The Missionary Nature of God
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the July 4, 2015
Sabbath School Lesson
“Then Jesus came to them and said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20, NIV
From the
very beginning, God is portrayed as seeking fellowship with mankind. We are
told that God liked to walk through the garden “in the cool of the day,”
sharing His time with the first couple.[i]
One can almost hear the tears in His voice when one day, He came for their
usual walk, and they were hiding. “Where are you?” He cried. The pain of that
estrangement and abandonment has echoed down through the ages to the present.
Who has not felt the agony of being separated from those we love? Whether for a
short time or a long one, the heart pain can be intense. Sometimes it is due to
selfishness, the same issue that occurred with Adam and Eve. We know the best
way to proceed in a matter and no matter whom we hurt, we insist on having our
way.
At some
point, selfishness seems to have become confused with demanding our rights. We
look at someone who has more blessings than we have and demand we receive more
as a matter of right, accusing them of selfishness if they resist. We may be blind
to the possibility that our motivation could also be selfishness. When we
consider that no one is free of the taint of sin that possibility can morph
into a probability. Perhaps this is evidenced when we create protected groups
that garner special “rights” to themselves that are in turn denied to others.
However, in doing so, we may have overlooked that the selfish human heart might
encourage the formation of still other reactionary special groups that may also
seek special rights exclusively for those group members. True equality can be
hard to achieve in such an environment. One might even go so far as to say that
equality cannot exist in the face of selfishness. Fortunately, there is a
better way.
Jesus
introduced us to an alternative He called the Kingdom of God. The bulk of the
principles that underlie that kingdom are found in His “Sermon on the Mount.”[ii]
Rather than selfishness, we find self-sacrifice. Rather than fighting for our
rights, we find service to the needs of others. Our rights may dictate that we
can quit bearing a burden after a mile and be within those rights to do so, but
the principles of the Kingdom of God tell us to go another mile beyond.[iii]
What a different world this would be if everyone got more from us than they had
a right to expect. But because we live in a world where that is not the case,
we fear that we will only be taken advantage of and any sacrifices we make will
be to our loss and will simply enable the poor lifestyle choices of others.
This becomes problematic when we recognize the divinity of Jesus, a divinity
that includes omniscience. Surely He knew the possibility that some would
presume on our self-sacrifice due to their own selfish nature. But He said to
do it anyway. Perhaps His death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice to
selfishness. But He was Jesus, and we are not, so that makes a difference,
right? Maybe not, for He told us to take up the cross as well.[iv]
We seem to be called to lives of sacrifice and service, but why is that
important?
Perhaps such
a call is missional in its intent. If we were called to fight for the rights of
a particular group, our message might be limited in its appeal. Surely the
group we are fighting for would appreciate it, as long as we were aligned with
their objectives. But what about everyone else? Maybe a life of service to all
has the only real expectation of crossing those boundaries to become a
universal ministry. Of course those who are focused on self and personal rights
may be opposed to such a message as by its nature, it diminishes the claim of
special interests in deference to service to all.
Some might
feel that we do this by proxy by relegating to an ordained clergy the idea of
service to others that we might then go about our lives with perhaps tempered
but nonetheless a mostly normal degree of selfishness that we are accustomed
to. Maybe those clergy are even accomplices in this grand design as they are
surely compensated for their surrogacy and may not wish to “bite the hand that
feeds them” and their families. However, this idea of a surrogate ordained
ministry is perhaps alien to the Gospel. While such priesthood may have existed
in type with the tribe of Levi in the Old Testament, its anti-type in the
Kingdom of God is found in the royal priesthood of all believers.[v]
As the typical priest was anointed with the blood of a ram,[vi]
so the anti-typical royal priest is anointed with the blood of Christ.[vii]
As the typical priest was washed with water,[viii]
so the anti-typical priest is washed in baptism.[ix]
As the typical priest is anointed with oil,[x]
so the anti-typical priest is anointed with the Holy Spirit.[xi]
The old has been replaced by the new. The typical temple in Jerusalem has been
replaced by the anti-typical heavenly form.
Just as the
former priesthood had its high priest reigning from Aaron through Phannias ben
Samuel,[xii]
so the new priesthood has its High Priest. Unlike the type which died and was
replaced regularly, the Anti-type reigns eternally without the need for
replacement. As their offerings on behalf of the people had to be continually
renewed, Christ was offered once and yet remains eternally efficacious. There
is no need for a surrogate clergy as we all, under Christ, are set apart for
mission and service. This royal priesthood is eternal after the order of
Melchizedek.[xiii]
Because it is eternal, those who serve as ordained priests of that order must
also serve eternally. This is the evidence of eternal life to come that we have
been ordained to that order.
This
priesthood is not only eternal but universal to all who are fully ordained by
the blood of Christ, the washing of baptism, and the anointing of the Holy
Spirit. The first two we choose to do, the third is automatic following our
repentance and baptism, for Peter does not say we “might” receive the Holy
Spirit, but that we will.[xiv]
With such an ordination, how can we then hold back from fully occupying the priesthood
granted to us? Having received the Spirit, do we look then to men to approve
our ministry? Do we think that John the Baptist or Jesus’ Disciples went to the
established church and asked for permission to baptize people into the kingdom?
Why do we then feel we must do so now? When Jesus gave the Gospel commission in
the verses at the top of this commentary, is it possible that He said, “Oh, never
mind, you aren’t ordained pastors so don’t baptize. It’s not allowed.
So much of
what the institutional church is all about is power and control of others.
Perhaps it is a desire to control the evangelization of the world that is the
greatest hindrance to its advance. When we deny the efficacy of a
Melchizedekian ordination that takes place outside of the institutional church,
perhaps even in spite of that church, are we not placing man-made rules above
the moving of the Holy Spirit?
We teach our
church members to sit quietly in the pews each week listening to the
pontificating of an approved, ordained cleric rather than to recognize their
own ordination and call to ministry. Should they dare to respond to the
stirrings of the Holy Spirit, they may be reminded that they have no authority
to do so. Only the pastor may baptize individuals. This model is completely the
inverse of what Jesus modelled. He did not baptize others, but allowed the
disciples to do all the baptizing.[xv]
Jesus was less concerned about controlling the work than He was about enabling
it. When the disciples complained that another was working in His name and
wanting to forbid it, His counsel was to allow them to continue.[xvi]
Would we have the grace to do the same today?
Perhaps it
is time to stop all this nonsense about a special ordination that sets some men
above others and allows them to control how the Holy Spirit is allowed to work in
the lives of the saints. We have no right to serve as gatekeepers to the
doorway of salvation. Maybe it is time we recognized our own ordinations as
royal priests under our great High Priest, Jesus Christ and move forward in the
power of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we should stop letting that Spirit be stymied
by those who are all about power and control of the work. Maybe a few old
wineskins will even be burst in the process.[xvii]
