So this morning we're reading from Matthew chapter 5 verses 1 to 16.
Matthew 5.
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Blessed are the pure in spirit, for they shall be called sons of the king of heaven.
For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket,
but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works
and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Morning, everyone.
Let's give the kids a second.
Okay, I'm going to show you some slides in a second, some pictures.
Now, I want you to do a couple of things for me.
The first thing is, I want you to try and guess who the people are in each slide.
So, Koo will bring them up in a second.
So, you're going to tell me who are the people in each slide,
and then I want you to try and guess the relationship between these people.
So, Koo just put up the first slide there.
We'll bring it up.
Who can tell me who are these people in this slide?
I can hear Jacinda Ardern, I think is what people are saying.
Yep.
Anyone for the other one?
Okay.
Mum.
Okay.
No.
All right.
That's Annette King.
We'll see how we go with the next one.
How about these two?
Who are these two?
Boris Johnson.
Yep.
That's the Prime Minister of the UK.
Anyone else for the other lady on the left there?
Ann Jenkins.
Yep.
Thanks, Liz Cameron.
It's not Ann Jenkins.
Okay.
No one.
Interesting.
Okay.
The next one.
How about these two?
Yes.
I can hear it.
It's Yixing Ping.
I probably said his name not very well.
Apologies for those who know how it should be pronounced.
Anyone else for the one on the left?
Grace Evangelical.
All right.
That is Chong Chong Yi.
Okay.
And we've got one more.
Anyone for these two?
Joe Biden.
Thank you.
Anyone for the guy on the left?
Okay.
Well, that's Graham Fletcher.
Sorry, that's not Graham Fletcher.
That's Michael Goldman.
I'm getting myself mixed up.
How could I forget who that is?
No, look.
Clearly, I never expected anyone to get the people on the left.
The people on the left are ambassadors to Australia for the respective person on the right.
So, in this case, Joe Biden is the world leader.
America, of course, is the country.
And Michael Goldman is his ambassador to Australia.
And now, if you think about ambassadors, what is the purpose of an ambassador?
What do they do?
Like, they go out, they talk to people in the country and they're in.
They represent the leader that they're for.
So, Joe Biden, for example, he'll say something.
You know, I want you to tell Australia this.
Michael Goldman will go out and he'll convey the message.
They try and convince people in the country that they're in about the message and the purpose
that they want to get across for their country.
They stick up for their country.
They represent their leader.
That's the whole purpose of what an ambassador does.
So, why am I talking about ambassadors?
I think you'll probably know it's not to try and get involved in world politics.
Today, we're talking about being ambassadors for God.
You see, we here at Grace, if you're a Christian, you are God's ambassador.
And just as every ambassador has a leader, as we saw on the slides there, so do we.
We have a leader.
And our leader is Jesus Christ.
You see, we follow him.
We represent him.
And it's not because we're in the same geographical area, clearly, like those guys on the screen.
We follow Jesus because of who he is and what he has done for us.
You see, Jesus is the king of the world.
We know that here at Grace.
It's something that we're very used to hearing.
He is the king of the world.
You see, without Jesus, we know there is no hope for this world.
We, if we are not followers of Jesus, we rebel against God.
We, before we became Christians, rebel against God.
We did not want to turn back to him.
Sin, it's what we know sin as.
We said we want nothing to do with you.
And we did not have any inclination of coming back.
Now, what's the consequence of that?
We all know is that we're cut off from God.
We're cut off from God who gives us life.
And the consequence of that is eternal death.
We are cut off from the creator of this world.
And so in Romans 6, verse 23, it says the wages of sin is death.
Basically, the payment and the consequence for rebelling against God is death.
And so Jesus comes in at that point in our relationship with God and restores the relationship.
Jesus gives his life.
He goes through that suffering and that pain that we hear about every week here when we come to church.
Crucified on a cross.
The ripping apart of that relationship between a perfect father and a perfect son.
He goes through all of that for the glory of God and the consequences that we can be saved.
Something that we know well if you're a Christian.
You would have heard this many times.
Romans 6, verse 23, the wages of sin is death.
But it doesn't stop there, does it?
It keeps going if you know this verse well.
But the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
And this is the Jesus that is talking to the disciples on the mount in this story.
This is the Jesus who the disciples follow.
He is our king and that's who we are called to represent.
We are Jesus' ambassadors to this world.
If you've got your Bible there, and hopefully you've already been following along a bit,
as Brie read, chapter 5, verses 13 to 16, we're going to kind of do it a little bit in reverse, this section.
But let's start at 13.
You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?
It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand.
And it gives light to all in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before others,
so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
You see, Israel was originally God's people.
God intended for Israel to be his light to the world.
He said to them, I'm choosing you, I'm saving you, and you are going to be the way that the world knows who I am.
It's what he said to them.
That was their purpose for being chosen.
But we know the story.
The Old Testament is all about this.
It's basically this cycle of God saves them.
They're really grateful initially.
Then they rebel and they reject him.
They want nothing to do with him.
And then they get into trouble and then they go, oh, no, we're in trouble.
Why have you deserted us?
And then God saves them again.
And then that cycle just keeps continuing.
But that's the purpose of what he called them to do.
But here Jesus says to his disciples, you are now my ambassadors to the world.
You are the way that the world will know who I am.
We are Jesus' ambassadors.
It's who we are.
It's our status.
That's what we are in Jesus.
We are his ambassadors.
You see that bit at the start of 13 and the same at the start of 14.
You are the salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world.
He's not saying if you choose to be and, you know, it's something you can do if you want.
You can follow me and if you want to be the salt of the world, then go for it.
He's saying you are these things.
It's who you are.
It's your status.
It's your very being as someone who follows Jesus.
And so the salt and the light metaphors, they are two metaphors, but essentially they say the same thing.
If you think about salt, I'm sure everyone here has salt in their home somewhere.
I'm hoping.
If you don't, then my wife will be very disappointed in you because salt is great.
I'll be disappointed in you.
Salt's amazing.
But what's it for?
Like, why do you put it in food?
Because you want to make stuff taste better generally.
Yes, you can preserve it, but we're not going to talk about that for a second.
It doesn't, you know, it's another use.
But basically put it in food to make it taste better.
Now, if the salt just stayed in a little rock and didn't do anything and didn't spread to the food around it, it would be pointless.
There'd be no point.
You'd basically be eating grit and so you'd take it out.
But salt spreads to the food around it.
It changes the food around it.
It makes it better.
In a similar way, and Don talked about this in his kids' talk, Jesus says, we are light.
And what does light do?
It impacts the area around it.
It gets rid of darkness.
It's so that, you know, we can see it changes the space around it.
If we put it, you know, under a basket, well, what's the point?
Like, the whole point of the light is that it changes the area around it.
If it's bright in the day, for example, we don't need to change the brightness so we turn off the light.
It's not needed.
That's the whole point.
And Jesus says here, you are the salt of the world.
You are the light of the world.
The whole point is that the way that you live will make the world know who I am.
We are people who represent God.
And for what reason?
In verse 16.
So that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Now, Koo, I'm hoping you can bring up the next slide for me.
If we think about Vicky from the UK again, Vicky Trudell.
Now, what does she do in her day-to-day job?
She's the ambassador for the UK to Australia.
What does she do?
Well, she doesn't stay in her embassy.
She goes out.
She goes into the country, Australia.
She meets with people.
She's trying to be like, yes, Britain's the best to get everyone on board with the cause.
She's really keen for people to hear what her country is saying.
She represents her leader, says what her leader wants her to say.
And we are the same.
We are ambassadors for God.
It's just that the message that Vicky is spreading is she's trying to be salt and light,
saying that Britain is great to Australia.
But we are God's ambassadors, representing Jesus and spreading his gospel.
Thanks, Koo.
If you're a Christian, do you live each day remembering who you are in Christ?
You are an ambassador for him.
You are salt and light for him.
Do you live a life reflective of those verses that we heard at the start,
the Beatitude verses, verses 2 to 10?
You know, with humility, relying on our king.
Because you are an ambassador at every point in your life.
It's not a Sunday morning thing.
It's not when you're at Bible study thing.
It's not when you're in a youth group thing.
At every point, in every time, in every situation, whether you are by yourself,
whether you're with other people, whether you're with family, friends, colleagues,
you are an ambassador for Jesus.
It is who you are.
So when you think about the things that you watch on TV,
do you think about and make those decisions based on who you are as an ambassador for Jesus?
In what you let your kids watch, in the jokes that you laugh at,
in the way that you engage with your non-Christian friends.
Is this how you think about that relationship?
That at all times, to those people, you are an ambassador for Jesus.
You know, responding to bad situations, the way you might get frustrated when things go wrong,
things that annoy you, how you react, how you spend your money,
how you prioritize things in your life.
Do you make decisions that reflect your status?
We are ambassadors for Jesus.
Now, for me, I think I have a generally good relationship with my non-Christian friends and colleagues.
I don't hide the fact that I'm a Christian.
Like, all of them know that I'm a Christian.
I don't, you know, they say, what are you doing on the weekend?
It's not like I go, Sunday morning, I'm going to a cafe and like pretend like I don't go to church or something.
They all know.
So I'm not hiding the fact that I'm an ambassador.
But I think about some of the areas in my life.
And I think for me, a big one is probably my school friends.
They're not Christian.
None of them are Christian, actually.
And I think about the relationships I have with them.
And I think that although they know I'm a Christian, I reflect on the way that I relate to them.
And I have to conclude that in many respects, I don't think I live a life that reflects my status.
I don't live a life that says I am an ambassador for Jesus and this is who I represent and this is what he stands for.
See, Jesus here says to me and to you, we are the salt of the earth.
We are the light of the world.
Put your light on a stand so that it can impact others.
That is your whole, that is what you do as an ambassador for me.
See, we are, you are, I am, Jesus' kingdom ambassadors.
But there are consequences for being an ambassador, aren't there?
Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 to 12.
Start at verse 10.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake.
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
See, Jesus here says that if you live your status of being an ambassador for him,
if you live a life that reflects Jesus, if you tell people about Jesus,
well, at some point, people are going to hate you for it.
You see, the kingdom of heaven and earth don't mix fundamentally.
What we believe in and what we care about do not match.
And Dave mentioned it last week.
Who values meekness?
I mean, seriously, who, like, I don't go to work going,
today, I'm going to be the meekest person I can be.
I'm just going to be out there, you know, people are going to say stuff,
and I'm just going to be real meek.
No one.
No one does that in our world.
Who values being poor in spirit?
What kind of self-help person on YouTube says,
you need to be more poor in spirit?
Fantastic.
Think of yourself lesser.
Think of Jesus more.
No non-Christian self-help person talks that way.
Be hungry and thirsty.
Who says, oh, you know, hate water.
Two and a half days, I'm going to push it just so I can feel that experience
of not having water in me.
No one says that.
You see, the kingdom life, and I guess what those,
the crux of those verses is saying is that we are to be dependent on Jesus.
Of course, it's not really about water and being hungry or thirsty,
but it's about being dependent on Jesus, relying on him for strength,
relying on him for being our comfort.
See, the Australian dream is not to be dependent on someone else, is it?
The Australian dream is that I would be, you know,
my self-made man or self-made woman.
I'm out there.
We respect people, in fact, I think, who do this themselves,
who are able to go from nothing to everything,
and they've done it all their way.
That's who we respect.
That's the leaders that we look up to.
But if we are ambassadors for Jesus, representing this way of life,
living a life that is reflective of Jesus,
then we can expect pushback for it.
You can expect persecution for living the life that Jesus calls us to.
Because the world does not accept Jesus.
Now, Dave mentioned here between verses 10 and 11,
if you were here last week, you might remember this,
he said that up until verse 10,
it's kind of saying a lot of those and these.
So, you know, the blessed, those who are, et cetera.
And then in verse 11, it swaps to you.
He uses the word you.
And Dave said that this is kind of reflective of the fact that
he starts addressing the disciples directly.
And although I think a lot of this stuff that he's talking about here
applies to us,
I think there are points at which it is helpful to remember that distinction
in the passage.
Because what Jesus says in these verses,
I think actually does mean something different to the disciples
than what it means to us here in Australia.
Now, I shouldn't say that it means something different.
The meaning is actually the same,
but I think the consequences are different.
Sorry, there's a better way of saying it.
You see, as Jesus is talking to his disciples,
he knows that for them in their immediate future is persecution,
is suffering.
Just read the book of Acts.
You can see it.
It's plain as day.
And I think that they, by and large,
went through persecution that we probably,
I don't think in our day-to-day lives,
will experience, I think, for most of us.
Probably most of us, not even for a day,
will we have that level of persecution.
You see, to the disciples, Jesus says,
blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
And it does mean something different to the apostles
than what it means to us here in Australia.
Look, if I was giving this talk in another country,
some countries around the world,
it would be a like-for-like comparison.
In some ways, we're fortunate in Australia not to have that.
But if we just talk about the death of the 12 apostles for a second.
Now, a lot of this comes from,
there are some that come from the Bible.
There's one or two that come from the Bible.
A lot of it comes from Christian tradition
and early Christian writers.
So take it as a flavour of what the apostles went through,
not as a historical narrative.
But this is largely how people kind of generally think
that a lot of the apostles died.
Now, my wife said at this point,
if you have young kids in here,
it might be a good time to just, I don't know,
run them out or something.
It's not going to be gruesome or anything.
But this is how the apostles died.
So I think let's start with James,
who we do know because he's in Acts 12.
It's recorded how he died.
He died because he was killed with a sword
for being an ambassador for Jesus.
Peter, the apostle Peter,
for being an ambassador for Jesus
is supposed to have been crucified upside down.
He didn't think it was good enough
to be crucified in the way Jesus was.
So he asked to be crucified upside down.
Andrew, for being an ambassador for Jesus,
was supposedly crucified on an X-shaped cross.
So two points in the ground instead of one.
The most common way Bartholomew is thought to have died
was being flayed,
which is basically I whip you
until all the skin comes off your back.
And then they beheaded him
for being an ambassador for Jesus.
Thomas, for being an ambassador for Jesus,
was stabbed with spears.
Other apostles are stoned.
We know that Stephen is stoned,
although he's not strictly an apostle.
Now, others are beheaded,
boiled in oil, beaten.
All of this persecution
that the apostles went through,
all for living as who they were,
their status as an ambassador for Jesus.
See, by being salt to the world around them,
by being light,
they brought many to Jesus' cause,
but they outraged a huge amount more.
They were joyous in persecution.
They were joyous representing their king
because it's who they were,
but it didn't come without consequence.
See, the reward is great for them in heaven.
They lived the life that they were called to.
They lived as ambassadors for Jesus.
And look, as I've said,
even though clearly what they went through
is probably something we'll never experience,
in some ways, the principle is the same.
If we are ambassadors for Jesus,
if we live the way that we know Jesus has called us to,
and I think if you're a Christian here,
you probably have a general idea,
then there will be many who do not like it.
They will see your life
and they will not like the way that you live.
Just like when the apostles did it
and just like when the prophets did it,
as it says in verse 12.
You see, persecution is what it means
to be an ambassador for Jesus.
It comes with the territory.
To help illustrate this,
Koo's going to bring up another slide for us.
We're going to move away from using Vicky as an illustration.
So let's go to the next one.
And we're going to use these two.
Now, I'm not trying to get political,
so I've used both.
That'll come back up in a second.
But these are the ambassadors to Australia and China
for their respective countries.
So the one on the left is China's ambassador to Australia.
The one on the right is Australia's to China.
Now, I think it's fair to say,
and not getting political,
but I think we can all agree here
that the relationship between our two countries
at the moment,
is not in a very good space.
I don't think anyone here would argue with me on that one.
Now, being an ambassador for China in Australia
or Australia and China
at the moment is not going to be winning you many friends
in the place that you're in.
You know, for example,
I don't think that there's many people in these countries
who are going to be inviting their ambassador
to have state dinners.
No, Australia's definitely not doing that for the Chinese ambassador.
China's not doing that for Australia.
I don't think,
I don't even think that the leaders of China
are talking to Australian leaders at all at the moment.
You know, by being who they are,
by being an ambassador,
they, you know,
you can imagine that all the words that they say,
whether in the embassy or outside or in a,
you know, a group of people,
they're all being monitored.
Australia does it as well, I guarantee.
We listen in on the conversations through radio devices
and tech that I don't understand.
But the problem is when you're talking about groups
who just fundamentally disagree on so much stuff,
this is the consequence.
But as ambassadors,
they're tasked with saying unpopular things
to the country that they're in.
We don't like a lot of the stuff that Chung says to us.
And I'm sure that they don't like a lot of the stuff
that our ambassador says to them.
It's really, you know,
it's not a good relationship at the moment.
I'm sure that they're heavily monitored wherever they go.
I guarantee that there's no way
that they can just walk down the street
and, you know, have no kind of attention.
I'm sure that does not happen.
And now I think, you know,
it's hard to think that either of these two
would be killed for being ambassadors.
You know, the outrage would be ridiculous.
But the fact is that they are ambassadors.
And for that,
they receive some level of persecution.
They receive pushback for being who they are.
If we are Christians,
it's the same thing.
You see, being an ambassador for God
brings persecution with it.
Now, at this point,
I want to take you through some reflecting
I've been doing on my life,
brought on by this passage,
which I think is a common experience
for people who prepare talks.
But there's one question that comes up for me
more than any other
when I was going through this.
And that is when it seems here,
like Jesus is saying,
that persecution and pushback
and people disliking his message
comes with the territory of being an ambassador.
When that seems to be the given
of the way that things work in this world.
And why do I find myself experiencing
so little of it?
Why is it that I don't experience this
in my everyday life?
Now, I think some of it can be answered
by the fact that I live in Australia.
We're a safe country.
I think that's the reason
no one's, you know,
busting down the door to try and kill me.
Strong rule of law,
strong police presence.
We're a Christian nation,
at least from Christian heritage,
I should say.
We have freedom of religion.
I think that can explain
some of the, you know,
death and torture end of the spectrum.
But I don't think it can explain
the lack of lower grade persecution
in my life.
And I think like people
not wanting to invite me to stuff
because I'm always trying to bring up
Jesus in a conversation.
I just don't want to hear
that type of thing.
You know, people giving me weird looks
in the street because I'm trying
to engage them with the gospel
in Cole's shopping centre
out the front of Glendale.
You have friends and family
being annoyed at the way
that I live my life.
You're wasting your life.
Like, why do you care about this stuff?
You're just wasting your life.
You're giving all your money
to other things.
It's stupid.
Colleagues not thinking about me
for a promotion
because I'm always trying
to bring up Jesus in a conversation.
Like, I'm just an annoying person
to be around.
You know, I don't want to receive
a negative comment
on my Facebook page
because I've posted
some Christian gospel message.
I don't want to have to get
into some argument
with someone about the fact
that they think I'm wrong.
You know, people making jokes
about my faith,
like, you're a Christian.
Good luck with that.
You know, mocking me,
thinking I'm a loser.
You know, even if I don't say it,
I can see it on their face.
Now, I'm not trying to compare
the levels of persecution
between us and the apostles.
Clearly, this is on a spectrum
where you've got death
on one end and, I don't know,
hurt feelings or something
on the other end
of the spectrum.
But I think that the thing
is still the same.
If you put your light
on a stand,
if you are salt
to this earth,
if you are light
to the world,
then you will receive pushback.
In fact, I think I've come
to the conclusion
that I don't think
you can be
a true ambassador for God
and not receive
some level of persecution
at some point
in your life.
I look at our world
and I just don't think
it's possible.
Now, when we're representing
him well
to our non-Christian friends,
to our family,
to society,
we should expect
to receive
some level
of pushback.
And so I think
I've concluded,
at least for me,
that a lack of persecution
in my life
over an extended period
of time
is probably due
to one of two things.
One,
that I am hiding
in my embassy
too scared
of what the consequences
might be
if I really make it known
that I am an ambassador
for Jesus.
or,
number two,
probably in some ways
a little bit more insidious,
I've started to like
the way of life
of the people
I'm representing too.
And the fact
that I don't receive
persecution
is because my life
does not look
any different.
And I think
I can see
some of this
in our church.
And I say
this as someone
who I think
I would say
I'm a core member
of this church.
I've been here
for about eight years.
But it's a very
comfortable place
to be,
isn't it,
as Gracie Evangelical,
to be an insular church.
We all
are here,
generally,
by and large,
ambassadors for Jesus.
You all believe
the same thing
that I believe.
You know,
I'm not going to receive
persecution
for getting up here
and saying that
I think Jesus
is the way
we should live our life.
In fact,
probably the exact opposite.
You're probably
going to be
encouraging
and supportive
of me living life
this way.
You see,
it's safe
to stay
in our embassy.
It's safe
to live that way.
And I must wonder
how much
do we as a church
really want
to engage
with our community?
How much
do we want
to be a light
on the stand
to Glendale
and Cardiff
and Edgeworth
and Argentine,
Ellemore Vale?
You know,
we have a building
in the area.
I think we're happy
for people
to come to us.
I think we love
having visitors.
We're welcoming
visitors.
We have a website.
You know,
we keep it updated.
We make sure
that people
can find us
on the website.
We have a logo
out the front.
We have a Facebook page.
But how often
do we meet
the community
where they are at?
Because a good
ambassador for Jesus
doesn't stay
in the church
confined
to other ambassadors.
See,
there are consequences
for being
God's kingdom ambassador.
And are we
willing to accept
those consequences?
are we willing
to have people
misrepresent grace?
That church,
they just spread hate.
They hate homosexuals.
They're just telling
everyone how they,
you know,
they live in life
the wrong way.
Are we willing
for that type
of persecution?
Are we willing
to potentially
have negative media
attention because
we have a group
of people
out the front
of Coles
in Glendale
telling people
the gospel?
Imagine for a second
that we own
the BCF building
next door.
Suspend your
imagination for a second.
Sorry,
suspend reality
for a second.
Use your imagination.
Would we be willing
on the side
of that building
to create
a giant billboard?
Jesus equals life.
All else
equals death.
Now,
you believe
that message,
don't you?
That's something
that we all
believe here.
But imagine
the reaction
we would get
if we put that
on the side
of the building.
Are we willing
to accept
the consequence
that,
you know,
the council
will be on to us,
that we could have
people picketing
in the car park?
Are we willing
to stand out
in a way
that will draw
people to Jesus,
even if it means
that many others
will hate us
for it?
Now,
I'm not saying
that persecution
is the goal here.
Persecution
for persecution's sake
is pointless.
We shouldn't be
trying to do
these things
so that we,
you know,
suffer.
It's not,
that's not the point.
We're not sadists
or anything.
I think that
if we are
representing Jesus,
if we are being
ambassadors,
if we are being
salt and light
in this world,
then persecution
comes with
the territory.
as verse 11
says,
you are blessed
when others
revile you
and persecute
you and utter
all kinds of evil
against you
falsely on my
account.
Are we okay
with being
treated differently?
With being
known as people
who go to
that church?
Because
Jesus'
gospel
ruffles
feathers.
There is
no way
the gospel
in this world
can go together
without there
being some
type of pushback.
See,
we are known
as a nice
church of grace.
God
and sometimes
I wonder
if we are
too concerned
with keeping
it that way
at the
expense of
being a
light in
our area.
See,
we need to
remember
who we
represent.
We represent
Jesus who
valued our
lives so
much
that he
went through
a level of
suffering that
we will
never
understand.
Without
Jesus,
every single
person that
you know,
without
Jesus,
friends,
colleagues,
people that
you do
sport with,
people you
see in your
community,
have a
mums group
with,
go to
school with,
all of
them have
an eternal
death if
they do
not know
Jesus.
remember
who we
represent.
Jesus
Christ is
the one
who we
are
ambassadors
for.
And the
other point
that I
mentioned
before
talking about
that was,
and I
guess I'm
coming back
to,
is that
perhaps
the reason
is that
we actually
don't stand
out.
We like
the way
of life
of the
people that
we're
representing
to.
You see,
in our
society,
relying on
Jesus is
100%
optional.
I think
by and
large,
you know,
we're
rarely in
want.
I don't
think there's
maybe
occasionally
and for
some people
more than
others.
But,
you know,
we've got
great government
support.
Generally,
we've got
great services.
We,
at least
here,
we have a
lot of
people that
we can
rely on
if we
get into
trouble.
But we
don't have
to look
different if
we don't
want to.
In fact,
it's easier
to not look
different.
I think
that's
very clear.
Why be
meek when
I can
be
respected?
Why be
merciful when
I can get
what's mine
and I can
make things
better for
myself?
Why be
poor in
spirit when
I can be
self-reliant
and self-confident?
See,
I don't
need Jesus
to be
successful
in this
world.
In fact,
it's probably
the opposite.
If I
don't have
Jesus in
this world,
I'll be
more successful.
You think
about school
amongst your
friends,
you know,
your workplace.
Maybe it's a
social club that
you're involved
in.
If you want
to become
popular,
just do what
they do.
It's not
rocket science.
That's how
people get
popular.
Make the
same jokes.
Care about
the same
frivolous
things that
they care
about.
Make them
the centre
of your
life.
See,
being an
ambassador is
not an
easy thing.
It requires
us to run
counter-cultural.
It requires
us at some
points,
I think,
to perhaps
not give
up,
to give
up things
that we
might otherwise
wish we
could have.
Living the
life of
someone who
doesn't
follow Jesus
can be
very attractive.
You know,
for example,
I get half
of my Sunday
back.
I don't have
to be here
with you
guys.
I can be
doing whatever
I want to
be doing.
I can be
out there,
I can be
going to
the shops,
I can be
playing extra
soccer on
a Sunday.
You know,
fantastic.
I don't have
to pay Dave
Bott's wage.
I don't want
to give my
money to Dave
Bott.
What am I
doing?
I could be
giving it to
my new car
or something
like that.
Supporting
charity,
like, you
know, maybe
I'll do a
little bit
of it because
I still, you
know, get a
bit of a
kick, but I
don't have
to do that.
I can, you
know, keep
it for
myself, spend
on something,
maybe give
it to family,
I guess, which
is not in
and of itself
a bad
thing.
I don't
have to worry
what I say.
I don't have
the pressure
of living this
good Christian
life.
Very
attractive,
isn't it?
I'm going to
be selfish
with my
time.
I don't
have to
feel guilty
about the
fact I'm
being selfish
with my
time.
It's what I
want to do,
living my
best life.
Sometimes we
wish we could
throw off those
responsibilities,
I think.
But we have
to remember
who we
represent.
We represent
Jesus.
I think that
type of thinking
happens when we
lose sight of who
we represent.
We forget what
he has done
for us.
We forget
that we
represent a
king who
at all times
in every
circumstance
wants what's
best for us.
We forget
that we
represent the
king of the
universe.
It's an
illusion that it
will be a
better life.
death.
Remember the
destiny, if you
do not have
Jesus, is
death.
And there
are some
here, I
think, who
probably do
suffer persecution
for being an
ambassador for
Jesus.
Some people
probably, I
imagine, up
until this
point have
been thinking,
this doesn't
really connect
with me.
for some
of you, the
struggle of
running
countercultural
is real.
And I
think Luke
offers a
great and
satisfying
comfort here.
When we're
tempted to
give up, when
we're sick of
being made to
feel like an
idiot, when
we're sick of
losing friendships,
family relationships,
or maybe the
relationships don't
even get off the
ground because of
the way that we
live our life.
I think Luke
offers us
comfort here in
saying, remember
who it is that
you represent.
Remember who
you are an
ambassador for.
You are an
ambassador for
Jesus, who
died on the
cross, who
was persecuted
for you, who
had his perfect
relationship with
his father torn
apart for God's
glory and as a
consequence saving
us from certain
death.
We represent a
king who walked
the walk.
He went
before us.
See, the
people we saw
at the start on
those slides,
those ambassadors,
they represent
people who will
in 30 years
probably not even
be on the face
of the planet.
They're failing,
they say stupid
things, they make
wrong decisions,
they change their
mind all the time.
they're ambassadors
for someone who
really, you know,
they'll be gone.
But as
Christians, we
are ambassadors
for the eternal
king, a king
who will never,
ever make the
wrong decision,
who always wants
what's best for
us.
We are his
ambassadors.
Remember who you
represent?
I'm going to
pray.
Dear God,
thank you so
much that you
sent your son
Jesus to this
world, that he
died and rose
again for us to
take our
consequence, to
take our
punishment.
God, I just
pray that we
would recognize
recognize that
we are salt
and we are
light, that
is who we
are, regardless
of how well we
might live it
day to day, that
is the status
that you have
called us to.
God, I pray
that in our
everyday life, we
would remember
that you, Jesus,
are who we
represent.
You are the
one that we
make our lives
known to those
around us for.
I pray that we
wouldn't take this
as a moralistic
challenge.
I pray that we
would remember
that ultimately
all of this is
for your glory.
All of this is
for your name.
And we are
people who are
here to represent
you.
Amen.