The Call to Frontline Service
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In 2021, as a church, we learned about God’s love for us and Jesus’ command to go and love one another as He loved us. If you consider yourself a Christian, if you are a follower of Jesus, then the heart and soul of your faith is that one, beautiful word- Love. And so, throughout 2021, we learned how to love others well by studying the many “one another” commands in Scripture; such as “accept one another,” “forgive one another,” “tell one another the truth,” “serve one another,” and “encourage one another.”
As Dr. Tony Evens explains,
“’We are not “cul-de-sac Christians.’ We are conduits. God never intended for His blessings to go no further than our own lives. He desires for us to be channels through which His blessings will be delivered to others... Our vertical relationship with God—our intimacy with Him and our access to His authority and blessings—is tied to our horizontal relationship with His body, the church. In our relationships with other people, it could be said that we are the “horizontal Jesus” to others. Because Christ is in us, others should be able to see Jesus in us. He is our head and we—His church, His family of believers—are His body, living under His lordship… We are to reflect Jesus in all that we do. We are His hands and feet.”
That brings me to my first point this morning,
1. God wants to you to reflect Jesus in your own frontline.
Friends, as this new year dawns, I pray that as a church we will take hold of that truth. I pray that each of us will come to reflect Jesus in all that we do and be His hands and feet. Today, we begin a new sermon series we are calling- “Mirrors to Windows.” You see, like a mirror’s reflection we are called to reflect Jesus. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 (HCS) states,
We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Moreover, we are to reflect Jesus, not only while within the four walls of this church. Take a look out the windows. Church, we are called to be Jesus’ hands and feet out there as well. In this series we will focus on how we are to reflect Jesus in our homes, in our workplace, in our neighborhood, and in our community. We will discover how God may use us to make a difference in our everyday lives.
Tim Caspers, retired lead pastor of Cross Winds Community Church, shares in his sermon series entitled, Imagine Life on the Frontline:
“Where we live and work may seem ordinary, and yet it matters deeply to God. Our everyday life offers extraordinary potential to not only grow in our own faith but to join God in drawing people to himself. Just imagine what God can do through you in your own frontlines! Here’s what I mean by that:
We spend about 95% of our time in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplace and in our community- about 5% of our time is doing church related ministry or service or activities. So, if Christ-followers restrict our Christian lives only with church related ministry or service or activities, we’re missing 95% of our potential to join Jesus in transforming the hearts of people. So, in order to really experience that 95%, we need to take hold of the truth that we have a front-line call to join Jesus in redeeming this world around us. This is where Jesus engages you and me each day in his plan to transform the hearts of people… So instead of asking, ‘What needs to be done in the world today?’ God already knows and He’s already moving- instead, we should ask, ‘God what are you leading me to do today in my home, or neighborhood, or workplace, or school, or community? That’s what our ‘frontline’ call is about.”
Yes, God wants to use you on your frontline, just as He wants to use Anne. Therefore, in this series we will address the question,
How can we best reflect Jesus in our own frontlines each day?
So that brings me to my second point this morning,
2. To best reflect Jesus in our own frontlines we must first become more like Him.
In Romans 13:14 we are instructed to (HCSB),
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.
That instruction, however, is the concluding statement following a powerful description of what it means to “put on the Lord Jesus.” We are encouraged to make “love” our life’s highest ethic.
As verses Romans 13:8-13 (NIV),
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
The Focus Verses Romans 13:9-10
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
This is the Word of the Lord
Friends, I will be honest, no one I know has decided to reflect Jesus and then bam, they become like Him instantly. In my own life, becoming more like Christ is a process. Over time He has helped me overcome one sinful imperfection after another. And I am not there yet. However, my love for God, and my desire to love like Him propels me to daily commit to His character development process.
To fulfill your calling as a Christian you must commit to the same.
Pastor John Forrest shares,
“Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm published a story many years ago titled THE HAPPY HYPOCRITE. It is a story about a man who was born with an awful facial deformity. He grew up alone and lonely. When reaching adulthood, he decided to move from his town to begin a new life. On his way he discovered a beautiful mask that fit him, making him look handsome. At first the mask was uncomfortable, and he was afraid that people would find out who he really was, but he continued to wear the mask every day.
In his new hometown, he made many friends and fell in love. But one day a wicked woman from his old home came to his town and discovered his true identity. In front of his friends and fiancé, she forced him to remove his mask. When he removed the mask, it revealed a handsome face. His face had conformed to the mask.
Becoming like Christ is similar to this. Go ahead and put on Christ. At first it may feel unnatural or uncomfortable, and maybe you may think, ‘who am I trying to fool?’ But every day just keep putting on Christ and every day you will grow to look more like him.” (end quote)
That brings us to our final point this morning,
3. To best reflect Jesus in our own frontlines we must allow Him to saturate every aspect of our lives.
(Balls in Jar illustration)
Often, in New Year sermons pastors teach on the importance of making God a priority in one’s life. One of my favorite illustrations that demonstrates that valuable lesson starts with an empty jar (point to the empty jar on the table). The jar represents our time. Each day we fill it up with different things (put a ball or circle like object into the jar for each thing you mention) like getting our morning coffee, personal grooming, going to work, exercising, preparing and eating meals, house work, spending time with family or friends, sleeping, and doing hobbies. But what about God? In Matthew 6:33, Jesus commands us to make God a priority in our lives. He says, (HCS)
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
(Take the ball that says God on it and try to fit it into the full jar. Keep trying but show that it just won’t fit.)
To make sure God fits into our lives, we can’t just try to squeeze Him in. Instead, we put Him first (empty out the jar. Then put God’s ball in first, then put the other balls into the jar). We put Him first in our lives when we start each new day by spending time with Him- studying His word and with prayer. We put Him first by prioritizing attending church and going to a mid-week small group.
I love this illustration. It gets its point across quite nicely doesn’t it. But this morning I want to take it to another level. This illustration implies that making God a priority in one’s life is like adding Christian activities to our schedule. But if we are to truly reflect Jesus, if we are to truly love like Him, we must do more than add Him to our busy schedules. (Take jar of sugar that has the word “Jesus” on it, then poor the sugar into the jar until it covers everything). We must allow Jesus to saturate every aspect of our lives.
We make God a priority when we love like Jesus with our family as we get ready in the morning or spend time with them at night. We love like Jesus with our coworkers or fellow students- all day long. We love like Jesus as we interact with others in our community. Jesus becomes more than just something we add to our schedule, He becomes apart of every single thing on our schedule. As Colossians 3:17 (NIV) encourages us,
Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
If you have chosen to follow Jesus than you have a frontline where you can share His love to those you interact with every sing day- those you work with, socialize with, go to school with, and greet every day. As you come together with these people Jesus can shine through you to impact the lives and hearts of those people. It is my hope that in the coming weeks, you will claim your call to reflect Jesus in your frontline.
Let us pray.