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Posted: 11/11/2007

The Church and the Nations

MISSIONARIES WHO ARE DEAD Job 19:21-29 Among the many lessons we learn from Job, we must include him as a model missionary. His strong statement of faith in a resurrected Savior (19:25-27) makes him exemplary model for one of the boldest missionary movements of our day. The "50/15 Vision" of the Nigerian Church calls for 50,000 Great Commissioners who will support and send 15,000 missionaries to the 31 countries - mostly Islamic - between Nigeria and Jerusalem. Some of these people, the leaders know, will face martyrdom in this mission, and so their call is not just for missionaries but for "missionaries who have died". It is in that light that we see Job as a model. In the 19th chapter Job is responding to his friend Bildad whose argument was simply that God punishes the wicked. If Job would but own up to his sins, God will release him from the oppressive suffering he is undergoing. Job's response expressed his tiresome exhaustion of these "friends". "How long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words?" (19:1) Troubles he has, that is for sure, but he gives his own interpretation. He proceeds to list the ways he has felt the abandoned and the isolation that has enveloped him. For starters, God has put him in the wrong place and stripped him of his glory and status. (v. 6, 9) His brothers and relatives have forgotten him - of great significant in a culture with ties in a strong extended family. (13, 14) His servants and maids ignore him (15, 16). Even his wife and his very children despise him and talk against him - this in a patriarchal society! (17, 18) His great hymn of praise begins in verse 23. He expresses his longing that his faith statement could be recorded for all posterity, to write with an iron pen and have in etched on rock. (23,24) In spite of all of the losses he records, he strongly God as his Vindicator, his Redeemer, not his punisher. He counters his friend's advice not just refuting his wrongful logic but by affirming a God of love and victory in just these circumstances. Suffering, he knows, does not equal alienation from God. Job's Redeemer "lives" forever, not just is alive now. He is Job's personal Savior - "my Redeemer". This Redeemer will be with Job after death, not just comfort in this life. He shall stand on the earth as victor over all that would separate us from God. It is as if this Vindicator will have the last word at a trial. Job will see Him with his own eyes, and He will not be as a stranger. (25, 26, 27) That is Job's faith, even as grim and dark circumstances surround him. These are not the last word, for he knows that hey do not represent God's alienation from him. Job hope is the reality that his Redeemer lives and brings God's never-failing love. That enables him to endure today and anticipate His greeting in eternity.

		THE LEAST EVANGELIZED .... THROUGH THE EYES OF THE NIGERIAN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT What will it be like for the 15,000 missionaries whom God will raise up from the Nigerian churches? Many of them will move from Nigeria to lands such as Mauritania and Mali, countries that are entirely Muslim. The circumstances that await them will resemble those of Job's life. They will be sent away from family and home church for long periods of time. Often they will not have the luxury of e-mail for staying connected. Nor telephones, nor regular postal mail. Visits from the sending agencies will be few and far between. Their isolation and loneliness will hurt. Furthermore these people are going as witnesses to villages and cities that are almost totally Muslim. That means they are outsiders, under suspicion, not accepted, held away at arm's length, and persecuted. That is isolation and loneliness multiplied. There is more. They are there for God and for God's will. Surely, they would think, God is on their side and will protect them, give them favor, open hearts, bring fresh cheer, and then supply their every need. But where is that written - that God assures them of these provisions? That will not be the case for many. Though this may be a surprise, some of these missionaries will deeply question the favor of God, His pleasure in their noble endeavor, His presence with them in this sacrificial offering. That is just human nature. Not one of us - least of all missionaries - is immune from spiritual despair and the reality of divine silence. That will surely happen for some in the "50/15 Vision". The model of Job tells us even more. There will be a sense of loss of family, of friends, of close relatives. This may arise due to the absence of communication, but it could just as easily arise from stressed lives, fatigue and spiritual dryness of those in the field. This is the reason that the Director of the Nigerian Evangelical Missionary Association, Brother Timothy Olonade, has issued the call for "missionaries who have died". The truth is a simple one. Those who would respond to this vision must be those who can assert the same faith as Job. They must face down the false conclusions of Bildad friends who would tell them that God is not with them. They must surmount their internal struggles and doubts. They must rise above Satan's accusations and persecutions of neighbors. They must know what Job knows - that God has sent each of them a Redeemer, the Vindicator, whom they will see for themselves. Some may leave their lives in villages and cities of Sudan or Libya, but their eyes will see their Savior who will greet them in eternity.

Church Steps . . . Towards the Nations The impact of this "50/15 Vision" will increase as much by the faith of the people sent as by the number of those who go. Pray for the Nigerian church to send missionaries with the faith of Job. Sunday Scenes gives a weekly comment on the lectionary for a cumulative perspective on the missionary theme of Scripture. Rev. Tad de Bordenave, Founder and Former Director