Life in Mission: So we don’t blend into the background!

Introduction

Thank you for reading so clearly and well for us. You may be wondering what’s happened to our series on Philippians. We’re having a little break. It’s a little complicated. When Daniel first spoke to me about preaching, he asked me to preach the beginning of a short miniseries on mission. There are no slides this morning, so that’ll test your concentration of being able to listen and follow without some things on the screen. I agreed to preach the first sermon in the series on mission. The first sermon has gotten a little bit separated from the rest of the series. I’m not sure when it will happen, but it will happen sometime soon. So today we’re having a little break from Philippians, and we’ll get back to that next week.

By way of further explanation, this message that I’m going to share with you this morning was not written for this congregation, and I hope you don’t feel offended by that. I was asked by another church to preach at a missions series there, and they were in the middle of a series of studies on Luke’s gospel. So I was given the passage to preach on, which is Luke 18, the story of the rich young ruler. Now, when I was first asked to preach on that passage in a missions theme, I looked at the passage and thought, I don’t think I would normally choose this passage to preach a mission sermon on. But as I got into the preparation, I was reminded that not only is this passage, but indeed the whole of the scriptures is a missions text because it’s about our God who is on mission, and it’s about our place in what God is doing.

So, I hope by the time we finish that you’ll agree that this passage from Luke 18 actually has something to say to us about mission. Because we’re not in the middle of a series on Luke ourselves, it’s helpful, I think, to provide a little bit of context for this message just to help us understand it. All the gospel writers write with a particular audience in mind and with a particular purpose or maybe several purposes in mind, and they choose their material and shape it and present it in such a way to meet or achieve those purposes, and Luke is no different to that. He gives us a little bit of his own commentary on why he wrote the gospel in the very first chapter. He says he’s writing to his friend Theophilus. Theophilus is a Greek word. It means lover of God. And he says, “I’ve done my research, and I’m presenting an orderly account so that you may know that what you’re hearing about Jesus, what you’ve been taught is true.”

Luke is writing to a primarily Greek, but a bit of a mixed audience to help them know that the message of Jesus is true and not just some recently trumped up the latest fad in terms of philosophical religious thinking. He wants them to know that this Jesus story and the claims about Jesus are anchored in God’s plan right from the very beginning. He’s also explaining to them how the Jewish nation are fitted into God’s plans and how Jesus comes both as the fulfillment of God’s promises to and through Israel and also as the leader and founder of the new Israel, the new people of God, the new covenant community that will carry on God’s work. By way of a couple of examples in chapter 3 of Luke’s gospel, Luke traces the ancestry of Jesus. First of all, he goes back to Abraham, emphasizing there the importance of the role of the Jewish nation there, Abraham being the father of the Jewish nation. But he also looks back further beyond Abraham and traces Jesus’ genealogy or ancestry right back to Adam.

He’s making the point that as important as the place of Israel’s choice and their role was, God’s plan goes back beyond Israel. In fact, God’s plan concerns all of creation and every nation. In fact, this was the promise that God made to Abraham that Abraham would be blessed and through him blessing would come to all nations. So Luke is establishing Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s plans and promises for Israel, yet as much bigger than that because those plans involve all nations. In Luke chapter 4, the passage that was read to us, Jesus goes into the synagogue in Nazareth, and he’s invited to preach, and he reads from the prophet Isaiah chapter 61, which everyone who was in the synagogue there, they would have known immediately this was a familiar passage. It was a prophecy about the coming Messiah, and it spoke about the servant of the Lord.

You recall as you were listening to reading that passage, having read that passage, Jesus sits down because they sat down to teach in those days and said, “Today in your hearing, this scripture is fulfilled.” That would have caused a bit of a ripple of confusion and excitement and wonder in the crowd that were listening because it’s not every day that you hear about scripture being fulfilled while you listen and while you watch. Jesus was not only claiming to be the fulfillment of that passage, he was claiming to be the servant of the Lord, the promised Messiah, and in a sense the fulfillment of all God’s plans and promises up until that point. He’s doing something more because he’s also laying out the plans, the vision statement, if you like, for God’s work through his new renewed community into the days ahead. Those words that were read from Isaiah 61 that the servant would bring good news to the poor, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and the arrival of the time of the Lord’s favor. This is Jesus’ mission statement, if you like, that was the mission statement of Israel of old, which they never really fulfilled well, and is to be the mission statement of the new community of God’s people that Jesus in fact will be the leader of and the founder of.

When the people in the synagogue, they get a little bit antsy when Jesus claims to be the fulfillment of prophecy, and they’re not sure that they like what they’re hearing about the mission or the ministry that Jesus said was theirs and will be the ongoing ministry. Jesus tells them a couple of stories. He says remember in the time of Elijah the prophet, there was a famine. If you know your Old Testament story, the time of Elijah, Ahab was a king and an evil king, and his wife Jezebel was even more evil. The people had so gone against the law and worshiped idols and so on that God had sent this famine on the land for three years. There was no rain. There was people were suffering quite a lot. Jesus says during that time there were many widows in Israel who were suffering because of the drought, but God did not send Elijah to any of them to help them. He sent Elijah to a widow in the town of Zarapath in the region of Siden, which happens to be the place where Queen Jezebel came from. She was from Siden.

You can imagine the wheels turning, the cogs turning, wondering, people wondering what Jesus is trying to say. Why would God send the servant to help a person from that same place that Jezebel came from? While they’re still trying to work that out, he says, “And not long afterwards, during the time of Elisha, there were many lepers in Israel, but God did not heal any of them. He chose to heal non from Syria. The pieces started to fall into place. Jesus was saying, if you look at your own history, you will see that right from the very beginning and right through your history, God was demonstrating his care not only for Israel, but for the people outside Israel, because ultimately the good news is for all people.” When the people in the synagogue understood what Jesus was saying, they got so angry they tried to kill him. They tried to throw him over the cliff because they did not want to hear that God was concerned for the people outside the covenant community. They wanted all the blessing for themselves. It’s a challenge for us not to make the same mistake. This is what Jesus is all about, the one who fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament, fulfills the role of Israel, and who points the way forward for God’s ongoing work to bring blessing to the nations.

The Journey with Jesus

The Transfiguration

Moving a little further into Luke’s gospel in chapter nine, we come to the story of the transfiguration, which is a key turning point in the book of Luke. You’ll know in that story that Jesus is on the mountain and meets with Moses, the giver of the law, and with Elijah, the great prophet. It’s a symbolic representation that Jesus is the one who fulfills the law and the prophets. At the same time, the voice from heaven comes and says, “This is my beloved son. Listen to him.” In other words, the time of the law and the prophets is coming to an end. They are fulfilled in Christ, but he is the new leader. He will take you on. Listen to him and follow his agenda. From chapter nine from when they come down from the mountain of transfiguration through to chapter 19 in Luke records this the journey of Jesus from the mountain to Jerusalem where that journey will culminate in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

Through these chapters Luke presents a lot of practical teaching about what it means to be on this journey with Jesus. Jesus invites us to share that journey. To be a follower of Jesus is to be a disciple of Jesus is to be a follower and share that journey. These chapters teach us about money, about lifestyle, about priorities, about attitudes, about prayer, and several other practical topics. If we’re going to be part of this new community, if we’re going to be disciples of Jesus, it’s going to mean not just life as usual with a little bit of religion thrown in, coming to church on Sunday or whatever day you come and saying a few religious words. It’s going to mean a radical change of lifestyle, a commitment to Jesus agenda and all that’s involved in that. To be a member of this new people of God, to be a follower of Jesus, to be a disciple is to join him on the journey, to share with him in his mission and his purpose, to share in the moments of joy and celebration, and with him to face sometimes opposition and suffering.

The Cross

For Jesus, the journey to resurrection and glory was a journey that went through Jerusalem and the cross, and that may be true for all of us as well. Not the Jerusalem bit so much, but the cross. Twice in chapters 9-19, Jesus says to his disciples, those who want to follow him must take up their cross and follow him. There is in the whole of scriptures no more dramatic picture or image because the sight of a person carrying their cross reminded people that they really had no control over their own future. They given up the right or had lost the right to determine their own future but were under the authority of someone else. This is the model that Jesus this is the picture that Jesus gives of following him. This is really what makes the Gospel of Luke, in fact the whole scriptures, a mission text, because mission is not an event or an activity. Mission is a lifestyle. A lifestyle that takes seriously the call to disciplehip because to be a disciple is in fact to be a missionary. You may not have thought of yourself as a missionary. We’re all missionaries if we’re disciples, and Luke describes what this missional lifestyle is all about.

It’s interesting to note that after Jesus comes down from the mount of transfiguration, one of the first things he does is he commisss his followers then 72 of them and sends them out on a mission trip, a mission activity because there is no disciplehip without mission to be a follower of Jesus is to share in his mission. So with that as background and it’s been a longish background but hopefully it’s been helpful. We come to the story of chapter 18. In Luke chapter 18, the story of the rich religious leader. It’s a very simple story, but at the same time quite a profound one, and there are some interesting and fascinating subtleties in it. In Luke’s account, the man is identified as a religious leader. Matthew and Mark just call him a rich young man, but the same story is in three gospels. As was read to us, this religious leader comes up to Jesus and says, “Good teacher.” Jesus responds immediately with a question, almost a challenge. Why do you call me good? Only God is truly good.

The Rich Religious Leader

The First Commandment

I doubt that the religious leader was expecting that response. He probably thought, “I’m being nice and respectful here. I’m asking a genuine question. I’ll get a nice, gentle, thoughtful, encouraging answer. It’s like Jesus was saying to him, “You are being very polite and respectful in calling me good, but do you really mean it or is this just a matter of show? If you really think I am good, then you’ll take notice of what I say and you’ll do it.” Jesus follows up with another question, also an interesting question. He says, “Tell me about the commandments. How have you kept the commandments?” He starts to list them. If you were listening very carefully, you’d notice he starts listing halfway through the list that as we have it in Exodus 20. He starts with don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal. These are commandments that relate to how we relate to each other, to other people, to which the man can honestly and probably little proudly say, I’ve kept all those since I was young.

What about the commandments that Jesus didn’t list? Just to make sure you’re all awake, what’s the first commandment listed in Exodus 20? You shall have no other gods before me. I think that was I’m sure you all knew the answer. That was the message. You will have no other gods before me. Without quoting it, Jesus is about to expose this rich young man’s failure to keep the very first commandment, and he will do it by asking him to give away his wealth and follow him. You’ve called me good, says Jesus, and you’re right. I stand before you as the good teacher himself. Here comes the first test. All teachers give tests. Will you obey the first commandment, or will you have another god in first place? Will you get rid of the idol that’s in your life, your wealth? I think it’s significant here that Luke has identified this man as a religious leader because it reminds that we can be very religious. We can be highly respected, highly regarded. We can have a lot of knowledge and still fail at the first commandment.

Choosing This Life

The rich religious leader sadly walks away as Matthew and Mark tell us. His idolatry, his failure to keep the first commandment has been exposed, and he’s not prepared to give up his idol. Notice that Jesus doesn’t run after him and say, “Oh, come on. It’s I didn’t quite mean it like that. Let’s have another talk about this. Let’s have another think about it. He respects the man’s decision. In fact, there is no room for negotiation. We can’t follow Jesus if there’s something else in first place in our life. We come to him on his terms or not at all. When you think about it, how sad is this religious leader’s response? He knows there is such a thing as eternal life. He came to Jesus to ask about it. He’s expressed an interest in making sure that he had eternal life, but he chooses to live as if this life is all there is. He chooses the here and now, the so-called good things of this life rather than prioritize the things of the life to come.

From the perspective of eternity, this doesn’t make any sense. Why would you trade an eternity of God’s presence with 50, 60, 70 years of the so-called good things of this world? It might not make any sense from eternity, but it’s a pretty common scenario, isn’t it? We very much focus on what we can see rather than what we can see. Maybe there are people here today who are struggling with this very issue. Something other than God has first place in their life. You may be highly respected. You may be considered a religious leader, but something else has first place in your life. Maybe a career, a hobby, your super fund, maybe your sense of identity or your family. None of these things bad in themselves, but Jesus says, “If you want to inherit eternal life, you will have no other gods before me.” He might choose to test us to see if there’s something else that’s keeping him out of first place in our lives. This is really the heart of the matter. Is Jesus Lord or isn’t he? As Jesus says very clearly in Matthew’s gospel, you can’t serve two masters. Either he’s Lord or something else is.

Impossible for Man, Possible for God

Jesus goes on to say how hard it is for a rich man or for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Those who hear Jesus say this are amazed. They say, “Who then can be saved?” They’re amazed because in their understanding, they saw riches as a sign of God’s blessing. If the rich could not be saved, who on earth could be saved? Jesus is actually saying it’s particularly hard. In fact, it’s impossible for the rich unaided to be saved. Riches are not a reliable indicator of God’s blessing. We’ve only got to look around our own city, our own society to know there are plenty very, very wealthy people who have little or no time for God at all. Indeed, if being rich makes it impossible to enter the kingdom of God, wealth could be seen even as a curse. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”

You may have heard at some time in the past an explanation about a little gate that’s in the walls of Jerusalem which called the eye of the needle. You heard the story? Where the idea was that you had to your camel had to get down on his knees and you had to unload the camel so the camel could sort of call its way through the gate. No such gate exists and never has. The story was a very late development. I can’t remember exactly when the first story was told, but there’s no archaeological evidence. There’s no grounds. Most scholars don’t see any grounds at all for this story because Jesus was not saying it’s very difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. He was saying it’s impossible for a rich man unaded to enter the kingdom of go kingdom of heaven. Thankfully it’s not the end of the story because what is impossible for man is possible for God. God can save the rich person and God can save the poor person when either or both were ready to let go of whatever keeps him out of first place.

In the end, it’s not really a matter of whether you’re rich or whether you’re poor. It’s not really a matter of how many commandments you can keep or not keep. It’s a question of idolatry. What has first place in your life, and will you give it up if it’s not Jesus in order to gain eternal life? At this point in the story, Peter speaks up, we’ve left our homes to follow you. Jesus replies, “Yes, and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will be repaid many times over in this life and will have eternal life in the world to come.” Jesus’ reply is a little more complicated than the first appears. Firstly, what it doesn’t say, it doesn’t say that it’s okay to walk away from your family commitments on the pretext of serving God. That’s not what it’s saying. It’s not saying that if you put God first, you’ll always be happy, always have everything you need, and everything you want, and everything will be well in the world.

Life in Mission

Sacrifice and Blessing

He is saying that the journey to which we are called is a journey that requires sacrifice. It will mean foregoing things that many others consider to be their right. It will mean putting God’s plans ahead of your own to put God’s agenda first. It will impact how we spend our time and how we spend the resources that God gives us. When we do prioritize God’s agenda, then the promise is there. We will experience his blessing in many ways, not necessarily material, possibly material, but we experience his blessings in many ways and we have the assurance of eternal life. This is a wonderful word of encouragement and reassurance. I’m going to devote from my notes here because it reminds me I grew up in a Christian home, godly parents, was very much in church. I remember in my teenage years, had someone said to me, “Are you a Christian?” I would have said I’m trying to be. Then I realized by God’s grace that it wasn’t a matter of trying. It was a matter of trusting. Because if God promised, I could trust his promises.

It became then for me a process of surrendering my life to Jesus and saying it’s not based on my effort that I can become a Christian. It’s not a matter of trying. It’s a matter of trusting. Since that time, there’s been issues and questions and struggles, of course, but I’ve never really had any doubt about the fact that I have received the gift of eternal life. I’m secure in God’s hands, and that’s a huge blessing. Can carry you through a lot in this world. Back to my notes. This passage may not be highest on our list of best known missionary texts, but what does it have to say to us this morning about mission? I think there are two main implications. The first is that to follow Jesus means that Jesus and his priorities and his mission come first in our lives. They’re not add-ons. They are core and that will be seen in our priorities and how we use the time and resources God gives us.

Salvation is a Gift

A quick check is look at our calendars and our bank statements and see whether they actually reflect our commitment to the priorities of Jesus. Secondly, the passage reminds us that salvation is a work of God’s grace. We cannot obtain eternal life by our own efforts, by our own good works, or by our wealth. We cannot negotiate or bargain with God. Salvation is a gift that God gives us when we put him first. That’s what it means to repent and make him Lord of our lives. In our enthusiasm to draw others into the kingdom of God, and it’s good to be enthusiastic about that. Let’s be careful not to give the impression that eternal life is obtained by ticking boxes, saying some magic words, or going to church. Jesus warns that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Coming to Christ on his term means coming to grips with what it means to take up our cross daily. It means committing ourselves to a life of obedience and service, but a life that along with the challenges and the sacrifices, we will experience joy and blessing that come from him and the assurance of eternal life.

One of the great things about having been part of the GRN Global Recordings Network community for the last 25 years and nearly another 15 years before that in other networks. One of the joys is that I’ve been surrounded by a team of people who’ve made the clear choice to prioritize the kingdom of God rather than their own comfort or personal success. Many, Dave’s a good example, have got the skills to earn a very comfortable living to achieve considerable status, but they’ve chosen to use those skills and their abilities to make it possible for people to hear the good news of Jesus in their own language. We’re not super Christians. Don’t put missionaries on a pedestal. They’ve got as many weaknesses and failings as anybody else, but there are a community of people who have chosen to put the kingdom of God first. Of course, you don’t have to be a full-time missionary or cross-cultural worker to make that decision. In fact, it is important that every true believer, every follower of Jesus, lives out that commitment to God’s mission in whatever place God has put you.

It’s good for all of us to ask ourselves the questions from time to time. Am I on the journey with Jesus or am I simply going my own way and doing my own thing? Does Jesus have first place? Does my life demonstrate the values and priorities of God’s kingdom and commitment to his mission or does it look like everybody else in my street? To pick up the language of Philippians because we’ve been studying Philippians. Do our lives shine like lights in a dark sky or do we just blend into the background?