Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  Matthew 28:19-20a 

Selected Texts – Called to Missions
Trinity Sunday   – May 26, 2024 (am)    

Back at the beginning of this calendar year we used eight Sundays to address the question: What Is the Church? That was a productive and very needful sermon series, especially in a day like ours when the nature and purpose of the church has become so challenging to understand and its place of central importance in God’s salvation plan so hard to explain, often even by its faithful members.

In that series, we explored a number of the biblical metaphors for the church—the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, the temple of God, and others. We might say we were focusing on the biblical nouns for the church.

During the coming month of June, we’re going to be focusing more on the verbs. We’ll be hearing installments from five different preachers in a series titled, Called to Missions. And this morning’s sermon is an introduction to that series. We’ll essentially be complementing the earlier series, what the church is, with a focus on what the church does.

These subjects are so deeply rooted in my heart that I’m delighted to add some thoughts to this discussion, things I believe stand at the heart of a biblical ecclesiology with regard to the church’s calling in this world. Why are we here? And what are we supposed to be doing? On the heels of studying Ezekiel, we shouldn’t need to be reminded that it really does matter to God how His covenant people are pursuing their calling in their day.

Addressing three questions will help us refresh our sense of calling in this world, our status as being on mission.

What Is the Church Called by God to Do?

This question immediately draws a couple of different answers, both of which are rooted in Scripture, such that it can often generate lengthy and detailed discussions among serious-minded Christians regarding which of the two is preeminent, primary, in the life and work of the church.

Heading into a Missions Month, the foremost answer on our minds might be the great commission, Jesus’ parting charge to His followers about what they should pursue, enabled by His Spirit, between the time of His ascension back to the Father’s right hand after providing for their salvation, and His return to gather His church and finish the full delivery of that salvation. His words are most familiar to us from Matthew’s gospel: 28:18 … All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

In short, the church is about spreading His gospel, the good news of reconciliation to God and to His people through the saving work of Jesus on the cross and the assurance of eternal life by faith in Him, confirmed by His resurrection. Nothing could exceed the preeminence of this calling in the life of the church, right? Even our other vocations in this world line up behind this one! And more, one of the ultimate tests of our genuine belief in the gospel is whether we’d forfeit our lives in pursuit of this calling. What could exceed it?

All this affirmed, there actually is another potential answer. Also using Jesus’ words from Matthew’s gospel: 22:34 … when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (cf. Deu.6:5). 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (cf. Lev.19:18). 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Nothing could be a higher calling in the life of any believer than this call to love God supremely above all else. Nothing in our lives do we treasure as we treasure God! Surely that’s a calling we can affirm as true without qualification even if only by quoting the Westminster (Shorter) Catechism: What is the chief end of man? … to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever, to love Him supremely above all else.

But how do we do that? What does it look like? It’s one thing to affirm that [we] love God with all [our] heart, soul, and mind, but it’s quite another actually to be doing it in discernible ways. That’s where a second commandment comes in: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Our love for God shows itself most clearly in a love for people, actually feeling toward people the way God does, knowing that the only way this is possible is through the enabling of His Spirit Who gives us a new heart (Eze.36:26). Paul affirms this understanding of how the second commandment uniquely embodies both in his letter to the Galatians: 5:14 … the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This means that, by God’s enabling grace, our neighbor’s best interest before God has become just as important to us as our own. And as it does, that’s how our love for God shows itself most clearly.

What we see here, then, is that the church really has two highest callings: the great commission and the great commandment. But before we spend too much time trying to prove which is the higher calling, let’s just let the tension stand for a moment and move on to addressing our second question.

How Does the Church Best Fulfill This Calling?

Once we pose this question, I believe any perceived tension between the great commission and the great commandment utterly disappears. And that is very simple to illustrate. We can do it by posing just one more question.

If the best way to display my love for God is to love people in the way He loves them, what is the best way to display my love for people—the clearest, most intentional, unselfish way? Answer: introduce them to God. Share the gospel with them. Proclaim it. Tell them of God’s love expressed in Christ to all who believe and bear witness that this is the single greatest factor, unrivaled, in bringing satisfaction into our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal.5:22-23). Who could really want more than this?

Therefore, to put it most simply, the best way to obey the great commission and the great commandment, both, is just to introduce our two loves to one another day by day by day.

What Is the Church’s Test of Authenticity in This Work?

This is where we introduce a new label that has actually long been used among us. In our Starting Point Manual, there is a circular graphic that illustrates the nature and work of the church. It’s the best such illustration I’ve ever seen. And it identifies the great compulsion that captures the heart’s desire of the church—a motivation that increases more and more as we grow in our love for God. A compulsion is an irresistible urge or impulse toward some action or object, an inescapable drawing or magnetism. The great compulsion for the church is the glory of God. We’re drawn toward it. We’re thrilled by it. We’re blessed beyond words that God in His grace has purposed not only to reveal His glory to us but to share it with us—through faith in Christ to transform us into His very likeness from one degree of glory to another! (2Co.3:18 965)

In our Starting Point Manual, Rev.4:8-11 is referenced with regard to the great compulsion. This passage finishes by stating that 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” There is the chief end of man being realized! And between now and then we have 1Co.10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. This is the activity of the church.

Conclusion

This is the mission to which the church is called. Yes, it’s the great commission. But it’s the great commission motivated, moved along by, pursued in expression of the great commandment. It’s love, of both God and people—uncontainable, irrepressible, every-difference-embracing, every-opposition-nullifying love! It’s the great commission embodied as the great commandment and the great commandment emboldened as the great commission. And it’s this single, unified expression swept along, utterly captivated and enthralled with the great compulsion, the glory of God—glorifying Him and enjoying Him here and now, today, just as we will forever. This is the church’s mission, her calling. This is what it looks like. This the aim of our series in June.

NEXT SUNDAY: Called to Missions: Called to the Household of Faith, Collin Welch