Vision Sunday: People Are the Mission

This week I had the privilege of participating in a Church Planters Conference called Exponential.  While I was settling into my first seminar I thought I’d look around the room and see if I knew anyone else I knew. Someone caught my attention. Across the room was a gal that looked like Elizabeth Faulkner.  Elizabeth had served as my secretary in Langley, BC, where I served for eight years. But when I saw her, I wasn’t sure if it was her. Then I thought to look to see who was with her.  Then I saw David Horita.  Dave is the Director of the Fellowship Baptists of BC.  When I saw him, I knew this was Elizabeth.  So during the first break I went over to connect with David and Elizabeth.  Turns out David had his entire team there and he had just hired Elizabeth.  So we greeted one another and went back to our training.  But it was what took place during the second break that really spoke to me.  We had about a thirty-minute break so I began asking David about a number of guys who had served under me or with me in BC, guys who were all now pastors or church planters.  As he spoke of each one, he told me how well they were doing.  It was so encouraging.  But then he said something that brought tears to my eyes and a joy to my heart.  He told me I was a hero maker.  That what I did for those guys then was bearing fruit today.

That conversation set the tone for my conference, because the whole conference was all about being a hero-maker.  Being the kind of leader that believes in people, gives them opportunities to serve, and then helps them thrive in ministry.  And David had reminded me, that this was part of my legacy in BC.   And it reminded me of what God has had in mind for His people all along.  And that is this:  People are the Mission. 

And that means you.  You see when God had a vision for what He would create to bring about His kingdom to the world – He narrowed His vision to includeone non-negotiable: people.  God has chosen to change our world through everyday ordinary people like me and you.When we look through Scripture we see that God doesn’t usually go after the most qualified, the highest educated or the uber talented to build His kingdom.  Instead, He choses the least likely and sin-flawed to turn the world on its head.  He uses people, like you and me.

In fact, that’s one of the more profound truths we’ve been learning as we journey through the story of God:  1. People Have Always Been The Mission  We learned that with the call of Abram. Over and over again the past few years, I’ve taken you back to one of the most profound encounters in Scripture:  Genesis 12.  So if you have your Scriptures, you can turn there with me.  But this text says a lot about people:  a specific people – people God wanted to create from Abram’s offspring… if Abram was willing to obey God’s call.  Let me read this calling for us again:  The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your peopleand your father’s household to the land I will show you.

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earthwill be blessed through you.”  Genesis 12:1-3

People have always been the mission.  God started with Abram.  God told Abram, if he was willing to leave his country, his people, and his family God would bless him and make him a blessing.  And Abram did just that.  He trusted God to do what He said He would do.  And he left the comfort and security of the life he’d always known.  Was Abram perfect?  No way.  He messed up on a number of occasions.  Once, he took matters into his own hands and tried to bring about God’s promise of a son by taking another wife.  But that didn’t work.  Twice, he lied about his true wife’s identity to save his hide.  But God still chose to work through him.  And eventually God birthed the nation of Israel through Abraham when Isaac was born.  Then from Isaac came Esau and Jacob.  And through Jacob came 12 sons born through three wives.  But these sons made up the 12 tribes of Israel.

One of these sons was Joseph. We see how God blessed the nations through Joseph: After he was sold into slavery, he ends up in Egypt, eventually lands in prison, but one day God lifts him up to be a blessing to Egypt, and then to his own family, who come to live in Egypt where they begin to prosper and grow into a great nation.  God used the unique circumstances of Joseph to be a blessing to the nations.

Then we come to Exodus and meet the first female hero’s in the Bible: Shiphrah and Puah, who risk their lives to save Hebrew baby boys from certain death.  These ordinary midwives become part of God’s story of blessing.  The along comes Moses, then Joshua, and during the days of Joshua we get another unlikely hero: Rahab.

Rahab, the prostitute, who hid the Hebrew spies, and saved Israel.  She was a blessing.  And even more than that, she is listed in the linage of Jesus.  Through her came the Savior.

Then there were people like David, an adulterous murder.  He’s the one who brings the ark of the covenant back to Israel.  Dave is a blessing.

Then along comes Esther, who risks her life to save Israel.  There’s no question, her courage made her a blessing. You starting to get the point?  God uses unlikely men and women to be a blessing – sometimes through little acts of kindness and sometimes through courageous acts of faith.  But in every instance, it is people, people through whom God accomplishes His mission.

The point is this:  Every one of us is someone God has called to be part of His story.  You were saved for something more.  You are not some spectator in the cosmic battle for the kingdom.  You are a servant created in Christ Jesus to be a blessing!  God’s Word says:  You are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do.  Ephesians 2:10  You already have it in you to be a blessing.  God has made you new in Christ Jesus.  You are His handiwork.

So here’s the vision:  God sees in you the potential to be a blessing.  Why? Because God put that potential in you when you put your faith in Jesus.  You have the DNA of Jesus in you.  You have the power to love the unlovely, to serve the least of these.  You have the potential to risk doing acts of grace and mercy you never thought possible.  All because you are God’s handiwork.Turn to someone next to you and say, “You are made to be a blessing!”

But its not enough to just know this truth, you’ve got to act on it.  But before you go and be a blessing, before you do the works God has prepared for you to do, like all the people before you, you’ve got to deal with something. You’ve got to let go of what’s holding you back.  For Abraham it was the comfort and security of home.  Some of you need to be willing to let go of comfort.  We’re taking a small team to Ocean Beach in two weeks.  We’re going to be asked to get down on the same level as unwashed, broken down drug addicts.  That’s not comfortable.  So to be a blessing, we’ve got to remember that’s what Jesus did this for us.  He left the comfort of heaven to be with us.  For Shiphrah and Puah, it was even more than comfort and security.  For them to save the babies, they had to be courageous enough to disobey the most powerful man on earth.  But they did it.

What do you need to let go of?  What’s holding you back?  Is it comfort?  Is it security?  Is it fear? Is it the fear of failure?  People have always been the mission. And if you look closely at the people God has used to be a blessing, you will see that all of them struggled in some area.  But each of them also stepped out in faith in spite of their flaws.  What about you?

This is what God wants to see happen here:  Every Person Unleashed to Be a Blessing

Just imagine what God might do if this came true – If you were unleashed to be a blessing? Just imagine if you woke up each day with this question on your mind:  Who does Jesus want me to bless today?  Rather than, what fun thing am I going to do today?  But here’s what makes being a blessing so great:  you can still do the fun – you can still go to woodshop, pottery, pickle ball, golf, cards, whatever.  But now you can do the fun with a calling: to make a new friend, to listen to their story, to learn how to serve them, speak a word of kindness, give a helping hand – love, accept, include,  refresh, bless. You see,when every person is unleashed to be a blessing, what we are really doing is unleashing grace.  What we are really doing is revealing the kingdom way of God, and showing the world there is another way to live.  When you bless someone with the love of God pouring through you, you create a thirst for the God who sends you. God still has a purpose for you.That’s why people have always been the mission with God.  That’s our vision:  People helping people become friends, family and followers of Jesus. 

2. People were the mission with Jesus We can’t miss this about Jesus. Jesus was all about including people in his mission.  In Mark chapter one, as Jesus was taking a stroll on the beach along side the sea of Galilee, he saw a couple of ordinary guys fishing. And what does Jesus do?  He approaches them, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said,“and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

What I love about this particular exchange is that Jesus initiates this relationship. He pursues Simon and Andrew and invites them to be with Him.  He doesn’t give them an assignment.  He doesn’t ask them to start a ministry, to plant a church or lead a crusade.  He simply invites them to go on a journey with him – to BE WITH HIM.

This is absolutely critical for us to get.  Before we can be a blessing, we need to BE WITH JESUS. Why?  Because Jesus says, if you follow Him He will transform your life. He will make you into a fisher of men. He will make you into a blessing.

But you ask, how does He do this?  Well when you spend time with Jesus, Jesus will rub off on you.  That’s what happened with the disciples who followed him.  John 3:22 gives us a picture of this rubbing off:  Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.  Now, the word “spent some time with” is actually one Greek word meaning to “rub shoulders with.” The idea is that as you spend time with Jesus, He begins to rub off on you.  His character, His truth, His way of life rubs off on you.  And this is important, because His way of life is so much different than our way of life. His way of life is the way of the kingdom.  His is the way of mercy. His is the way of righteousness.  His is the way of humility.  So when you spend time with Jesus you learn the way of a servant – a servant who willingly puts the needs of others above himself.

This is why Jesus came and why People were the mission for Jesus.  He said, “I have not come to be served, but to serve and give my life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45.  That’s why rubbing shoulders with Jesus will transform you.  When you are with Jesus, He works to change you.  He didn’t just come to die for you so your sins might be forgiven.  He also came to die for you to show you a new way to live:  a way of living and loving like Him.  To be compassionate like him, to be gracious like him, to be courageous like him.  There was no fear in Jesus.  And because the disciples had been with Jesus, He changed them, and people took note. Listen to how people spoke of those who had been with Jesus: When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  Acts 4:13

Think about people in your life who have rubbed off on you.  Who, by spending time with them has changed you the most?  Was it your mother, your dad?  Was it a friend who was always there for you?  Was it someone who walked with closely with Jesus? Was it a mentor or a discipler?  When I think of people who rubbed off on me the most, one of them was Dale James, my Pastor who mentored me while I was in Seminary.  He had lunch with me every week for nearly four years.  It was him who I bounced all my questions off of.  It was him who gave me opportunities to lead, to serve, to preach.  I spent a lot of time Dale.  I spent time in his home.  His wife was like a second mother to me.   During those years I had all kinds of questions and was truly trying to find my way through the wilderness in ministry.  Then one day when I sharing the struggles I was having with our youth – in the middle of that conversation God taught me something  about people I’ve never forgotten.  I remember asking Dale, “When am I ever going to have some normal kids?”  And just by asking that question, it was like right at that moment, the Holy Spirit said to me:  “I didn’t save you to minister to normal kids, but to serve these misfits, so they could meet Jesus, and Jesus could make them normal.”

Now I have been fortunate to have a number of godly Jesus following men pour into my life.  Guys like, Ron Heppell who’s heart for lost people rubbed off on me.  Dan Chapman who constantly encouraged me to be myself in ministry.  And Gary Bassham who showed me how to be a friend because he was such a great friend to me. Each of these men gave me something so valuable: They believed in me.  They believed in me whether I succeeded or whether I failed.  But you know what’s even better than that?  When you spend time with Jesus, you learn that He believes in you too!

Are you starting to get the point?  People are the mission.  But we can’t be the mission if we’re not walking with Jesus.  Think about it.  It’s Jesus who pursues you.  It’s Jesus who calls you.  It’s Jesus who loves you. And its Jesus who wants you to be with Him, not just in eternity, but right here, right now. That’s why he invites you to come and follow Him.  For when you follow Him, He will rub off on you and make you into someone who lives and loves like him – a fisher of men – a lover of people!

So here’s the vision.  This is what Jesus wants to see in our church:  Every Person Following Jesus Together   That’s how he’s designed it for us to learn to live and love like Him.  He wants us follow Him with others who follow Him. For when we follow Jesus with other Christ followers, then, the Jesus in them will rub off on us… And the Jesus in us will rub off on them.

You see, teaching alone wont’ change us. Don’t get me wrong. Jesus gives us His truth to transform us, but he’s designed life so that truth transformation happens in the context of relationships.  Think of the number one truth he wanted His follows to obey: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35  Truth transformation happens in relationship.

It’s when we are with one another we learn how to bear one another’s burdens.  It’s where we learn to be patient and forbearing.  It’s where we learn to be merciful, generous and humble. And when we someone is merciful to you, it rubs off on you.  And so the next time someone wrongs you, you will know what it’s like to be forgiven, so then you will be quick to forgive rather than condemn. And boy does our world need that today.

So follow Jesus, fan the flame of Jesus in your life. Get together with others who are learning to follow Him. This is the whole reason we have Journey Groups.  This is why we want to connect everyone in a group, or start new groups. Not so you have to add one more thing to your already busy life – but so you can have some “Jesus like” people who can help you walk through this life.

That’s the vision! That’s why Jesus invites you to follow Him with others – so you don’t go it alone.  For when you do, not only will Jesus rub off on you, He will make you a blessing.

This is what we are aiming for this Fall: Every Person Unleashed to Be a Blessing –  Every Person Following Jesus Together

So what is God’s Spirit saying to you?  God is speaking.  What’s your next step?  Is to get with Jesus, is it to connect to a Journey Group, is it to let go of something? God wants you to be a blessing, follow Jesus and He will make you a blessing!