Outrageous Rescue

I recall being about thirteen or fourteen years old, living in a little town called Daisetta, Texas. My mom and I worked together on the weekends and during Summer to earn a living. One late Summer week, my aunt Leticia was requested to go clean a hunting camp near Devers, Texas. The camp had about five to eight cabins in a circular formation with a big propane tank in the middle to fuel stoves and camp lights. My job that day was to mow and clear all the weeds off the driveways and the areas surrounding the propane tank. True to teenage hotheadedness, I picked up a machete to start my work with huffing and puffing since I had better things to do. I started close to the propane tank, and I swung down the machete to feel a rush of propane gas on my face as I heard the hissing of the gas escaping the copper line in a shallow ditch on the ground. I had placed myself, my aunt, uncle, and mom in dire danger as a cloud of gas rapidly formed over the camp. This situation worsened as we started a fire about 30 feet away from the hovering propane cloud as we got to the camp to burn the trash. Out in the middle of the East Texas woods, we were all in real danger because of my hotheadedness.

Friends, all I recall after hitting the line, then feel and smelling the propane on my face was a sense of hopelessness.

Speaking to you today, I wonder if we are not all in a similar situation to my fourteen-year-old self. We face real danger, and death is facing us and the world around us while we simply stand in the face of a world that remains in constant transition and change. Here are some of those continuous sources of caution or danger:

1. We experience the same rate of advances and changes in six months that took a decade in the mid to late 1900s.

2. Institutions, including churches and religious organizations, have lost credibility and trust based on the façade put forward over the last 70 years.

3. The definitions that form the foundations of society are under pressure by voices without a consistent moral compass, Gender, Sex, Man, Woman, Family, Justice, Holy, God, and Truth are some of these notions being challenged.

4. Political, Civic, and governmental divisions keep us in a constant state of attrition rather than unity.

Yes, friends, we are all in the middle of clear and imminent danger, which is only made worse by freezing in the face of these and other troubles or by pretending that spinning around near the tank is better than seeking a different course that leads away from a potential explosion.

But God has an outrageous solution for such a deathly situation you and I face on a daily basis.

<Read Matthew 28:16-20>

The Church is the means for Humanity’s Outrageous Rescue.

We have a man born to a teenage mother who displayed abnormal qualities to his family and community from infancy and never sinned while living as a man. His teaching challenged preconceived notions dividing the world between hypocritical and honest sinners. Jesus brought listeners back to the heart of God by pointing them to God’s word and not to the silly traditions accumulated by centuries of teachers and scribes. Jesus is preparing the way to deliver an outrageous rescue plan to redeem the world.

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (3rd Ed.) 2. To Evangelize the World

Another reason you should join a local church is for the sake of evangelizing the world. When we act together, we can better spread the gospel at home and abroad. We can do this by our words, as we share the good news with others, and as we help others to do so. A local church is, by nature, a missionary organization. We back up this missionary outreach with our actions as we show God’s love by meeting the physical needs of orphans and those otherwise disadvantaged.

We promote the gospel by cooperating to take it to those who have not yet heard it, and by making the gospel visible to the world through how we live. Those not yet saved may see us, and they may see something of the gospel. As imperfect as we are, if God’s Spirit is genuinely at work in us, he will use our lives to help demonstrate to others the truth of his gospel. This is a special role we have now that we won’t have in heaven—to be part of God’s plan, and to take his gospel to the world.

We are God’s means for humanity’s outrageous rescue.

Look at the elements of this rescue plan:

1. The one whose authority delivers the good news died and is now resurrected. The world has never seen a man resurrected to live forevermore then or since. This is not the ruler we have expected or desired. Outrageous!

2. The messengers are not what the world calls respectable, desirable, or courageous. Yet, when the Master was stricken and afflicted, these men ran, hid, and denounced him, even cursed him. How trustworthy can these men be?

3. The message does not offer any solace or comfort by any human standard. On the contrary, Jesus compels us to believe the good news of the incarnation, perfect life, the sacrificial death of Jesus, the resurrection, and his second coming. We must repent of our sins and believe that Jesus is the one and only path to eternal life. Preposterous! Only one way?

Friends, the Church is the means for Humanity’s Outrageous Rescue.

As I feared the probability of an explosion from the gas cloud hovering over the tank, thinking I was about to end up in a hospital, I saw something unexpected and outrageous at best. Uncle Burton was in his seventies and dealt with several infirmities—diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and mobility issues. He was sitting on the porch about twenty feet from the propane tank. Out of the corner of my eye, after everyone became aware of our situation, I saw this seventy-year-old running toward me without skipping a beat to remedy our predicament. He rushed in without concern for himself but to keep those he loved safe from eminent injury and death. Looking back, I cherish his gallantry and courage. I also acknowledge that it was an outrageous way of saving our lives. But Uncle Burton did it just as Jesus saves those lost; his love is more significant than any reason not to intervene.

The Church is the means for Humanity’s Outrageous Rescue.

Dear ones, we are the best hope for the world and our communities today. Not because we attended seminary or because we “gave” our lives to Jesus Christ. Certainly not because we have the best teammates under us, above us, or beside us. We are the best hope for this world because the one who lives within us is the power of the message we proclaim to those willing to listen. Each among us is imperfect, broken, and in need of saving, BUT GOD, in His grace, has transformed us to be part of his eternal search and rescue team!

NOW THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS!

We must reciprocate God’s outrageous grace and mercy!

Today, we must embrace these truths:

1. To communicate the message of outrageous hope, we must embrace its outrageous nature. We must forego the need to apologize for the person, work, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Rather than gimmicky ways to share truth, we must share truth in love and grace without compromising the difficult parts or parts of Scripture that shine a light on our brokenness. The world does not need a shiny box with a glamorous bow on top. Let’s give people the good, bad, and ugly of life in Christ and let people see the glory of God in the process of becoming more like Jesus, our King!

2. Focus on the eternally essential tasks. Church calendars, programs, titles, and governance models should not be the standard by which we come to ministry or deny doing ministry. Next, dear ones, we must train those called into God’s family. Next, we must teach and train others, raising them from within and sending them out to teach and train others in Scripture. Finally, we must return to the simplicity of our message and go deeper into God’s word, trusting that God will take care of our ministry’s breadth.

3. As imperfect and broken as we are, we must not fear going to the ends of the earth. Some will consider it a fool’s errand, a waste of time and effort, or even a lost cause. Instead, Reciprocating God’s outrageous grace must result in taking the gospel to anyone, anywhere, anytime they are willing to hear the words of life.

No wonder the church is the means of humanity’s outrageous rescue.

Now, as we close this time together this is our call to action:

find one or two other people near you and simply pray for one another as the Spirit of the Living God leads you.

Pray for their family. Pray for their ministry. Pray for their church family. Pray for their community.

When we finish praying for one another, as the Lord leads, then I will close us in prayer.

400 Prayers for Preachers Asking God’s Acceptance of Our Worship

O Eternal, almighty, and most gracious God, heaven is your throne, and earth is your footstool, holy and revered is your name; you are praised by the heavenly hosts and in the congregation of your saints on earth, and will be sanctified in all that come near unto you. We are sinful and unworthy dust, but being invited by you, are bold, through our blessed Mediator to present ourselves and our supplications before you. Receive us graciously, help us by your Spirit; let your fear be upon us: let your Word come unto us in power, and be received in love, with attentive, reverent, and obedient minds. Make it to us the savour of life unto life. Cause us to be fervent in prayer, and joyful in your praises, and to serve you this day without distraction, that we may find that a day in your courts is better than a thousand, and that it is good for us to draw near to God; through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

RICHARD BAXTER

Amen.