[I first delivered this sermon in Michigan, so I used stories of missionaries in or from Michigan. Feel free to insert your own examples.]

Degree of Difficulty

The Evangelism Committee at my home church has a mission statement only three words long: "To populate heaven." That's the mission of every church, including yours.

What would you say is the degree of difficulty of this task? Is it easy or hard? Stephen Neill, a leading missionary of this century, once said, "Christian missionary work is the most difficult thing in the world. It is surprising that it should ever have been attempted." You may agree. Perhaps you wonder: "I don't get it when church leaders urge us to get involved in this cross-cultural ministry stuff? It just isn't practical. It's too hard."

Wouldn't it be great if God had promised us again and again that the work of populating heaven would end in success? He did!

God gave us hundreds of promises to encourage us in this hardest task in the world. Four of these promises appear in Revelation 21 and 22. Let's use them to melt four doubts and fears that may be freezing you into mission inaction.

Doubt/Fear #1: The job is too big

Even though Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses...to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8), many Christians do not take his words seriously, because the challenge of sharing Christ with almost six billion people in thousands of cultures seems too massive. Either consciously or subconsciously, many Christians assume, "Jesus couldn't have been serious. He couldn't have really expected his church to go to all this effort. Making disciples of all nations isn't realistic. It's probably never going to happen, so why bother? Perhaps God has devised another way for those lost people to be saved."

In answer to such doubts, Rev. 21:24 says, "The nations will walk by the Lamb's light." Read it again stressing the word "will." This is a promise from God that indeed there will be redeemed saints from every people group living in heaven along with you and me. We question whether the task of world evangelization will ever be completed. But God promises here and in hundreds of other verses, "What you call Mission: Impossible, I call Mission: Promised. It will get done!" Since he has promised it, go ahead and believe it.

May your belief lead to confident action. God gave you his mission promises to motivate you to play your one-person-sized part in God's global mission. Do you realize what an honor this is? Since God has prophesied that his global mission task will be accomplished, this means that whenever you witness to someone, you have the honor of fulfilling prophecy. When you pray for a missionary, you have the privilege of fulfilling prophecy. Wow! There is no greater honor than this.

Doubt/Fear #2: Cultures are too strange

Picture the ministry of Carl and Karol Selle who are training Christians in Michigan to reach out to international students on local campuses. They meet students from Japan, China, India, Zaire, Pakistan, Egypt, Brazil, Colombia, Russia, and Romania. Can you imagine the mind-boggling variety of ethnic foods, music, arts, folklore, governments, social customs, values. Even more difficult is to try to understand the beliefs of students who are Hindus, Muslims, Shintoists, atheists, spiritists, etc.

Our fearful response to all this may be, "I can't take all this culture shock. Why can't everyone else speak English, eat hamburgers, and buy their clothes at the mall? Why can't everyone be my culture?"

Have you ever felt this way about mission work? Would you feel better if God had promised you that the existence of many cultures was actually part of his plan? He did! Look at Rev. 21:26: "The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into the heavenly city."

What are the glory and honor of a nation? A nation's music, its arts, its sciences, its language, its knowledge of all kinds. Often we lump these glories together in one word--culture! Although human cultures on earth (including your own) are tainted with much that is impure, shameful and deceitful, none of this will be allowed into the heavenly city (Rev. 21:27; 22:15). The gospel promises that God declares us sinful individuals to be holy saints through faith in the Redeemer. In addition, in Rev. 21:26 God promises he will sanctify our cultures as well. That which is glorious and honorable to each nation will be brought into the heavenly city as tribute to its King, the Triune Savior God.

Recently my wife and I attended a gathering of Asian Indians who live in the Twin Cities. After taking in a lot of music and dancing that seemed very strange to us, we admitted, "It would take a long time to get used to this culture." You know what? In heaven we're going to have a long time!

When I was in college, Black singer Aretha Franklin came out with her first hits. I hated them. Her music sounded too Afro-American to my Euro-American ears. When Aretha's fifth song hit the charts, I happened to hear it on the radio one day, and I said to myself, "You know, this Aretha Franklin song isn't bad at all. She must be getting better." Then I listened a little closer and realized it wasn't her latest release. The song I was praising was her first record which a year earlier I had disliked. Who changed, Aretha or me?

That is what will happen in heaven. Right now you may not like Japanese theater or Bolivian music, which are the cultural glories of those people, but in heaven you will grow to love them. What we now call "foreign" music and art, when dedicated to glorifying God our Savior, will become ours also. Meanwhile, our music and art will be accepted by the citizens of heaven who come from other cultures.

Are you afraid of other cultures? God promises that in heaven you will treasure all that is good in any human culture you experience here on earth. This good news should make it easier for you to learn and appreciate other cultures this side of heaven.

Doubt/Fear #3: Opposition is too strong

Many rulers and powerful people of the world oppose the spread of the Gospel. Often missionaries are barred from entering "locked" countries. Converts to the faith are persecuted and sometimes killed.

At present this occurs most often in countries with Muslim rulers. Think of the ministry of Missionary Randy Duncan, evangelizing Muslims in that exotic Middle Eastern land called metropolitan Detroit. Even though Randy is ministering in a country with religious freedoms, still the ears and hearts of his audience are blockaded by the warnings and opposition of local Muslim imams, their religious leaders.

In the face of determined political and social opposition, wouldn't it be nice if God would encourage us with promises of success? He does! Listen to Rev. 21:24b, "...the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into the heavenly city." Although not every king and political power broker in history will be saved, God promises that some will be. The mighty of the earth are not hopeless cases. Nor will their lands be closed to the Gospel indefinitely.

Here's a practical way to put this promise into action. In 1 Tim. 2 Paul tells us to pray for kings and all those in authority, because God our Savior "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." So select just one king, president, or prime minister, or perhaps an imam, rabbi, or priest right in your community. Pray regularly for the salvation of that person. Pray that his or her nation may be open to Gospel proclamation. At the library you could seek out information about your chosen ruler. The more facts you know, the more accurately you can intercede. You may grow to understand and even appreciate Mu'ammar Ghadaffi of Muslim Libya, or King Bhumibol of Buddhist Thailand, or Fidel Castro of Atheistic Cuba.

By the cross and empty tomb, Christ made you part of his kingdom of priests. Therefore, you can pray for those in authority with boldness inspired by God's promise in Rev. 21:24, "...the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into the heavenly city."

Doubt/Fear #4: The sacrifice is too great

To share the good news of Christ calls for many sacrifices: of time, of money, sometimes even of one's life. Talk to Jim and Susan Kaiser about the risks. As Lutheran Bible Translators serving in war-torn Sierra Leone, West Africa, they have seen many Christian friends killed in the crossfire between warring ideologies and armies. As the Kaisers and their young sons seek to make more saints in Sierra Leone, they must confront the real possibility of martyrdom.

God's mission of populating heaven is all about making sacrifices, even for those situated at a safe distance. Western culture tells us we should dedicate our lives to making ourselves comfortable. This is really living! We should invest our time in our private concerns. This is really living! We should store up wealth for our retirement. This is really living?

Wouldn't it be great if God had assured us that real life was found in populating heaven with all saints from all nations? He did! Look at Rev. 22:1-3, "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse."

John describes a gorgeous park or boulevard within the heavenly city. And a river of life runs through it. Beside the river grow trees of life. In the Garden of Eden there was only one such tree. In the heavenly Jerusalem there will be a whole orchardful! To eat of the monthly fruit from those trees means life that never ends, and even the leaves bring healing to the nations.

God's mission is all about dying here on earth, in order that all saints from all the nations will be healed from the curse of sin, death, and Satan. Even though involvement in God's mission will mean your giving up some time, wealth and comfort, his mission is the path of really living. Even if involvement in God's mission may someday lead you to personal persecution, harm, even martyrdom, his mission is the path of really living.

In heaven, when you sit at that picnic beside the river of life, munching on luscious fruit from the tree of life, surrounded by friends with names like Muhammad, Josefina, Levi, and Sun Ching, you will know you chose the right path. This is really living.

Enjoy Doing the Doable

Even though "Christian missionary work is the most difficult thing in the world," God's outreach promises assure us that world evangelization is doable . It's going to happen!

So lay aside your weak doubts and fears. Grasp God's mighty promises. Join in his joyful, doable mission--to populate heaven.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.