Rescue Mission

 

Read 2 Corinthians 4

In the last chapter, Paul noted that the Corinthians were letters from Christ. Paul and whatever crew he was leading had their letters of recommendation written in the testimonies of believers who wrote them not with ink and paper but with the Spirit of God on the hearts of men who would receive the message that Jesus is Lord.

The Jews, at least many of them, fought this. Some just rejected it. Some went the extra mile to make trouble for Paul and company and ran them out of many towns and places. The message of hope was not always well received.

There were the followers of Jesus, whom we call Christians by this point, the Jews, and those whom we call pagans, or perhaps Gentiles. That last group either had no gods or bunches of them. If you caught the closeout sale on Prime Day just right, you can get a buy one god, get two free special every once in a while.

For the purpose of this chapter, Paul divides the world into two groups: those who have eyes to see and the blind. Some have seen the truth and profess Jesus as Lord. Satan has blinded others and they cannot see the truth.

Those who are blind probably entertained thoughts of God and might have even listened to a sermon or two about the Son of God, whom we know as Jesus, whom we know as Lord. But they were not moved.

Perhaps they wanted a grand sign. If this God they keep talking about actually made everything and parted the Red Sea and brought this man Jesus back from the dead, then I want to see a mountain or two moved in my neighborhood.

Those are the questions one asks if one's mind has been given over to Satan. They are blind to the blessing of life. They are blind to the miracle of creation and life itself. They are blind to the truth which is evidenced all around them.

The message of salvation and truth was to be delivered in human form—in jars of clay. We are the messengers, the letters from Christ, the written invitation to life.

We are the commissioned who take the truth to the world. OBTW—much of that world is blind.

So, to update the SitRep, we have the truth and have eyes to see and lips to proclaim Jesus is Lord. We have a mission to go into the world with the gospel.

The world—at least much of it—is blind to the truth and is perishing. We are commissioned, but what sort of mission have we been given?

So, what sort of mission are we on?

We are not sent into the world to destroy the enemy. It’s not a combat mission.

We are not sent into the world to gather information about Satan and his plans. It’s not a reconnaissance mission.

It is a rescue mission. We are sent to rescue those who are perishing without the truth.

It’s still an arduous mission. There is nothing easy about it, except committing to it, for how could we not share this most incredible news with everyone?

Knowing what God has done for us in his own blood, how could we not go all in with this mission commission? We are all in, but we know it won’t always be easy.

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

·       Hard pressed but not crushed.

·       Perplexed but not in despair.

·       Persecuted but not abandoned.

·       Struck down but not destroyed.

·       The life of the disciple of Christ Jesus is, well,  it ain’t no picnic.

We carry the death of Jesus with us so that life in him may be revealed to others. Do you ever wonder why Jesus is still on the cross that many Catholics wear?  We know that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and most of our crosses are empty, but don’t beat up the Catholics too much.

We carry the death of Jesus with us—we are messengers in jars of clay that proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. We all love salvation. We must be a little more deliberate to remember the price that God paid in his own blood.  We don’t shy away from that part of the story.

We hear a lot of Christians say that they are wrestling with Satan or that Satan is fighting them.

That could be the case, but more than likely we are fighting our sinful nature, our comfort zones, or our habits.

Many are fighting Satan. Many are in a life and death duel with him. Many have surrendered to him. Who? Those without Christ, and in their present state they will perish. They are not equipped to fight him or his schemes. They don’t have the full armor of God to protect them.

We who have Christ are well armed against the enemy. In the name of Jesus, we tell that lowlife to depart from us. We will still have trouble in this world, but seldom are we head-to-head with the Evil One.

Those without Christ are subject to every trick of the enemy.  

We who know and serve the Lord, sometimes may look like we have been put through the wringer, but inwardly we thrive on doing the Lord’s will.

We feel our circumstances, but our circumstances do not govern our disposition. We are always disposed to bring the good news.

We are always ready to complete our mission.

We are always ready to rescue the lost, and those whom we have been sent to rescue are blind. We don’t need to scare them into believing. They are already scared for there is no legitimate hope in their lives.

We can’t do that from the sidelines. We can’t do that with pointing fingers. We can’t do that from the cheap seats.

This brings me to one of my favorite quotes. You know it. It’s from President Teddy Roosevelt, delivered in 1913.

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

Paul had been in the arena for sure.

·       Hard pressed but not crushed.

·       Perplexed but not in despair.

·       Persecuted but not abandoned.

·       Struck down but not destroyed.

This incredible gift that we call salvation, life, life abundant, and life eternal is carried by human vessels, by us.

It is a gift of hope and peace, assurance and godly comfort, purpose and mission, and other attributes. It’s a really good gift that we bear.

And it is entrusted to us even when, perhaps especially when, we are hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, for while we have trouble in the world, we take heart in the One who overcame the world.

The people we reach don’t need to see us in the finest clothes, with polished speech, or coming in a parade of our own righteousness. They need to see regular people who have been transformed into extraordinary ministers of love, who have overcome persecution, suffering, and even our own sinful nature to deliver good news.

We are but jars of clay and still a work in progress, but God chose us for this work.

Others need to see the people of God coming to rescue them from the devil's wiles. We are on a rescue mission and are armed with the truth.

It is an essential mission, and God chose you to complete it. Never approach it capriciously or with a cavalier spirit. This is what we are called to do.

There are many blind people out there who need rescue. If you want to make a difference in the here and now, saddle up! We are headed out on a rescue mission.

Amen.