​“Your Mission, should you choose to accept it, is to” … “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).

The juxtaposition of twenty-first century fiction with first century fact may seem strange, but the analogy works.  The “Mission Impossible” tagline transitions seamlessly into the words of Mark 16:15 because of the difficulty and the scale  – the seeming impossibility – of the mission Christ gave his disciples.   The analogy follows through because in both cases we see a small dedicated group struggling to fulfill its mission – despite the machinations of evil forces bent on the group’s destruction and the thwarting of the mission it has been given.

We know the ending, of course.  We know the movie mission will be fulfilled, and that the Christian mission will likewise be fulfilled eventually, but that doesn’t stop us from living through some tense moments in the “mission” type movies we may watch, or in the “mission” lives to which we are called.  For many of us, in fact, there are days when the “impossible” part seems more real than the “mission.”
 
Sometimes it’s the difficulty associated with fulfilling the mission we are given, at other times it’s the sheer size and magnitude of the task.  But it is encouraging to remember this is how it has always been. If we backtrack to some of the earlier “impossible” missions recorded in the Bible, we find that they almost always involved moments of tension and doubt regarding either the  difficulty or the size of the task that God had given. 

The Book of Judges alone is full of such stories. Put yourself in Rahab’s shoes as she thought about how difficult it was going to be to explain to the king and his security forces where the Israelite spies were who they knew had been staying in her house (Joshua 2), or think about how Gideon felt about the size of the task when he was told to cut his army by  almost 99 percent before a huge battle (Judges 7).   But God has the ability and the will to routinely turn the impossible into the accomplished.

Christ himself had to remind his disciples of this fact:  “… With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).  We know this intellectually and spiritually, but often it helps to look more closely at the mission briefing and remind ourselves that both the difficulty and the scope of the mission are possible: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). 

Notice first that the difficulty of the job is covered in the promise to provide the necessary resources: “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”  Next, notice that the Son of God could have just said “you will be my witnesses to the end of the earth,” but he broke the mission down into successive, bit at a time, stages – Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the whole world. 

The mission parameters we are given specifically remind us that we will be given the resources we need to do the job – and they also remind us that we need to do the job a bit at a time.  The answer lies on the one hand with faith in the help we are promised, and on the other hand with our ability to successfully break down the mission and firmly grasp a workable part.  But we have not really accepted the mission if we accept it as an impossible-seeming task. 

Our mission, if we accept it, is to trust, and then to take on a small part of the job and make it happen.    Those are the two responses needed to fulfill the mission we have been given. What small part of the mission will you make happen today? 

We must never fall into the trap of thinking that Christianity is something that missionaries and ministers do, and that the rest of us are observers to what they do. 

The apostle Paul makes this fact clear in many of his writings, but perhaps nowhere clearer than in his epistle to the Philippians.  In fact, Paul’s letter to that church might be called “the message of Christian involvement”!

Paul begins his letter: “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons” (Philippians 1:1), and although Timothy is not the “coauthor” of the letter, his inclusion sets the tone continued in the mention of all the believers as well as the elders of the congregation.  It is important to remember this stress on both members as well as ministers, laity as well as leaders, in reading what Paul continues to say.  Throughout the letter we find the apostle makes many statements based on equal involvement in the work of the faith, as we see in the following examples (emphases added) and many others:

In Chapter 1, Paul gives thanks for the church’s (read “everyone’s) “partnership in the gospel“ (Philippians 1:5.), and says that “all of you share in God’s grace with me” (vs. 7). He states that because of his own captivity “most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear” (vs. 14), and that “through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance” (vs. 19). Paul also says “…I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith” (vs. 25), and that they should all be “striving together as one for the faith of the gospel” (vs. 27) since they  were going through “the same struggle you saw I had” (vs. 30).

Chapter 2 continues from exactly the same perspective.  Paul speaks of the “…common sharing in the Spirit…” (Philippians 2:1), “having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (vs. 2). And he shows that this unity is expressed in all of the Philippians having the same goals and rejoicing in the same successes of the work:  “… I am glad and rejoice with all of you.  So you too should be glad and rejoice with me” (vs. 17). In this chapter Paul also speaks of the work of Timothy, and of “… Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs” (vs. 26), clearly showing the direct involvement of Epaphroditus and the congregation in Paul’s work.

This ongoing pattern is found throughout the rest of the epistle.  Paul mentions other members of the congregation who were deeply involved in his work – members such as certain women who “… have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3). He tells us that the Philippians shared in his troubles (4:14) and sent him help (4:16), and when Paul closes his letter with his blessing on the Philippians, he includes “all God’s people” – both all of them and all of his own group (4:21). 

If you ever doubt the importance of every Christian’s involvement in the ongoing work of God as well as the personal acceptance of the gospel, read Philippians. You will see that Paul includes all of God’s people in this work – including you.

Gideons International is a Christian organization, founded in the United States in 1899, which has grown into a powerful force for the worldwide distribution of free Bibles, New Testaments and other scriptures. If you have ever found yourself without a Bible in a hotel room far from home, you know what a help the Gideons have been to millions of travelers and others – many of whom first read a Bible provided by that organization. 

The group takes its name from the Biblical figure Gideon, who is depicted in Judges 6 in the story in which flaming torches were placed inside clay jars –  such a jar being the well-known logo of the Gideons, found on the cover of each scripture they distribute.

Today, Gideons International provides Bibles not only for hotels and motels, but also for schools, hospitals, medical offices, military bases, prisons, abuse safe houses and many more venues where they might be appreciated, as well as in sidewalk distribution in many cities.  The “Bible Blitzes” they regularly organize are named after the Second World War “Blitz” of intensive bombing of certain areas – but referring now to intensive coverage of selected areas with Bibles! 

Two recent Blitzes conducted by the Gideons show the scope and extent of their work. September 13-19 the organization conducted the “New York City Bible Blitz 2014” which distributed some 236,238 Bibles and  Testaments in all five boroughs of the Metro New York City area in less than a week.  Gideons also spoke in over 100 churches in the city, explaining their ministry and  encouraging congregations to consider supporting their work through prayer, giving and involvement.

Further from home, a two-week International Scripture Blitz was also conducted this September in Nairobi, Eldoret, and Kisumu, Kenya. There, the Gideons had set a goal of distributing some 400,000 Scriptures in hospitals, schools, and other venues, but by the end of the Blitz the Gideons’ teams had exceeded their goal and had distributed over 600,000 free copies of God’s Word in Kenya.

One has to stop and think about the numbers involved to begin to understand the amazing accomplishment of these Blitzes. The Gideons work in almost 200 countries and have distributed scriptures in over 90 languages.   More than 1.9 billion Bibles and New Testaments have been distributed by the organization since 1908.  On average, numerous copies of the scriptures are distributed every second of every day through Gideons International, and it is anticipated that the organization will give away its two billionth Bible or testament in 2015.

This is clearly an organization doing wonderful work that is worthy of our support. You may find it inspiring to take a look at the Gideons International website some time.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).

The words of Jesus are clear, yet we may wonder how this can be.  Jesus performed miraculous deeds seen by many, healed the lame and the blind, raised Lazarus from the dead – how can we do greater works than these?

A key in understanding this verse in John is to realize the difference between the “signs,” “wonders,” “miracles” and “works” performed by Jesus.   There is certainly some overlap in the use of these terms, but generally speaking  there is a difference.  The words “signs” (Greek semeion), “wonders” (Greek teras), and “miracles” (Greek dunamis) are all frequently used of the miraculous deeds Jesus performed as signs of his Messiahship.  Jesus spoke of his followers doing such things, though usually in the context of faith – that if we have faith we, too, would be able to accomplish great deeds with God’s help.

But beyond these miraculous deeds, Jesus also performed many other works of teaching, guiding and helping his disciples and the crowds that followed him.  The word “works” (Greek erga) used in John 14:12 can include miraculous deeds, but it signifies other non-wondrous works as well. In fact, erga can include ongoing duties, works, business, rather than just individual acts; and the word certainly covers Christ’s ongoing teaching and guidance. 

When we look at the broader and often more ongoing sense implied by erga, we can see that Christ’s statement that his followers would do greater “works” than he had done likely refers to his work of teaching,  guiding, etc.  Such deeds were not entirely dependent on faith to accomplish them, and faith is usually not mentioned in the same context – as it is not in John 14:12.  These works would be “greater” than those he had done, and this can mean greater in extent rather than greater in type. 

Although Jesus taught large crowds, sometimes of thousands of people, we have only to look at the eventual effects of the printing press and, in our own age the internet, when used to spread the word of God and to explain its teachings to millions of people, to see the extent of these works has indeed been greater than any individual could have accomplished in the time of Christ.  But we should also remember that “no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16) – the greater works that might be done in later ages by Jesus’ followers are still done by Him through us!