The Mission Society Established by God - Sermon Review

 

CFW Walter, The Mission Society Established by God

 

In this sermon, written for a special festival occasion, Walther does a good job of affirming the Church as the Missionary Society established by God. In a century when missionary societies were sprouting and spreading around the world, he calls the Church to own her responsibility of bringing the Gospel to sinners. Every Christian is a royal priest who carries the kingdom of heaven in his or her hands. Therefore, they should not forget to use it to open heaven for those who are on the outside.

Walther delivers a fiery criticism of lukewarm Christianity, which sits in the shadows of altar and pews, focusing only on those already connected to Christ, while bypassing opportunities to reach those in darkness. These missed opportunities, Walther warns, may represent the eternal condemnation of many.

He emphasizes that God’s mission through the Church will always accomplish its purpose because it is His work, not ours. However, He works through means, and in this case, the means is the body of Christ, the Church. Walther urges the Church to keep God's mission continually before its hearts, eyes and hands. This is an urgent call to preach the Gospel and to support those who do so, that Christ may be known, believed, and glorified.

Walther is right in his strong criticism of lukewarm Christianity. Often absorbed in its own affairs, centered on its own practices, and preoccupied with internal disputes and preferences, the Church turns its back on the dark side of the world, where people urgently need Gospel care. Inwardly curved in on itself (incurvatus in se), the Church derails from God’s missionary purpose as declared in Matthew 28:19. Therefore, there is no inconvenient time to call out the Church and direct her back to her main purpose: love God and love your neighbor.

In his rhetorical resources and efforts, however, Walther is not immune to some slips. For example, in the opening prayer, when he says about Jesus, “From all eternity you had thoughts of grace toward every human soul.” This statement is highly speculative and can be theologically challenged when one brings forth the fact that Paul says that God has predestined us from eternity (Ephesians 1) and that God’s wrath, and not His Grace, is hanging over sinners’ heads.

Another theologically questionable statement is the poetic license employed about the Last Day, where heathens would point fingers at Christians for their laxity in mission. This illustration is off the mark, as we know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8). While we understand that some hyperbole or figure of speech might have been used here to preach severe Law to Christians, this type of illustration would fit better if used to confront Christians with the Law in the present. It would be more appropriate to stress that this is what is happening right here and now as Christians sit in their pews indifferent to those who are heading toward hell.

There is also a sense of idyllic naivete in affirming that the Holy Spirit has poured out gifts upon preachers to bring them back on track in past years, whether in Germany or elsewhere. While we affirm that all things are under God’s care and control, human contexts and developments are far more complex. As we know from our own time, an intricate complexity is at play in every season of the Church, especially with political, power-related, and financial issues playing a big part in the big picture and often influencing position, opinion and direction.

Lastly, it should be noted that while the Church is God’s agency on Earth and must remain so, there is room for incorporating specific missionary agencies, provided they are connected to the Church through faith in the Gospel and commitment to Christ. “Church” can become a vague and general term, as when we use “society” and “mankind”, where everyone is responsible, and therefore no one is. Specific missionary societies can be the strong, active, and visible arm of the Church, tending to specific needs in specific places, regions, and countries. As long as they have the mission statement, "Go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching," on their walls, they are truly the Church of God in action, extending Salvation many through sharing the Gospel of Hope.