As the Father has sent me

As the Father has sent me

This Sunday at CDC, we were privileged to have Dr.Alex Matthews from OMF give us the message “As the Father has sent me” based on John Chapter 20:19-23

 19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

 21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

It was the evening of the resurrection, and the disciples were still in great fear, hiding together behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. And then Jesus came…. He did not admonish them for their fear but commissioned them as His ambassadors. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.

Early in His ministry, our Lord Jesus once read from Isaiah :-

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

And he ended, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus came to preach the good news, to proclaim freedom and to heal, and this ministry He now passed on to his disciples to continue His work until He would return again.

As we celebrate Christmas, we remember that the birth of Jesus brings hope and peace but the world has no idea what God’s peace is. Christmas was a time of great difficulty. Imagine if you were an unwed mother who had to travel so far, and find no room to give birth except for a smelly stable. Imagine if you were one of the three wise men who traveled so far, and then risk death at the hands of a cruel king. Imagine if you were the mother of one of the thousands of children killed by King Herod. Christmas was a time of great suffering and difficulty. It was not a time of celebration in itself, but we celebrate because of our hope in a better future. True Christmas means trials, even today. Jesus did not promise a season of comfort and privilege. The disciples were tortured and killed.

Speaking of the Lord’s disciples, they were not perfect people. In fact, Hudson Taylor once said that all God’s giant had been weak men God being with them. The Lord’s disciples were from the lower echelons of society, a quarrelsome people, but the Lord changed them into spiritual giants and gallant martyrs in His service.

Dr.Alex shared with us in particular three important characteristics of disciples God has used and continues to use.

Firstly, disciples are Obedient. The disciples went where they were told. They did not ask questions, whether it was a lonely desert road or a foreign country. They did not count the cost or the loss of their comfort. Obedience is a hallmark of a disciple. Obedience is not a choice. Obedience is for now.

Secondly, disciples are always Conscious of their dependence on God. They emptied themselves before the Lord. Dr.Alex shared how a missionary in Southern Thailand experienced a miraculous escape from death. Militants had come to kill him and his wife but they had not found them in his home even though they were sleeping peacefully there. Later, he found out that a sister in Canada had been praying for him that night! The greatest hindrance to our work for God is in fact our own imagined strength.

Finally, disciples need to be Open to opportunities. The early disciples saw every event as an opportunity. The aftermath of the Tsunami actually paved the way for a very effective work from those who went to help the survivors. Even though Paul was in chains in a dungeon, he saw himself as an Ambassador of God. He continued to write encouraging letters and testify to the guards. Paul did not pray for food or freedom but to be faithful to the opportunities he saw. To Paul, life was not worth living unless he could complete the task given to him.

Our Lord Jesus saw His meeting with the Samaritan woman as an opportunity, breaking down racial and cultural barriers to reach a lost soul. His disciples came to him, thinking about food,  but He asked them to open their eyes and look at the harvest. The disciples had focus on the immediate problem, but Jesus had fixed His eyes on the long term needs – the needs of the people and the opportunities for them. When the early missionaries to China were chased out of the country, they went to Southeast Asia instead and formed a powerful and lasting work. The Communist government tried to annihilate Christianity from China, but in a few decades, the number of Christians had actually grown from less than a million to 70 million in 1997. The seed grew in very hard ground but the Chinese Christians overlooked their immediate losses and continue to grow.

Each one of us can be missionary in our own lifestyle. Dr.Alex shared how a Chinese lady, A-Cheng in Kuantan came to know the Lord because of the love of a Christian who selflessly cared for her and brought her to church. She said “No one had ever treated me like that”.

In closing, Dr.Alex challenged to look at our prejudices of other people and seek to overcome that. Hudson Taylor talked like a Chinese and acted like a Chinese to reach the Chinese. Dr.Alex concluded by asking “Are we willing to be obedient, and let God do the rest?”

May the Lord help us be obedient to Him, depend on Him for strength, and be vigilant for opportunities for His glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

God bless,

Jason