5/25/08 - Mission Festival - Romans 3:22-23

THE MESSAGE OF SIN & GRACE
- Universal in its scope
- Individual in its power

A “mission festival” is a celebration of God’s Message proclaimed throughout the world. And so at a mission festival like today we praise the Lord for spreading his Message of sin and grace to numerous countries, we marvel at the way his Message of sin and grace leaps over seas and boundaries and cultures, and we pray for those who spread this Message to so many others. A mission festival gives us a chance to look past our own little communities and out into an ever-changing conglomeration of people and places, traditions and customs in which the Message of our God has been spread. It’s always interesting to see the different methods, the different ways, the different obstacles and blessings that missionaries have to deal with all over the world, and many times we come away from a mission festival with a renewed appreciation for the diversity in which the gospel message can be proclaimed. But although worship services, hymns, prayer customs, and simple conversations are different in every mission field out there, there is one thing that remains the same no matter where a group of souls may be: the Message. The Message of sin and grace remains the same. And that Message is this: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
This Message of sin and grace remains the same. Because the sin that infects all people, the sin that exposes all people, and the sin that condemns all people does not change. And so the Message of sin applies to every human being no matter where they live or what language they speak. And so then does the Message of grace. God’s grace that loves all people, that forgives all people, and that saves all people does not adapt or evolve in different places with different traditions. The Message of grace applies to everyone without alteration because God’s love is absolutely essential to any heart in any land at any time. The Message of sin and grace that we know and believe in this country does not change when it is carried across borders. This Message is universal.
And the universality of this Message of sin and grace is clearly seen even in the relatively small numbers that we know of throughout the world. If any of you had a chance to look through the “Report to the 12 Districts” that I put on the back counter, you might have seen the summary statements about our world mission efforts in various countries. And it is clear from those reports that the universal Message of sin and grace is working. In Pakistan a Bible Correspondence Program was started in 2006; 10,000 people there enrolled in the course at that time. There are 750 souls in eight congregations within the country of Hong Kong. There are 265 baptized members in Bulgaria, 10,000 in Nigeria, 13,000 in Zambia, and almost 40,000 in Malawi. Without a doubt the universal Message of sin and grace is working. And this is just the work of our Synod and those churches with which we are connected. These numbers are nowhere near the numbers of actual Christians in these countries - souls who have seen their sins and have been saved by God’s grace, people who have been convinced by a Message that does not change and never will.
But why do these numbers surprise us? You are surprised by these numbers, aren’t you? Why do the hundreds of Christians in eastern lands, the thousands of Christians in former communist countries, and the tens of the thousands of Christians in the heart of Africa surprise us? Why are we so amazed at the large numbers of people coming to faith in countries not our own? Let me offer a suggestion why. And I have to warn you: it’s not going to be a compliment... I think we are oftentimes surprised at these numbers of Christians in foreign countries because back in the dark caverns of our minds, we doubt the power of God. And we actually think that it was easier for the Lord to bring people like us to faith in this country than it is for him to work in the hearts of people in “those” countries! Now, you would never say that out loud, you might not even consciously think that, but it is a real and a widespread sin that I’m sure each one of us is guilty of to some extent. Because we see anti-Christian governments in “those” countries, war-ravaged people, poverty at its lowest levels, centuries of being immersed in heathen religions, and a rigid grasp on unbiblical traditions of the past, and we instantly think: “There are probably not many Christian in those places… It wouldn’t surprise me if the gospel was completely rejected there… I can’t see how the Word could be spread to that country in that situation…”
Now wait a minute! Do anti-Christian governments take away from the Lord’s power and ability to spread his Word? Does war, poverty, false religions, or unscriptural traditions prevent the Lord from doing his work? Are those people that live in those countries somehow more stubborn or hardhearted or stuck in their sinful ways any more than we are? Absolutely not! None of those things regulates the Lord’s Message to his people. He may use different situations in different places to spread his Word, but the Lord is by no means restricted by them. He is God! He can do anything! There is no reason why we should be surprised that there are thousands of Christians in any country - no matter how bad the situation in that country may seem.
But we are surprised, aren’t we? Every time we hear of an advance of the gospel in a foreign culture we almost think to ourselves, “Wow! Wow, the Lord’s really working there! I wonder how that happened?” Don’t disrespect God’s power! He converted you to the true faith, didn’t he? That was a miracle! And he converted me! Another miracle! And he has converted thousands and thousands more in this country - a country that is absorbed in materialism, watered down by watered-down religion, and embraced in the arms of work righteousness. The fact that there are actually Christians in this country is a monumental miracle! This country is no better suited for Christianity than any other - even with freedom of religion. Because the Lord’s Message has, is, and will work with or without that national decree. And the people that live in this country, ourselves included, are no better prepared to believe the Message than those in other countries. Because everyone is the same. Everyone is a sinner and everyone needs the Savior. And since everyone is the same by nature, the same Message applies: “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” The Message of sin and grace is necessary for all people and works in all people. It is universal in its scope. And it is individual in its power.
Yes, this Message works throughout the world. God has seen to it that it will work that way. But he also works on each heart individually. He doesn’t just make a broad sweep of a general area with his Word and then gather together those he happens to hit. He has taken time for you - personally. He has made sure that his Message of sin and grace has touched your heart through baptism, through the hearing of the Word, through the reading of the Scripture, and through the studying of his precious gospel truths. He has sent his Holy Spirit to work in your heart, to convince you of your sin, and to comfort you with your Savior. Your Lord has taken the time just for you. And he still takes the time for you. He personally works in your heart every time you come into contact with his Message of sin and grace. You have been his “project” in a way. You have been his project before you were even born.
Because long before you were born Jesus was born in a country that is quite a few miles away from here. But he was born specifically for you. Jesus lived and worked and played with many people we have never met, but he lived that perfect life for you. Jesus taught on mountainsides, in houses, and on lakes to thousands of people. But he was teaching specifically to you. Jesus allowed himself to be abused, whipped, and beaten, and then he put his battered and abused body on a couple pieces of wood so that his enemies could display him to the world like a piece of paper nailed to a post. But he was posted on that cross for you. Jesus went to a hell that he had made for those who disobey him, he suffered death - a punishment that he had determined for those who disobey him, and he lay in a grave - the result for all those who disobey him. But he subjected himself to those humiliations specifically for you. And then he rose for you. He ascended for you. He rules for you. And now he waits for you. Everything he did he did for you. Everything he does he does for you. And he has worked faith in your heart to believe that it’s true.
That’s sin and grace. That’s how Jesus took you from being a sinner who had fallen short of God’s glory and justified you - declared you “not guilty” and redeemed you - bought you back with the ransom price of his own blood. And that story, that truth about what we have done to Christ and what Christ has done for us, is powerful enough to work on all people - individually. The old man in Bulgaria, the young woman in Africa, the small child in China - this same Message of sin and grace works on them all. And what a blessing it is that the Message does not have to be changed. Any of our missionaries in any field carries the same Message. The same Message of sin and grace that we have here in this home mission congregation is the same Message of sin and grace preached in Novosibirsk, Russia, Tokyo, Japan, and Bogota, Columbia. Because no matter how different we may be, in language, customs, traditions, clothing, mannerisms, logic, social interaction - our hearts are exactly the same. Our sin is exactly the same. Our need for a Savior is exactly the same. And so the Message that we need to hear will remain the same as well.
And many people have already heard it. This Message has been spread to the nations and is powerfully at work as we speak. The Lord is bringing more and more people to faith around the world as we sit here in church and as we go about our lives and as we sleep in our beds. The Lord is at work all the time in every way through his Word. So don’t be surprised. Don’t be surprised when more and more Christians pop up around the world. Don’t be surprised if the center of Christianity on this earth moves from this country to another in your lifetime. Because God’s Message of sin and grace is powerful. It is effective. It works in the hearts of sinners who have fallen short of God’s glory and convinces them that they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. What a Message! A Message that saves sinners. A Message that will never change. Thank the Lord that he has blessed you with this timeless and universal Message in your life, and pray that he will continue to spread this Message to the lost souls of the world.
Amen.

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise the Lord.” - Psalm 106:48