Complete The Side Quest

Graduate Sunday

Good Morning. Today is graduate Sunday and we are going to take just a few minutes right up front here to honor our graduates and pray for them as they head into their next adventure.

I love getting to see youth take that next step in life to find their callings and their mission for their life. There are several Biblical keys to success for finding and sitting down into your purpose. You see if it were just as a simple as finding a career, finding a spouse, and having 2.5 kids and a dog and white picket fence....That would be so easy to do. If that’s all there was. But I’m here to tell you that all of that is a side mission. And it’s not even the most important side missions we will face in life.

For those of you who play video games you understand that you have the main mission which is to complete the game and then you have side quests to complete to either provide more depth to the story or to give you just one more thing to do on your way to complete the game.

You can look at your life a little like those video games. You have a main objective and a purpose then you have side quests. The quality of your side quests will greatly depend on whether you complete the first main objective.

The difference between your real life and video games is that your most important main objective has to completed first before you can go any further in the process. It’s the difference between a life set on purpose or one that is just blowing around in the wind.

So what is this first main objective for a successful and purpose filled life.

Let’s look at some Scripture to see if we can find it out together.

The first place we are going to look is in the Gospel of John.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The first thing I jotted down was this:

Our first and main mission of life is to accept the free gift of salvation offered by Jesus.

You see this free gift to you did not come without a great cost. Jesus stepped out of eternity into our world knowing that there was no way we could repair the relationship with God that we had thrown away. He gave up His life and endured the cross to provide the forgiveness that we need. If you haven’t made this most important decision yet you will have that opportunity at the end of this service.

Now what do we do right. If the main objective is to know Jesus and once we come to a saving knowledge of Him then what? What do we do with the rest of our lives.

So the main objective of our lives is to have a relationship with Jesus. That however isn’t the end. It’s a beautiful beginning full of wonder and amazement. You see now you get to take part in God’s plan. You get the great privilege of actively working where He is moving.

There are a couple of unique accounts in the Bible that illustrate this so lets take a look at one of them now.

The first one comes out of Ezekiel and it is the Valley of Dry Bones:

English Standard Version Chapter 37

37 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD.”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Now there are a lot of things to notice from that passage but here is what I want you to get out of it today. Not only the graduates but all of us this morning.

God could have done all of those things himself. He didn’t have to have any help. God doesn’t say well I’d do it myself but I’m kinda tired or I can’t do it without help or it’s too much for me. There isn’t one thing that God can’t do.

He can part the red sea, he can tame the lions, he can step into the fire with you and not let you get burnt. He can do all of that. But He invites us to be a part. It’s a relationship and he is wanting us to jump in with both feet and work alongside Him.

Notice He tells Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones and to prophesy over the breath. He is inviting us into His work. Like a father teaching their child how to complete a task, change the oil in their car, mow the yard, or drive God is teaching us how to be involved in His work and His mission.

Let’s look at another example of this:

This is in John’s Gospel in Chapter 11 and is a very familiar story. It’s the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. But there’s something unique that I want to point out in this story.

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

So here is the thing. That last verse is where I want to look at. You see we get so caught up sometimes in the miracle that we miss the opportunity to take part in the work. We see it here on Friday nights at CR. Miracles happening. People laying down addictions and taking that first step of faith in accepting the free gift of salvation that Jesus provides. But then what right. Then what. A lot of times the American church has celebrated this piece of the mission all the while neglecting the next steps of Kingdom Work that God wants us to do. We turn them out and say God Bless. Then watch as the enemy attacks and attacks. You see Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and then told everyone else to unbind him or in other words get him cleaned up. And that is the process for us today. I want you to hear this: Jesus is STILL IN THE RESURRECTION BUSINESS. He’s still bringing the dead back to life. He’s still the way maker he’s still doing it!!!! But then he looks at us and says you unbind them. You clean them up. You walk along side them and disciple them and teach them about me. What an amazing and rewarding side quest if you choose to follow it.

The second thing I jotted down was this:

God wants us to do Kingdom Work with Him.

He wants us to come along side where He is working and do the work with Him. And Jesus drives this point home about our side quests in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10.

English Standard Version (Chapter 10)

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

So in a video game you have these characters that are called NPC’s. NPC’s are Non-Playable Characters and they are programmed for certain tasks or interactions and that’s it. NPC’s are programmed we are not. We have free will. What Jesus is saying is that we can’t just sit by and be NPC’s. We have to move and act and assist and take the side quests where He is moving. And I will tell you that the side quests will be uncomfortable. You will interact with people and places that are out of your comfort zone. People are messy. Don’t be an NPC and just say I’m praying for you. Now don’t get me wrong prayer is a powerful thing and there are certainly situations where the only thing left to do is pray. But when there is an action of love and compassion that can be done DO IT. Loving others requires action not a programmed response. Take the side quest.

English Standard Version Chapter 25

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

The least of these are the side quests. The forgotten, the addicted, the abused, the bullied, the lost. These are the ones that are where God invites us into His work. As you graduates and well everyone in here walk out these doors today my sincere prayer is that you begin to view your success and goals as part of a bigger grander plan that God has for your life. Complete the main mission first then begin the side quests that God has laid out for you.