THE VISITING TEAM

INTRODUCTION

OPENING STORY: IF YOU’RE A FAN OF SPORTS YOU NOT ONLY WANT YOUR TEAM TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS, BUT YOU HOPE THEY ACHIEVE SOMETHING CALLED, ‘HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE’. IN THE WORLD OF SPORTS, THOSE WHO PLAY AT HOME HAVE A DECIDED ADVANTAGE OVER THOSE WHO PLAY ON THE ROAD. BEING THE VISITING TEAM, AND HAVING TO PLAY IN A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT HAS A SET OF SERIOUS CHALLENGES. IF YOU’RE PLAYING THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS AT THEIR BELOVED HEINZ FIELD BRACE YOURSELF FOR AN ONSLAUGHT OF BOOS AND A VENUE FILLED WITH THOSE TERRIBLE TOWELS. AND IF YOU WALK INTO CAMERON INDOOR STADIUM TO TAKE ON THE DUKE MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM, GO AHEAD AND PENCIL IN A LOSS. SINCE 1939 THE DUKE MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM IS 875-157 AT HOME, AN 85% SUCCESS RATE! A BIG PART OF THAT IS DUE TO A GROUP OF THEIR FANS KNOWN AS THE CAMERON CRAZIES! HAVE YOU SEEN THEM LATELY. I ONCE WATCHED AN OPPOSING PLAYER STEP TO THE FREE THROW LINE AND EVERYONE WAS BOOING. JUST BEFORE HE SHOT THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE BASKET ALL SAT DOWN QUIETLY, WHILE ONE MAN STOOD…IN A SPEEDO. IMAGINE TRYING TO SHOOT A FREE THROW IN THAT ENVIRONMENT? PLAYING ON THE ROAD IS TOUGH!

POINT: JUST LIKE TEAMS EXPERIENCE IN THE WORLD OF SPORTS HAVING TO PLAY OCCASIONALLY IN HOSTILE ENVIRONMENTS AWAY FROM HOME, SO CHRISTIANITY WAS MEANT TO PLAY IN THE HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT OF THIS WORLD. YEP, THAT’S RIGHT, TO BE A CHRISTIAN DOESN’T JUST MEAN WE PLAY FROM TIME TO TIME AWAY FROM HOME, BUT THAT EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, MINUTE AND SECOND OF THIS LIFE WE ARE PLAYING IN A HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT AWAY FROM HOME. THIS IS WHAT JESUS GETS AT IN THIS TEXT. THE VERY IDEA OF PERSECUTION SPEAKS TO THIS. THE UNDERLYING AND OVERWHELMING IMPLICATION OF OUR TEXT IS THAT CHRISTIANITY IS TO BE PLAYED OUT PUBLICLY IN SOCIETY, AMONG THOSE WHO DO NOT THINK WHAT WE THINK OR BELIEVE WHAT WE BELIEVE.

THEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW: BUT THIS IS HOW GOD HAS ALWAYS WANTED IT. HE HAS ALWAYS WANTED HIS PEOPLE TO PLAY ON THE VISITING TEAM IN FOREIGN AND HOSTILE CONTEXTS. HIS PEOPLE ISRAEL SPEND CENTURIES IN THE HOSTILE CLIMATE OF EGYPT. THEN HE DROPS THEM INTO A COMPLETELY SECULAR ENVIRONMENT KNOWN AS CANAAN WHERE THEY ARE SURROUNDED BY NATIONS WHO NOT ONLY DON’T BELIEVE IN THE ONE TRUE GOD, BUT WORSHIP FOREIGN GODS, SACRIFICE THEIR CHILDREN AND ARE ENRAPTURED IN GROSS IMMORALITY. IT’S RIGHT IN THAT CONTEXT THAT GOD SAYS, LIVE FOR ME! AND WHEN JESUS COMES TO START THIS THING CALLED THE CHURCH HE DOES IT IN THE HOSTILE CONTEXT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE WHERE HE COMMANDS HIS PEOPLE TO GET OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONES OF HOME AND TO GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL. THE BOOK OF ACTS DESCRIBES THEIR ADVENTURES AS BEING ON THE VISITING TEAM.

APPLICATION: THAT’S RIGHT, WE FEEL THIS PROFOUNDLY HERE IN THE BAY TOMORROW. YOU WILL GO TO WORK AND WILL BE REMINDED THAT YOU ARE THE VISITING TEAM, FAR FROM THE STADIUM OF YOUR HOME IN HEAVEN…EXAMPLES…REAL CLEAR AND POWERFUL EXAMPLES…BAY AREA IS HARD...

PERSECUTION

EXPLANATION: THERE’S A COST TO BEING ON THE VISITING TEAM, AND JESUS GETS RIGTH DOWN TO IT IN OUR TEXT. IT’S CALLED PERSECUTION. BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS PERSECUTION. NOTICE THE WAY JESUS USES IT…FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE…ON MY ACCOUNT. IF I COULD DEFINE PERSECUTION I’D SAY IT THIS WAY: BIBLICAL PERSECUTION IS BEING TREATED WRONGLY FOR THE CHRIST-HONORING DISPLAY OF THEIR FAITH BECAUSE THEY VALUE JESUS ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE IN THIS WORLD. BIBLICAL PERSECUTION IS NOT BEING MISTREATED BECAUSE OF YOUR ETHNICITY. BIBLICAL PERSECUTION IS NOT A WOMAN BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY MEN WHO EXPLOIT THE PRIVILEGE OF THEIR PATRIARCHY. BIBLICAL PERSECUTION IS NOT A HEALTH CRISIS. IT IS MISTREATMENT FOR FOLLOWING JESUS.

HISTORICAL EXAMPLES: THIS IS THE HISTORICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF OUR FAITH:

THE APOSTLE JAMES WAS BEHEADED FOR HIS FAITH

PHILLIP THE EVANGELIST WAS CRUCIFIED

MATTHEW WAS KILLED FOR FOLLOWING JESUS IN ETHIOPIA

JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JESUS, WAS BEAT AND STONED BY THE JEWS, AND FINALLY HAD HIS BRAINS DASHED OUT FOR FOLLOWING JESUS. HE WAS 94

MATTHIAS WHO TOOK THE PLACE OF JUDAS AMONG THE 12 WAS STONED IN JERUSALEM AND THEN BEHEADED FOR HIS FAITH.

THE APOSTLE ANDREW WAS CRUCIFIED FOR FOLLOWING JESUS.

MARK WAS DRAGGED TO PIECES BY A GREAT MOB

PETER WAS CRUCIFIED UPSIDE DOWN

PAUL WAS BEHEADED

JUDE WAS CRUCIFIED

BARTHOLOMEW WAS VICIOUSLY BEATEN AND THEN CRUCIFIED

THOMAS WAS RUN THROUGH WITH A SPEAR

LUKE WAS ACCOSTED BY PAGAN PRIESTS WHO HUNG HIM FROM AN OLIVE TREE

SIMON THE ZEALOT WAS CRUCIFIED

JOHN HAD A CAULDRON OF HOT BOILING OIL POURED OVER HIM BUT MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVED WHERE HE WAS LATER EXILED TO THE ISLAND OF PATMOS.

AND THESE ARE JUST THE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH! WHAT ABOUT MANY CHRIST FOLLOWERS UNDER THEIR CARE DURING THE ROMAN EMPIRE? THE GREAT FIRE OF ROME WHICH NERO DID…PUBLIC RIGHTLY BLAMED HIM, AND HE, IN ORDER TO SAVE FACE, BLAMED THE CHRISTIANS, AND UNLEASHED A VICIOUS PERSECUTION ON THEM. THEY WERE HUNG FROM POLES, AND LIT TO LIGHT THE ROMAN ROADS…SEWN IN BAGS WITH WILD ANIMALS AND THROWN DOWN THE RIVER. CAST INTO THE COLISEUM WHERE THEY WERE BRUTALIZED AS THE HOME TEAM CHEERED ON...

WHAT’S MORE, IS THAT TO THE AVERAGE BELIEVER IN ROME, PERSECUTION WAS JUST THEIR LOT IN LIFE, IMPACTING EVERY SPHERE OF THEIR LIFE. IT IMPACTED THEM SOCIALLY, AS MANY COULD NO LONGER GO TO THE CENTER OF SOCIAL LIFE THE TEMPLE BECAUSE THE FOOD HAD BEEN OFFERED TO IDOLS. IT IMPACTED THEIR JOBS. SO WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE A TAILOR AND YOUR COMPANY HAD THE CONTRACT TO MAKE ROBES FOR PAGAN PRIESTS. LOYALTY TO JESUS OR MAKE A LIVING? IT IMPACTED THEIR HOME. SINCE CHRISTIANITY WAS JUST BEGINNING ONE SPOUSE WOULD GET SAVED, OR ONE PERSON AND WOULD BE OSTRACIZED BY THEIR HOMES. AND IT COULD VERY WELL IMPACT THEIR LIVES! WHAT WAS THE RESULT OF ALL THIS: IT’S COUNTERINTUITIVE, CHRISTIANITY GREW!!! WHY? BECAUSE IT PURIFIES THE CHURCH GETTING RID OF THE NOMINAL CULTURAL CHRISTIANS.

ILLUSTRATION: MEN WHO BOMBARD A CHURCH DURING SERVICE WITH MASKS AND GUNS…ANY TRUE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS WILL BE KILLED. IF YOU’RE NOT A TRUE FOLLOWER OF JESUS YOU CAN LEAVE. JUST ABOUT THE WHOLE ROOM CLEARS OUT…TAKE OFF THEIR MASKS, GOOD, NOW WE CAN HAVE SOME CHURCH.

APPLICATION: HEAT BEING TURNED UP…CHRISTIAN GROUPS KICKED OFF CAMPUS…BIRTH PANGS…RELIGIOUS LIBERTY THREATENED…BIOLA CONCERNS…GOOD, NOW WE CAN HAVE SOME CHURCH. ARE YOU ALL IN OR OUT?

(WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? CAN’T MANUFACTURE PERSECUTION AND JESUS IS NOT ASKING US TO WILL IT…HOWEVER IF YOU LIVE AUTHENTICALLY FOR JESUS IN THESE THREE WAYS YOU WILL NOT ONLY REPRESENT THE CHURCH, BUT POSITION YOURSELF FOR PERSECUTION)

LIVE ON MISSION- 10

EXPLANATION: PERSECUTION HAPPENS WHEN HOW WE LIVE IS AT ODDS WITH THE WORLD. THERE ARE TWO THINGS IN CONFLICT HERE THAT JESUS POINTS TO- THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. AND IN ESSENCE JESUS IS SAYING THAT FOR HIS FOLLOWERS, HEAVEN MUST BE BIG AND THIS EARTH MUST BE SMALL…WE MUST BE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON MISSION. BUT WHAT EXACTLY WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE? IT MEANS THAT MISSION TRUMPS EVERYTHING.

IN THE 1930S THE UNITED STATES HAD A MISSION. THEY WANTED TO TURN A BARREN PLACE INTO FERTILE LAND, SO THEY SET OUT TO BUILD THE GREAT BOULDER DAM, WHAT WE NOW KNOW AS THE HOOVER DAM. DURING THIS MISSION, MEN LOST THEIR LIVES BUILDING THE DAM. AND WHEN THE DAM WAS COMPLETED THOSE WHO DIED HAD THEIR NAMES INSCRIBED ON A TABLET AND ON IT WERE THESE WORDS, ‘THESE DIED THAT THE DESERT MIGHT REJOICE AND BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE’- WILLIAM BARCLAY. WHAT LEAD THESE MEN TO RISK THEIR LIVES? IT WASN’T JUST A PAYCHECK, BUT SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THE PAYCHECK- IT WAS A MISSION.

APPLICATION: IT MEANS THAT MISSION DRIVES EVERYTHING.

APPLICATION: WHAT DID YOU COME TO THE BAY FOR? WHAT IF JESUS BROUGHT YOU HEAR FOR MORE THAN A JOB, OR TO BUILD YOUR RESUME, OR TO GET THE DEGREE? WHAT IF YOU SAW YOURSELF AS ONE OF THESE MEN BUILDING THE HOOVER DAM, WHO SAID I WANT TO BE A PART OF ADVANCING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN THIS SPIRITUALLY BARREN PLACE KNOWN AS THE BAY. WE’VE GOT ENOUGH PEOPLE MAKING MONEY, WE NEED PEOPLE TO LIVE ON MISSION!

LIVE OUT LOUD- 11

EXPLANATION: LET’S FACE IT, THE ONLY ONE’S WHO WILL GET PERSECUTED ARE THOSE WHO LIVE OUT LOUD FOR THEIR FAITH. IF THE WORLD DOESN’T KNOW YOU’RE A CHRISTIAN THEN THIS MESSAGE IS NOT FOR YOU AND WE CAN GO BACK TO OUR NICE LITTLE CUTE AND COMFORTABLE LIVES. BUT IMPLICIT IN THE IDEA OF PERSECUTION IS THAT WE ARE LIVING OUT LOUD FOR OUR FAITH. IT’S THE IDEA OF BOLDNESS.

ACTS ILLUSTRATION: IF THERE’S ONE WORD THAT SUMS UP THE BOOK OF ACTS IT IS BOLDNESS. THESE DISCIPLES, PLAYING ON THE ROAD FOR JESUS, WERE BEYOND BOLD IN THE FACE OF HOSTILITY AND PRESSURE. IN WE SEE PETER AND JOHN PREACHING BOLDLY JESUS CHRIST, EVEN TO THE HOSTILE LEADERS. LOOK AT . THEN THEY WERE COMMANDED BY THE HOSTILE LEADERS TO NOT SPEAK ANY MORE OF JESUS. HOW DID THEY RESPOND? .

AMERICA BECAME A UNIQUE EXPERIMENT WHERE WE TRIED TO ESTABLISH A NATION THAT WOULD SERVE AS THE HOME TEAM FOR CHRISTIANITY. SOME OF THE FOUNDERS ARE ON RECORD AS SAYING THE CONSTITUTION WILL NOT WORK UNLESS WE ADHERE TO THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN ETHIC…BUT LO AND BEHOLD CENTURIES LATER WE HAVE DRIFTED FAR FROM THIS RELIGIOUS EXPERIMENT INTO A NATION STEEPED IN SECULARISM WHERE IT IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE EVIDENT THAT CHRISTIANITY IS THE VISITING TEAM.

ILLUSTRATION: DAD DISCIPLED ME…WOULD TEACH ME THEN SHOW. SHARE HIS FAITH WITH THE WAITRESS AND MY FRIENDS…LIVED OUT LOUD.

APPLICATIONS: WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND MISSION YOU WILL REACH THE CONCLUSION THAT THE UBER DRIVER IS NOT BY ACCIDENT BUT BY ASSIGNMENT…LIVE OUT LOUD. THE PERSON YOU SIT NEXT TO ON THE PLANE…LIVE OUT LOUD…WE LIVE IN THE BAY WHERE EVERYONE ELSE IS COMING OUT, WHY NOT US? LIVE OUT LOUD!

LIVE LOVE

EXPLANATION: JESUS WAS ONCE ASKED WHAT WAS THE GREATEST COMMANDMENT AND WITHOUT FLINCHING HE SAID IT WAS TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH THE TOTALITY OF ONE’S BEING. BUT WHAT EXACTLY DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE GOD? WELL, NOW, ISN’T THAT THE QUESTION. ONE OF THE WAYS YOU KNOW YOU LOVE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS THAT YOU SACRIFICE, YOU PAY A COST. ONE OF THE DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS OF LOVE IS THAT IT COMES WITH A PRICE TAG. YOU PAY A COST.

QUICK BIBLICAL ANALOGIES:

WE SEE THIS WITH GOD AND ABRAHAM. HE WANTS TO KNOW DO YOU LOVE ME ABOVE ALL ELSE, EVEN YOUR ONLY SON, THE SON OF PROMISE? OKAY…KILL HIM.

WE SEE THIS WITH HOSEA AND GOMER…I’VE CALLED YOU TO LOVE HER. SHE’S CHEATED ON YOU, SO I NEED YOU TO PAY A PRICE AND GO GET HER, REDEEMING HER.

THIS IS BUT AN ILLUSTRATION OF COURSE OF WHAT GOD IN CHRIST HAS DONE FOR US. FOR ON THE CROSS JESUS PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE, WHY? BECAUSE HE LOVES US. LOVE COMES AT A COST.

DIETRICH BONHOEFFER ILLUSTRATION...

APPLICATION- PERSECUTION, THEREFORE IS THE PRICE WE PAY FOR FOLLOWING JESUS. IF WE ARE UNWILLING TO PAY ANY PRICE TO OUR EGO, JOBS, REPUTATION AND EVEN OUR LIVES, CAN IT REALLY BE SAID THAT WE LOVE JESUS?

GOSPEL CONCLUSION:

ALL OF THESE THINGS SEEN IN JESUS:

LIVED ON MISSION- MY FOOD IS TO DO THE WILL OF THE ONE WHO SENT ME.

LIVED OUT LOUD- THERE WAS A BOLDNESS AS HE STOOD BEFORE RELIGIOUS LEADERS, KINGS AND POLITICIANS AND DECLARED THE TRUTH.

LIVED LOVE. FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD.

THE RESULT WAS PERSECUTION- HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS...

CHRIST IN CULTURE…RICHARD NIEBUR’S CLASSIC BOOK, CHRIST AND CULTURE HE LAYS OUT FIVE WAYS IN WHICH THE CHURCH HAS HISTORICALLY RELATED TO CULTURE. ONE OF THOSE WAYS IS TRYING TO TRANSFORM CULTURE WITH CHRIST. NOW WHILE THERE IS A LOT TO BE ADMIRED ABOUT THIS VIEW WHAT CANNOT BE LOST IS THAT THIS IS THE ATTEMPT TO MAKE THIS WORLD THE HOME TEAM. THE BIBLE CLEARLY DEBUNKS THIS.