Read: Matthew 28:18-19
Read: Acts 1:8
We live in a world of constant motion. Though much of it happens without us even noticing it, our planet is always moving. For starters, this earth is continually revolving around the sun at a rate of about 67,000 miles per hour. That means that in any given year, this earth travels 586,920,000 miles. Add that to the fact that the earth is always rotating on its axis. While the speed of the rotation varies with where you live, scientists estimate the rotation of the earth at about 1,000 miles per hour. Even if we spent an entire year sitting at our desks, we would still travel millions of miles without moving a muscle (wonder if that counts as a workout?). Everything around us is always in motion.
It shouldn’t surprise us, then, that Jesus’ mission for His disciples required them to move. He expected them to go places. When Jesus sent the Twelve out to tell others, He didn’t just ask them to go to one place; He asked them to go everywhere. Can you imagine how overwhelming that mission sounded to them? I mean, Jesus’ disciples were simple fishermen. Many of them had never been outside of Judea. They hardly had any way to reach the next province, let alone the ends of the earth. Yet, Jesus called them to go there. Their mission would put them in constant motion.
As Jesus’ disciples today, we share this same mission. It’s our job to make sure the Gospel message continues to go places. It’s our mission to get out there and share the life-changing message of Jesus Christ with the rest of the world.
So, where do we start? Where should we go? Acts 1:8 tells us. Before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus gave His disciples three specific places where He wanted them to go out and be His witnesses: Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Now, that’s not to say that we need to plan an evangelistic trip to the Holy Land anytime soon. It seems to me that Jesus is not so much giving us the places He wants us to evangelize so much as He is giving us a pattern for evangelism. Let’s break down that verse from Acts 1…
JERUSALEM: When Jesus said these words to His followers, they were in Jerusalem. So, Jesus was, in effect, telling the disciples that He wanted them to start where they were, to begin their mission with the people around them, the community they were in. That, too, is our call in evangelism. Your mission to evangelize the world starts in your own community, your own neighborhood, even your own backyard. Some of you may even need to share and spread the Gospel message in your own home! We have been called to tell the people closest to us about Jesus Christ and what He’s done for us. We are responsible, first and foremost, to share the good news with the people in our world.
JUDEA/SAMARIA: The mission to evangelize began in Jerusalem, where the disciples were. But, it did not end there. Jesus then told His disciples that they would be His witnesses in all Judea and Samaria – the regions around the city of Jerusalem. Judea was the region where Jerusalem was located, while Samaria was located directly north of Judea. What’s so interesting about Jesus’ assignment to go into Samaria is that Jesus was challenging His disciples to reach out to a people who were completely different than them. The Samaritans and the Jews hardly ever mingled. In fact, they hardly ever got along. But, I think that’s the point of Jesus telling His disciples to reach out to the Samaritans. The Gospel is so important that we must reach out to everyone, even people who are different than us, or people we don’t agree with. Evangelism requires us to be willing to move outside our comfort zones and share the good news with people beyond our world.
THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: Finally, Jesus told His disciples that they must be concerned about the people at the ends of the earth. That tells me that we must not only share the good news with the people around us and the people beyond us; we must also be willing to spread the good news to the people far away from us. We need to be concerned about the salvation of all people, everywhere, just as the Bible tells us God is concerned about it. Though we may never have the opportunity to personally go overseas and spread the Gospel, we can help by supporting those who are already there. One of the reasons we support missionaries in foreign lands is so that we can be faithful in helping those who take the Gospel to those places we may never get to see for ourselves.
We have been called to reach out to all people in all places. That’s because everybody is important. God’s work on this planet isn’t limited to one country or people group. God wants to see everybody accept the Gospel message. As His people, so should we.
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
That’s our vision. That’s our mission. It’s not just something we do corporately. This mission should define us personally as well. As history shows us, Jesus’ first disciples were faithful to their calling. Now it’s our turn. This world is always in motion; it’s time God’s people did the same.
Questions to Consider:
What can you do to reach out to the people in your community? How about the people outside your community?
Read II Peter 3:9. How many people does God want to save?