The Mission: God’s “Something Bigger”
Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1:19-20
In several of my sermons in my 8 ½ years at Lake Avenue Church, I have used an illustration to help us envision what God is doing both in our lives and in our world. I’ve talked to you about the Nine Mile Run Greenway Project in Pittsburg, PA. The Nine Mile Run area is a stream valley once renowned for its magnificent beauty. But, for a half a century, Nine Mile Run was used as a dumping ground for industrial slag from Pittsburgh area steel mills. By the mid-1990s, the stream there was no longer flowing and the site was contaminated. (Show picture.) At that time, three artists from Carnegie-Mellon University proposed a big mission with a big vision: They proposed that the entire area, which had generally become viewed as wasteland, be re-developed into a sustainable environment of public green space. Their proposal, though it would be difficult to accomplish, was adopted both by the university and the city of Pittsburgh.
In their proposal, there were several guiding principles:
- Not re-starting but renewing -- They did not want to destroy what was there and start all over. Instead, they wanted to reclaim the life and beauty that had been abused for so long and build on what was still there as their foundation. So, they went in and discovered immediately over 120 forms of plant life that had survived the slag. The existing life was there starting point for development.
- Not from a distance but personal engagement – They wanted all participants to make a commitment to being personally involved. That meant they all knew they would have to enter into the smelly, ugly and filthy industrial waste area to do the work they were assigned to do. And they knew they would have to continue to be involved in a hands-on way each step of the project.
- Not cosmetic but transformational -- Their vision was all-encompassing of the area. They had no interest in simply changing a few things or in short term external beautification. They were after transformation. Therefore, they knew the project would not be done overnight but would require a long process. IOW: Once they entered in, they would have to stick with it for the long haul.
So, the three art professors put a project team from Carnegie-Mellon University together. The team consisted of a broad range of professions: studio artists, scientists, historians, landscape architects, botanists, urban planners and engineers. Over 20 years have gone by since they proposed the plan. There were countless snags and obstacles but the team had a clear vision and they saw it through to completion. What they did has turned the slag of a wasteland into a place of wonder. (Show picture here.)
The Nine Mile Run Greenway Project is a parable for what God is doing both in our world as well as in our lives. God himself is the artist who has a plan for our lives and for the world. Jesus, God’s Son, entered personally into this world that had been created as beautiful. But the ongoing “slag” of human sin that has been pouring into our world ever since Genesis 3 has marred the beauty of God’s creation. But, like those artists in Pittsburgh, God has chosen not to destroy what has become polluted in his world but to take what is and re-make it into some thing that is new and beautiful again. God has personally entered into our world and is ready to enter personally into our lives to do his work.
Here’s my point: God is involved in a big mission that he knows is a long process. But he will complete it. When God is done, your life and mine will be made beautiful. The world God created will be even more beautiful again. And, over the next few months here at LAC, we will be focusing on the remarkable truth that God has called us to be a part of the team to bring about his mission. When we receive Jesus into our lives, we become a part of something bigger.
Our mission as a church is to play whatever role God would have us play in his mission. As I walk through this with you today, I hope you will be able to make sense out of a lot of what we do here at LAC. Here’s how we have stated our understanding of our role in God’s mission: Following Jesus, we participate in God’s reconciling work by making disciples of all peoples and generations (Mt 28:18-20; Col 1:19-20).
In the moments that we have together, I want to consider 1) how this sense of mission affects our church as a whole and 2) how I pray it will affect your life personally.
#1: God’s Mission and Lake Avenue Church
“We participate in God’s reconciling work…”
How do I help you grasp how this phrase guides us here at LAC? I think the best way is to consider two beautiful biblical terms, i.e., justice and reconciliation. The way the Bible uses them is not always how we use them in our world so let me walk you through them.
Term 1: Justice = when everything is right. In both the Old and New Testaments, in both Hebrew and Greek, the term justice speaks of everything being the way God has intends them to be. The term “justice” is central to God’s character because everything God does, is and asks is “right”. We may not always be able to see that at the time, but we trust God to do what is good and right specifically because he is just. As we know, since sin entered our world in Genesis 3, nothing in this world has been completely just – except God. Everything in our lives and in our world is affected to some extent by sin. But, God’s mission is to make everything right. Psalm 9:7ff – The Lord has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in justice... The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble…
So, it’s absolutely clear to us all that, right now in our world, everything is not perfectly right. Amen? But, God’s mission is to reclaim the perfection and beauty of his creation – all evil punished, all suffering ended and even death abolished. Earlier in the service, I had us read Rev 21:1-5a & 22:1-5. Both passages speak of what creation will be like when God completes his mission. It will be a kingdom of “justice” because, when God is done with his mission, everything will be made right.
Do you believe it? But now: How do we get from where we are to where God says we will be?
Term 2: Reconciliation = the process that leads to justice. Reconciliation is a rich term of restored relationship. When I think of it, I think of it in these ways:
- Reconciliation is taking what is broken in God’s creation and bringing it together.
- Reconciliation is taking what is hostile in God’s creation and bringing about peace.
The foundation of God’s reconciling work is the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Colossians 1:19-20 – “God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ Jesus, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”
God promises to take all the messes in this world and to clean them up. He promises to take all the brokenness in this world and to heal it. He promises to take all the hostility in this world and to make peace. Amazingly, God’s main ambassadors/agents of reconciliation work until he is done is people like us placed in community with churches like LAC. 2 Cor 5:18-20 – “God reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”
It is in the light of this that we declare that our part of God’s mission is: “We participate in God’s reconciling work” – and we do so until God’s justice reigns. Like the people in the Nine Mile Run Reclamation Project, we who belong to Jesus go into the slag of our world in the name of Jesus and in the power of God’s Spirit in order to call people to faith in God and to bring about his healing and peace.
With that in mind, listen to me carefully: I am convinced that almost everything we do at LAC should be thought of as a participation in God’s reconciling work until all is made right:
- Evangelism is calling people to be reconciled to God -- and it happens only through faith in Jesus;
- Discipleship is having all that is broken inside us reconciled. It’s about having all that is messed up, immature and sinful inside all of us (i.e., all our “slag”) being cleansed and healed. Discipleship is about our growth through the power of the Holy Spirit within the nurture of the local church.
- Community Outreach is about engaging personally in God’s reconciling work in the neighborhood God has put us in. It’s about us going out and discovering what is not yet right in this community in which God has situated us and then going out in the name of Christ to bring his love and hope.
- Global Outreach is that joy-filled recognition that, when we place our faith in Jesus, we become a part of God’s something bigger, i.e., that God is going to make all things right in all of his creation and we are his ambassadors of reconciliation “to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).”
Bottom line, God has placed Lake Avenue Church in this world to participate in his reconciling work. We are to do so until that reconciling work is fully accomplished and God’s kingdom of justice reigns.
All this might help you things we do and the priorities we have here at LAC. For example, this is why we have asked Jeff Liou to provide pastoral leadership to our outreach in evangelism. Why? -- Because we know that the good news about Jesus doesn’t change but the way our world understands God’s message has changed enormously in recent decades. For example: How do we communicate the message of the exclusive claim that no one comes to God the Father except through Jesus into our post-modern world? This question is central to us as we fulfill our mission. We know we need pastoral leadership to be able to do this well.
Our understanding of mission is why we have set aside Mayra Nolan to provide pastoral leadership for our outreach into the needs and brokenness of our community. We send her to meet with community ministry leaders, with political representatives, with educational organizations – into prisons – to speak, to listen, to learn and then to come back and oversee our work of reconciliation as we reach out into our own neighborhood. So, if you come someday to see Mayra in her office, quite often she will be (and should be) “out” – that is, she is out doing the job God has entrusted to her as a part of LAC’s mission.
This is why we recently sent Pastor Scott White to see what role might have us to play in what might be the greatest opportunity for reconciliation ministry in our world in my lifetime, i.e., bringing the gospel of Jesus and the love of Jesus to the 60+ million people in our world who have been displaced from their homes in the past year. Did you know that they are mostly people who have been labeled “unreached” people, i.e., they are those who have before been very hard to get to with the love and good news of Jesus.
Specifically, half of Syria’s population has on the move due to the ongoing Civil War there. Over 250,000 have been killed there – primarily civilians. The level of violence and the number of people moving has stunned everyone. The issue is complex but as followers of Jesus, we know our part of God’s mission in this world in which he has put us is to “participate in God’s reconciling work by making disciples of all peoples.”
You probably do not know this: Over the last year, Lake Avenue Church has been increasingly involved in this biggest refugee movement since World War II. We have partners assisting in Jordanian refugee camps. We have helped serve in outreaches to refugees in Lebanon. We have hosted meetings for the Church throughout SoCal to pray and discover together ways that the Church might respond. Recently, Pastor Scott returned from a week of interviewing workers in Germany in seeking ways to help link the churches of the U.S with the needs of churches and organizations on the ground in Europe -- seeking to offer a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus.
Why do we do such things? This is the mission that we have been given! For us, a Mission Statement is not simply a phrase that we put on a plaque and placed on a wall. It is God’s call to action – God’s call to be involved in what he is doing in our world.
#2: God’s Mission and You (Luke 2:52)
“We participate in God’s reconciling work by making disciples…”
Here, I want to talk with you personally as your Sr. Pastor. I want you to know that I pray for what God will do not only through your life but also in your life if you are an active part of LAC.
So, make note of this: The reconciling work that God is doing in our world is not just about all the messes and injustices and evils out in the world. It’s also about God cleansing, healing and restoring us personally. Listen to Col 1:21-22: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now God has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation…” How does God do that?
Do you remember those three principles that the Nine Mile Run Reclamation Project operated by?
- Not re-starting but renewing – When God calls you to follow Jesus, he never destroys who you are but starts with you where you are and begins to heal and re-fashion you. God reclaims you and begins to restore the distinctive life and beauty that had been abused for so long by sin. He is ready to forgive your past and to begin to build on the essence of who you are until you become complete – complete in Christ. As a local church, I want you to know that we are committed to that happening in the life of everyone who comes here.
- Not from a distance but personal engagement – God has made a commitment to being personally engaged in your life. Those project managers in Pittsburgh knew that transformation doesn’t happen from a distance. God knows that too! And God chose to enter into the smelly ugly and filthy waste areas of our lives caused by sin to do the work he wants to do in us. And he places churches like ours in neighborhoods so that we can be hands-on with one another, encouraging one another in our walks with God.
- Not cosmetic but transformational – God’s vision for what he wants to do in you is all-encompassing of your life. He has little interest in simply changing a few things or in short term external beautification. He’s after complete transformation. And when you follow him, you can be sure that God is committed to you for the long haul – until he has finished what he started in you.
All this kind of growth is what we mean by “making disciples” in our statement of mission. We’ll be talking about this a lot over the next few months. And I know that people new to the church have no real idea about what the word means. And, sadly for many of us long-time churchgoers, when we think about discipleship, we think first about programs and checklists of things we should do. But, even though discipleship might include some good programs and checklists, what discipleship is about is our growth in Christ. It’s about God doing his renovating and beautifying work in you. That’s why I showed you the Nine Mile run Reclamation Project. Discipleship is about God restoring the beauty of his image in you. “We participate in God’s reconciling work by making disciples…”
We’ll be talking to you a lot about the “how” of God’s renewing work in your life. We will call you to be more faithfully involved in what we call 1) worship, 2) community, and 3) service. But, today I want to simply put the mission in front of you.
And I want you to know that what I want you to do in your life is to grow. Did you know that Jesus grew? I’ve long been struck by Luke 2:52: “Jesus grew in wisdom and physical strength, and in favor with God and with people (Luke 2:52).”
There is a lot that is mysterious about that verse. At it’s heart is that Jesus was both fully God and fully human. As a human being, Jesus could not remain a baby in a manger -- or a 12 year old as he was in Luke 2:52. He did not have to grow in having the effects of sin removed or in his moral strength. But, look at Lk 2:52 again: Jesus grew in his inner being – in “wisdom”. That means that, somehow, he grew more and more in his understanding of who he was and how his Father would have him live. You and I need that too. Jesus grew in his physical being too. He was a steward of the physical body he had been given. And you and I also need to learn to care for all the physical and material parts of our beings. That’s a part of our discipleship too.
As your Sr. Pastor, I long for you to grow in both those ways as Jesus grew. I want you to grow in your inner being -- to know God and His Word. I want you to grow in such ways that you become free from sins that you feel prone to. I want you to find the freedom from failure and from addiction.
And I want you to grow in your outward being too – being a good steward of each part of your life, making wise decisions and using what God gives you in ways that honor him. Mostly, I want you to grow to love God with your whole heart and to grow to love all people.
That’s what I long for you. That’s my sense of our church’s mission in your life – that you will grow to become a fully committed Christ-like disciple who then finds joy in participating in God’s reconciling work through your witness to Jesus and through your life of loving service. I want you to be a part of something bigger than yourself. I’ll put it this way:
Following Jesus, I pray you will participate in God’s reconciling work -- by becoming complete in Christ yourself and then by making disciples of all peoples and generations.