Trinity VI – 19 July 2009

II Kings 5:1-15, Psalm 96, Ephesians 3:1-12, Matthew 28:16-20

Preached at the Commissioning of Melissa McLeod

Today is one of the greatest days in the life of our church. Today we will be commissioning our first missionary, Melissa McLeod, to go forth as an ambassador of Jesus Christ and proclaim the gospel at the International School in Wuxi, China. It is difficult to say goodbye to someone that we love. It is difficult to watch someone whom my children adore leave not just our town, but also our country. Missions are very difficult. It is difficult to move away from family and friends and into a strange land and a foreign culture. It is difficult to work among a people that do not speak your language. It is hard not to be afraid of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place. It can be frustrating when you put in hours of labor but see little visible fruit. Finally, missions are difficult because of the social stigma attached to missionaries and evangelists. As Graham Tomlin, an Anglican Priest and lecturer at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford, aptly said, “Postmodernism could be defined…as ‘incredulity towards evangelists.’ Those with a gospel to proclaim, with certainties, confidence and grand propositions which claim to be true in an ultimate sense are precisely the kind of people that postmodern people distrust.”[1]

Being a missionary can be daunting. Yet, it has always been this way. Today’s Missionaries go through the same glorious struggles as did the Apostles, the Church Fathers, the great Missionaries of the past like St. Patrick or the great modern missionaries like George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley and Billy Graham. However, when Jesus commissioned his disciples to be missionaries, he knew that it would be difficult. Therefore, Jesus sandwiched his imperative commission, (for the verb “make disciples” is an imperative verb) between two grand truth claims, truth claims that should change our frustrations into hope, dissatisfaction into satisfaction and discouragement into encouragement.

The first grand truth claim Jesus makes is, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus makes this grand claim before commissioning his disciples to go among the nations. In fact, the Great Commission proceeds from Jesus’ authority. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, therefore, we are to go forth among the nations. This means, as someone once said, “The scope and the magnitude of the authority of Jesus is infinite…There is not a culture or an ethnic group or a society or a religion or a language where Jesus does not have the right to be worshiped as Lord. He has authority to be king and Lord and Savior everywhere, to everyone.”[2] This means that the gospel we are to proclaim among the nations is that Jesus is the true Lord of the world who rightly deserves their adoration, praise and loyalty. This is why Graham Tomlin is right to say, “Human life was always intended to be lived under the rule of God. Deep down it is what all of us long for…This is the place where we flourish best, even if we don’t always recognize it.”[3]

No matter where you go in this world - be it Wuxi, China; London, England; Cairo, Egypt; or Macy’s Department store on State Street in Santa Barbara – Jesus is Lord. There is not one inch of this planet or one millimeter of anybody’s life, that does not belong under the authoritative rule of Jesus Christ. Therefore, missions are proclaiming the authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ to all who have been given ears to hear. Furthermore, since Jesus Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth we can go forth in confidence and boldness knowing that he is the one in charge, knowing that he has planned out and prepared our tasks and duties for us, as St. Paul said in Ephesians 2:10, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” When my dad would commission us to plant a field in North Dakota, our labor was always mixed with anxiety and frustration because no matter how hard we worked we could not control the weather and a plants life and productivity are contingent upon good weather. However, when an owner of a small greenhouse commissions his employees to plant seeds that will grow in an environmentally controlled room, that anxiety and frustration is gone because those employees know that someone is in control of the heat and rain. All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to Jesus, he is like the owner of the greenhouse who is in control of the heat and rain, therefore we need not fear the difficult labors of missions because we are working for the man in control.

The second comforting truth claim Jesus gives comes after the Great Commission, “I will be with you always.” It does not matter how much authority a king has if he is absent and separated from his people. In the story of Robin Hood, King Richard is the true, lawful and authoritative king, yet because he is absent fighting in the crusades, his authority is powerless and meaningless. It is only when King Richard returns to England that his authority is powerful enough to drive out his usurping brother Prince John. Jesus has promised to be with us always and his abiding presence gives us confidence that no matter where we go – be it China, Nepal, Sudan, France, Sweden, or the North Pole – Jesus will be with us. As the Psalmist joyfully sang, “Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. … Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”[4] The abiding presence of Jesus guarantees that he will always fight for us on behalf. Furthermore, when Melissa moves to Wuxi, China in a week, she will be living just as much in the presence of Jesus Christ as we are in Santa Barbara. When Melissa gathers together to worship the Father, Son and Holy Ghost with the staff at the International School, she will be worshipping in the same Spirit that we will be worshipping in Santa Barbara. Because Jesus is always with us, when we are gathered together in worship we are actually near those who are worshipping far away. No matter where we go, Jesus will be with us and our unity with Christ unites all Christians together so that no matter how many miles apart we live, no matter which contingent we dwell on, we are still together as part of the one body of Christ.

All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus Christ. Therefore, since all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus Christ and since he has promised to always be with us, let us heed our Lord’s great commission and go forth to proclaim the good news of his rule. Finally, let us pray for all those who have and will dedicate their lives to proclaim to glorious good news of the gospel as missionaries, let us pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal the loving authority of Jesus Christ in their life and through their words so one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

[1] Graham Tomlin, The Provocative Church, London, England: SPCK Press, 2004. pg 17.