Considering Where God Has Placed Us
Acts 1:6-8
Previously…..(selected highlights)
Ecotone: a place at which two ecosystems come together, where they meet and blend into one another. It is a place unstable, shifting, and fragile but also fertile, characterized by diversity, fluidity, and transformation.
This Ecotonic Moment is not to be confused with, as Jeff Jones jokingly called, a “Gin & Tonic” Moment, (which I’m defining as a church inebriated into inaction by history or tradition) or being Egocentric (as John Lewis shared – we lose our way and mission when we think it’s all about us)
1/2/11 Dr. Greg Waybright – In preparing for this Ecotonic Moment was must:
- Know The Essentials - Know our faith better than we’ve ever known it before (so that we can live it in a relevant way like never before.
- Invest all you are in God’s Mission – Acts 1:6-8
- Love people – Both those in and not-yet in God’s family Acts 1:9 Ethnic change – a huge change, people wanted to be in God’s family but not in each others. Jew and Gentile did not want to be in the same church. God is bringing people into the family that we don’t want.
1/9/11 John Lewis – “Baggage” – The four things in our “carry-on” from the history of Lake Avenue Congregational Church we need to take with us are:
- Commitment to the declared truth of the Gospel.
- Whole life discipleship with a youth focus.
- Engaging and impacting our community – our Jerusalem.
- Carry the Gospel to the whole world.
Acts 1:6-8 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When I look at this passage and see the mission Christ gave us it immediately makes me think of this:
(Play Star Trek clip)
God gave us power to witness, just like Star Trek - “Hi-tech evangelism with weapons”.
(Everyone in Star Fleet bought into this mission except for Captain Kirk whose personal mission seemed to be to procreate with every alien species in the universe.)
If I was to phrase our mission in Star Trek terms it would probably read something like this:
“Sharing our faith…the final frontier. These are the voyages of the congregation of Lake Ave. It’s continuing mission: to explore strange new words (like Ecotonic), to seek out new relevancy within our community, to boldly go where we’ve never gone before.”
Dr. Waybright – “Power has come upon you to be a witness – Now go boldly and be a witness. Community – each other’s lives – affecting the larger community – and beyond.”
Our mission is to “Go with power” or “Boldly Go”! This is the language of the New Testament.
We’re told to boldly Go:
- Into our community
- Into the places and lives of those we’ve had no dealings with before; those who are different and make us uncomfortable.
- Into the uttermost parts of the world.
Although the crew of the Enterprise is told to go, there was a set of non-negotiable rules, morals and ideals that governed how the reached out to those who are not like them. These guidelines were called “The Prime Directive”. In essence, The Prime Directive instructed that Starfleet personnel were not allowed to share advanced technology or knowledge until it was first determined that the civilization was ready to receive it. They were forbidden to impose their culture and values on another civilization until an assessment could be made by getting to know the civilization.
In other words, before you decide to introduce who you feel will benefit another individual, get to know that individual first!!
So just like Starfleet, we too have a Prime Directive. Our Prime Directive has three components.
Component #1 of our Prime Directive: Go Ready to Love
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 13:34-35 - 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
1 Corinthians 13:5,7 (Amplified Bible) 5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
The love of God does not allow me to dismiss you because:
- I am offended by you.
- I don’t understand you.
- I disagree with you.
When I dismiss an individual, not only do I miss an opportunity to reach, but I miss an opportunity to be reached as well. (My dad coming to “straighten me out”)
We must be free from a church culture that un-Biblically expects the unsaved to act like us before they come into our churches.
Component #2 of our Prime Directive: Go Ready to Engage and Understand
Matthew 25:31-46 (Message) 31-33"When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.
34-36"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:
I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'
41-43"Then he will turn to the 'goats,' the ones on his left, and say, 'Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—
I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.'
44"Then those 'goats' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?'
45"He will answer them, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.'
46"Then those 'goats' will be herded to their eternal doom, but the 'sheep' to their eternal reward."
As long as I view an individual as “the Least of These” I am still putting them in a category that dismisses them as “some unfortunate soul that Jesus likes. My compassion is not genuine until I see that individual like Jesus. Then and only then do I see them as a person and not a project.
Being in a box towards others.
I Corinthians 9:19-23 - 19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
From the Father to the Son, the example was always sharing faith through fellowship. The Father wanted fellowship with man. The Son fellowshipped with “publicans and sinners”. They took the time to love, engage and understand an individual before they enhanced their lives in a relevant way. The great miracle is that God became like me, so that He could sit down and have fellowship with me, understand me and then reach me.
Component #3 of our Prime Directive: Go Ready to Enhance and be Relevant
Matthew 5:13-16 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
True service is when I take the time to find out what a person really needs. (Michael Mata & Subway, Sister Proctor and clothes, presents we by for others).
Story of wanting to be relevant – Blair – bus passes – to meeting with Superintendent – to community engagement – to making presentations to school board – to meeting with Superintendent and Board – to helping select new Superintendent – to Task Force – Summer School.
“The place God calls me to is the place where my deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet”. - Frederick Buechner, writer and theologian.
John Lewis • Copyright 2011, Lake Avenue Church