The Urgency of Mission

February 18, 1990

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:14 "For the love of Christ COMPELS us..."

(Read 2 Corinthians 5:14 - 17)

Introduction:

[We are at the fourth of the distinctive statements about what Nazarenes believe made by Hardy C. Powers at Pilot Point, Texas, in 1958: i.e., authority of scripture; adequacy of the atonement; reality of spiritual experience; and now, the urgency of mission.]

Our faith is God-given, and true, and satisfying. Authority! Adequacy! Spiritual reality of experience! But our faith is also for doing!

Psalm 126 talks about "Going forth weeping, sowing seed ... and doubtless coming again with rejoicing and with results!" The paragraphs immediately following the text (2 Corinthians 6:1-10) tell of the awful, serious, glorious urgency which the author himself felt about working together with the Master. [This passage (2 Corinthians 5:15-17) means more to me now than when we started looking at it a few weeks ago.]

I. LOVE COMPELS

'What I Did for Love' [5:14 "...the love of Christ controls us ..."]

Throughout the annals of memory we human beings have astounded one another at the amazing 'sacrifices' carried out in the strength of love.

We do things because we love that we would not do for any other reason. We do things that simply do not "make sense" and that certainly do not "profit" in any way except personal satisfaction.

STORIES:

James Robert McKane (Russell Metcalfe's cousin)

On a sunny morning in March, 1945, just five months before the end of the war, an American patrol walked into murderous machine gun fire on the island of Luzon near Baguio... [A man runs into murderous machine gun fire to rescue a fellow patrol member who is lying bleeding. He is killed. Here love of country & love of fellow soldier & love of family all mixed in together = "hero"]

Elizabeth Elliot

[A woman joins her husband in a very dangerous mission. When he is killed and the entire world is distressed, she goes back to the same tribe and actually wins them to the love of Jesus Christ. Here love of Jesus Christ + love of another human being + love that cannot be explained = "standard of excellence in Christian love!"]

John Stark

[A man tenderly cares for his wife year after year; love of Jesus + love of fellow Christians + (tragedy, life's partner incapacitated) + faithfulness year after year = "A personal revelation of what it means to be called 'Christian'."]

II. LOVE MOTIVATES

["... The love of Christ controls us ..."]

  1. Real love somehow enables human beings to get outside the entrapment of their own self-worship. [Some things that pass for 'love' are undisguised selfishness!]

    To say "Love motivates" may be saying the same thing as "Love compels" in other words. But there is a certain kind of love the Bible tells us "compels" us. It is AGAPE love.

  2. Agape is that kind of love which is centered outside of ego; it is a love which transcends and around which all other things in life center. It does not have to be Christian [1 John 2:15 reads "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." In each case the word "love" is the Greek word "agape." Therefore it must be possible to "agape" the world- - to center our lives on things other than the Father!] It is people who have centered their very lives outside their own little world that have caught the 'urgency of mission.'

III. LOVE TRUSTS

["...we have received the ministry of reconciliation ..."]

  1. The kind of "faith" that changes the lives of people in need— and the kind of "love" that really is "AGAPE" has to be more than a mental concept.

    We may often think of "the faith of our fathers" as a body of doctrine or creed which we are taught, and learn and believe with our minds. It is [FIDE.] But there are TWO Greek words for our common idea of faith: in addition to this (important) doctrinal truth (FIDE), there is the faith that is what we believe with our whole beings! (FIDUCIA). "FIDUCIA" is the kind of faith that trusts another person because of a relationship of respect and love. It is hard to put into words just what the difference might be.

  2. I wonder, especially in a church on a college campus, if we come to church and expect our "faith" to be mainly HERE (in our heads.) If we learn something new, or if some truth is put to us in a fresh way, then we think our faith is strengthened.

    BUT HOW SELF-CENTERED WE ARE! Even in our worship we are the center! We need control!

  3. We think that faith is a matter of being convinced that a thing is true or not. Certainly that is a part of it. But a critical attitude of mind can be a copout for not wanting to spend enough time with God to let Him really LOVE us! It is in the relationships of LOVE that FIDUCIA is revealed. It is in our personal relations with God that our 'FIDE' ALSO BECOMES 'FIDUCIA'.
  4. Throughout the Bible the emphasis is on fiducia, and hardly ever on fide. ["Fide" is assumed!] It is assumed that there is a God; that this God has a right to make demands on us; that God is good; and that our surrendered lives can and will make a difference eternally. What a wonderful thing it is when "fide" becomes "fiducia" as well!

Conclusion:

  1. All my life I've heard all sorts of reasons why I should be doing this or that for God! If you are like I am, we've had mixed feelings, mixed reasons for doing what we've done. I wonder if we can ever really say: The love of Christ compels us?
  2. When it does, what we do will matter! You can make a difference! Together we can make a BIG difference! This church can be a place where healing takes place. Our fellowship can be a saving fellowship. But it will be love that drives us, if such work is done!
  3. [Story: Lawrence Richards' wrote of two college classes given identical material with the exception that in one case it applied directly to their life and a commitment of themselves; in the other case it was simply material to be learned to pass the course.]
  4. The question that brought Peter back into vital relationship with Jesus was not "Peter, am I really the Messiah?" That was absolutely vital- but it had been settled! The question that restored Peter, and sent him on his way to marvelous service was, "Peter, son of Jonah, do you LOVE Me?"

Prayer:

219 My Savior's Love