The Mission of the Christ

A few years ago, David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, wrote an article entitled

It's Not About You.

And in it, he laments the fact that as a nation, we mislead young people toward radical individualism.

And he wrote this.

He says, we tell them, follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of

your own drummer, follow your dreams, and find yourself.

This is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American

culture.

But, he continues, this talk is of no help to the central business of adulthood, finding

serious things to tie yourself down to.

The successful young adult is beginning to make sacred commitments to a spouse, a community,

and calling, yet mostly hears about freedom and autonomy.

Today's young adults are also told to find their passion and then pursue their dreams.

The implication is that they should find themselves first and then go off and live their quest.

But, of course, very few people at age 22 or 24 can take an inward journey and come out

having discovered a developed self.

Most successful young people don't look inside and then plan a life.

They look outside and find a problem which summons their life.

The purpose in life is not to find yourself.

It's to lose yourself, he writes.

In other words, the purpose of life is not to identify some grand, unfulfilled desire and

dream within ourselves and then to dedicate our lives, the rest of our lives, to pursuing

it.

Rather, it's the purpose of our lives to find something greater than ourselves, external to

ourselves, and then to forget about ourselves and lose ourselves in it.

If our goal is self-fulfillment, self-realization, self-actualization, then ultimately we will have

unfulfilling relationships, unfulfilling careers, and we'll be bitterly disappointed at our old

age and wonder what went wrong.

This is true because it's essentially what Jesus said in Mark 8, verses 34 to 37.

Mark 8:34–37

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and

the gospels will save it.

The truth is that people who live meaningful lives, fulfilling lives, don't look within

themselves in the plan of life.

Rather, they look outside and find a problem and then a cause greater than themselves and

then they are summoned by it.

And in this passage, John 4, 27 to 42, we see the greatest summons that comes upon man

and woman, the greatest calling that anyone can receive in their life, and that is to play

a part in advancing the mission of Christ to save the world.

Literally, to save the world.

I mean, that's what we joke about, right?

This is why I'm going to go and save the world, find this career.

But that's what this passage calls us to.

It first teaches us about the purpose of the mission, and then secondly, about the priority

of the mission.

And then third, about the partnership in the mission.

So the purpose, the priority, and the partnership.

And in order to discern the purpose of this mission, we need to go back to the passage we

talked about this past week and connect it back.

Because Jesus had offered this Samaritan woman living water, which is the Spirit of God who

imparts eternal life to all who have communion with Him, all who come to Him and trust in Him.

And He said that the way to receive this living water is through Jesus.

He is the Christ, the Messiah that was to come.

And so as He's talking to this Samaritan woman about these things, His disciples finally come

back from their trip into the sea to buy food.

And then they say to Him, verse 27,

So their surprise reflects the prejudice of their day because some Jews at this time believed

and taught that it was a waste of time for a Jewish rabbi to talk to a woman, even their own wives.

In fact, they said that at best it was the waste of time, and at worst it's a diversion from studying

the Torah, the law of God, that could lead to hell.

That's what some of these Jews taught.

And so not only does Jesus blatantly disregard the misogyny of His day,

He transcends the religious, political, and ethnic hostilities between Jews and Samaritans

by approaching and speaking to this Samaritan woman.

And for Jesus, this was not a diversion.

It was not a waste of time.

It was not a distraction because this was a part of His mission.

Because He's not just the Messiah of the Jews.

It tells us in verse 42, He's the Savior of the world.

He didn't come to save a pocket of the world.

He's claiming to save the world, to reach the nations, all races, ethnic groups.

18th century theologian Jonathan Edwards writes in this book, The Nature of True Virtues,

that private affection, if not subordinate to general affection,

is not only liable to issue and enmity to being in general, but has a tendency to it.

What He's saying is that if our private affections, our smaller affections,

are not subordinate to a general affection,

then that will tend toward enmity toward others and cause divisions.

To illustrate, if our highest allegiance in our lives, in our world, is to ourselves,

then naturally we're not going to look out for the interests of others

because we're fending for ourselves our own interests.

If our highest interest is for our family,

then naturally we will neglect the needs of other families

because we're trying to care for our own families.

If our highest allegiance is to our class,

maybe a socioeconomic class,

or political party, race, nation, or gender,

then naturally we will become classicists,

chauvinists, racists, jingoists, sexists.

It's only when God is our highest good

and His mission to save the whole world is our highest pursuit,

then that's when we become, our hearts are drawn,

not just to a small pocket of the world,

our own families, gender, race, and class,

but to the whole world in general.

And surely after the polarizing presidential election this week,

some of you are elated,

while others of you are downright depressed.

And now I will never endorse a political party

or a candidate from the pulpit

because this is a pulpit.

It's not a podium for advancing the human agenda

and talking about the kingdom of men.

This is a pulpit for advancing the kingdom of God

and proclaiming the word of God.

But I will say this much.

It's that without minimizing your emotions

and what you're feeling,

how we feel today should be governed more

by what Christ has done for us.

And we should be more absorbed by this mission

that Christ calls all believers to

than by anything that's going on around us.

Our desire to look out for our own interests,

our families,

our socioeconomic class,

even our own nation,

all of it should be subsumed by,

subordinated to,

the mission of God

because that's where our primary allegiance should lie.

And that's what Christ does in this passage.

Verse 40,

when the Samaritans ask Jesus to stay with them,

he does,

which would have been shocking

and difficult to do at the time

because of the hostilities

between Jews and Samaritans.

It would have been not unlike,

you know,

defying segregation laws in the 1950s in the U.S.

or defying apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s.

Yet Jesus does that.

He stays with the Samaritans,

eats with them,

lives among them,

and teaches them.

So that's the purpose of this mission

is to save the world

by offering Christ to the world.

That's the mission that Christ calls us to.

That's the purpose of the mission.

It's grand.

It's universal.

It encompasses the entire world.

And then we learn about the priority of this mission

in Jesus' ensuing dialogue with his disciples.

After returning from their trip

into the city of Samaria to buy food,

the disciples urged Jesus to eat in verse 31.

And we know from last week's passage

that Jesus was thirsty.

He asked the woman for a drink.

And probably he's hungry too

because he had been on a long journey

going through Samaria.

And so he's,

but even though he's hungry and thirsty

probably at this time,

he doesn't eat.

He takes advantage instead of this circumstance,

this opportunity to teach his disciples

about his priorities.

So he responds in verse 32.

I have food to eat

that you do not know about.

Just before this interaction,

the Samaritan woman had been confused

by Jesus' mention of living water

and because Jesus was talking about spiritual water,

right?

The living water,

the spirit of God.

And this time,

Jesus' disciples are confused

by Jesus' mention of food.

And so they ask among themselves,

has anyone brought him something to eat?

And Jesus,

hearing this,

explains to them in verse 34.

My food is to do the will

of him who sent me

and to accomplish his work.

This is a reference to Deuteronomy 8, verse 3,

Deuteronomy 8:3

where Moses tells the Israelites

that God humbled them

and fed them with manna from heaven,

which they did not know.

And then he says this,

that he might make you know

that man does not live by bread alone,

but man lives by every word

that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

What Moses meant by this

in telling the Israelites this

is that at an even more fundamental level

than bread,

than our daily physical sustenance,

it is God who ultimately sustains us.

His word,

his sustaining grace,

his common grace,

that God is the one that sustains us

at an even more fundamental level than food.

And Jesus is now taking this teaching,

appropriating this,

to teach them that for him,

doing the Father's will,

accomplishing the mission

that he was sent out to accomplish,

that provides for him

greater satisfaction and sustenance

than food,

than eating.

Jesus is so absorbed

by his mission

to the Samaritans at this point,

so engaged,

probably thinking back

to the conversation he had

with the Samaritan woman,

that thought,

even though he is thirsty and hungry,

the thought of food

is far from him.

So just as the Samaritan woman

left her water jar

to tell the townspeople

about the living water,

Jesus now leaves food aside

because of his pressing concern

for the Samaritans.

And we too must not lose sight

of this purpose,

the priority of this mission

because we're simply too busy living,

right?

Too busy eating and drinking

and other chores of the day.

And this is,

even though we might ask at this point,

Jesus,

come on,

this is just food.

It's not like they were telling you

to do something

that's a luxury.

They're telling you to eat.

You need to eat

to work and to live.

But this,

he's making an important point.

It's an important danger.

And John Piper talks about this

in his book,

Hunger for God.

He writes this,

The greatest enemy

of hunger for God

is not poison,

but apple pie.

It is not the banquet

of the wicked

that dulls our appetite

for heaven,

but endless nibbling

at the table of the world.

The greatest adversary

of love of God

is not his enemies,

but his gifts.

And the most deadly appetites

are not for the poison of evil,

but for the simple pleasures

of earth.

For when these replace

an appetite for God himself,

the idolatry

is scarcely recognizable

and almost incurable.

That's why we as Christians

practice the spiritual discipline

of fasting,

because we want to teach

and train not just our minds,

but our guts,

so that we know

not just intellectually,

but viscerally,

that God is more fundamental

to us,

more important to us

than anything in the world,

even food.

The things that draw us away

from God

and distract us

from God's mission

are often not wicked sins,

but seemingly innocent pleasures

and preoccupations.

What's on the front page

of the newspaper today?

What the polls are saying today?

Scrolling through

our Facebook news feed

or Twitter,

surfing channels,

flipping from one channel

to another,

wondering what's going on

on Instagram today?

These little things,

these are not bad,

sinful things

in and of themselves.

But yet,

when they distract us

from the mission of God,

they can become

sinful disobedience

when they are

unduly prioritized

over and above

our call

to seek and save

the lost

as part of Christ's mission.

And so by foregoing

even the most basic

human need of food,

Jesus teaches us

the utmost priority

of this mission.

And the Gospels

provide no record

of Jesus even

batting an eye

at the social,

political,

military upheavals

of his day.

He doesn't.

There's no record of that.

But he wearied himself

down to the bone.

He forsook food and drink

to save the Samaritan woman's soul.

That's how he pursued us.

That's how he lived

every ounce.

He had used

every ounce of his energy.

That's how he lived

every moment of his life.

He was motivated

by consuming zeal

for God's glory

in the world

and he had no higher delight,

no greater joy

than to offer

eternal life

to people

that he came

into contact with.

God, I pray

that he forgives us

for our lack of zeal,

for his glory

and the lack of love

for souls

that we see in our lives.

Do we also prioritize

Christ's mission

to save the world

so that we can

scarcely go a day

without proclaiming

his gospel?

Do we still prioritize

Christ's mission

to save the world

that we consider

it most basic to us,

to our survival,

even more so

than even to eat?

Are we so captivated

and engrossed

in Christ

and his mission

that everything else

seems of secondary

importance to us?

And I hope you're not

thinking at this point,

well, that's your job,

pastor.

That's not my job.

I have work to do

because brothers and sisters,

proclaiming the gospel,

sharing Christ

with the world

is not my job.

It's our job.

It's the church's job.

There's an important difference

between occupation

and vocation.

And occupation

is what we do

to make a living.

Whether that's

being a teacher,

a secretary,

a mother,

a babysitter,

sales rep,

an analyst,

a professor,

an artist.

And the Bible,

as much as we like

to look around for,

it doesn't give us

very specific directions

about what he wants us

to do

in terms of our occupation.

A vocation

is our calling.

It's our calling

to Christ

and to his mission

that's valid,

that applies to all of us,

every Christian.

And the Bible's filled

from cover to cover

with instructions,

injunctions,

exhortations

about this vocation.

And everything we do,

including our occupation,

is encompassed by

and subsumed by

this holy vocation.

So then,

we can't say

we're not called

to evangelism

or mission.

Every Christian

is called to that.

This is what

William Booth,

who's the founder

of the Salvation Army,

you guys know

about the Salvation Army,

he had this to say

when someone replied

to him

that he's not called

to evangelism.

He said,

not called,

did you say?

Not heard the call,

I think you should say.

Put your ear down

to the Bible

and hear him

bid you go

and pull sinners

out of the fire of sin.

Put your ear down

to the burdened,

agonized heart

of humanity

and listened to

its pitiful wail

for help.

Go stand

by the gates of hell

and hear the damned

entreat you

to go to their father's house

and bid their brothers

and sisters

and servants

and masters

not to come there.

And then look Christ

in the face,

whose mercy

you have professed

to obey

and tell him

whether you will

join heart

and soul

and body

and circumstances

in the march

to publish

his mercy

to the world.

When we know

the source

of living water,

when we know

the source

of eternal life,

what does it say

about us

that we shy away

from telling people

about Jesus

because we fear

inconveniencing them

or because we're embarrassed?

How selfish

and unloving

is that?

Indeed,

how hateful

is that

to withhold

living water,

eternal life

from people

who are perishing

without it?

I'm not saying

that all of you

should leave

your current jobs

and become

traveling evangelists,

right?

But all of us,

because of your

unique place,

location,

and occupation,

you have a unique

ability

to harness

the resources,

the relationships,

the expertise

that you have

for the sake

of the kingdom of God.

You can reach people

that I can never reach

because of where you are.

Right?

And that is our

Christian calling

to be faithful,

to declare

and demonstrate

the good news

of Jesus Christ

in all that we do,

including in our occupation.

And Jesus further

elaborates on this

priority of the mission

by using a farming analogy

in verses 35 and 36.

He writes,

Do you not say

there are yet four months

then comes the harvest?

Look,

I tell you,

lift up your eyes

and see that the fields

are white for harvest.

Already,

the one who reaps

is receiving wages

and gathering fruit

for eternal life

so that sower and reaper

may rejoice together.

Jesus here uses

another metaphor

to refer to a deeper

spiritual reality.

There was a generally

known agricultural saying

that there are yet

four months

then comes the harvest

because from the end

of the sowing period

to the beginning

of the harvesting,

the reaping period,

it was about four months.

So that's what they used to say.

Well,

we got to wait four months

and then there will be a harvest.

But in this spiritual harvest,

Jesus says,

there's no waiting.

The fields are already

white for harvest.

In fact,

the one who reaps

is receiving wages already

and gathering fruit

for eternal life.

And the sower

and the reaper

rejoice together.

And that's a reference

in allusion to Amos 9,

chapter 9,

verse 13,

where the prophet says

that a day is coming

when the plowman

shall overtake the reaper

and the treader of grapes

him who sows the seed.

So what that means

is it's a prediction,

it's a prophecy

about a time

when there was such

extraordinary fruitfulness

in the land

that people will be sowing

and reaping

at the same time.

People who sow

will be overtaken

by the reapers,

people who reap

will be overtaken

by the sowers.

And Jesus says

that time,

that end time,

is now

because he has come.

And now is a time

when sowing

and reaping

take place

at the same time

so that they're able

to rejoice together.

This is another reason

why Christ's mission

must be prioritized

because the time

for the harvest

is not four months

from now.

It's not two years

from now

when we are better

equipped and prepared.

It's not five years

from now

when your neighbor

is more ready

to hear the gospel.

It's now.

The harvest is now.

The time has come

and that's another reason

to prioritize

the mission of Christ.

And this agricultural metaphor

reveals the third aspect

of Christ's mission.

First, the purpose,

the priority,

and now our partnership

in the mission.

Jesus continues

in verses 37-38.

For here the saying

holds true,

one sows

and another reaps.

I sent you to reap

that for which you

did not labor.

Others have labored

and you have entered

into their labor.

So we are now

in a time

when sowing

and reaping

coincide.

It is still generally true

that often

we'll reap

what others have sown

and others will reap

what we have sown.

And that's what happened

when a few weeks ago

we celebrated baptisms.

We didn't sow those seeds.

Others did.

But we got to reap

what others have sown.

In a similar way

we will be sowing

many seeds here

and others will reap

when the harvest.

comes.

And even in this story

we see this

because Jesus

sows the gospel

with the Samaritans

but before him

John the Baptist

had preached nearby

and after Jesus

Philip the Evangelist

will come later

in the book of Acts

Acts 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8

and he will have

a wide harvest

a great harvest

and many will come

to know him

through his ministry.

And what that means

is that this partnership

in the harvest of soul

obviates any sense

of competition

because we recognize

that we're all

in this together.

We partner together.

It's not about

who reaps

or who sows.

We rejoice together

because now we're

in a time

when those two things

coincide.

And it means

it should also

free us

and encourage us

to play our part

in advancing

the mission of Christ

to save the world

because we don't have

the burden

of the entire enterprise

weighing us down.

It's not up to us

ultimately.

We partake

in the mission of Christ

and ultimately

God himself

does the heavy lifting.

And we see this

in verse 39.

It says,

Many Samaritans

from that town

believed in him

because of the woman's

testimony.

He told me

all that I ever did.

Now,

I hope you see here

that these people

are not coming

to know Christ

because of this

Samaritan woman's

competence

because she is

an incredible apologist

for the faith.

She

was known

in the neighborhood

for being

a promiscuous woman.

She was discredited

by her neighbors.

And she goes

and what does she say?

She says,

He told me

all that I ever did.

Come see a man

who told me

all that I ever did.

Verse 29.

Can this be the Christ?

She's just telling them

what she knows.

She's just telling him,

telling them

what Christ did for her,

what Christ told her.

And in this culture,

a woman's witness

was not allowed

in court.

Yet,

in the Gospels,

in the Gospel of John,

this Samaritan woman

becomes the first missionary

among the Samaritans.

Jesus sends her.

And her genuine excitement

and sincerity

were enough.

It was contagious enough

that people came out

to see for themselves.

And when they see

for themselves,

we found that in verse 42,

they come to faith.

Because they say,

It is no longer

because of what you said

that we believe,

for we have heard

for ourselves,

and we know

that this is indeed

the Savior

of the world.

That's ultimately

where our confidence

in evangelism

comes from.

It's not our proficiency

in apologetics.

It's not our expert

knowledge of Scripture.

It's our faith

that Christ

will prove himself

to be the Savior

of the world

when we present him

to those around us.

If you have not yet

trusted in the Lord Jesus

for eternal life

and salvation,

then we urge you

to stay with us a while

to come and see

this Christ

that we worship,

that we have

a relationship with.

The proof is

in the eating

of the pudding, right?

Our best argument

for the truth

of Christianity

is Christ himself.

It's Christ,

his body,

he's the church

in action.

And I trust

that when you see

Christ in our life

and worship as a church,

you will join

the Samaritans

in saying,

it is no longer

because of what you said

that I believe.

For we have heard

for ourselves

and we know

that this is indeed

the Savior of the world.

And if you are already

a follower of Christ,

then I want to exhort you

to share Christ

with your friends

and neighbors.

Simply present Christ

to them in the terms

that you know,

what Christ did for you,

what God did for you.

Offer to read a book

of the Bible with them.

And if you have questions,

then say,

hey, I'll get back

to you next week.

I'll go ask some folks

at our church.

Have faith

in the compelling

beauty

and power

of Christ

and his word.

have faith

in that.

Just present

them Christ.

A friend of mine

asked this

past week

how Christianity

first came

to Korea,

which is where

I'm from

originally.

And Robert J. Thomas,

Robert Germain Thomas

was the Welsh missionary

who first preached

the gospel.

Well, he didn't

exactly get to preach

the gospel,

but he went

to South Korea.

Because he was

originally missionary

to China

and he had done

faithful ministry there,

but he had a burning

desire to share

the gospel in Korea

also because Korea

was at the time

known as the

Hermit Kingdom.

There was no access

to the gospel

because he knew

the purpose

of Christ's mission

to reach the whole,

not just a section

of the world.

He had a passion

for missions.

And so he

gathered together

the limited resources

he had

and started learning

the language.

And in 1866,

he learned that

an American boat

named the General Sherman

was going to try

to establish

trade relations

with Korea.

And so he

offered himself

to accompany the boat

as an interpreter,

even though he

was probably not

a very competent

interpreter at the time

in exchange

for an opportunity

to spread the gospel.

And as the ship

approached the coast

of Korea,

Robert started

tossing gospel tracts

onto the riverbank

as the ship proceeded.

But Korea,

having observed

how Westerners

mistreated China,

they were leery

of foreigners

at the time.

So when they saw

the ship,

Korean officials

ordered the American

boat to leave

at once.

And when they

did not leave

at once,

they started

attacking the ship.

And as the sailors

fled from the boat

and the Koreans

were being killed,

I mean the Koreans

were killing

the Americans,

the truth to his mission

and understanding

the priority

of Christ's mission

and counting

even his survival

as secondary

to sharing the gospel,

Robert Germain Thomas

leapt from the boat

carrying a Bible

and yelled,

Jesus,

Jesus.

And he offered

these Chinese Bibles

because there were

no Korean Bibles

to the Koreans.

And Koreans at the time

knew Chinese.

A lot of them

spoke and read Chinese.

And you would think

some miracle

would have happened

to intercept this,

but sadly,

he was promptly

beheaded with the machete.

That's all he got to do.

Leave his Bible,

yell Jesus,

Jesus,

and die.

But God worked

in the heart

of the man

who killed Robert.

Convinced by Robert's

beaming face

at the time of his death,

he was convinced

that he killed

a good man.

So he kept

one of the Bibles.

He took it home

and then ripped it apart

to use it as wallpaper.

And people

from near and far

came to read

what was on his wall.

And in a wonderful picture

of the partnership

we have in gospel ministry,

others whom Robert

didn't even know

reaped from

his labor and sacrifice.

And the nephew

of Robert's killer

became a pastor.

And today,

about just 150 years later,

30% of South Koreans

are Christians.

14 million believers.

And they send

just more missionaries

than any other country

in the world

except for the U.S.

that.

All he did,

he recognized

the purpose,

the priority.

All he did

was present Christ

to them.

He couldn't even

do a good job

at that.

He left the Bible.

We too have

an integral part

to play

in advancing

the mission of Christ

to save the world.

So let's

consider that,

the purpose,

the priority,

the partnership

of this mission

and then give

ourselves wholeheartedly

as a church

to that mission.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.

God,

this is not

a burden

or an obligation

for us

because as we remember

that you,

the great shepherd,

came to seek us out,

your lost sheep,

because you gave

your life,

your life

of inestimable worth,

value.

You gave your life

for us

to save us

and remember that,

Lord,

it is our joy

and it is our privilege

to partake

in this mission,

your mission

to save the world.

Lord,

Lord,

would you empower us?

Would you

so captivate us

so that this

becomes

our overriding

desire

and priority?

In Jesus' name

we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.