Twenty-seven years ago I went on my first mission trip and preached my first sermon. It was an experience the Lord used in a profound way to shape the future and direction of my life.
Two days ago I returned from another overseas trip to minister the Word of God in a cross-cultural setting. And while this trip may not change the direction of my life, I was left with a number of reflections from this trip that will, I trust, sharpen the focus of my ministry in days to come.
I have organized my thoughts around three different themes — the time of teaching the book of Matthew with my Dad at Word of Life, Berlin; the visit to Wittenberg to view the sites relating to the Reformation there; the impact of visiting the cultures of Germany and Poland. I will develop these over the next few days.
First, some reflective thoughts on the teaching.
The assignment was to teach the book of Matthew over the course of four days. There were four hours for instruction each day, after which the students had additional assignments and reading, and we had to prepare for teaching the following day. We were able to complete an overview of the book (28 chapters) in some 15 hours.
As we taught, I was amazed again at the tremendous privilege of the salvation given to us. That God revealed Himself in the person of Christ is astounding. Immanuel. God with us. Jesus. God saves. He created us to be with Him, we rebelled in sin, so He sent Christ to live on earth with us so that He might die for us and redeem us. That truth is so simple and yet so profound and overwhelming. He has placed the precious treasure of this glorious truth of the gospel in humble vessels (His redeemed people).
Yet not only has God given us the truth of the gospel to save us, but He has also placed it in us for the honor of serving Him and being His instruments to be used in the salvation and sanctification of others! What grace (and what responsibility) that He might use any of us in any setting to open the Word of God and explain what God has said so that others are stimulated to follow the Savior. We take for granted the privilege of teaching in AWANA and Sunday School and VBS and small groups and in our homes, and yet it is a remarkably wonderful opportunity to have been given that precious opportunity — one that left me thankful in a new way.
Having to teach such a large book in such a short time also reminded me of the value of working quickly through a book, whether in teaching or even in private reading and study. The life of Christ from advent to ascension was compressed into four days and that offered me a fresh perspective of the brevity and profundity of his life and ministry. While I constantly battled with how much to leave out in the teaching, yet getting to the irreducible minimum of Christ’s life was also very valuable.
On the second day, I was teaching through Matthew 8. This was still at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, shortly after the Sermon on the Mount. And already there was a hint of His rejection by His people — after healing a demoniac, Matthew records, “the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region” (v. 34). How quickly the rejection of Christ began. It was small and limited initially, but by the, it was a massive and extensive in its scope. It should come as no surprise to us when Christ is quickly and uniformly still rejected today.
On the final day, while teaching through Jesus’ arrest and trials, I was profoundly impacted by the tragedy of Peter’s sin. He denied Christ not simply by a simple declaration, “I don’t know Him,” but with a vehement cry calling for the damnation of his own soul by God if he knew Christ. The Savior he loved, whom He said just hours before He would die for, He readily denounced at a slight hint of trouble. Here is a warning about self-deception and the potential for the most horrid evils that lurks within the soul of everyman, and the bitterness of sin and the putridness of its aftertaste. Yet here also is the glory and wonder of the restoring and forgiving work of Christ, who later restored Peter to Himself and ministry (Jn. 21:15-18).
I was also profoundly thankful for the opportunity to teach with my father. I remember him going through Bible college and seminary while I was a young child. And now I myself have been pastoring for almost two decades. And we’ve never had an opportunity to minister together in this kind of context. So to be able to share in this opportunity was a special joy for me and him both.
Words of Grace 