Isaiah 45:20, 22 “Gather together and come;
assemble, you fugitives from the nations.
Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood,
who pray to gods that cannot save.
Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.”

The image of “carrying idols of wood” doesn’t click for most Americans, but it’s a central feature of practically every Japanese festival, and is common in many other parts of the world as well. In verse 20 the Lord is pointing out the ignorance of those who do that. As He told the Jews, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) It is to counter such ignorance that missionaries go around the world. It is in verse 22 that the Lord issues the invitation that missionaries proclaim. I’m sure most of the Jews of the 1st Century had no idea this was in the Bible! As Acts records, it took some pretty dramatic action on God’s part to get even the Christians to understand that His offer of salvation is to every human being. We tend to be so self serving, concerned only for our own salvation and satisfied if we think we have that. It was to counter such an attitude that Jesus issued what is called The Great Commission, delivered just before He ascended to heaven. (Matthew 28:18-20) It is amazing, and sad to the point of being tragic, how many Christians and churches ignore that even today. When we lose our vision for world evangelization we quickly become introspective and narcissistic, of no particular use to God or to society as a whole. When our view of God becomes distorted like that, assorted aberrations come in all too easily, and we end up with churches that ignore large chunks of the Bible, claiming it’s “irrelevant for our day.” What a sad joke! John 3:16 doesn’t say, “For God so loved (insert people group) that He gave His only Son,” it says, “For God so loved the WORLD.” God chose Abram and renamed him Abraham because He needed to start somewhere, and that was His choice. We cut ourselves off from great chunks of God’s blessings when we try to limit His blessings to ourselves.

I’m interested, but not surprised, to see how much passion rises in me when I get on this subject! My parents were missionaries, and my mother’s father founded what is currently the oldest continuing Department of Missions in the world, at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Missions is definitely in my blood, and I am deeply grateful. I made my own commitment to missions at the grave of David Livingston in Westminster Abbey when I was 10, but I forgot it quickly enough. However, the Lord graciously called me back to it, and I’ve been an independent, self-supporting missionary since 1981. In pastoring here in Japan, I have sought to instill a vision for evangelism and missions in the believers, and for many years we have tithed our general offering to the New Life League, which is a Christian publishing house in Japan actively involved in printing and distributing Bibles in China and elsewhere. I am not to slack off from that emphasis, but pray not only that every believer here would be active in sharing the Gospel with their neighbors, but also that people would go out far and wide from here, proclaiming the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that Your love is indeed so inclusive, in keeping with Your character. Help me be fully useful to You for Your purposes, making disciples of all nations indeed, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!