Mission Impossible
Acts: The Final Chapter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 33:48
0 ratings
· 83 viewsKNOW YOUR MISSION , MOTIVE AND SPEAK
Files
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Intro me
What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever been asked to do? something that felt almost impossible? Hop onto slido and tell me [slido] if you’re a teenager, going to bed, perhaps; if you’re a new parent, getting that baby into a car seat for the very first time? [while people type: door-knocking around Charlotte’s new building]
[interaction] [deactivate poll]
Sometimes as a Christian it can feel like we’ve been asked to do something that’s really, really hard - nearly impossible: to share our faith with those around us.
Now this doesn’t feel hard for everyone - I once came across some research showing something like 4% of Christians self-identify as evangelists, that is, they love doing this, feel like they’re a natural at it: it’s right up their street. But that leaves about 96% of us who range from thinking this mission is hard all the way across to thinking this is flat out impossible so someone else better take it on.
That’s what we’re going to be thinking about this morning: what to do with this really difficult-feeling mission we’ve been given - we’re going to get to spy on someone else who shares this same mission. And we’ll learn along the way that it’s actually worse than we’d thought: this isn’t just a difficult mission, it’s an impossible one [mission: impossible intro] [title]
Lately we’ve been following the story of one of the key leaders in the very first churches, a story about a guy called Paul dating back about two thousand years. He’s in big trouble and has powerful enemies among the Jewish people so he’s been locked up, stuck inside the Roman justice system waiting for a fair trial for two years.
We pick up the story this morning after a new Roman official has arrived and taken over his case. We’re going to get to look in on his final “hearing” from the local authorities - one he only gets because he’s just played his Roman-citizen trump-card and appealed to Caesar - that means his case is going to go all the way to the Roman Emperor himself for a decision.
Come with me to Acts chapter 25 verse 23 and we’ll read together. That’s on page 1123 of these blue bibles you should be able to find around you. Acts chapter 25 - big 25, verse 23 - small 23. Page 1123 - and Ruth’s reading for us this morning.
— READING —
It’s quite a setup that this story starts with: every single bigwig from the city is there, all in their fancy gowns - it’s showtime Acts 25:23
The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.
Paul’s in trouble: he’s in Roman custody, there are serious charges against him and he has powerful enemies wanting to take him down. He’s been given this last chance to speak - so think for a moment about how he might use it.
What would you do? Basically, I’d do everything I could to get out of trouble I reckon. Try to look squeaky-clean, to make it sound like there’s no possible case, that I’m absolutely no cause for concern, there’s zero risk, nothing going on here at all.
But when he starts to talk, instead of defending himself against charges, or trying to look as ordinary and un-criminal as possible, he tells his life story. How he was brought up, how he was given his mission, and how he tried to carry it out.
Mission
Mission
Let’s start by looking more closely at how he describes the mission he was given by Jesus in the middle of his story - come with me to v17; what’s his assignment from Jesus?
I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
The mission is pretty clear: open their eyes; turn them from darkness to light. The problem, though, is Paul himself knows this is not just hard, but impossible. Writing to one of the church he started just a short time before these events, he says this:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
So his mission is to open eyes - but these eyes are blind. They’ve been blinded. This isn’t as simple as just waking up someone who’s deeply asleep. They simply cannot see the light.
When I feel like my arguments for my faith are so strong and my case so persuasive that I should just be able to lay it all out for people and have them go “oh, yeah, ok well that makes sense - sign me up” - when I think like that, this is where I’m going wrong.
We’re trying to open blind eyes - so this is going to take a miracle, not just a good presentation of the facts or a clear argument. Only God can open blind eyes - and in that same letter, Paul goes on to celebrate how that is just exactly what God did for him: a miracle. “he made his light shine in our hearts”
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
So it’s mission:impossible. How do we go about pulling off an impossible mission? If you’re 007, a martini, some tech gadgets and a fast car, right? How does Paul go after this mission he knows requires a miracle? Well, stick with me - we’ll come back to that in a minute - but first I want to talk about his motive.
If this mission is not just hard, but impossible, why did he ever accept it?
Motive
Motive
There’s a very simple reason, simple motive here: obedience. Obedience to the one he calls “Lord” - which means “master”: one who should be obeyed. Verse 19:
“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.
I want to bring this right down to you and me before we go any further, though. You probably don’t have a vision from heaven to fall back on - I’d love to hear about it if you do! But I don’t want you to be in any doubt that every follower of Jesus shares this same mission. This is absolutely foundational to what we’re about at Hope City.
Jesus famously gives his first disciples their marching orders in something Christians call the “Great Commission” - Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
It’s pretty plain here that Jesus’ first disciples are to “go and make disciples” - more disciples. A disciples is a person who follows the teachings of someone with an intent to become like them. So disciples of Jesus are trying to follow Jesus’ teaching and become like Jesus. That’s their mission, their marching orders.
But notice with me that Jesus tells them part of making these new disciples is to teach them to obey everything Jesus has commanded. Well, it’s pretty clear that everything has to include the command he’s just given them to go and make disciples, right?!
Or think about this another way: Jesus is the pattern for the Christian life. He shows us what we should be and how we should live. He, let me tell you, was a man on a mission. In today’s passage we read that the Messiah - that’s the promised rescuer or deliverer: Jesus, of course - the Messiah “would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
Jesus was the first one to have this mission; the archetype, the original and best. In John 20:21 Jesus passes that baton to his disciples, and in turn, on to us for our generation:
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
Amazingly, Jesus he has enough faith in us to entrust this absolutely critical mission to us - he more faith in us than we have in ourselves!
So make no mistake, have no doubt, Christians, we’re sent, we’re on a mission, like Jesus, like Paul. Who’s seen the Blues Brothers? Absolute classic comedy about some musicians desperately trying to make money on “a mission from God”. Christian, get your sunglasses out - because you are literally on a mission from God - which I can tell you should be the most important thing in your life. Accept your mission, don’t ignore it.
Paul’s motive - and it should our motive too - is obedience. But I think there’s more for us here. Look at the end of Jesus’ mission definition for Paul there in verse 18: open their eyes; turn them. Why? “So they can receive forgiveness and a place among God’s people” Acts 26:18
Acts 26:18 (NIV)
so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
I think there’s another motive that should drive us: love. Love for those we are trying to reach, trying to help meet Jesus. Jesus himself tells us what it means to know him as saviour and lord in what we just read:
Forgiveness of sins - every wrong you’ve ever done, every good you’ve left undone, every thoughtless word, every evil thought truly and finally forgiven so you are perfectly right with God - “washed whiter than the snow” is how the bible puts it. But not just that,
A place among God’s people - literally an inheritance or a share, reflecting the amazing offer Jesus makes to us of adoption into God’s own family as his child; it’s only the family that shares in the inheritance. In a world filled with loneliness, with so many lives driven by a desperation to belong, to fit in, to be a part of something, Jesus offers an everlasting and profound belonging which starts right now: being a part of God’s family.
If you loved someone, if you even cared about them just a tiny little bit, wouldn’t you want this for them, want to share this with them? Love and care for those around us - even just a little care - should be motive enough for us to desperately want them to share this hope. So do you love, do you care? There’s another motive. And if you wouldn’t call yourself a Christian here today, does this help explain why we would like to try and share this hope with you?
A mission: to open eyes; powerful motives: obedience; love. But it’s still mission:impossible. So where do we go from here? Last point from today’s passage - this morning at least: method.
Method
Method
Paul shares our mission, shares our motive. So what’s his method? Does he just shrug? “mission:impossible” so I’m stuck? Just leave it to Tom Cruise or some other hero?
No - as he continues to tell his story, we hear that he spoke: verse 20 - first in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and all Judea, then to the rest, to the ends of the earth. He spoke, testifying as a witness to what he’s seen and known of Jesus. He spoke, preaching people should repent, should turn to God, should demonstrate its a real turning through their behaviour.
First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.
He spoke and over the last months we’ve been following him through this: sometimes it was well received; sometimes there was little to no response; and sometimes all he got in return was hatred. Even in this moment, before the rich and powerful, imprisoned and accused, he pursues his mission, speaking.
If this is your mission, this has to be part of your method. We speak. We’re called to speak. Paul’s speaking here until he’s cut off by Festus shouting “you are out of your mind!” which, by the way, is a response you and I need to be prepared for, too!
Look again at Jesus giving Paul his marching orders. See in verse 16 he tells Paul he is to be a witness. Witnessing is one of the terms Christians have used through the years to mean talking to people about Jesus. You know what it means to be a witness literally? Think about what a witness does in court. They testify to their experience; they talk about what they saw, what happened to them. “The guy with stripey swag bag jumped over the fence.” That’s witnessing, that’s testimony. This is a big part of the speaking we are called to.
‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.
I think it’s really helpful for us to press in on what it actually means to be a witness. Trying to share our faith with the people around us can feel really hard, feel like you need lots of training and lessons, feel like it’s going to be complicated and you need to be precise and complete.
But being a witness - simply talking about your own experience, about what’s happened to you - feels quite different to me. And notice that’s exactly what Paul’s doing here in this courtroom scene that we’ve been looking at: telling his story. We could break this passage down like this: My life before I met Jesus / how I met Jesus / my life now - if you want a simple framework for sharing your story, there’s one right there. You can make it longer or shorter depending on what feels right for your situation in that same framework.
I grew up knowing facts about Jesus but it didn’t make much difference to my life. One night at uni I felt God change something in me and I was suddenly ready to let Jesus take control. I don’t have everything sorted but my life now is about trying to be a part of what Jesus is doing.
We can tell the story of how we came to faith, like Paul does here, or we can tell our stories of other times we’ve experienced God making a difference in our life - like when I stepped away from my big job to go train for church stuff, or simply that day I was walking along the street and I knew - I just knew - that God was right there with me.
One of the brilliant things about your story is it’s your story of your experience. You know it inside out and no one can tell you you’ve got it wrong - just maybe takes some practice to get fluent with it, to think through some different times where God has been real in your life, and then some guts to share it.
Mission. Motive. Method: speak. Every Christian is a front row witness to God at work - tell people about it.
But Matt, I hear you saying, what about that old St Francis of Assisi quote:
Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.
Do we really have to do that speaking part?
Yeah well first up, that’s not from the bible, our authority. Just because some saint says something, we’re not necessarily buying it, good guy though he might have been. [bible] this is our authority. Anyway, there’s no evidence he actually said or wrote that - none, anywhere. From what we do have of his writings, he seems very up for speaking.
Speaking is absolutely going to have to be part of our method. But notice, there, I say part. One of the things that’s huge for us at Hope City is understanding that we pursue this mission, our mission, not only when we’re speaking, but also through a whole array of small-but-meaningful steps all of us can take with those around us who don’t know Jesus yet.
We use the BLESS acronym to remind us of some of them. if you’ve been around Hope City for a while, hopefully you’ll have heard us talk about BLESS. Give me an uh-huh or a nu-uh...
Bless starts with a B to remind us to [look expectantly at congregation] begin with prayer - yes, we begin with prayer. First step, not an optional extra or a bonus-points add-on. Foundational. And that’s exactly what we see going on here, too, if you wanted to see our BLESS approach backed up in the bible. Verse 29
Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Of course this makes complete sense when we recognise that we have a mission:impossible on our hands. We pray - like Paul prays - because this is simply an impossible mission otherwise. Only God can open blind eyes no matter what we do or what we say... and God can open the eyes of anyone - even the most unexpected people, even those dead set against him - like Paul here. Like you, there. So we pray.
Praying for people who don’t know Jesus yet, praying for the small steps we’re taking - or we hope to take, is one of the big things we’ll be doing regularly in our evening gatherings together as those resume this week. It’s so important to pray for one another’s needs and concerns, and for the wider world - but it’s absolutely critical that we pray for our mission.
That we’d have the desire, the motivation for it; that we’d find the opportunities to act on that; but also that our attempts to reach out to the world around us -a world we should love and care about- with the life-changing message of Jesus might bear fruit. That God would do the impossible, opening blind eyes and turning people from darkness to light so they receive forgiveness and a place in His family.
So, our Method: first, Speak; second, Pray; finally, wait.
We wait - another thing that’s huge for us at Hope City is understanding that the journey to faith is often long for people, in many cases years long because we live in a world that’s far from God, live among people, who are far, far from Jesus. And Paul knows and recognises there’s a journey too - see here, “short time or long,” he says.
Did Paul hope Agrippa might come to follow Jesus even as he spoke that day? Or others listening along? Perhaps. Agrippa seems to be laughing off the idea - “hah! you thought you nearly had me that quick? likely story.” But some hearts change in a moment - Paul’s seems to have on that Damascus road - makes sense when we remember we’re talking about a miracle opening blind eyes. Sometimes there’s more to people’s story than we know, sometimes God has already been at work long before we show up on the scene - every journey has a last mile - even the longest one.
So a short time sometimes, at least from our perspective - but often a long time, too, and we have to persevere in hope. Our role is to play our part, to take our small steps, to see people make progress in their journey, move closer. We have to do that with patience, with the perspective and the knowledge that it’s sometimes long .
But short time or long, we pray that they may ultimately become what we are: part of God’s family. If you wouldn’t call yourself a follower of Jesus here today, that’s be my hope for you: short time or line, that you’d become a part of God’s family.
An impossible mission - but what did we learn today? Christian, accept your mission, know your motive, work your method.
Let’s pray...
Often we follow-up our talks with a song to give us all a way to respond to what we’re hearing. Today we’re going to do something a little different.
We’re going to see if we can tell one another our story in just three short sentences: before Jesus / how I met Jesus / life now. Like I did a bit earlier in the talk. We’re just going to have a rough bash at it - it’ll probably be clunky first time round, hard to summarize, or need thought - but try and see if you can do something mega-brief.
I want to ask you to turn to someone near you or to get into a three at most. Go find someone if you’re all on your lonesome. Now be bold and have a go at sharing your story here at church, among friends. Pick on someone to go first, take turns to hear what others have to say. I’m going to give you three minutes so perhaps you’ll even get to try it more than once - see if you can get a bit more refined, a bit smoother second time round.
If you don’t have that story to tell - if you wouldn’t call yourself a follower of Jesus yet - I’m so glad you’re here and I want this to become your story. But for the next few minutes if you find yourself with others who do have a story to tell, you just get to pass and listen - and perhaps you can ask some questions to fill the time. If there’s no-one in your group with a story, take a look at the Q+A at slido.com/hopecity - see what others are asking, vote, and put your own questions forward too - we’d love to have a go at responding to them.
So, three minutes for you to share super-short three-sentence stories, and then we’ll respond to some questions.