Are We Truly Worshiping? Part 2

Well, if you have a Bible—and I hope you or somebody around you does that you can look on with—let me invite you to open with me to Mark 11. It’s good to come together around God’s Word.

Today is a special day in our church family, on the heels of a special weekend. We welcomed many people in this room Friday for Secret Church until after 1:00 a.m., walking word for word through the book of Jonah. Late in the night, we prayed for, learned about and gave to the persecuted church around the world, specifically in Iran. All of that leads to today. 

This is what I often call an Acts 13 day in our church. This passage isn’t from Mark 11, but I want to explain what I mean, just to give you a picture.

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:1–3).

Just picture this scene. The church is together at Antioch and while they’re worshiping, the Holy Spirit speaks and says, “Set apart for me two people, Barnabas and Saul, for work that I’m calling them to,” specifically to go and spread the gospel where it had not yet gone. 

I’ve shown you this map before, which represents the places where the gospel had gone by that time. Antioch is on the right, with a little bit of yellow around it. Then there’s a tiny bit of yellow around Jerusalem and there’s a tiny bit of yellow around Rome. This yellow represents regions that were known to contain Christians at that time. Everywhere else the gospel had not yet gone. 

On this day in Antioch, the Holy Spirit speaks and says, “Set apart for me Saul and Barnabas to go out from here,” and they end up in the days to come going all throughout this region, taking the gospel where it had not yet gone, as a result of what happened in worship on this day in Acts 13.

So that leads to another map that I’ve also shown before—a map of the world today. Hopefully many of you could explain this map to me, but just in case you’re new to MBC, or just need a reminder, the places on this map that are green are reached with the gospel. 

Obviously, it doesn’t mean everybody in the green is a follower of Jesus. We know that. We live in the green, and not everybody is a follower of Jesus in Metro DC. But there are disciples who’ve been made and churches that have been planted in the green areas, which means people have access to the gospel. In all these places, people have access to Christians and churches that are proclaiming the gospel. They’re reached.

The yellow areas on this map are less reached by the gospel, which means there’s less gospel presence, less gospel access there. You might look at this from two particular vantage points. In some of these yellow places, the gospel used to be very prevalent, but it’s waned in presence since then. Think about parts of Europe, where there’s less gospel access now than there was, say, 100 years ago. Or maybe the gospel has recently come to these place in yellow, so it’s starting to grow, but it’s still not as accessible as in the green areas.

That then leads to the red areas that are places where there is little to no access to the gospel. This means, not just that people are lost there—people are just as lost, apart from God in sin, in green areas as they are in the red areas—but that they don’t have Christians or churches there to share the gospel with them. So the likelihood is, if you’re born in the red—there are about three billion people in these areas—that you’ll be born there, live there and die there without ever hearing the gospel. Practically speaking, you’re never going to hear the gospel.

Now, I’ve been using this term “gospel” multiple times already, and I know some of you are visiting or you’re exploring Christianity. Let me give you just a quick definition of gospel. The word literally means “good news.” It’s the greatest news in the world. Although all of us have sinned against God and are separated from God by our sin, deserving eternal judgment when we die because of our sin against God, God loves us. God has come to us in the person of Jesus.

Jesus lived a life with no sin, then even though he had no sin for which to die, he chose to die on a cross to pay the price for our sin. Then, three days later, he rose from the grave in victory over sin and death, so that anyone, anywhere on this whole map, who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus will be forgiven of all their sin and restored to relationship with God for all of eternity. That’s the gospel. That’s the good news.

The problem is, for three billion people, they’ve never even heard it. The Bible is clear. We’ve talked about this before. If you want to dive in deeper, just search somewhere online, “What happens to people who never hear the gospel?” Then put my name in there, and you’ll see all kinds of information there where we have walked through the Word and have seen that people can’t believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins if they don’t hear the truth about Jesus. And if they don’t hear the truth about Jesus, then they can’t be saved from their sin.

Let this soak in. This all means we’re talking about three billion people in the world, right now, who are on a road that leads to an eternal hell, unless somebody shares the gospel with them. It’s not that they’ve heard it and rejected it; they’ve not even heard it and they don’t have access to it. Unless somebody goes to them, from green or yellow areas to the red areas, then they’ll die and go to an eternal hell without even hearing the gospel. This is why we set aside days in our church family to pray and say, “God, are you calling any of us from the green here to go to the red?” 

Now, I should step back a minute, before even getting to that picture, and point out what I hope is obvious, because we say it to each other at the end of every single one of our gatherings. Jesus has commanded all of us to be a part of getting the gospel to all of the nations, right? This is how we send one another out every week: “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” This is our purpose as a church. This is the purpose of our lives, as followers of Jesus, to make disciples of all the nations. This means God calls all of us to pray intentionally and specifically for the spread of the gospel to all nations. If this is our purpose as a church, if this is our purpose as followers of Jesus, then this is what we pray for. 

“Intentionally”—I use that word because if or when we pray, we naturally pray for ourselves or for things we see right around us. But God calls us to intentionally pray for people far from us. That has to take some intent. You don’t accidentally pray for Azerbaijan; that’s intentional. These red areas are filled with people who have no one praying to the one true God for them. God calls us to stand in the gap for them. Our global outreach team produces a prayer guide during the year so that every week we can have intentional parts of the world to pray for. 

As you came in this morning, hopefully you received a card that has a link—a QR code—that goes to that prayer guide so you can download and use it. Put it on the kitchen table, gather with your kids and pray for the nations. Or use by your bedside or in your church group. Pray intentionally.

I’ve mentioned before the “Unreached of the Day” app from Joshua Project. If you do not have that app on your phone, then you have official permission from the pastor to pull out your phone right now and download “Unreached of the Day.” This is a way you can pray, not just intentionally, but specifically. You will get a notification once a day to pray for an unreached people group. Today’s people group is the Mahra people of Yemen. There are over 100,000 of them, yet there are hardly any followers of Jesus among them. This app gives you more information about them. Why would you not spend 60 seconds of your day praying for an unreached people group, as a person who has been left on the planet to make disciples of all the nations? God calls all of us to pray intentionally and specifically for the spread of the gospel among all nations. 

Use my “Pray the Word” podcast every day. Just five minutes. In that, almost every day, we pray for one of these unreached people groups.

God calls all of us to do this. God also calls all of us to give, gladly and sacrificially, for the spread of the gospel to all nations. What if God actually wants his love to spread to all the nations of the world? Might he give his people unprecedented wealth in the history of the world to help make that possible? That’s exactly what he’s done. We’ve talked about this before. Followers of Jesus in our country spend most of our money on ourselves. We give some of our money to churches or other ministries, most of which is spent on making the church comfortable for ourselves. Then a small percentage of what we give in the church is given to causes around the world, what we call missions. 

We’ve done the research and see that of  the small percentage given to missions by churches in America, about 99% of it goes to green places on this map—parts of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe. I’m not saying there’s not a need for ministry in those places; surely there is. But we’re fooling ourselves if we think we’re giving for the spread of the gospel among all the nations when we’re actually ignoring the nations that most need the gospel. 

God has called us to give gladly. As people who have the gospel—the greatest news in the world—certainly we don’t need to be cajoled into giving toward this. It’s like, “Yes, I want to give as much as possible, sacrificially, to get the gospel to people who don’t have access to it.” 

God calls all of us to give like that, to pray like that, and God calls all of us to go, willingly and urgently, for the spread of the gospel to all nations. 

• Willingly—this is what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We willingly live to make disciples of all the nations. 
• Urgently, knowing we’ve got a little bit of time here on this planet and those three billion people only have a little bit of time too. They’re not guaranteed tomorrow, and we’re not guaranteed tomorrow. Let’s make the most of today.

So God calls us to go willingly and urgently for the spread of the gospel to all nations, starting right where we live, right here in this city. Let me give you this picture. 

I was so encouraged on Easter Sunday. Leo, who has been here at MBC for a long time, had been in a small group with the same group of believers for a long time. One day he looked around his neighborhood and said, “I need to share the gospel right where I live,” so he started a Bible study in his neighborhood. He started praying for his neighbors, inviting them to come. One day he was out on a walk in his neighborhood and God told him, “You need to invite Reid,” one of his neighbors. For certain reasons, Leo was kind of nervous to invite Reid, but he told God, “Okay, if you want me to invite Reid, then bring him out of his house.” Little did Leo know that at that moment, Reid was having a personal crisis in his own life, sitting at his kitchen table. He decided to walk outside, just as Leo was coming down the street. So Leo started talking to him and invited him to the Bible study. To Leo’s shock and surprise, Reid said, “Yes.” Long story short, Reid was baptized on Easter Sunday with Leo standing right beside him. 

This is what we do. We go and make disciples, starting right where we live. This is not, “Either make disciples in your neighborhood or make disciples of the nations. You’ve got to choose.” No! It’s not either/or; it’s both/and. We make disciples of the nations starting right here, then wherever God may lead us. If God leads us to stay in the same house in the same neighborhood, then we stay in the same house in the same neighborhood and make disciples of the nations from there. Or if God leads us to leave here, then we leave here to make disciples of the nations in other places. Maybe he’ll lead us to go somewhere short term—for a week or two—to spread the gospel somewhere else. This is awesome. 

Paul, who was sent out in Acts 13, would spend months sailing from one place to another on a ship that didn’t always make it there in one piece. He never could have dreamed of a machine that would pick you up and carry you through the air anywhere in the world, placing you down within a day. He couldn’t have imagined air travel. But we have the opportunity to go short term to places around the world. We can go to the red areas tomorrow.

Or we can go on what we call mid-term missions. Instead of a week or two, maybe a month or two, or a year or two. So high school or college students—or professionals who have flexibility  where you work—retirees, you can spend extended time in the red areas where the gospel has not gone. To every student within the sound of my voice between the time you graduate high school and the time you finish college and move on to any kind of career, seriously consider spending at least a summer, if not a semester or a year or two, going somewhere in these red areas. You have a unique opportunity to do that. If you are still in high school, middle school or elementary school, plan for that. Parents, help your children plan for that. 

Retirees. People in our country go from the north down to the south in the winter to play golf. Why not go from the green to the red and spread the gospel? What’s a better use of your life, especially in the years when you’re preparing to see your Savior’s face? What do you want to say when you stand before him? “Check out that par on that course,” or, “Check out these people who’ve heard the gospel”? What’s the fruit of your life going to be about?

Or maybe you’ll be called to go long term, to pack our bags and move to a red area. There are so many ways this can play out. Maybe it’s leaving a job, packing your bags and moving;  maybe it’s leveraging a job. So many people in this church have skills and expertise in jobs that open doors to go to a red country. What if God has designed the globalization of today’s marketplace for the spread of his gospel in the world? That’s exactly what he has done.

Do we realize what a unique time and place we are in right now? We have more opportunities today than ever before in history to spread the gospel to all the nations. I mentioned travel, but what about technology? It would take Paul however long to write a letter, months to get it sent somewhere, months to get any reply. You and I can communicate in real time with people around the world from a device in our pockets—in multiple languages. This is fascinating. To whom much is given, much is required. Are we stewarding this moment in history? Are we living for this? 

Let’s make this personal. Are you, as a follower of Jesus, living for the spread of the gospel among the nations? This is what you and I are made for, not an American dream. Lift your eyes. You’re made for a global vision. 

The train of history is headed toward one place. According to Revelation 7:9, every nation, tribe and tongue will be gathered around the throne of God, singing his praises for salvation through Jesus. That’s the train of history, headed right there. Do you want your life to count in this world? Then jump on that train. If the train of your life is headed somewhere else, yet the train of history according to God is headed here, well then, who needs to make a change? You or God?

I’m praying specifically, as we worship right now in this gathering, that God will open all of our eyes to see how he’s calling each of us to be a part of this. From whatever age, stage or situation you are in life, God has called all of us to pray, give and go. The question is where and how long. Specifically I’m praying that in the next few moments, God will do what he did in Acts 13, saying to this person, this person and this person, “I’m setting you apart.”

Here’s the big question, and this is where we’re going to land in just a few minutes. Do you the sense that God may be leading you to go on a short-term mission trip, or for a longer period of time, to an unreached place for the spread of the gospel? I phrase this intentionally: do you sense, right where you’re sitting, that God may be leading you? We have pastors, we have a whole global outreach team, who want to discern that with you. You don’t need to make that decision on your own. You shouldn’t make that decision on your own. That’s why we see in Acts 13 the church gathering around Paul and Barnabas. We want to discern that with you. 

Today, just ask, “God, are you leading me?” If you sense he may be leading you, I’m going to give you an opportunity to respond to God speaking to your heart today, either to go on a short-term mission trip or for a longer period of time, to an unreached place for the spread of the gospel. Before we go any further, can we just pause and ask—and I include myself in this—“God, are you leading us to do this? Are you leading me to do this?” Just say, right now, “God, we know that the same Holy Spirit who spoke in Acts 13 is the same Holy Spirit who is in this gathering right now, so we lay our lives on the table before you. You’re the Lord of our lives. Are you leading any of us to go in any of these ways? We pray that you would speak to us now, that you would give us humility and courage—humility to hear and courage to respond. In Jesus’ name. May it be so. Amen.”

Obviously, I would not want you to go anywhere based on something I’ve said, so let’s turn to God’s Word. We were in Mark 11 last week, where Jesus turned over the tables in the temple. I want to show you today where most people miss the point of this passage. Look at it with me, Mark 11:15–17: 

15 And [the disciples and Jesus] came to Jerusalem. And [Jesus] entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 

Last week, we saw that these people had all the trappings of religion and worship but they were missing the point. They were missing God. Specifically, they were missing three elements of true worship. 

• They were missing fear, reverence and awe before God. 
• They were missing confession and sorrow over sin before God. 
• They were missing faithful and forgiving prayer to God. 

Now this week I want to show you one more element of true worship they were missing. They have crowds of people, they have the Word of God, they have worship, they have all kinds of religious activity, but they were missing love for all nations. Picture the scene. Imagine the tension in the temple. Jesus is flipping over tables and everybody waits to hear what he says. The words he speaks are, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.” This is a quote from Isaiah 56:7. I want to read the whole verse, with the verse before it to get the context. In Isaiah 56, God is telling his people how much he loves, not just the people of Israel, but all the peoples of the world, all the nations. God specifically invites all the peoples of the world outside of Israel to come to his house, to his temple, to see and behold and enjoy him in all of his glory. Listen to this language in Isaiah 56:6: 

“And the foreigners,” so people outside of the people of Israel, “who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant—these,” these foreigners, “I will bring to my holy mountain,” where the temple is, “and make them joyful in my house of prayer” in the temple. “Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

God wanted the nations to see and enjoy his glory in the temple—all the nations, not just the people of Israel. This was the intent of God from the very beginning of the temple when it was built and constructed. In 1 Kings 8:41–43, when Solomon first dedicated the temple, he prayed this: 

Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

The temple was a place where all the nations could come to behold and fear the glory of God. So the question is this: When Jesus overturns these tables, he could have quoted from multiple places in the Old Testament that talk about this being a house of prayer. Why does he choose Isaiah 56:7 that talks about a house of prayer for all the nations? 

I’m glad you asked. Here’s why. I want you to picture the construction, the geography in a sense, of the temple. This was a massive structure in the middle of Jerusalem, a majestic place that housed the glory of God dwelling among his people. In the innermost part of the temple was the Holy of Holies, the place where God in his holy glory dwelled in the middle of his people. Only the high priest came into the Holy of Holies and that only at very specific times. They would attach bells to his clothes and a rope wrapped around his ankle. That way, when he went into the Holy of Holies, they could hear him moving around. If the sound of the bells stopped, they would know he had stopped and been struck down. They had a rope they could pull him out with if he had been struck down dead in the presence of God in his holiness. So that was the Holy of Holies.

Outside of that you have what was called the court of the priests, where they would do the preparation for sacrifices and offerings. This is where the priests did their work. Then outside of that, you had the court of Jewish men. This is where Jewish men could come and behold the glory of God and worship, offering prayers and sacrifices. Then outside of that you had the court of Jewish women, which is where Jewish women could offer prayers and sacrifices.

As you progress out from the Holy of Holies, more and more people can come, see, behold and be a part of worship of the glory of God. Well, outside the court of Jewish women, you had the court of the Gentiles. This is the place where the nations could come and offer prayers and sacrifices, beholding the glory of God. 

So when people decided to set up tables to exchange money, make bank and sell offerings, where do you think they decided to set up their tables? Do you think they’d set them up in the Holy of Holies? Well, certainly not there. The court of priests? No. The court of Jewish men? No. The court of Jewish women? No. They set up all their stuff in the court of the Gentiles. Jesus comes in and turns over those tables, saying, “My house is a house of prayer for all the peoples.” 

What was happening—don’t miss this—the people of God were conducting their worship in a way that was comfortable for them and ignored the nations. Can I just say that one more time? They were conducting their worship in a way that was comfortable for them, but ignored the nations who needed to see the glory of God. They had basically said, “We’re going to worship God our way and let the nations go to hell.” That is no exaggeration. Is it possible for us to conduct our worship today in a way that is comfortable for us, while we ignore the nations? We go on with all kinds of activity, while the nations go to hell. This is what we have done. 

God, open our eyes this whole picture. We’ve seen it. We’ve looked at the data. We spend most of our resources on ourselves. We give some money to church, then in those churches millions of dollars are spent on church buildings and programs that make religious activity comfortable for us. And we give relative few pennies for three billion people who’ve never even heard the gospel among the nations. We have produced a whole worship culture that is comfortable for us and ignores the people who most need the gospel. A whole picture of the church is that it’s filled with religious activity, while we are functionally letting the nations go to hell. They were missing love for the nations, then Jesus comes in, turns over tables and shouts, “My house is a house of prayer for all the peoples.” 

Now, let’s make the connection. We talked about this last week. We don’t go to a temple to behold the glory of God, right? Followers of Jesus, we are the temple. The Holy Spirit dwells in us. So now it’s not about the nations coming to see the glory of God in the temple. What does Jesus say? “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” You’re going to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you; you’re going to be a witness to the nations. It’s not, “Nations, come and see.” It’s, “Temples, followers of Jesus, go and tell. Go and make disciples of all the nations. Spread the glory of God all over the world through your life, your praying, giving and going, however and wherever I lead. Spend your life for the spread of my glory among all the nations.”

This is the purpose of your life, my life. We are not here on the planet to make America great. We are here on the planet to make Jesus’ name great among all the nations. This is why we have breath. This is why we have wealth. This is why we have time. This is why we have gifts. This is why we have skills and resources. This is for the spread of the greatest news in the world to all the peoples of the world. So, what does this look like in your life? Yes, this is it. 

God, open our eyes to see that this is Christianity. Not religious motion that ignores the nations. It’s, “I’ll spend my life for the glory of God among the nations, right where I live, or wherever you lead me.”

Observation: What does the passage say?

1) Read Mark 11:15-17 aloud as a group. Let group members share observations. Try not to move into interpretation of the passage or application of what you read quite yet.  Simply share what you observe.

• Who are all the different people and groups of people in verse 15?
• What do you see Jesus do in verse 16?
• What did Jesus want to teach them (v. 17)?
• How would you summarize Mark 11:15-17 in your own words?

Interpretation: What does the passage mean?

1) Read Isaiah 56:6-7. Who will God bring to His holy mountain to be joyful?

2) Read 1 Kings 8:41-43. What does Solomon declare in his prayer upon the dedication of the temple? Who is the “foreigner” to whom Solomon refers?

3) How would you explain what was ‘supposed to happen’ in the temple? What was the significance of the ‘Court of the Gentiles?’ Why was Jesus upset with the peoples’ behavior in the temple? 

4) Upon Jesus’ death, the temple curtain was torn in two. A few decades later, the temple was totally destroyed. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19. What is the significance and implications of believers being the temple of God on earth? (See also Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8 Romans 10:17)

Application: How can we apply this passage to our lives?

1) What is your posture and behavior toward people who are foreign to the gospel?

• How does your life illustrate that your body is a temple of God?
• Does your heart break for the lost? If so, how would others know?
• How does your life show that you have a love for all nations?
• How does your prayer life (intentional and specific) and your giving (gladly and sacrificially) illustrate a love for all nations?
• What changes must you make and where might you go (willingly and urgently) to spread the gospel?

2) Ask someone in your group to read aloud this week’s entry in the MBC Global Outreach Prayer Guide and take some time to pray together.

3) Consider breaking into huddles (small groups of 3-4 people of the same gender) for more personal sharing and prayer. Consider sincerely praying:

• God, are You leading me to go to a place in the world where the gospel has not yet gone?
• God, are You leading me to take a short-term trip (for a week or two) somewhere else in the world for the spread of the gospel? A mid-term trip? A long-term trip?
• God, break my heart for the lost. Lead me to step out in faith, on mission, to the lost.

Mark 11:12-26

12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it. 

15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city. 

20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

As followers of Jesus, we are set apart to go and share the gospel (Acts 13:1):

• God calls ALL of us to PRAY intentionally and specifically for the spread of the gospel to all nations.
• God calls ALL of us to GIVE gladly and sacrificially for the spread of the gospel to all nations.
• God calls ALL of us to GO willingly and urgently for the spread of the gospel to all nations:
  • Right where we live.
  • Wherever God leads (Short-Term, Mid-Term, Long-Term).

In addition to potentially missing:

• Fear, Reverence, and Awe Before God
• Confession and Sorrow Over Sin
• Faithful and Forgiving Prayer

In truly worshiping God, we might also be missing:

• Love for All Nations

Consider: Do you sense God may be leading you to go on a short-term mission trip, or to go for a longer period of time to an unreached place, for the spread of the gospel?