Mission Festival

SERMON

Text: Luke 24:46-48

Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.

Fellow redeemed in Christ,

There are two things which we who believe in Christ are and shall be so long as we live in this world: we are disciples of Christ and apostles of Christ.

We are first disciples. And what is a disciple? A disciple is one who learns, a pupil. We need to be disciples of Christ, for the Gospel of salvation is something which we could never have come to know by our own personal searching or investigation. For the Bible says of the Gospel: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

To be a disciple means, then, to sit at the feet of Jesus and to be taught by Him — even as Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to Him when He came to her house at Bethany. We sit at Jesus' feet and learn from Him when we open our Bibles and read God's Word, or when we have our family devotions, or when we hear the Scripture readings and listen to the sermons here in church, or when we attend a CLC conference or convention and hear the Word of God applied to some situation or problem confronting our church body. We never outgrow our need to be disciples of Christ, for it is the will of our heavenly Father that we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

But you and I are also apostles of Christ — apostles in the broad sense of the word. And what is an apostle? An apostle is, literally, one who is sent forth to perform a certain mission which has been given to him. An apostle of Christ is, according to Scripture, one who has been sent forth by Christ to proclaim to others that Gospel which he has learned as a disciple. We don't have to look far in the Bible to see that each one of us is an apostle. We are apostles by virtue of the fact that we are believers. For Peter tells us and all Christians: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His [God's] own special people, that you may proclaim [to others!] the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Scripture encourages us again and again in this apostleship of ours. For there are so many things that can get in the way of our telling others about Jesus Christ and His Word. Because of our sinful flesh, we are at times ashamed or afraid to talk about those truths that pertain to our eternal salvation. Because we are living in the midst of a society that focuses its attention on the things of this world, we too can easily get caught up in the daily round of earning money and spending money — and thereby lose sight of the fact that God has left us disciples of Christ here on earth in order that we may be also His apostles. Moreover, because unbelief and godlessness are increasing more and more all around us, we might think that there really isn't much point in proclaiming the Gospel to others, since they probably won't believe it anyway.

We need, then, to be encouraged in our apostleship, and our text this morning can serve that purpose. May the Holy Spirit give us such encouragement as we consider this Word of God under the theme: "YOU ARE WITNESSES" We will seek answers to these three questions: I. Of what are we witnesses? II. Where are we to be witnesses? III. What are some ways in which we can be witnesses?

I.

In our text Christ calls us "witnesses." We ask, first, Of what are we witnesses? You've probably seen enough courtroom dramas on television to know what a witness is — a person who gives testimony. A witness is to tell only that which he has seen and heard, no more and no less. He is to "tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth!"

In order that we may know better what type of work we are to do as Christ's witnesses, we should look at one other word in our text, the word "preach." In its original meaning, preaching is "heralding." Perhaps you've read about the heralds that kings in former times would send out when they wished to bring a certain message to their subjects. These heralds were given the message which they were to proclaim; and they were told to repeat this message wherever they went, exactly as they had received it!

As witnesses and heralds of Christ, then, there must be a message which He has given us to proclaim. We find that message in our text, where Christ says: "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name." We have here the contents of the message: the Gospel of the suffering and resurrection of Christ. We might wonder why Christ speaks here only about these two events in His life. It is because they are the very heart and center of the Gospel. Christ had to suffer and die if we were to be saved, for the Bible says that “without shedding of blood there is no remission [forgiveness]” (Hebrews 9:22). It is the "blood" of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that “cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And if it had not been for Christ's resurrection, we would be without hope in this world, for as the Apostle Paul tells us in his glorious resurrection chapter: "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. . . . But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:17, 20). Because Christ has risen from the dead, we can say with confidence: “`O Death, where is your sting? O Hades [grave], where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). In his letter to the Romans, Paul sums up the whole Gospel in one short verse: “He [Christ] was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification [forgiveness]” (Romans 4:25).

In our text Christ tells us also the manner in which we are to proclaim this message. We are first to preach "repentance." We are to testify to our hearers that we and they are sinners in the sight of the holy Creator God — sinners who are in desperate need of God's forgiveness if we are to escape eternal punishment in hell.

But once our hearers have come to recognize from Scripture their guilt and damnation, we must then proclaim to them the "remission [forgiveness] of sins." We must show them the great love and mercy of God the Father, in that He did not spare His own Son but sent Him into the world to be the Savior of all people. We must tell them what Jesus has done to save us from our sins — how during His life here on earth He kept perfectly for us, in our place, those holy commandments of God which we could not even begin to fulfill; and how by His innocent suffering and death on the cross He paid in full that penalty for our sin that we would otherwise have had to suffer throughout eternity in hell. And we must proclaim the saving truth that God the Father has accepted all of this work of Jesus, and on the basis of it has forgiven all of the sins of all people from Adam and Eve until the end of time!

This is the Gospel message which Christ has commissioned you and me to witness and herald to others. Don't think that it is too hard a message for you to proclaim. It is as simple as that passage that you have known from childhood: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The hymn writer is correct when he says:

II.

This is how our text answers the question: Of what are we witnesses? We are witnesses of the Gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The second question which our text answers is, Where are we to be witnesses? Christ says that we are to be witnesses "to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." In our day this might read: "You are to be witnesses to all nations, beginning at Mankato, or Good Thunder, or Lake Crystal, or Madison Lake — wherever you happen to be living."

Mission work, then, is to begin at home. Unfortunately, it is easy for us to get excited about the CLC mission endeavors in Africa and India, but then to forget about mission opportunities right in our home communities! There are many such opportunities: When you mothers take your little child on your lap and read to him a Bible story, telling him what Jesus has done to make him a dear child of God and bring him to heaven — you are doing some very important mission work! When you fathers strive to arrange your family's daily activities so that you can all get together for a few minutes each day to have family devotions and discuss family problems in the light of Holy Scripture — you are doing some very important mission work! When you deny yourselves some of the nice things in life in order that you might be able to send your children to Christian schools here and at Eau Claire — you are doing some very important mission work! When you invite your next-door neighbor to church, or arrange transportation to church for someone who does not own a car, or discuss matters of sin and forgiveness with a fellow employee — you are doing some very important mission work!

But Christ does say also: “ . . . to all nations.” How thankful we should be, then, for the open doors that the Lord Jesus Christ has placed before us to support mission work outside of our own communities, whether it be elsewhere in our own country or in foreign countries. We should not look upon these open doors as heavy responsibilities, but rather as joyful opportunities; for,

III.

Our text has shown us where we are to be witnesses of Christ: everywhere from our home communities to all the nations of the world. We ask thirdly: What are some of the ways in which we can be witnesses of Christ? Though our text does not answer this question directly, Scripture is not silent on this point. All we have to do is read through the book of the Acts and the epistles of the New Testament to see how the first disciples of Christ carried out their witnessing. We find such things as the following:

We can be witnesses of Christ by the way in which we live — even as the Apostle Peter urged his readers: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:11-12). It has been said that unbelievers may not read the Bible, but they do read Christians. What do they read when they look at us? Are we living like Christians before other people in this world? Christ encourages us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

We can be witnesses of Christ by our personal testimony. The Apostle Peter urges believers: “ . . . always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). We should be ready to tell anyone at anytime: "According to God’s Word, I am a sinner who deserves nothing but God's wrath and punishment. But God loved me so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to be my Savior; and now I have the forgiveness of all my sins and eternal salvation in heaven. And what God has done for me in Christ, He has done also for you and for every human being without exception!" This is something that any of us can say — and such testimony might bear fruit that lasts on into eternity!

Permit a couple of personal references here. Since my retirement from teaching as Immanuel Lutheran College in 2000, I have been involved in full-time secular work in our community. I have found this to be quite a change. During my years as a teacher in Christian schools, I routinely worked among people who shared my own faith and confession. In my retirement job, however, I am working among people who for the most part do not believe in Christ as their Savior from sin and death. You probably know, now, that employers in secular jobs generally caution their workers not to get involved in religious or political arguments with fellow employees. Yet, I have found that there are opportunities in the workplace to testify to others about Christ Jesus and the truths of His Word. I know that I have not always made the best use of such opportunities, and for this too I need God’s forgiveness. But this I can say: Whenever I have had the chance to talk to someone about man’s sin and God’s grace and forgiveness in Christ, that day has become something special, something much richer and more meaningful than it would otherwise have been. No doubt you have found this to be true also for yourself!

This weekend I’m fighting a cold, and this reminds me of an incident that occurred many years ago when I was a student at a Lutheran high school here in Mankato. At the time I was dealing with a severe cold — coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose, and all of the other symptoms. When a fellow student, Andy Madson (a son of Dr. Norman A. Madson), noticed how miserable I felt, he said to me: "The Lord lets you have a cold like that to remind you that you are still a sinner who needs Christ’s forgiveness." I’ve remembered Andy’s personal testimony to me, and it has served me well during the 50+ years that have gone by!

We can be witnesses of Christ also by the God-pleasing use of our time, abilities, money, and other material possessions — even as the Apostle Paul commended the Philippians and Macedonians for their generosity. Remember, all that we have is God's, not ours. The Psalmist confesses: “The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, The world, and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). And now Christ asks us to use these gifts from God to extend His Kingdom of grace. Christ urges: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19-21). Never forget, those people to whom we've helped bring the Gospel and who have died in Christ — those very people are going to bid us welcome in heaven when we die. That's what Christ promises when He says: “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon [by using your money and other possessions]; that when you fail [when you die] they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). It's true: All that you're going to hold in your cold, dead hand is what you've given away out of love for Christ!

And there's one other way of witnessing for Christ which we ought not forget, and that's prayer — even as the early Christians prayed continually for the success of the Gospel. Do you recall what Christ told us in today’s Scripture reading? “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matt. 9:37). Let's not underestimate the power of Christian prayer. The Bible says: “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16) — and when God says "much," who are we do deny it? Pray then that the Lord would send forth laborers into His harvest, so that the Gospel of Christ might be preached to people of every nation, family, people, and tongue; and pray that the Holy Spirit would bring to faith all those who hear this Gospel. Pray for our missions in Africa and India and for all of their called servants. Pray for our church body’s mission board and for our foreign missionary, David Koenig, and his wife. Pray for our state-side mission congregations; pray for the students, faculty, and staff at Immanuel Lutheran College; pray for the mission endeavors of our congregation and its called pastors and teachers; and pray for our own effective witnessing of Christ to others. Prayer — that's something that everyone of us has the privilege of doing day by day!

As apostles of Christ, then, we are His witnesses — witnesses of man's sin and of God's forgiveness in Christ; witnesses in our own homes and communities, and from there out into all the world; witnesses who have been given so many ways in which we can promote the work of Christ’s Gospel. Then,

Amen.

—Professor Emeritus, Clifford Kuehne