The Missionary Nature of God & the Sentness of the Church
One way to recognize that God is a missionary God is to examine what is referred to as the “sending language” in Scripture. From God’s sending of Abram in Genesis 12to the sending of his angel in Revelation 22, there are literally hundreds of examples of sending language that portray God as a missionary, sending God. Throughout the Old Testament God is presented as the sovereign Lord who sends in order to express and complete His mission of redemption. The Hebrew verb “to send,” shelach, is found nearly eight hundred times. While it is most often used in a variety of non-theological sayings and phrases, it is employed more than two hundred times with God as the subject of the verb. In other words, itis God who commissions and it is God who sends.
Perhaps the most dramatic illustration of sending in the Old Testament is found in Isaiah 6. In this passage we catch a glimpse of God’s sending nature in its trinitarian fullness:
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send?And who will go for us?’” And I said, “Here am I! Send me!” (Is6:8)
Later in the book of Isaiah, there is a fascinating passage where Isaiah recognizes that God’s Spirit has anointed him to “proclaim good news to the poor” and that he is sent to “bind up the brokenhearted” (61:1). In the larger passage of Isaiah 61:1-3 it is interesting to note that there are no fewer than six acts of redemption that proceed from, or are dependent upon, the Hebrew verb “sent” or the phrase “he has sent me.” To emphasize how central the sending theme is, the passage could be rendered this way:
He has sent me, to bind up the brokenhearted,
He has sent me, to proclaim freedom for the captives,
He has sent me, to release from darkness the prisoners,
He has sent me, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
He has sent me, to comfort all who mourn,
He has sent me, to provide for those who grieve in Zion--
He has sent me, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (Isaiah 61:1-3)
It is this passage that Jesus applies to his own ministry in Luke 4:18-19 as he claims to be the human fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2. It becomes, in a sense, the closest thing to a personal mission statement for Jesus.
Now knowing that God commissioned and sent Isaiah to engage in each of these redemptive deeds, take a moment and reflect on how these actions can inform your church’s posture towards its context. In other words, work through each of the questions below and attempt to make personal application to what God is calling your church to do in the city He has sent you.
Who are the brokenhearted in your city?
Who are the captives in your city? What are they held captive by?
Who are the prisoners in your city?
To whom do you need to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor to in your city?
What people group in your city are mourning? How might they be comforted?
Who are the grieving in your city? How might your church provide for their grief?
What might it look like to “bestow a crown of beauty” on those in your city?
What might it look like to“bestow the oil of gladness” on those in your city?
What might it look like to“bestow a garment of praise” on those in your city?
