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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
October, 1936
A Clarion Call to MISSIONARY
*
B y ROBERT HALL GLOVER Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
“ Enlarge the place o f thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains o f thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the le ft; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. Fear not; fo r thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; fo r thou shalt not be put to shame” (Isa. 54:2-4). I fully recognize that the primary appli cation o f this passage is to God’s earthly people, Israel, and that its final fulfill ment is still in the future; nor am I one of those who would rob the jew o f the prom ises that are rightly his and give them away to the church. And yet I believe there is a very legitimate and most significant appli cation of these words to the Christian church and its present-day missionary enterprise. Indeed, this was the text from
sion began to be carried out, and the gos pel spread in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, and thence on and out toward the uttermost part of the earth, the tent has had repeatedly to be enlarged, its cords lengthened, its stakes strengthened, its can vas extended. And yet we need to remind ourselves that the task is not completed; the “ people for his name” (Acts 15:14), pre pared for His return, have not all been reached and brought into the fold. Advance is still called f o r ; the clarion call still sounds: “ Enlarge the place o f thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes” (Isa. 54:2 ). That other call also comes to us today that was spoken to Israel long after they had entered the land of promise, but were yet far short o f having made it their complete possession: “ There remaineth yet much land to be possessed” (Josh. 13:1). “ How
Robert Hall Glover
which William Carey, the “ Father of Modern Missions,” nearly a century arid a half ago preached that epoch1making sermon at Kettering, England, which ushered in a new period o f Christian missions. From this text Carey deduced that famous missionary motto, “ Expect great things frorri G od ; attempt great things for God.” And so the text comes to us this morning as a stirring call and challenge to mis sionary advance. A critical study of this text would reveal several bal anced couplets. First of-all, we have a prayer injunction coupled with a gracious promise— the injunction: “ Enlarge the place o f thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains o f thine habitations,” and the promise: “ For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles . . .” Then follows a couplet expressing the means to be used to this desired end : “ Lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes”— “ Lengthen thy cords” setting forth the extensive factor in missions, relating to the far-flung battle line overseas; and “ strengthen thy stakes” the intensive factor, relating to the home base of missionary support. Finally there are two short, sharp imperatives: “ Spare not” (otherwise translated “ grudge not” ) — a word o f admonition to the home base; and “ fear not”-—a word o f encouraging assur ance to the soldiers on the field. The central thought of the whole passage is enlargement, expansion. We have here the quaint picture o f one o f those brown mohair tents of the Bedouin Arab shepherd on the hills of Palestine or Syria. I. The Enlarged Tent and the Lengthened Cords When the Christian church began at that first Pentecost, a tiny “ tent” sufficed to enfold it, but as the great commis- *An address delivered at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, by the Home Director for North America o f the China Inland Mission.
long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God o f your fathers hath given you?” (Josh. 18:3). Now there are two factors in this process o f enlarge ment: the lengthening of the cords and the strengthening o f the stakes. When we consider the appalling proportions o f the unfinished task of missions, there is surely no room for self-complacency. We have not completed or fulfilled as we ought the Master’s last expressed wish and uttered command. II. The Stakes in Need o f Strengthening Experience with a tent teaches one the danger in length ening the cords without proportionately strengthening the stakes. Collapse and disaster are likely to follow ; the two processes, so inseparably related, must go together. With regard to the lengthening of the cords, we may well rejoice in the continued faithfulness and efficiency of those who represent us overseas, for a finer body of de voted Christian men and women does not exist on earth. The key to the missionary problem, my brethren, lies at home, not in the lengthening of the cords, but rather in the strengthening o f the stakes. Success or failure in missions depends upon the attitude and the action of us who remain in the homeland. In this message a few o f the stakes of this missionary tent that need strengthening are given. T he N eed of the G ospel The first stake is the sound conviction of the necessity of the gospel, and an understanding o f the utter need of men and women everywhere for Jesus Christ the Saviour. If we really believe that the world is lost, that Christ is its only Saviour, that the preaching o f the gospel is its only hope, then surely a profound sense o f responsibility will be felt. That word “ lost” is strangely absent from mission ary appeal in many quarters of the church today, and its absence marks a vital weakness.
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