Romans 10:5-15
Refor-mission
Goal: That the hearers would realize that only Jesus saves and would be eager to be better witnesses for him in the places where God has led them.
Introduction
A missionary in China once said:[1]
Every heart without Christ is a mission field.
Every heart with Christ is a missionary.
These two sentences sum up what this Bible passage is all about. Let me just break this down here.
First, Every Heart Without Christ is a Mission Field
This phrase means that every person who does not know Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, is lost. A “mission field” is a person or people who do not know the real God and who are, to put it bluntly, going to hell.
Now, that sounds like a very arrogant and intolerant thing to say. “Pastor, you mean that just because I don’t believe like you do, I’m going to go to hell??”
No. The reason people are in danger of going to hell is because of a little three-letter word. It begins with “S” and ends with “N,” and has a great, big “I” (as in “me, myself, I”) right in the middle. “Sin” is the problem. Sin means doing wrong or not doing what is right. There is not one of us here today who can claim that he has never screwed up. Morally, we all stick our foot in the doo-doo every single day. A nasty remark, an impure thought, a selfish refusal to help. When I lived in Mexico City, with all its pollution, we could clean the house in the morning but by afternoon once again there would be this gritty black dust all over. That’s how it is with us, morally. We are sin magnets. Not a day passes but that we get dirty.
Now, at this point you may be saying, “Wait a minute, pastor! Sure, I’ve got my faults, but I’m not all that bad. At least I’m not as bad as so-and-so over there. At least I’m not as bad as the terrorists who have killed so many people!” Jesus had something to say about that. He said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angy with his brother will be subject to judgment..., and anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ Will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22) According to Jesus, you can kill with your tongue as well as with your hands. I have done it all too many times.
It does no good to compare ourselves with other people. We need to compare ourselves with what God says in his Word. When we do, we see how far short we have fallen. Look at it this way. If I let go of this book, it will fall to the ground. Because of gravity, it will not remain in the air or float off. It will fall. This is the law of cause and effect. Cause, I let go. Effect, it falls. Cause, effect. It will inevitably fall. It does not matter if so-and-so over there has a heavier book than mine. If he lets go of his book, it will fall, and if I let go of my book, it will fall. Well, there is also a moral law of cause and effect, as verse 5 says. If I do wrong (cause), I will suffer the consequences and go to hell (effect). It doesn’t matter if so-and-so over there has sinned more than me. He suffers the consequences of his own actions, and I suffer the consequences of mine. Period.
But let’s take this one step further. Suppose, when I let go of this book, one of you reaches out your hand and catches the book before it hit the floor? Aha! You, an outside force, have intervened in the law of cause and effect! Just so, Jesus Christ has intervened in the moral law of cause and effect. On the cross, Jesus suffered for our wrong doing. We have failed, but Jesus suffered the consequences for us. And having suffered, he then rose from the dead. [lift book] Even though I have sinned, I know that I will not go to hell because Jesus has caught me and Jesus will raise me up to be with him. Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
It is only Jesus who can make this difference. Without Jesus, there is nothing to stop you or me from suffering the consequences of our moral failures. That is why, more than anything else in the world, we need Jesus Christ. Every heart without Christ is a mission field.
But then remember the second sentence:
Every Heart With Christ is a Missionary
This means that every person who does know Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, is Christ’s representative, his ambassador. It is our job, our mission in life to bring Jesus’ love to the people that God has placed around us. “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)
All of you who know Christ are missionaries, sent by God to bring good news. God has sent you as his representative in your family, in your place of work, among your friends and acquaintances.
At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther understood this very well. When Luther came to understand that he was saved through Jesus Christ, he could not keep this to himself. He talked about it all the time, in his university classes, in church, on the street, with his family. Even when powerful people told him to shut up or die, Luther said, in effect, “Even if it costs me my life, I must tell people about this!” In the words of Pastor Steve Hughey, there was not only a “Reformation,” there was a “Refor-mission!”
I see this same dedication in the hearts of many of the students at the Missionary Institute. The Institute, of which I am the director, was formed to prepare church workers in Spanish. We Lutherans need to follow in Luther’s footsteps. Luther brought the message of salvation in the language of the people, in German for the Germans, not in Latin. We also need to bring the message of salvation in the languages of the people whom God has brought to our doorstep. Our students have taken this to heart.
For example, this past January, Constanza Gonzalez came from Columbia to study at the Missionary Institute. Before she even began classes, she was already getting to know people in the neighborhood and talking to them about Jesus and bringing visitors to church. By spring, half the new children in the church came from families that Constanza had invited.
That is wonderful. But why didn’t anyone invite those families before? Why did it take someone coming from Columbia to do this? The fact is that today, we also need a “Refor-mission.” We need to do two things. First of all, we all need to support our own church, because the very purpose of being together in a church is to preach about Christ. We need to pray for our church, be here on Sundays, help out when we can, and make our offering a priority. In these difficult economic times, it is tempting to keep our money for ourselves and let God’s mission fend for itself. I want to encourage you to trust in the Lord, that he will provide, and make God’s mission a priority. God is giving us an opportunity to be partners! Everything that this church does, everything that the Missionary Institute does, is a result of all of us working together as partners in God’s mission.
Secondly, we need to show Christ’s love not only as a church but also as individuals. It is not only the pastor who is a missionary. He hashis job, but each of us also has a task. Every day, God puts us in contact with people who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior, who are our “mission field.” These are opportunities to show Jesus’ love and to speak about Jesus’ love. Do our neighbors and friends see us reading the Bible, putting it into practice, ready to discuss our faith or to help out as needed? Or are we lazy Bible-readers, angels in church but grumpy devils during the week, hoping the subject of God never comes up because it embarrasses us to talk about faith, hoping nobody comes along asking for help because we are too busy?
You do not need to be a Billy Graham or a professional church worker to share the love of Christ. The fact is that most people do not come to trust in Jesus as their Savior because of the pastor. What reaches people’s hearts most is the love of Christ shown by ordinary Christians with whom they have personal contact.
I could give you example after example of this. In Venezuela, where I was a missionary for many years, the church secretary, Dyna, became a Christian because her mother Dinorah, talked with her about Jesus. Dinorah became a Christian because her neighbor Carmen spoke with her about Jesus. Carmen became a Christian because her aunt spoke with her about Jesus. I would bet that it is the same with you. If you are a Christian, it is probably because someone – a parent or a friend or a neighbor – someone showed you Christ’s love and spoke with you about him. Now, what if they had not done that?
Unfortunately, sometimes we have not been the best missionaries inthe world. Manny, another Missionary Institute student, went to another Lutheran church recently. He told me the other day, “Pastor, I feel so bad for the visitors at that church. The pastor is the only one who welcomes visitors and talks with them. How can we possibly have people come into the doors of our church and not talk with them about Jesus?” It’s true. Sometimes we have missed opportunities. So what can we do?
We go back to Christ, of course, and ask for forgiveness. Jesus died and rose again also for our failures to be good missionaries. He forgives us, he cleanses our hearts, he gives us the desire to do better. This forgiveness is the wonderful thing about being a Christian. It is precisely what the non-Christian does not have, and needs.
In Conclusion,
We all need Jesus Christ. We have often failed, but Jesus has intervened. And now Jesus is giving us opportunities to share his love and forgiveness with others. We Lutherans have not only a Reformation but a Refor-mission! Every heart without Christ is a mission field. Every heart with Christ is a missionary. Amen.
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[1]A friend of mine from the seminary, in his newsletter.