Series: Conversations with Jesus
John 17:6-19
INTRO, special day, 9 new members, people committing to our community at St Johns, getting involved and call this place home and ensure it’s health and growth, to see beyond their own navels and see that God did not just die for them, but for the Church he loves as well, do we need the Church? Do we need to be members of the Church? Well the bible says we should, throughout the NT, the Church is a family, or a body made up of many parts, all serving according to their gifts, it is that simple, when we are in fellowship, we flourish, we grasp the vision and we are released in our mission.
One of things I really like about my IPOD—is that it is simple
-there is only one button—and it is big
-and when I want to recharge—it’s just plug and play
Other successful enterprises have seemed to grab hold of this
-Easy jet, cheap–in part—it is simple--no assigned seats-no food- just direct city to city travel
-ryanair the same, though if the oxygen masks fell I think they would charge you for the air you breathe!
Simple is in—according to some writers
-complexity is out—people are done with so many options
-technology that demands just way too much thinking
Jesus was rather simple as well-
-He took the 613 laws of the religion of His day and simplified into one statement—“Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind—and love your neighbor as yourself”’
And when Jesus prayed in John 17
-it was a very simple prayer—
-for Himself—MAY MY LIFE GLORIFY THE FATHER
-for His disciples—MAY THEY BE MISSIONAL, be missionaries
-everything could be summed up this way
But what does this mean?
-in its simplest form—
1. MISSIONAL BELIEVERS IDENTIFY WITH THIS WORLD
A. They enter into it with a missional intent
-notice that Jesus did not pray for rescue planes to evacuate
His people (read 15a)
-Jesus clearly wants us in the world as He was in the world
-why? Because we have a mission
B. Which implies—
-no Christian ghettos allowed—no building of islands w/o
bridges—spiritual bomb shelters
-nowhere are we encouraged to become isolated, insulated
-Jesus did not call His disciples to become a subculture
- Not a city on a hill, or a wee nice social club, incidentally, 5 years after a person has become a Christian they no longer have any non Christian friends………
-Jesus calls us to be a missional community--out there—in the world
C. This was/is Jesus— the incarnation- God came to live in the neighbourhood
-going out of His way to the woman at the well, the paralytic at Siloam
-hanging with the wrong people, going to their parties (Mk 2:13-17)
D. But entering can be perilous, dangerous, risky
-for we enter a world alienated towards God
-and consequently—alienated toward us
-so He prays that the Father will keep us (read 15b)
Illustration – Just about every week I am reminded of this alienation
-God delusion Dawkins- Christians are guilty of child abuse, they are idiots, they are dangerous and evil!
This is our post-Christian world today
-and it while it would be easy for believers to hide
-this is not what Jesus prays for—but rather—we would step into the fray
-knowing this—God is in charge of everything!
But entering is not enough—
2. MISSIONAL BELIEVERS GUARD THEMSELVES FROM THIS
WORLD
-being in the world is not a call to be of the world--there is a
difference (read vs 16)
Entering—we must guard against being pulled back into its values and ways
-for we can become so engaged in culture we neglect the gospel
-we can uncritically embrace the priorities and presumptions of our age—
and then become easily seduced
-we can desire to be relevant at the expense of being faithful
-the chameleon Christian versus the chrysalis Christian
So missional means—neither isolation nor accommodation
3. MISSIONAL BELIEVERS IMPACT AND CHANGE THIS WORLD
-they enter—without accommodating—TO REFORM
-influence, reshape
Hence Jesus prays—
A. WE BECOME SATURATED WITH TRUTH-17
-Jesus uses priestly language
-because we are in fact priests
-priests called into God’s service and set apart BY TRUTH
so that as it takes hold
-we are no longer indifferent towards culture
-word has become flesh
B. WE FOLLOW CHRIST IN MISSION-18
-who came and lived in culture
-being in mission—as Jesus was in mission
-loving what He loved-hating what He hated
-weeping over cities as He did
-engaging in culture as He engaged—what does that mean?
1. CONDEMN CULTURE?
-boycotting movies
-burning books
-this misses the pt of vs 15—where Jesus calls us to
build bridges—not throw stones
2. COPY CULTURE?
-write music that sounds just like culture (Luther and
others did that pretty well)
-becoming so synonymous with culture it’s hard to tell
the difference?
3. CO-OPT CULTURE?
-take it over—get the right government in place to carry out our agenda to make Britain a Christian nation
-this was not Jesus’ agenda then—nor now
4. CHALLENGE CULTURE?
-subvert culture?
-this is certainly closer to what Jesus did
-the metaphors of salt and light could suggest this—
we subtly enter our worlds and in a stealth like way
change culture
-entering into tensions
It’s more
5. CREATE CULTURE
-more than anything else--Jesus came to a desperate
world and created culture
-a culture of grace—a culture of justice
-a culture of life—so wherever He went—He healed
-and offered a different kind of life--life abundant
-not a spirit of depression or derision—that reflects so
many religious today—but life
Could it be that at the heart of being missional—it means this—
-that we enter this world—rather than abandoning it
-enter—without condemning it—copying it
Enter neither to co-opt—or even primarily to challenge
-BUT TO CREATE CULTURE
-creating the same kinds of culture
-a culture of grace—in a culture of disgrace
-a culture of respect—in a culture of coarseness
-a culture of justice—in a culture of oppression
-a culture of trust—in a culture of cynicism
-not book burning—but book writing
-not boycotting movies—but making movies
-not copying music—but making music—music that transcends what is
heard—that creates culture
-Illustration - when Apple created IPOD-it created culture
-I walk down the high st, everyone has the white earphones in their lugs! Bono of U2 said he no longer mixes his albums to pump out of the big speakers, but out of tiny earphones! Apple has changed the culture!
It used to be this way—
-the church created the architecture
-musicians wrote the kind of music that transcended all the other music
-there are some current examples
-Bono—who goes to Africa, into a culture that is forgotten—or ignored
-and creates a culture of hope and healing
CONCLUSION
All of us in Christ are called to mission
-called to create culture—that might begin with a culture of grace in our own homes
In the high st on a Saturday, it is hard to miss Mormon missionaries
-dressed in rather sharp suits—they looked more like corporate executives, handsome young men
- I heard one in passing ask another—so where is your mission?
-Dalkeith, Galashiels, Edinburgh?
-for this is how they see life—do we?
Psa 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
I have lived roughly 13, 000 days, I used 7 last week I have 7 to use this week, everyone of us has today, and after that we will be a day closer to eternity, Donna reminded me happily that life is a terminable disease! I like to think that we have our allotted amount of days, God knows how many we have, and He places great value in a day, in our day and what we do with it, and you know it is not the big days that count it is the small days that shape your life
Zec 4:10 despise not the day of small things, your approach to the small days shapes your life, Jesus calls us, Jesus sends us into the world, to share the news that God loves them, that he wants the Kingdom of God to make a difference in their lives, to discover Jesus, to receive forgiveness of sin, to receive life and life in all its fullness in abundance, let Jesus’ mission to you shape your everyday and you see what he has in store for you, he will not let you down, try it and see, Jesus saves! The one who was proclaimed King as he entered the city, died as a criminal, and has saved us all, let us give him all the glory, not simply here in the church on a Sunday morning but with everyday of our lives!
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