January 24, 2010
Acts 1:1-5             

If we're going to have a mission statement, I suggest we scrap the one we've got and start over.  There's nothing in the current one that isn't true; that's not it.  We do welcome all in the name of Jesus Christ, just like it says (most of us do anyway), and we always will.  We are here to reach the lost, and I agree that two good ways to do that are by sharing God's Word and by sharing God's love....just like it says.  I'm all for nurturing the saved, too; the last thing we want is a church full of baby Christians.  By all means let's disciple people, and lets do it on a foundation of biblical doctrine and ethics...just like our current mission statement says.  Let's just state why we're here in six words or less.  People  who are truly on a mission don't need any more than that. For example, I did a graveside service the day before Christmas.  I got to the cemetery early that afternoon and was reviewing my notes when, out of the corner of my eye I saw a young woman marching down the sidewalk . If I had been standing in her way, she probably would have bowled me over.  I don't think I've ever seen anyone more determined than she was that day.  If she blinked once from her car to the casket I'd be surprised.  That's how focused she was.  Thirty seconds later she did an "about face" and marched right back down the sidewalk the same way she came, without a single word.  A moment later I remembered that she had picked out all the flowers for her grandmother's casket and  had arranged them herself.  They looked fine to my untrained eye.  But something was wrong, and she was going to make it right if it was the last thing she ever did.  She was determined "to fix those flowers".  That was her mission.  Kids at a birthday party are on a mission: to eat cake and ice cream.  So is the guy on the free throw line, whose team is down by one with one second to go in the game: his mission is to "make that basket".  That's the only thing on his mind.  Jesus came to earth on a mission; it was huge: to save the world. That's four words, but he could have stated in two: He was born "to die."  One of my favorite verses is Luke 9:51 because it reveals the determination Jesus had to accomplish his mission.  It says, "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." That's the NIV.  The ESV says, "that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem."  He had a date with death, and he wasn't going to break it for anything or anyone.  The pressure Jesus felt to change course must have been enormous.  If Satan wasn't tempting him to take a shortcut, there was the weight of other people's expectations.  I'm sure you know what that feels like.  Your friends want you to do this.  Your family wants you to do that.  People are pulling you in every  possible direction.  Under those circumstances, it's difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish your God-given mission.  Jesus did it, and I'm going to tell you how.  First, he was good at saying "no".  He had to be, because his day only consisted of twenty-four hours, just like ours.  He needed time to eat and time to sleep.  He needed time alone with God.  He had three short years to disciple a dozen men before he died.  If he had given in to all the demands on his time and energy, things he needed to do would have been left undone.  So he said "no" with some frequency.  Second, he never took his eyes off the cross.  Another one of my favorite verses is Psalm 39:4. David was on to something when he prayed, "Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life." The average person doesn't like thinking about death; they think it's morbid.  I think it's motivational.  People who know they're going to die live differently than people who think they're going to live forever.  Take the rich guy in Luke 12.  God said, "You fool; this very night your life will be demanded from you".  It doesn't take a Bible scholar to understand why God addressed him that way.  It was this man's last day on earth and he'd spent it worrying about money.  Now money is something that never really concerned Jesus, for a couple reasons.  First, he didn't put his faith in it.  Money is, by far, the number one substitute for God.  People may not pray to it, but their love for it amounts to worship.  The Bible calls that idolatry. In my mind, worshipping money is no less evil and no less deserving of God's judgment than sticking pins in dolls and casting spells on people.  Second, Jesus saw his life's end. God showed him the number of his days. When you have a lot to do like Jesus did and your time is limited like his, you don't waste it worrying about money. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth", Jesus said, "where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven."  That's good advice whether you have one day left, or a hundred years.

The last words out of Jesus mouth before he died were, "It is finished".  He'd  successfully accomplished what he had come to earth to do.  When you're time comes will you be able to say, "It is finished; my work on earth is done.  Into your hands I commit my spirit," or something to that effect?  I like how Paul put it.  "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.  I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the race.  I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will award to me on that day--and not only me", he goes on to say, "but also to all who have longed for his appearing."  That's us, if--like Paul- we keep our eyes on the prize.  There are two ways to get it; the first way doesn't sound like much fun--death.  But actually, when you consider what's on the other side of it, death seems like a small price to pay.  The other way to collect on the prize is Christ's return.  We don't talk much about that in the Church these days, but we will if I ever get to verse eleven, where two men dressed in white question the apostles.  "Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." I know it's hard to imagine that scene. The Bible describes it several places in some detail.  A trumpet will announce his return.  Angels will round everybody up from the four corners of the earth.  According to Zechariah, the Mount of Olives will split right down the middle, and Jesus will position himself on the summit, presumably with one foot on each peak. Basically, the Second Coming of Christ will make Haiti look like a walk in the park by comparison.  How it will happen is a matter of record. When it will happen is a mystery. But I do like what Third Day has to say on the subject; a line from one of their songs goes, "I've got a feeling it won't be long.  Maybe I'm right and maybe I'm wrong. But I know one thing for sure-- only time will tell it."  

Christ's birth marked the arrival of God's kingdom on earth.  His return will signal the culmination of God's Kingdom.  So where does that leave us?  In the middle.  Jesus ongoing mission involves two phases.  Phase one concluded the day that Jesus ascended into heaven.  Phase two, you might say, officially began on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the church.  And in between there was a 50-day transition period, during which time Jesus did several things.  He instructed the apostles.  He convinced them.  And he commissioned them.  Luke mentions one more thing Jesus did; three years earlier he chose them.  I want to say a brief word about each of those because, as I mentioned last week, those four things haven't changed in two thousand years.  Jesus still chooses, instructs, convinces, and commissions his disciples.

Ephesians 4:11-12 is as good a place as any to begin.  One night last week, Phil Frady, our associational missionary, helped some of us to understand this verse. He went at it from one angle, but I'm going to approach from another angle.  Paul writes, "It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers....to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up....."  There are any number of important points in that verse, but two of them relate to that word "chosen".  "It was He who gave some to be...." That means that preachers, prophets, etc. aren't self-appointed.  Jesus made that clear to the disciples in John 15:16.  "You did not choose me", he said, "but I chose you..." When Jesus was assembling his original mission team, he didn't ask for volunteers. He hand-picked the people he wanted.  Abraham didn't volunteer to the father of the Jewish nation.  Moses didn't apply for his job.  God said, "I'm sending you to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt...end of story." Jonah ran from his God-given assignment.  But look where he ended up.  After three days in the belly of a fish, he found himself in Ninevah, preaching a city-wide revival.  Planting churches wasn't Paul's idea; destroying them was.  But when God stopped him dead in his tracks and struck him blind, Paul had a change of heart.  God doesn't just choose individuals; he hand-picks nations.  The Jews are God's chosen people.  Of course they misunderstood what that meant.  They thought God's selection had something to do with their inherent superiority.  In other words, "God chose us because we're better than everybody else." How can anybody who reads the Bible think that goodness is the criteria that governs God's choices.  Abraham worshipped idols.  Moses was a murderer.  Jonah was a whiny baby.  Paul killed Christians.  I'll put it like this. While the world is looking for the cream of the crop, it would seem that God is scraping the bottom of the barrel.  If you want to know the logic behind His personnel decisions, all I can say is, "God is God; He has his reasons.  But I do know the motivation behind his choices. That's no secret.  Take Israel for example.  In Deuteronomy 7:7-8 Moses is addressing the whole nation.  "The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the Lord loved you...." God is for the underdog; there's no doubt about it.  But it goes much deeper than that, to the very heart of God.  He is love.  That's all the explanation any of us should need.

Israel held another crazy notion as related to "favored nation" status.  Somehow they got the idea that they were chosen for privilege when, in fact, they were chosen for responsibility.  Their mission, in five words, was to be "a light for the Gentiles".  Let that be a lesson for all of us.  We weren't chosen by God for a life of spiritual leisure. Going back to Ephesians 4. "It was He gave some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.  Now it sounds like Paul's making a distinction between professional clergy and the people in the pew.  He's not.  God gives every true Christian at least one spiritual gift, and the responsibility of using that gift in the church to make it stronger so that it can accomplish it's mission.  And committee work doesn't count.  The various spiritual gifts are listed in two places: Romans 12:3-7 and I Corinthians 12:1-11.  Picture a body that is missing some parts;  no right leg, no left arm, two toes are missing from the left foot, three fingers are missing from the right hand.  Imagine a person in that condition trying to function in society.  He can't.  And neither can the body of Christ when only a small percentage believers are using their gifts.  I've heard every excuse there is. "I don't have a gift".  If that's true, then the Bible isn't.  "I don't have time".  If that's true, you're just being disobedient.  "I'm not worthy".  Good.  Neither am I. Neither is anybody else.  "I'm don't feel led to do that".  Or anything else, from what I can tell.  "I'm scared". That's what the Holy Spirit is for. II Timothy 1:7. "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and a sound mind."  "I'm not  qualified".  That's what the Holy Spirit is for; He will qualify you.  "I'm ill-equipped". That's what the Holy Spirit is for. He'll equip you.  "I can't".  I thought the Bible says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  And I would add, "who instructs me".