So I think just

get that clear in

your minds that

you already are

singing his

praises and you

always will be for

eternity.

The title

missionary will

come and go but

that's not

fundamentally who

you are.

And I think

the other thing

we should be

thinking for

ourselves is the

desire for others

to delight in the

Lord only comes

when we

ourselves are

delighting in

the Lord.

The fuel of

mission is your

own delight in

the Lord.

As Piper puts

it, you can't

commend what you

don't cherish.

So Matt and

Grace again,

you've got lots

of tasks ahead

of you that are

on your mind

like learning

language and

finding a place

to live and so

many other things

that are going

on, how to

raise Rachel in

a different

culture with

different temptations

and different

challenges.

But can I just

urge you to put

one task before

you always because

this one task

will empower and

guide every other

thing you need to

do.

and that is to

know the Lord

more and more

and more because

the more you

delight in him,

the more your

life will

demonstrate that

he is worthy

of everything.

So know him

more and more

in good times

and in bad.

God.

And I think it's

when you know

him more and

more, that's

when your

compassion for

the people you're

going to will

actually be

sustained.

I might say an

outrageous thing

here.

I don't think we

in and of

ourselves have the

compassion to

want people to be

saved.

It's only when we

come to the God

who has that

compassion for

people, that's

when we're filled

with him to want

people to know

him.

So keep knowing

him more and

more.

Delight in him

and that will

sustain you through

whatever hardships

you face and it

will maintain your

compassion.

compassion.

The last thing I'll

say is because you

are called to sing

and declare his

praises, I think

that also transforms

how you measure

success.

You can't guarantee

any results.

I think we often

think that God wants

results like the

world measures

results in numbers

and money and power

and influence and

things like that.

He made the

heavens.

He doesn't need

all that.

He owns all

that.

So he doesn't

need those results.

Results is

completely up to

him.

You can't

guarantee any of

that.

So what does

success look like

then if it's not

tangible results

necessarily?

Well, it looks

like, let me

reframe the

question, how

you glorify God,

is it by results?

No, I think you

will glorify God

when your life is

showing that his

love is better

than life.

You will glorify

him when you can

show others that he

is your delight.

And that means

that even when

things go really

bad, even in the

hardship and losses

and whatever

rejection you

receive, even

when you're facing

your own death and

losing everything,

if your heart can

still say, your

love is better

than life, that's

success.

You're bringing

glory to him.

So the grace of

God has taken

us out of the

world and brought

us into a new

humanity in Christ

and we've been sent

back into the world

to be embodied

witnesses to the

heavenly life that

we've found in

belonging to Jesus.

So the last thing I

want to say, Matt

and Grace, is can

you pray for us as

a church family?

It's not so much

that we need to be

committed to

supporting you, it's

more, pray that we

would know the

Lord more and

more and more so

that we as a

church will delight

in him and just

naturally overflow in

his praise and want

him to be honoured in

all the world because

that's when we will

be of good use and

good partnership to

you.

Why don't I pray

and then we're going

to sing.

And have a Bible

reading and then

David will continue.

Father, we don't

desire your glory

anywhere near as

much as we should.

So I pray that you

would fill us with

yourself.

I pray as a church

family and for Matt

and Grace that you

would reveal yourself

more and more through

your son so that we

might cherish you

with all our heart

and therefore want

you to be honoured

as you so rightly

deserve in all the

world.

So fill us with

yourself, I pray.

Amen.

Thank you.