Introduction

Looking ahead to a major change in our visibility and identity as a local church, I want to speak again about our mission. I will cover two main things: the deep foundation of outreach, and the practical application for outreach. Based on the title, "Love in Gospel Mission" these two points become: love is the deep foundation of outreach and love has practical application for outreach.

1A. Love is the deep foundation of outreach: Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).

This section of Galatians has been unfolding and expanding before our eyes, as we moved from "giving in gospel ministry" to "goals in gospel mission." It expands even further under our present topic of "love in gospel mission." The theme of love brings us to the deepest foundation of the church’s task of outreach. A brief review will help us see this.

1) First, we noted the sacredness and importance of giving to the ministry of the word (6:6-8):

One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. ⁷ Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸ For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

This is a very powerful denial of a sacred/secular worldview. It shows that giving dollars and cents to the ministry of the word is evidence of true faith and repentance for one who has escaped the delusion of over attachment to earthly things. Therefore, Paul says that giving is sowing to the Spirit that leads ultimately to eternal life. Forcefully, if someone has no heart for giving to gospel ministry, that person sows to the flesh and will reap the corruption of eternal death.

Therefore, sermons on giving are good and pastors should preach them as part of a balanced diet of biblical teaching. For various reasons, such sermons can be misunderstood in the best of circumstances. When the preacher is not at his best, he may add to the confusion. However, one point that should be patently clear from the "giving passages" is that the issue is not the pastor’s debt, his trials, or the present circumstances of any particular church. The issue of giving stands on its own for all churches whatever the circumstances may be. Giving is an extremely important topic for our sanctification. Consequently, pastor and flock alike must work through the pitfalls toward the goal of heavenly mindedness in relation to all earthly things.

2) Second, we noted that giving to the ministry is inseparably linked to buying up time and opportunity in relation to people outside the church (v. 10, So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith). Believers are to give to the ministry so that good may come to those outside the church. God has set this means in place.

3) Third, the interplay between those of the household of faith and those outside the household of faith (cf. Col. 4:5) has a critically important dynamic. Outreach not only begins with giving, it also begins with one anothering: Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). Underneath doing good to all is giving and underneath both is mutual love. Simply put, this context is telling us that there should be love at the foundation of gospel mission. Interestingly, it is not just love for those outside. It is love for the brothers and sisters of Christ. It seems to me that what we have here in effect is the vital fact that evangelizing outreach must flow from one anothering inreach.

Surely, Jesus implies this connection of inreach and outreach in His commandment to love: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn. 13:34-35). How will people in general ("all people") know that we are His disciples? It is by our genuine and active one anothering love (v. 35).

Therefore, an interesting fact emerges from the Great Commission. Namely, disciples are the ones that go under commandment to make disciples of the nations. Disciples make disciples through the means the Lord has ordained. In light of Galatians 6 and John 13, discipling the nations (that is done by disciples) can only be authentic and genuine when love for the neighbor overflows from mutual love within the Christian family. It is such an utter shame when Christians do not display an overflowing love for one another.

The idea of being a Christian equates with love, because Christians are recipients of unparalleled love. Therefore (because of the unparalleled love of Christ), how can a Christian not love the Lord? How can a Christian not love the family members that Jesus loves? How can a Christian not make strides to love his neighbor with the kind of love he or she has received from the Good Samaritan of Good Samaritans? Thus, love is the deep foundation for mission.

2A. Love has practical application for outreach

Love is the key to outreach in a particular way: it is one anothering love that is central in gospel mission. In this light, let us consider some things one anothering love will seek.

1) One anothering love will seek a meeting of minds

God has called disciples to disciple the nations. How then do we perform the task given us of gospel mission? Again, it must begin with love, the kind of love by which we show that we are disciples of Christ. Together as disciples we must strive for a meeting of the minds.

Consider the potential problems that can arise because everyone hears different things when they listen to the same sermon. More than one person has said it like this: "when a sermon is preached there is not really one sermon but as many sermons as listeners." How do we evaluate this fact? It can lead to misunderstandings, conflicts, and divisions within the body of Christ. Hearing different things from the same message is not necessarily a bad thing. We get different things from the same passage of Scripture at times. It is bad if we miss the message of Scripture because we only hear what comes through the grid of our autonomy and unbelief. Everything is blue tinted to the dark side if we are wearing blue tinted sunglasses of selfishness and distrust.

In the church, it is central that we bridge that gap of hearing and listening by one anothering with the pastor and each other. There really is no other way to grow in grace and truth. Furthermore, we grow together by counter-question and question, sharing, and encouraging one another in the Scriptures (by OMH, open-minded-humility). In other words, we need to talk much to each other about the things of God in a way that esteems the glory of God’s name (Mal. 3:16). We do this out of reverential fear of the Lord. We do it out of love for our Savior and for His brothers and sisters.

By "speaking the truth to one another in love," we guard the gospel and aid its proclamation. Therefore, one-anothering-love has practical application for outreach.

2) One anothering love will seek to raise the pastor’s hands: It means being like Aaron and Hur in the OT:

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword (Ex. 17:8-13).

What pastor-flock relationship is evident here? There is a biblical inter-dependence. A) God appoints ministers to intercede for His people (ministers are to devote themselves to the word of God and prayer). B) The Lord gives victory to His people through the intercession of their pastors ("whenever Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed"). C) You hold up the minister’s hands so he can intercede in prayer for you and so he can devote himself to the word for you. Just saying it this way shows the mutuality of the way God has set things up. The flock helps the teacher in his work in prayer and the word. The teacher equips the flock. This is "one anothering helpfulness."

I can say that the weight of my present trials has been greatly lessened by your prayers for me and by your words of encouragement regarding my work and sense of calling. I have learned some things that I hope I never forget. a) One lesson is that it is helpful to the one suffering to have others demonstrate that they care. It is good to hear others say to you in your time of need, "from the outside looking in, it is not as bad as it looks to you from the inside looking out." The one who is in deep trial has clouded vision and needs the steady eye and comforting voice of others to comfort and encourage him. This is bearing one another’s burdens and this fulfills the law of Christ. b) Another lesson is that it is humbling to expose your weakness and to receive help. However, in a fundamental sense that is what Christianity is all about, it is about being humble. c) Finally, I am convinced that there are stages of progress that we will not make in our sanctification without humbling ourselves and receiving the help of others (per some form of autonomy). Hence, one anothering love seeks a meeting of the minds and the holding up of the pastor’s hands.

3) Finally, one anothering love seeks those in need with outstretched arms

Jesus said we must hate father, mother, brother, and sister to be His disciples. That strong language drives the supremacy of our commitment to God deep into our thoughts. However, I have not quoted the hardest part of the passage. It ends with the call to hate "even ourselves" in order to be disciples of Christ.

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple (Lk. 14:26).

Surely, this means that we are called to self-sacrificing love, to self-denial, to a radical surrender of ourselves to God. Then like our Father in heaven, we extend our arms and hands to embrace sinners in need (cf. Rom. 10:21).

Love is what must come to expression in our commitment to spread the word of grace everywhere. I hope to hear of your commitment to take up the responsibilities (known and unknown) that go with a public meeting place (inviting, welcoming, showing hospitality, helping with this, that, and whatever). More importantly, I trust that you will show that you are disciples of Christ by doing these things first with the household of faith and then earnestly with those outside the church. We cannot simply pass people by and ignore their needs without at the least trying to do something for their good. That lesson we get from the Good Samaritan.

Conclusions

1) Love moves us to the MTS (Michigan Theological Seminary) site

Let’s get to the primary reason to move to a new location for our meetings. Shifting to MTS is not primarily to lighten the load of those who open their homes for worship. It does do this and we are thankful that it does this but this is not the primary reason driving us to move. Moving is not to solve our problem of low funds as if going there is a quick fix that will automatically lead to more numbers and a larger budget.

The primary reason for moving is to do what we have spoken about each year for the last four years: to better spread the word by having a public meeting place. We hope for increase in the number of people we can serve (that is a good desire to have) and we cannot sit on our hands wishing to serve. We have to make efforts to widen our testimony. We have made efforts in the past (the web page, teaching, passing on tapes and written sermons). However, we all know that we need more visibility as a church, we need a clearer identity, and we need an address so we can invite people indiscriminately to the gospel feast.

2) Love will invite and welcome

To use the words of my wife about someone new who walks in the door (cf. 1 Corinthians 14): "By gum, we must find out something about them and make them feel welcomed." Making people feel at home is Christianity in Christ-like action. He said, "Come and see." There is a welcome mat at His door; He makes us feel welcomed. In 1 Corinthians 11, scorn (to be avoided like the plague) involves making others feel poor, stupid, or ugly around you (vs. 21-22). To be scorned is to be made to feel a certain way. We must work at just the opposite if we are going to follow in the steps of our Lord.

3) Love for others has a higher goal

The ultimate end in all of our desire to move forward in love for one another and for all men everywhere is the salvation of God’s elect, to the honor of Christ, and for the glory of God.

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2 Tim. 2:8-10).

Whatever the hardships may be and however difficult it may be to see our success in gospel proclamation, we must always remember the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and therefore the word of God is not bound. Whatever we endure, it should be for the salvation of the elect to see them obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.

May we fall down before the majesty of our risen Lord and Sabbath king. May we serve Him in earnest showing ourselves to be His disciples by the love that we show for one another and all men everywhere. To Him be the glory forever, Amen.