The One

Big Idea: I want to convey the idea of ‘The One.’ Jesus cared about the ‘One’ and in fact, it was the entire reason He came. For us as individuals and as a collective of Jesus followers, this is our mission as well. It is the entire reason we exist at The Outpost Church. For the followers of Jesus, I want them to leave with a renewed sense of purpose to reach their one. For this to be the case, they have to have a specific one in mind. For those who are not followers of Jesus, I want them to know just how valuable they are…not because they are a project or simply someone to be ‘reached’ but because they have intrinsic value as an image bearer of God who is so valuable that God left His throne room and died so that He could reconcile a relationship with them.

ME:

I have this fear of being stranded at sea floating with nothing but a life jacket…

The chances of this are quite improbable but 200 years ago that was not the case...

Do the rescue society bit… don’t forget to emphasize the (those who are rescued understand the mission) piece…

WE:

I told you guys we are beginning a series called “For the One” that is going to take us into the summer.

Sermon on the mount…bottom line = there is life in him and safety from the storm.

Our communities are filled with people drowning in the seas of social, emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual needs. Explain...

In fact…some of you came in here dripping wet this morning.

Talk about The Outpost Namesake...

So we’ve been exploring the rest and refuge that is in Jesus for the last four months in the sermon on the Mount.

And here is the deal…this will always be a space where rest, refuge, life, vitality, blessing, and hope is found. Because as we orient our lives back to Jesus following after him, there is no storm that will be the end of your story. That was the closing claim of the sermon on the mount.

But here is the deal...

YOU DON’T LIVE AT AN OUTPOST!

The second you come to live at the outpost is the second it stops being an outpost and it starts being a resort. Said another way: As we forget that our job is to go back into the storm to share that Jesus is the only hope from the storm is the second we stop being a rescue society and start being a Yacht club.

When we do that, we have effectively signed our own death certificate as a church. And yall, we have a vibrant and growing amazing church…i’m not looking to see that end anytime soon. But since a church isn’t just some corporate entity, it is a group of people, let me say it another way…the second we buy the lie that this whole following Jesus thing is just some sort of moralistic therapy so that I won’t cuss quite as much or go to hell when I die and turn inwards to pursue a faith that ultimately has me as the ultimate beneficiary, is the second we begin our spiritual plateau and decline.

While I wish I could say that all churches get this and are operating as rescue societies. But the reality is that most churches and we are no different can tend to drift inward to become Yacht clubs.

If we take our hands of the wheel for a second, if we lose focus or intentionality or resolve, we will immediately begin to drift inwards. Every church…and most every Christian can tell you what this mission is…they would all tell you that Jesus’ mission is a rescue mission and to be a part of His kingdom is ultimately to belong to a rescue society.

So if it isn’t a problem of clarity around the mission, then what is it that causes us to drift?

I’m so glad you asked...

It’s math…

We fail to solve an incredibly simple equation correctly. If we can solve this equation as a church. If you can be committed to solving this equation correctly as individuals then we can keep from drifting.

99 ? 1

a) > b)= c) <

I know the answer may seem simple but let’s let Jesus work this equation out for us as he tells us a parable.

Remember I said parables are these stories that rely on devices of simile, metaphor, and poetic language to drive below the surface of the intellect into the emotions and drive a heart level change in the people who can receive it.

Luke 15:1–2 NASB95

Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

We immediately see two vastly different groups of people that Jesus is going to address with His parable.

Tax collectors = Sellouts to the Roman government. Hated by all as social outcasts and traitors.

And sinner = A generic term used any of the non-religious class. This could have been prostitutes and terrorist zealots but this could also mean working class poor shepherds and and fishermen.

This first group is made up of people who are feeling the effects of being lost in the storm. Again, its social, spiritual oppression, mental illness, people with diseases, or just people living under the effects of extreme poverty. And did you catch it…they are coming near to Jesus. And not just that, but Jesus is sharing meals with them as he no doubt shared the message that there is hope from the storm to be found in him. Jesus’ sermon on the mount wasn’t an isolated incident, in fact, if you caught up with him on any given day, he would likely be re-hashing the same material.

You also have the Pharisees and scribes. These are the religious ruling class. Largely unaffected by the storms that the first group was effected by. And they are openly criticizing Jesus for his love and compassion for the first group.

And so...

Luke 15:3–7 NASB95

So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

I told you that not everyone “got” Jesus’ parables.

Which of the two groups do you think immediately understood his parable?

Do you think it was the wealthy and well of religious leaders who got it?

Or do you think the numbers guy…the tax collector who knows that every penny matters got it? What about the poor “sinners (prostitutes and fishermen)” in the crowd? How about the shepherds who actually tended flocks of sheep? Yeah they got it…every single sheep matters.

This wasn’t the only time Jesus had this type of encounter either. In an account in the book of Mark the story unfold without Jesus giving a parable and he just speaks plainly. Here is how that story goes:

Mark 2:15–17 NASB95

And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

So let me rephrase my question from just a second ago.

Who do you think got his parable best? Was it one of the 99…namely the religious leaders and scribes who were largely unaware of the storms in their lives…or was it the lost sheep? Here is the thing…the scribes and pharisees weren’t in the pen either…they were lost sheep too. They were lost in their religious activities and just thought they were safe. They needed rescue too…they just didn’t see it.

This is why we drift:

We drift because we have forgotten just how dramatic and life changing our own rescue was.

Explain… ‘its dangerous in storms and incredibly messy.’ We would rather drift inwards to our christian bubbles. It’s music we like. Its the best worship. Its the christian subculture that we are comfortable with. Its the relationships with people who hold the same morals, political leanings, or sexual ethics as us.

And when we do this, we inevitably solve the equation that 99 is greater than 1. And so:

We focus on the people who come to services, sit, listen, and give of their time and money.

And so we cater to that crowd…How do we keep those people coming each sunday to sit and listen and get them to give their money.

What would make them most comfortable? What music or what style of teaching? What are the services we can provide at our Yacht club that are better than the Yacht club down the street. And what ends up happening is we just shuffle the 99 from one pen to the next depending on who has the best Yacht club.

And yet the mission of Jesus is defined this way…by Jesus. Here is what he says:

Matthew 28:19 NASB95

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Explain taking people who aren’t currently followers of Jesus and helping them to find life in him. Put it in the context of the sermon on the mount.

This is the mission.

I want to clarify something…it isn’t that the 99 aren’t important…its that the 99 are best cared for when they are on the rescue mission with the shepherd looking for the one.

Do the sack lunch thing…With Jesus every meal was a sack lunch. With Jesus it was learn as you go and go as you learn

So I want to ask you a question and then we are going to close things out…i told you it was going to be a quick sermon.

I want to introduce you to the idea of the one. Explain (what i fear happens is that we turn that into some big ethereal concept)

Who is your one?

Explain my one…(he thinks we are an anomaly)

I wear the lens of that one when I write my sermons. We structure everything here so that it will be a place that is warm, welcoming, and inviting for him where he can clearly see what that next step of faith looks like. But I also need you to go with me on mission to love and serve on mission to them developing deep relationships…Explain

Maybe you don’t even have a one…maybe you have turned so insular and shielded yourself from anyone who doesn’t believe or act the way that you do that you don’t even know a one. Or at least you aren’t in a deep relationship with any ones.

An observation from the text...

Did you notice how the religious crowd grumbled at Jesus’ approach of loving and serving and being in relationship with the one?

Ya’ll if we do this, we are going to be the most controversial church in town - Explain - do block party bit.

Give exit ramp for people.

I will be popping those bubbles and pushing us out of the drift but fear not, we are going to equip you to do this well. Not with a card full of Bible verses and transitions you have to memorize but with things that you can actually do.

SPEAK TO THE ONE:

Communicate value - Jesus died for you

We value you and structure every part of who we are to be able to communicate the message of hope in Jesus to you.

Maybe you’ve been hurt by zealous christians in the past who did come at you with an agenda and