August 25, 2019 Text: Isaiah 66:18-23
Dear Friends in Christ,
Your mission, dear Christian, should you accept it, is to share the Word of the Lord before the coming judgment. Your main, adversary, Beelzebub, also known as Satan, will be working like the devil to thwart the cause. He has made inroads in formerly Christian nations and is looking to imprison the world in their sin. He is backed by a legion of followers working to conquer the world. We want you and the billions of other Christians to fight back with the flaming sword of the Gospel. You do not go out alone the Holy Spirit is there to back you up. God Bless. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.
“YAHWEH GATHERS US TO HIMSELF AND SENDS US OUT TO THE NATIONS”
At first it seems unexpected that Yahweh, the God of Israel, would set out to gather the nations to himself and save them. The Israelites were God’s chosen people, His treasured possession. In stark contrast, the nations were to be slaughtered and scattered, not gathered. They were outsiders. Unholy and unclean, an offense to Yahweh. We are like them. Before a Holy God we are outsiders and unclean and unworthy of Yahweh’s attention.
These very nations would be used to carry out his mission to save the nations. But these are the enemies. In a few short years from this text the Assyrians are going to destroy half of Israel. One hundred years after that the Babylonians descend and destroy the other half and carry them into exile. We are numbered among the enemies of Yahweh. It seems preposterous then that Yahweh would use those who were His enemies to carry out His mission. This mission is unexpected and it looks impossible.
For Yahweh, for our God, the unexpected becomes the expected and the impossible, becomes possible. It was expected that Yahweh would save the nations and gather them to himself. His missionary heart is to save people of all nations and people and language. Once Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord promised a Savior that would defeat Satan for them. John saw this picture when he wrote the Book of Revelation. “A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9)
God accomplished this by sending Jesus Christ as our Savior, the one who loved the whole world. As He is lifted on the cross, Jesus draws all people to Himself. Through faith in this forgiveness we have through the death and resurrection of Jesus we are no longer filthy but clean, no longer enemies of Yahweh but His own children.
The expectation of God is that the nations take on the mission. He could have just used Himself or his angels but He chose to give this task to His people. Israel was given this mission, but they forgot its purpose. Israel was meant to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. The task now falls on the people and nations that were Yahweh’s enemies.
Are you ready and willing for the mission? The Lord expects us to be a part of this life and death struggle. What a privilege to be His “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9)
This mission we take on is both inward and outward. It is inward because the Lord gathers and strengthens us for the work through Word and Sacrament. It is outward because God is sending us out to declare his glory to the nations. In this mission not everyone is the chief – you may not be called to be a Pastor or a missionary overseas or in North America. No matter, the chief can only win the battle with help from the Indians – everyone in the Christianity camp has the joyful privilege of being a witness where God has placed you. You have family and friends. You have work and live in a community. You serve on boards and interact with the men and women that the Lord allows to enter your lives.
This mission will not be accomplished in an hour TV show or a two-hour movie. There will be self-destruction and pain along the way. When you have watched the TV show or the movies you go into it knowing one thing: the impossible is going to be possible. Jim Phelps and Ethan Hunt are going to win.
From the day you entered the waters of Holy Baptism your winning path was set. Our Creator God set things in motion so that you and I would have an eternal victory. It was guaranteed and sealed at Calvary’s Cross by the One who accomplished the mission – Jesus Christ. We are now asked to share the message before the world self-destructs and Christ returns. We are graciously gathered and graciously sent.
Amen.