Go!

The Resurrection and Mission: Living for Eternity

Good morning, everybody. Let's start with a story that challenges everything we think we know about sacrifice.

Adoniram Judson was just 23 years old when he sailed to Burma—modern-day Myanmar—with his wife Ann, whom he'd married only 12 days earlier. Before they left, he wrote to Ann's father asking for her hand in marriage. His words were extraordinary:

Whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world? Whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death? Can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, who died for her and for you?

Ann's father let her decide. She said yes. She went to Burma and lived there for 14 years until she died. One of her most famous quotes captures the heart of their calling: "In a little while we in eternity. Before we find ourselves there, let us do much for Christ."

The promise of eternity motivated Ann and Adoniram. On this Mission Sunday, we're thinking about the Apostle Paul—because for him, it was exactly the same. The promise of future resurrection, the reality of eternal life or eternal judgment, completely transformed how he lived in the present and gave force and energy to a remarkable life of mission.

The Crisis in Corinth: Denying the Resurrection

Paul is writing to the Corinthian church—wealthy, excessive, living in spiritual comfort at the expense of an eternal physical future. Some in the church were actually saying, "There's no resurrection of the dead."

This wasn't a small disagreement. Paul uses 58 verses to show them that if there's no resurrection, the entire gospel collapses:

• Verse 14: "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."
• Verse 17: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins."
• Verse 19: "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied."

Without the resurrection, our faith has no basis, sin has no remedy, the cross was a failure, and death is the final word. Everything hangs on the fact that Christ came out of the tomb.

But then comes the turning point:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

The Apostolic Logic: Two Ways to Live

Paul then describes his own missionary life—the way the resurrection of Christ turned him into what I'd call a missionary machine. He's unstoppable, going through walls, popping up everywhere.

Look at what he says:

Why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Do you see his logic? If the dead are not raised, how should we live? The answer, logically, would be: eat, drink, be merry, squeeze everything you can out of life, live for self-indulgence, do your bucket list. Minimize risk. Maximize pleasure. This would make sense—because if there's nothing beyond the grave, this is all there is. YOLO.

But Paul doesn't believe that. So what does he do instead? He lives a life of danger. He faces death every day. He's willing to risk everything.

Here's the point Paul is making:

• If you live mainly for pleasure and comfort, you live as one who doesn't really believe in the resurrection.
• If you live for the eternal reward—a life of risk, adventure, difficulty, sacrifice—that looks more like one who does believe in the resurrection.

Paul is utterly consistent with his beliefs. He's presenting two ways to live, based on what we actually believe about the future.

The Biggest Hindrance to Mission: Comfort

What do you think the biggest hindrance to mission is? Persecution? I think it might be comfort. Convenient church. Convenient schedules. Convenient lives.

N.T. Wright, the theologian, once said: "The difference between Paul and me is when Paul came to a city, there was a riot. When I arrived, they asked me if I'd like a cup of tea."

But history shows us people who understood the apostolic logic. The Moravians were spiritual storm troopers of mission history. They started a prayer meeting that went on every day for hundreds of years. Two Moravian brothers had a passion to reach slaves in the Caribbean—but there was no way they could get there as missionaries. So do you know what they did? They sold themselves as slaves. They went into the horrible slave office and offered themselves. They probably knew they'd die on the way. But they did it because they wanted to get the message of the gospel to those people. Talk about risk. Talk about adventure.

When you go to missionary graveyards, you see hundreds of young men and women from Europe and America. At the turn of the century, the student volunteer movement sent tens of thousands of students all over the world. The most famous were the Cambridge Seven, but there were tens of thousands—leaving fortunes, homes, everything—to become missionaries for the glory of Jesus Christ.

There's a grave of a young woman named Ruby Kendrick. She died in Korea at age 25 in 1908. On her gravestone, it says: "If I had a thousand lives to give, Korea would have them all."

Isn't that an amazing way to view your life? Not in terms of career goals or relationship status or what you can achieve or earn, but the people you'll give your life for.

Living in the Light of Eternity

Here's the reality: People should be able to work out from our lives what we believe about the future.

When people ask us, "Why do you live like that? Why is your hope different than mine?"—that becomes an evangelism opportunity. Our hope makes the gospel visible.

But notice this tension: God calls us not to live for today and not to live for tomorrow, but to live for eternity. To live in the light of eternity.

Jesus said, "Do not store up treasures for yourself on the earth. Store up for yourself treasures where? In heaven." The tragedy is most people are living for treasure on earth. We're not even thinking about it.

Paul says: "Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, because what is seen is temporary, but on what is unseen, because what is unseen is eternal."

Life is but a moment. A tick of the clock. A blink of the eye. One chance. No replays. No rewind. What will you spend it on?

Every day you will be hammered to play it safe, eat, drink, and be merry till you die. We live in a world where courage and honor have lost their meanings. There are no absolutes, no great truths, no heroic causes. And if nothing's worth living for, well, there's certainly nothing worth dying for.

But the Christian hope is startlingly different.

The Lord of the Rings and Fighting for What Matters

I watched the extended Lord of the Rings films recently—all of them, from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. There's a scene where Frodo is depressed and wondering what they're even holding on to. And Sam says:

There's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

That's the Apostle Paul. Not just this world, but there's a world to come, a real world that is coming. There will be no time for salvation then. We'll be there for millions and billions and trillions of years.

This time between Christ's first coming and his return is for worldwide witness and discipling—for God to bring his bride from every nation, tribe, and tongue.

At the end of 1 Corinthians 15:58, Paul writes:

Therefore, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

That's the same word he used earlier—"in vain." But now he's saying your labor is not wasted. Every risk taken for Christ will be remembered. It might look weak. It might look foolish. Cross-cultural mission is not a great way to make a name for yourself. But your home on earth is for a moment. Your home in heaven is forever.

Even your career is for a moment. But God saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant"—that is forever.

The Unreached and God's Revealed Will

Right now, there are over 7,000 unreached people groups in the world that still do not have viable churches.

When my wife Tiffany and I were 25, we found one of these unreached people groups and went with our three kids—our youngest was just 3 months old—to a place called Bashkortostan. There were no known believers. There was no Bible translation. It was 1.4 million people, and they were horse breeders and beekeepers. We had a lot of fermented mare's milk and honey for our diet.

But we went there with a team, and we saw the New Testament completed. By the second year, we'd seen about 100 come to faith. It was God's time.

Jesus said in Matthew 24: "The gospel will be proclaimed as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come." As John Stott used to say, as we go to the ends of the earth, we get closer to the end of time. We can speed the coming of Christ by getting involved in his master plan for mission.

"We're Not Home Yet"

There's a story about a missionary couple who spent 40 years in obscure ministry in Africa. When they flew back to the United States, there was a big red carpet, trumpets—the whole thing. But it turned out the vice president was on the plane returning from a hunting trip. So when they docked, all the applause and attention went to him. The couple who'd poured out their lives were just standing there, almost forgotten.

The wife turned to her husband and said: "Don't worry, we're not home yet."

The first will be last and the last will be first. A great reversal is coming.

Living a missionary lifestyle means you abandon your own agenda. It doesn't mean you have to go to the other side of the world. But you can't just tap God's mission onto everything else you'd like to do. It's not even about asking God, "What's your will for my life?" It's more: "How do I align my life with your revealed will in the world?"

The ultimate missionary—the one who went cross-cultural—is Jesus himself. He made the journey from heaven to earth. He became human. And then he says: "As the Father sent me, so I am sending you."

So we're to go too.

Closing Prayer

Let's close with prayer. Just reflect for a moment. Think about the price that you're paying to serve Jesus. And think about the price you're refusing to pay. The risks you take or don't take.

Now imagine looking back a billion years into eternal glory. Are you using your time, your talents, and your treasure for the mission of God?

Here's another question as we pray: What did you do yesterday for your present comfort and security? And what did you do yesterday for God's new world that is coming?

Jesus has a mission for you to complete—an assignment from him, a personal, you-shaped contribution to his purposes.

Lord, we pray that you'd open our eyes again to see Jesus. Would you pour out your love and your Spirit? Would you continue to stir up a desire in us to make his name great amongst those who have not heard? Kill all other dreams here. Help us to see that following Jesus is better than anything this world can provide. Set us free from comfort to live a life of courage and risk and adventure for your great name's sake. Amen.