LN 23: "Love For the World, part 2" 06.08.08

Last time we considered how we show love for the world through outreach – through actively and personally extending ourselves to those around us and around the world with the Good News and love of Jesus Christ. We looked at outreach in terms of evangelism. Today I want us to look at outreach in terms of service.

As we consider this, I want to suggest that We are called to serve our neighbors through self-giving love, thereby bringing joy to ourselves and glory to God.

“WE ARE CALLED TO SERVE…” We simply have to look at 2 statements about Jesus to recognize this.
- Philippians 2:5-11. Our attitude should be the same as Jesus. What did Jesus do? He made Himself nothing. He became a servant and gave Himself for us. And we are to have the same mindset. Just above this passage we read: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” We need a mindset to serve.
- Matthew 20:25-28. The way of the world is arrogance and one-upmanship. The way of Jesus is humility and servanthood. Jesus said, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave.” For our example is Jesus Himself who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If we call ourselves Christians then we must follow Christ and serve others.

But WHO ARE WE CALLED TO SERVE? The apostle Paul helps us with this when he writes in Galatians 5:13-14, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.” We have been set free to serve our neighbor. But we may ask: “Who is our neighbor?” Jesus was asked that once. This was His response - the parable of the Good Samaritan. Look at Luke 10:30-37.
- What is the message of that parable? Haddon Robinson, once told the story of how his son was taught the parable one day in Sunday School. His son told him the whole story and when he had finished, Robinson asked his son, “Now, what was that story all about? What does it mean? His son paused for a moment and then said “The story of the Good Samaritan means – whenever I’m in trouble you’ve got to help me!” That’s a pretty good understanding of the story – a simple recognition that human need requires human assistance. Robinson, in his own sermon on the parable, summarizes it this way: “Your neighbor is anyone whose need you see and you're in a position to meet.”
- You’re neighbor is anyone. Generally speaking every human being alive is your neighbor. Every person should be an object of our concern. However, we are not able to help everyone. The problems of the world are overwhelming and can be paralyzing. And so specifically speaking, your neighbor is anyone whose need you’re in a position to meet. How do we deal with the problems of the world? By dealing with the person in front of us whose need we see and whose need we’re in a position to meet. Edward Everett Hale once wrote, “I am only one, but I am one. I can't do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by the grace of God, I will do.” Who are we called to serve? Our neighbor - anyone whose need you see and you're in a position to meet.

So, we are called to serve our neighbors, but HOW? By following Jesus’ example of self-giving love. Read John 13:1-17. Foot washing was a menial task – so low that it was listed among tasks that an Israelite servant should not have to do. And yet as the supper commenced and no one had their feet washed (evidently no one was willing to wash the feet of their peers), Jesus got up took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. This was a sign of a servant. Jesus, in an incredible act of humility, thus identified Himself as a slave. And He did this, we are told, to show “the full extent of his love.” Knowing who He was and what was about to happen to Him, Jesus still focused on His disciples, serving them in love.

This foot washing illustrated Jesus’ entire ministry and mission and so it must illustrate ours. Jesus said, “Do you understand what I have done for you? ... You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” Jesus has given us an example to follow, the example of self-giving love.

But all this talk about being a servant is not very palatable to our culture. Words like service, submission, selflessness, and sacrifice are not exactly popular terms. Even among Christians, service is often seen as a form of drudgery – something we’re guilted into doing. And so why in the statement I offered would I say that, “We are called to serve our neighbors through self-giving love, THEREBY BRINGING JOY TO OURSELVES…”? Because though our culture mistakenly believes that happiness is found in focusing on oneself, joy is found in extending oneself for others. That is why the Gospel appears upside-down to our culture. Jesus said, “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” In order to find ourselves, we must give up ourselves. Joy is found in giving yourself away. Do you want to experience growth as a Christian? Do you want to experience joy and satisfaction? Then learn to serve.

We are called to serve our neighbors through self-giving love, thereby bringing joy to ourselves AND GLORY TO GOD. But how does serving one’s neighbors glorify God? We often see work or service as drudgery, but it is actually worship. Both Hebrew and Greek have words meaning both work/service and worship. Why is that? Because worship is not simply a cerebral activity nor is it merely a vocal activity. Worship is a life activity. As Christians, our lives are to be worship. Therefore, when we serve one another and others, we worship God. We bring glory to God. That is why Jesus said, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Self-giving love glorifies God because it reflects God’s character to the world. And self giving love brings joy because we were made to reflect God’s character to the world.

Brothers and sisters, We are called to serve our neighbors through self-giving love, thereby bringing joy to ourselves and glory to God. Through service we reach out to the world with the Good News and love of Jesus Christ. We exemplify the Good News for them. Through service we build each other up as well. Without service the mission of the Church cannot be accomplished, for we cannot show love for God or one another or the world unless we are willing to serve. And so are you willing to serve? Are you willing to give of yourself?

We are called to serve. For serving is a vehicle through which the mission of the Church is accomplished.

Jeff Mugford tells a powerful story:

He saw people love each other, and he saw that love made strenuous demands on the lovers. He saw that love required sacrifice and self-denial. He saw that love produced arguments, jealousy, and sorrow. He decided that love cost too much. He decided not to diminish his life with love.

He saw people strive for distant and hazy goals. He saw men strive for success and women strive for high ideals. He saw that the striving was often mixed with disappointment. He saw strong and committed men fail, and he saw weak, undeserving men succeed. He saw that striving sometimes forced people into pettiness and greed. He decided that it cost too much. He decided not to soil his life with striving.

He saw people serving others. He saw men give money to the poor and helpless. He saw that the more they served, the faster the need grew. He saw ungrateful receivers turn on their serving friends. He decided not to soil his life with serving.

When he died, he walked up to God and presented his life to him—undiminished, unmarred, unsoiled. The man was clean and untouched by the filth of the world, and he presented himself to God proudly saying, “Here is my life!” And God said, “…What life?”
(Jeff Mugford, Youth Specialties: Hot Illustrations)

May God not say that to us. May we not waste our lives in selfishness, but learn to serve – to serve our neighbor with self-giving love, thereby bringing joy to ourselves and glory to God. And may we heed the call of God who says, “I will make you a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

LN 22 "Love For the World, part 1" 05.25.08

As followers of Christ we are the light of the world, but if we stay hidden what good will we do anyone? We must shine in the darkness where the light of God’s love is needed most - reaching out with the light of Christ. And so, as we continue to consider what we do as the Church and focus on the Church’s mission to love, we must consider how we show love for the world through outreach. Today, we will look at outreach in terms of evangelism.

What is evangelism? ‘Evangelism’ is the word for “Good News” (euangelion – eu = good, angellein = announce (from angelos = messenger/angel). So to evangelize is to bring good news; to be a messenger or herald of the Good News of Jesus.

Though that is what it literally means, evangelism has taken on all sorts of other meanings. We often think of sweaty preachers and mass conversions, revival tents, a person on a street corner with a bullhorn, passing out tracts & televangelists. We hear the word ‘evangelism’ and we get scared that we’ll be asked to do it or feel guilty that we haven’t. We think of evangelism as something we are supposed to do and supposed to want to do, but something that we don’t do because we are scared or think we don’t know how.

So how do we define evangelism? John Stott helps us in this by clarifying how it shouldn’t be defined. In his book Christian Mission in the Modern World, Stott states that:
- Evangelism is not defined by recipients. The Gospel is for everyone.
- Evangelism is not defined by results. When we think of ‘successful’ evangelism, we think of conversions and “winning souls”. Granted, the goal of evangelism IS for people to become disciples of Jesus Christ, but conversion is not our responsibility, whereas evangelism is. God converts people. We simply share the Good News of salvation. ‘Successful evangelism’ then is not determined by the number of conversions, but by one’s faithfulness in making the Gospel message known.
- Evangelism is not defined by methods. There is no one way to do evangelism.

Evangelism, therefore, is not defined by recipients, results or methods, but by the Message. The most important part of sharing the Good News is…the Good News!

We find this kind of evangelism in Romans 10.1-17.

In this passage, we find the MOTIVATION FOR EVANGELISM. The motivation is love. Paul was motivated by his love for God and his love for others. He wrote, “Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.”
- Paul wanted God to be glorified and for God’s will to be done. Paul desired salvation for his people because salvation is also God’s desire (see: John 6:40 and 1 Timothy 2:3). Paul loved the Lord and wanted Him to be glorified by the salvation of many.
- Paul was also motivated by love for his fellow people. His statement above is one of passion and compassion. In the previous chapter, Paul wrote, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” Paul was willing to give himself up for the sake of his brothers. That is love. Love motivated Paul to share the Good News.

In this passage, we also find the MESSAGE OF EVANGELISM.
- The message involves grace (read in v. 3-4) Salvation does not require some Herculean task of us. It requires us to receive what is offered by grace, for Christ provides righteousness for everyone who believes.
- And so, the message calls for response. We read in vv. 9-11, “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
- And thirdly, this message is for all. We read in vv. 12-13, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile- the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” In evangelism, there is no partiality. We don’t speak the Good News to some and not to others. The message is for every human being on earth, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

And lastly in this passage, we find the MEANS OF EVANGELISM.
As we consider the means we see that evangelism is necessary - v. 14-15: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Now in the task of evangelism, there are two central elements: proclamation and presence.
- There is a message to be proclaimed. As Paul asked, “how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” At some point, as we live as witnesses for Jesus, there must come a time in which we communicate verbally the message of salvation.
- However, something must precede proclamation and that is presence. Jesus not only told us to make disciples, but also to go. We are to go into the world; into our communities; into our neighborhoods; into the lives of our friends and be present there with them. Who are you more likely to believe: a person who has been your friend and stuck with you in good times and bad or a person yelling at you on a street corner? We need to be personal with people, present with them, forming relationships, building friendships – respecting them, not treating people like conversion projects.
- And presence is needed not only as individuals but as the Church. The visible presence of the church is attractive. People need not only to hear the Gospel, they need to see it lived out. People want to see it! People want something real and true. Stott says it well, “There can be no evangelism without the church. The message comes from a community that embodies it and welcomes into its fellowship those who receive it.”

But how do we do this? There are plenty of great resources that can help us, but for today, I want us to simply consider two basic ways we can do this.

The first is: BE THE CHURCH. Too often churches, in their desire to be relevant and be heard by their culture, sell out to their culture. Rather than following the motivation, message and means of Jesus, they use the motivation, message and means of the world.
- But the motivation of the world is self-focused whereas the motivation of Jesus is God-focused and others-focused. The world seeks its own glory, whereas Jesus sought to bring glory to the Father. Churches therefore must not seek to glorify themselves, but only God.
- The message of the world is that we don’t need any help or if we do it is help that we can provide for ourselves. The message of Jesus, however, is that we desperately need a Savior and He alone is our Savior.
- The means of the world are often connected with the business world (you get what you pay for, there are no free lunches, watch your back, and you have to climb the ladder, stepping on and over others to succeed). We follow Machiavelli (the ends justify the means) and Nietzsche (will to power). However, the means of Jesus, in total antithesis to that, is self-giving love.
And so, be the Church. Be what God has made you to be: a people reconciled to Him through self-giving love and who thus relate to each other and the world through self-giving love.

As the Church, our motivation is love, our message is love and our means is love, because Jesus is our motivation, message and means. We must never lose sight of that because it is the love of Jesus that is compelling. It is the love of Jesus that saves.

The second way is: BE YOURSELF. Be who Jesus gave His life for you to be. Be a follower of Jesus, who has had his or her life transformed by the Gospel. How do we do that?
- Believe the Gospel. Stott says, “Nothing hinders evangelism today more than the widespread loss of confidence in the truth, relevance and power of the gospel” (40). Are you convinced in the truth, relevance and power of the Gospel? You will never share the gospel if you are not convinced of it; if you do not believe it; if you do not share Paul’s conviction which he expressed in Romans 1: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”.
- Not only must you believe it, you must be transformed by the Gospel. You can’t give what you don’t have. If you truly believe the Gospel, then you will be transformed by it. Before we speak of transformation and encourage others to be transformed, we must be transformed. (Not perfect, but growing into the new creation God has made us to be.)
- And so we must also live the Gospel. We not only share the Good News with words, but with actions. As we talk about Christ, we must strive to live like followers of Christ. And this does not mean that we simply live happy Christian lives and hope that someone notices. We must live intentionally - developing friendships with non-Christian people, getting to know your neighbors and co-workers, being light where it is needed not simply where it is safe. And when you live the Gospel, you are empowered by God. When you are intentionally following Jesus as the light of the world, your weakness becomes strength.

Be the Church and be yourself – not the Church as an historical institution (in which we only do things the way we’ve always done them) but the Church alive in Christ; not yourself (simply wandering through life) but yourself alive in Christ. For a church that is alive in Christ; a body of believers who are alive in Christ is the most compelling thing there is. If that is not true then why would God have chosen human beings (chosen us) to communicate His Good News?

We are followers of Jesus Christ. If we stay hidden in the closet (behind the walls of safety and comfort) what good will we do anyone? We are called to shine in the darkness where the light of God’s love is needed most. We are called to reach out with the light of Christ.