HOW WILL THEY HEAR?
Sixty-Six years ago, five young American Missionaries
Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian—were
attacked and speared by a group of Huaorani warriors. The news of their deaths
was broadcast worldwide, and Life magazine covered the event with a photo
essay. As a little boy growing up in Portland, Oregon, Jim Elliot listened
carefully as visiting, missionaries talked about life on faraway mission
fields. He asked them questions and dreamed about being a missionary himself
someday. It saddened him that many people in other countries died without
knowing about God.
Following the call of the Lord, Jim and Elisabeth, his
wife, traveled into the Ecuadorian jungle. On January 8, 1956, while attempting
to contact the people of the Auca/Waodani tribe, Jim and four other
missionaries were speared to death, slain by those they came to minister to.
You can learn more about this story in the film, "Beyond the Gates
of Splendor."
In a pamphlet on "Who is calling? McQuilkin
notes, "No generation in two thousand years of Church history has produced
the task force necessary to reach the World. Is this because God has not called
adequate numbers? Or is it because someone is not listening? With the need so
vast and laborers so few, why do we not go? Is someone not listening?[1]
All those five young missionaries listened and obeyed the
call of God. After their death, many criticized them, saying that they wasted
their lives. But was it a waste? As Jim Elliot famously noted, "He is no
fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
The following year, the two widows, Elizabeth and
Marjorie, walked uninvited into the murderers' village to live with the tribe
that killed their husbands, eventually winning them to Christ. The lives of
those five missionaries challenged many people into Missions.
I.
The Biblical understanding of Missions.
Is Missions a ministry of Hope Church, where we hear
our missionaries' reports and enjoy an International Potluck lunch once a year?
In one-way, Missions should be a priority ministry in every Church. How do we
define Missions? Though the word Missions specifically does not exist in the
Bible, the concept runs through the pages of the entire scriptures.
Missio Dei is a Latin
theological term that means " The Mission of God or the sending of
God.". It refers to the work of the Church as being part of God's work.
Beginning with Abraham, God has called individuals to Go out and bring the
rebellious back to God.
Genesis 12:1-3, "The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave
your native country, your relatives, and your Father's family, and go to the
land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless
you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless
those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the
families on earth will be blessed through you." If Abraham did not obey
the call of God, we wouldn't be here today.
Here is God's Mission for the nation of Israel. Isaiah
49:6 "He says, "You will do more than restore the people of Israel to
me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation
to the ends of the earth." We have the Great Commission in Matthew
28:18-20,
"I have been given all authority in heaven and on
earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new
disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am
with you always, even to the end of the age."
If a missionary is someone sent by God to go to
another group of people to tell them about God, then we all are missionaries.
John 17:18, "Just as you sent me into the World, I am sending them into
the World." Do you need more evidence to know that you are a Missionary?
Missions begin in God's heart, sustained and provided
by God, and culminate in God when Revelation 7:9-10. After this, I saw a vast
crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language,
standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white
robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a
great roar,"Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from
the Lamb!" happens.
Until then, every Church and every follower of Christ
are called to be involved in Missions. The Apostle Paul carried a tremendous
burden for His fellow Jews. His longing and prayer were that the People of
Israel be saved. Is there someone in your family or circle of friends not yet
saved? Do you want them to get saved? Start praying for them earnestly.
II.
How Will They Hear?
Here is how people can get saved, very simple yet
complicated. It is simple because all people have to do is call on the Lord's
name, and they will be saved. That calling involves confessing that Jesus is
the Lord and believing that God raised him from the dead.
Romans 10:14-15, "But how can they call on him to
save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they
have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone
tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is
why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who
bring good news! How will people hear without someone preaching the good news
to them?
A typical modern-day missionary is sent out either by
a church or a mission agency to another country to preach the Good News of the
Gospel to the unreached. Even today, many, in obedience to the call of God,
travel to hostile nations in the 10/40 window to preach the Good News. Hope Church
supports some missions and missionaries in that region. Yet you do not have to
travel to other countries to preach. You can reach the World from where you
are.
God is bringing people from dangerous countries to the
Gospel "(Myanmar, China, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Tajikistan, India, Russia, Syria, and Vietnam) to the USA. We have a
huge mission field right in our backyard. How are we reaching them?
God might call some of you to leave your place and go
and reach a specific group of people in another location. When you sense that
call, please obey His voice. All of us can be involved in Missions through our
generous giving to support those preaching the Gospel in hostile nations. We
continue to pray for persecuted Christians around the World.
We also ask God to send workers into His harvest
field. Maybe you will become the answer to your own prayers. When that happens,
rejoice. God is counting on you to be His messenger of the Good News. We are a
small church, yet we support several missions and missionaries. We hope to take
on even more missionaries through your generous giving.
Acts 17:30-31 "God overlooked people's ignorance
about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to
repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the World
with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is
by raising him from the dead."
In closing, Christian missions are obeying Christ,
sharing Christ, and relying on Christ. God sends missionaries through the
support of the Church to the unreached. Jesus came to seek and save that which
was lost. Now He left that task to the Church and His followers. As Jesus said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by
Him. Let us point people to Jesus to experience God's forgiveness and enter His
Family. We have a Mission to do, which is to complete the unfinished task of
Jesus. Let us get busy.
[1]
Excepted from the pamphlet “Who is Calling? An Exploration of the Missionary
Call by Robert McQuilkin
