All right, so if you were with us last week, you know that we started a new series here in the evening service on discipleship.
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?
Here we are sort of after Easter.
We celebrated in the course of the church year the sort of great events of our faith, the incarnation at Christmas, the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter.
And now we're thinking, what does it look like?
What does it mean to live in light of all that Jesus has done?
And what does it mean to be his follower?
Last week, we looked at the end of chapter 9 and we thought about priority in discipleship.
And what we saw there was that Jesus challenges and almost demands of us that we put him first above all else.
That's what it means to be a disciple, to be working in all of life to put him first.
This week, we're going to see in the Gospel of Luke chapter 10 that being a disciple means having a mission.
So, if you would open up your Bibles or the Pew Bible there to Luke chapter 10.
What page is that in the Pew Bible?
Does anyone have it?
Want to shout it out?
868?
868.
Okay.
So, you can turn there to 868 in the Pew Bible or you can turn there in your own Bible or on your tablet or whatever you're using to Luke chapter 10.
And we are going to look at the first half of chapter 10 this week and then we're going to look at the second half of chapter 10 next week.
And I think what you'll see over the course of these next two weeks is this whole chapter really is about our sort of mission as disciples.
But this first half, we're going to look at sort of our word mission.
So, let me read Luke 10, 1 through 24 for us.
After this, the Lord, that is the Lord Jesus, appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
Go your way.
Behold, I'm sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.
Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.
Whatever house you enter, first say, peace be to this house.
And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.
But if not, it will return to you.
And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages.
Do not go from house to house.
Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.
Heal the sick in it and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you.
But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,
even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you.
Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.
I tell you it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
Woe to you, Chorazin.
Woe to you, Bethsaida.
For if the mighty works done in you have been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven?
You shall be brought down to Hades.
The one who hears you hears me.
The one who rejects you rejects me.
And the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.
The 72 returned with joy, saying,
Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.
And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Behold, I've given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions,
and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
that you've hidden these things from the wise and understanding
and revealed them to little children.
Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father,
and no one knows who the Son is, except the Father,
or who the Father is, except the Son,
and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Then turning to the disciples, he said privately,
Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
and did not see it, and to hear what you hear,
and did not hear it.
Okay, we'll stop there for tonight.
So remember the context of where we're at in Luke's gospel.
Back in chapter 9, verse 51,
Jesus finally has set his faith to go to Jerusalem.
Here he is, he's heading up to Jerusalem for the last time in his earthly ministry
to accomplish what he said at the transfiguration,
to accomplish his exodus, his departure, his going forth.
And I think it's very fitting that Luke uses the term exodus
to describe what Jesus is going to accomplish in Jerusalem,
because it's going to be a new liberation for the people of God,
their new moment of redemption,
just like the exodus was in the Old Testament for the people of Israel.
So this is where we're at, and Jesus is on his way,
and his disciples are going with him,
they're following on the road.
You remember last week, the reason why we're studying this middle section of Luke
is because as we think about discipleship,
here we have, in a gospel,
the disciples literally following Jesus on the road,
and Jesus along the way teaching them all about what it means to be his follower.
And here, in our text in chapter 9,
Jesus sends them.
He sends them out.
And that's what our word mission actually means.
It's a Latin word that just means,
you're sent.
And I think in this section of chapter 10,
we see two big ideas when it comes to our mission as disciples.
First, in the first half of the chapter,
we're going to take a look at some of the things that have to deal with the practice
of gospel mission, how we do it,
what's the nature of it, the practice of it.
And then secondly, in the second half of the chapter,
we're going to look at the heart of mission,
the heart of our gospel mission as disciples.
So, practice, that's verses 1 through 18,
heart, verses 17 through 24.
So, let's look first then at the practice of gospel mission.
Now, one thing we have to understand looking at this kind of text,
this isn't one of those texts we can just say,
okay, here we go.
Jesus tells the disciples to do this,
so we should do this.
Whenever I'm going to evangelize to my friends,
I need to carry no money,
no knapsack, no sandals,
and greet no one on the road.
That's how you do contact work.
No, okay, obviously,
this is,
John's thinking, yeah, I could do that.
No sandals, you've got it.
No, of course, this is,
so this is a unique event in redemptive history.
Jesus, for the last time in his earth,
is going to Jerusalem.
He wants to tell the towns that are on the way that he's coming.
He wants them to receive him
and to acknowledge him as king
before he goes and accomplishes his work on the cross
and his resurrection.
So, this is a unique sort of moment.
And yet, even though it's a unique moment
and not everything sort of maps on one-to-one
to what we need to be called to do today,
there's still a lot of principles that we can learn.
A lot of the principles remain the same,
and that's what we're going to try to look at.
And what we see, really,
is that one of the things we glean
from a passage like this at the high level
is that every Christian
is a gospel ambassador,
and every church, every local church,
is sort of like a gospel embassy.
That this is a place that exists
to sort of spread the message
of what Jesus has done.
So, what do we learn, then,
about our gospel mission today
from this text?
We're just going to kind of walk through
and look at some of the things we learn.
What do we learn from verse 1?
Jesus appoints the 72.
Now, you remember earlier
in the gospel stories,
Jesus chose 12 disciples,
or 12 apostles,
and he sent them out on mission.
Now, here, he's doing something similar,
but a little different, right?
This isn't the 12.
This is 72 others
that he's sending out in this way.
Now, almost every commentator
on this passage says
that that number is significant.
That 72 is a representative number
of all the nations of the world.
Where do they get that from?
Well, back in Genesis chapter 10,
there's a genealogy there
where it's describing
the sort of spread of humanity
across the earth,
and there are 72 names and tribes
that are listed there.
So, that became sort of
a representative symbolic number
of all nations.
So, I think what we have Jesus doing here
as he's sending out the 72
in a very symbolic way,
just like the 12 apostles
represented the 12 tribes of Israel,
and Jesus was saying,
I'm renewing the people of God.
Here, he's sending out 72
and saying,
we're going out to the nations.
Thus, what we'll see
in the second part
of Luke's two-part work,
Luke-Acts,
in Acts,
we see the Gentile mission
going full force, right?
And here,
in Luke chapter 10,
it's kind of prefigured.
Jesus is sort of telling them
in a symbolic way,
it's going to happen.
You're going to go to the nations.
So, what we're learning here
is that the good news of Jesus
is good news for the whole world.
Now, this isn't just something
for a few select people
in one little nation
in one little time.
No, this is for everyone.
This is what God is doing
for the whole world.
And that means that
our mission as the church,
our mission as disciples,
is to go out to everyone
to tell them about Jesus
and to urge them
to believe in him.
That's our mission.
To go out to everyone,
to tell them about Jesus,
and to urge them
to believe in him.
Now, to go out to everyone, right?
Not just, you know,
the people that we like
to hang out with.
Not just the people that,
you know,
are of a certain
socioeconomic class.
Not just the people who are,
you know,
this, that, or the other thing.
Not just the people
that are convenient
to hang out with.
Everyone.
Not just the good people.
Even the people
who seem like on the surface,
they need a lot of help.
And not just the people
who seem like they're not help.
The people who seem
to have it all together.
We need to go out to everyone.
And we need to tell them
about Christ.
What was the message
that he told them to say
when they go?
Well, peace on the one hand.
We'll talk about that
in a few minutes.
But the kingdom of God
has come near.
Whether they receive him
or whether they reject them,
the kingdom of God
has come near.
In other words,
the disciples were to go out
and say,
the king is coming.
Did you notice
that he sent them out
into every town and place
where he himself
was about to go?
So he's saying,
okay, look,
in a couple days,
I'm going to end up
in Brantford.
So you guys go to Brantford
and tell them
that I'm coming.
Tell them the kingdom of God
is coming near
and then I'm going to come.
So he's saying,
I'm coming.
And the message
was about him
and his kingdom.
And that's true for us today.
We're supposed to be
telling people about Jesus.
The message of the church
isn't merely
and really isn't even at all
sort of a moral program.
That's not what we're telling people.
We're not telling people,
here's how you clean up your act.
Here are 10 steps
to financial freedom
or whatever.
No, we're telling people
that there's a God
and a king
who loves them
and who died for them
and wants to reconcile you
and heal you
in every possible way.
We're telling them about Jesus
and then we're urging them
to believe in him.
Now that's going to look different
in different contexts,
you know,
but we're not just sort of saying,
hey, this is good for me
and if you want to take it,
great.
If not, no big deal.
No, there is a sense
in which we're calling people
to believe it.
There was an urgency
to what the disciples
were doing here
in chapter 10.
So this is our mission.
Now what else do we learn
from this section
in chapter 10?
How does Jesus instruct them
in verses 2 through 12?
Let's just sort of
go through there.
Look at verse 2.
He tells them to pray.
The harvest is plentiful
but the labors are few.
Therefore, pray.
And then he says,
go your way.
I'm sending you out
like lambs.
What do we make of that?
Well, I've never met a lamb
who could actually sort of
coerce or force someone
to do anything.
Right?
I think Jesus is saying here,
look, you're not going
with a sword.
You're not going
as sort of representatives
of some political kingdom.
No, you're going like lambs
in the midst of wolves.
The nature of gospel ministry
is that we're
preaching good news,
inviting hearers
to respond willingly.
We're not sort of
forcing them
or compelling them.
But at the same time,
it's urgent, right?
Carry no money bag.
What's that all about?
No money bag,
no knapsack,
no sandals,
greet no one on the road.
Well, I think
given the context,
Jesus was saying,
look, this,
we're on our way.
We're not turning back.
We're going
and we're going
and we're going.
There's an urgency to this.
We're on the move.
And even though today
we might, you know,
some of you might be
in New Haven long term.
Some of you might be
thinking about missions
work long term
in other places
of the world.
But there is still
an undercurrent
of urgency
to our mission.
This is something
that must happen now.
Now's the time
for us to do it.
We don't want to have
anything hold us back.
There's going to be
no extra baggage
on the way.
We're going to try
to limit our concerns
so that we can focus
around this mission.
Then look at five and six.
Whenever you enter a house,
say peace to this house.
Peace.
Peace is the message
that they bring.
It's interesting.
J.C. Ryle,
who was an English bishop
in the 19th century,
sort of was reading
this passage
and he said,
you know,
isn't it interesting
that this is the message
that Jesus tells them
to bring?
Now on one hand,
in the Jewish world
in the first century,
peace was just like
a way of saying,
hey, what's up?
Like, peace.
How's it going?
It was a greeting, right?
And yet,
isn't it resonant
that what the gospel message
is is a message
of peace?
And Ryle makes
the observation
that this shows us
what he calls
the simplicity
of the gospel message.
It's a straightforward thing.
That peace with God
is what we're talking about.
Verse seven,
accountability
and provision.
Jesus says,
remain in the same house
eating and drinking
what they provide
for the laborer
deserves his wages.
So he says,
on the one hand,
it's okay to receive provision.
That's good.
But then he says,
don't go around
from house to house
because in the ancient world,
what traveling sort of
teachers would do
is they would sort of like
peddle from house to house
as a way to just sort of
get lots of money,
you know?
So, okay,
well, I like Shanghai'd
these people out of their money
and then I'll go to the next one
and then I'll go to the next one.
He just says,
no,
go,
find one place,
stay,
be accountable,
be transparent,
receive the wages
that they give you,
receive the food
that they give you.
Don't look like all these other
sort of shady teachers
who are traveling around.
Interesting,
if you're here in the morning service,
this verse,
the laborer deserves his wages.
Paul actually picks up
this idea a couple times
in his writings
when he's sort of talking about
the way in which
those who give themselves
a full-time gospel ministry
ought to be supported,
supported financially
and given provision
for their work.
And he says,
this is where the Lord
sort of gave us
a precedent for that.
And in fact,
in 1 Timothy 5 actually,
if you look at 1 Timothy 5,
Paul actually quotes
this saying of Jesus
along with a verse
from Deuteronomy.
And he says,
here's what the scripture says,
this verse from Deuteronomy.
Don't muzzle the oxen
as it treads out the grain.
And here's what the scripture says.
The laborer deserves his wages,
a quote from Jesus.
Now here's what's really fascinating.
The only recorded place
where we know
that that saying of Jesus is,
is right here
in Luke chapter 10,
verse 7.
The laborer deserves his wages.
And Luke says,
or excuse me,
Paul says in 1 Timothy 5,
this is what the scripture says,
the laborer deserves his wages.
This is what's been written
about the Lord's commandment.
Very fascinating
that Paul is saying
there's a scripture
that has that writing of Jesus
and we all ought to obey it.
So,
sort of makes your historical imagination
start running.
Did Paul actually know
about Luke's gospel?
Was he referring to Luke's gospel
when he said,
this is what the scripture says?
And,
was he referring to Luke's gospel
as scripture
for the first century church?
Very interesting.
We don't know for sure,
but,
I think it's not implausible.
Well,
that's a bit of a sidebar.
Anyway,
let's look at the response.
The response in verses
8 and 9
and 10 and 11.
On the one hand,
if they receive you,
bless them,
say the kingdom of God
has come near.
But,
if they reject you,
shake the dust
and move on
and say the kingdom of God
has come near.
What is,
wow,
what is Jesus saying here?
And,
how does this sort of apply to us?
I think one of the things
that we see here
is that ultimately
there's no neutral response
to the message of Jesus
and his kingdom.
Either at the end,
now some people are in process,
right?
Some people are in process
of figuring things out
and they're on the road.
But,
you know,
at the end of the day,
you can't just be sort of neutral
or ho-hum
about Jesus
and the claims about Jesus.
You can't just say,
he's a good guy
and that's great for you.
This mission that we have
is serious business.
People are rejecting
or receiving the king of life.
And we see the seriousness
of that in the next paragraph
in verses 13, 14, and 15, right?
There's going to be accountability
in the coming judgment.
On the one hand,
to whom much is shown,
much is required.
There are some towns
in that day
where Jesus spent a lot of time
and they didn't repent
and Jesus says,
it's going to be harsh for you
in the judgment.
But,
interestingly,
these two cities
that Jesus points out,
Tyre and Sidon,
they were Gentile cities.
So,
there's a sense
in which Jesus is saying
that on the one hand,
to whom much is shown,
much is required.
But on the other hand,
the gospel is the great leveler.
That
these Gentile cities,
which weren't even
a part of the covenant community,
Jesus says,
look,
your status
when God comes
and renews all things
and sets up his kingdom,
your status
is not going
to be determined
by your family
or your formal
religious heritage,
no matter how devout you were.
You know,
these cities,
Capernaum,
Chorazin,
Bethsaida,
these are good Jewish cities.
And Jesus is saying,
that's not what's going to count
at the end of the day.
It's going to be better
for the Gentile cities
than for you
because if they had heard it,
they would have repented.
I think there's actually
a warning for us there.
Friends,
I wonder,
have you been under
the word?
Have you been around
Christian things?
Have you heard the gospel?
Have you
encountered Jesus before
in the life of the church?
Maybe you grew up in church.
Maybe you've
been around Christian things
for a long time.
How
are you responding to that?
Do you continue
to push it off
and push it off
and push it off?
Jesus is saying
that can be
a very dangerous
place to be.
Now's the time
when you need
to receive it
and trust in him.
Well,
one last thing
about the practice
of ministry here,
about the practice
of mission.
Look at verse 16.
The one who hears you
hears me,
and the one who rejects you
rejects me,
and the one who rejects me
rejects him who sent me.
That is a fascinating verse.
Do you see the tight bond there
that Jesus is drawing
between his messengers
and himself
and the Father?
The Father
sends the Son.
The Son
sends the church.
Almost in an
unbroken chain.
And the point
that Jesus is making here,
to reject the church,
is ultimately
to reject God itself.
If that church
is preaching
the apostolic gospel
that the Bible gives us.
So we see here
that Jesus himself
is affirming
that disciples are ambassadors
of his in the world,
that they're taking his words
to the world.
And I think ultimately
that should give us confidence
in our mission.
You know,
that the things
that we're bringing
to people
aren't just sort of things
that we've kind of made up.
But that these,
this is the very message
of God
given through his Son,
entrusted to the church,
that will bring joy
and hope
to all nations.
But I think this verse
also speaks to a big issue
that we all face.
In mission
and in evangelism,
which I know for me,
this is like sort of
number one problem.
There's a fear of rejection,
right?
Why are we hesitant
to share our faith?
Why are we hesitant
to do,
to take part in this mission?
Because we're afraid
that people will reject us
and won't like us.
We'd like to be liked.
But what's interesting here,
do you notice
what Jesus says?
The one
who rejects you
rejects me.
You know,
ultimately,
if we're sharing
the message
about Christ
prayerfully
and winsomely,
it's not ultimately
us
that's being rejected.
In some sense,
it is.
But ultimately,
it's Christ.
And that ought to take
some of the focus
off of ourselves,
I think,
when we're engaged
in just sharing Jesus
with our friends
and taking part
in this great mission.
that really Jesus
is at the center.
It should put our focus
back on Christ
and put our focus
back on those
whom we're loving
and those whom
we're serving
and those whom
we're trying to share
because the one
who rejects me
rejects him
who sent me.
It's interesting,
we get so focused
about this third thing
in the line.
Me,
oh,
rejecting me.
But we don't see
that they're rejecting
actually Christ.
They're actually rejecting
the one who sent Christ,
the Father,
the God of all creation.
I think that will
de-center us a little bit
and help us to see
that there are bigger
things at stake here
than my own ego.
So stepping back then,
there's the first half
of our section
about the practice
of gospel mission,
of discipleship mission.
I think it's easy to,
as we think about
our mission as disciples,
as we think about
our mission as a church,
it's really easy to feel
like we're falling short,
right?
I mean,
if we were to sort of
go around the sanctuary
and say like,
hey,
how'd you do in evangelism
this week?
Or let's talk about
spiritual disciplines.
How'd you do in Bible reading?
Great.
How'd you do in prayer?
Eh,
pretty good.
How'd you do in fasting?
What's that?
How'd you do in evangelism?
Oh,
then we all sort of
get embarrassed and quiet.
And I'm the same way,
right?
I wish I was much more bold
and much more winsome
and much more engaged
in sharing my faith
than I am right now.
I think we all feel like,
gosh,
I have so much to grow
in this area.
So what are some things
we can glean in for our own hearts
as we sort of come to this text
with that kind of realization?
Well,
I think some very straightforward things.
Jesus begins his instruction
to his disciples
by saying,
pray.
I mean,
he encourages them
that the harvest is plentiful,
but the labors are few.
Pray earnestly.
Pray.
That should really be
the first step for all of us.
We think about the neighbors
that we wish we could have
spiritual conversations with,
or we think about our roommate
who just seems so far from the Lord.
Pray.
And second,
Jesus says,
go.
Go your way.
And then he says,
go where there's opportunity,
right?
If there's a son of peace there,
that's as if someone receives
your message,
you know,
it will rest.
I may have not returned to you.
Remain in the same house.
You know,
so if there's an opportunity there,
go.
Step out in faith.
See what happens.
Go where there's opportunity.
And as you go,
keep the main thing,
the main thing.
Verse five,
peace be to this house.
You don't have to answer
every single apologetic question
that's ever been devised
by every sort of thinking,
skeptical mind in the world,
right?
I think oftentimes
when I think about evangelism,
I think,
if I have a spiritual conversation
with this person,
they're going to ask me
all the questions
I don't know how to answer,
right?
They're going to be like
the most like hardcore,
doubtful,
skeptical person on the planet.
Friends,
most people are not that way.
And at the end of the day,
the message of peace
is the one that all our hearts want.
It's the one that we're all longing for.
And I think lastly,
just listen.
Just listen to people.
Pray and go
and keep the main thing
the main thing
and listen to what they're saying.
Listen to their questions.
Attend to them.
If you want some good books to read
that will help you
sort of think through
communicating the faith,
I think Tim Keller's
Reason for God is good.
I think C.S. Lewis'
Mere Christianity
is still pretty good.
Those are two that I think
get your juices flowing.
They're really written well
to explain Christianity
to those who are outside of the faith.
That will help you.
If you're looking for
a really simple gospel outline
that you can sort of digest
if you're thinking about,
man, I don't even know
what I would say.
Two Ways to Live
is a good gospel outline.
It's kind of long.
It's sort of detailed,
but that's okay.
I think we've got some
on the back back there.
Two Ways to Live
is a good sort of
simple gospel outline
that you can read
and pray over
and think about sharing
with someone.
So there's some resources
to think about.
So that's what we see
about the practice of mission.
Let's keep going
and let's look at
the heart of mission.
This is probably
one of my favorite parts
in this passage.
Look back at verse 17.
The 72 return with joy
saying,
Lord, even the demons
are subject to us
in your name.
So the disciples come back
and they have like
had a lot of ministry success.
Like they've gone out.
Who knows what they were thinking
when they went out.
Maybe this is going to work.
Maybe this isn't going to work.
They show up in the towns
and suddenly God shows up
and he starts doing stuff.
And they're sort of
seeing the exercise
of spiritual authority.
Even demons
are subject to his name.
You know?
They're coming back
like kids from the candy store.
Can you believe it?
And Jesus celebrates with them.
I saw Satan fall
like lightning from heaven.
High fives.
Okay?
I've given you authority
to tread on serpents
and scorpions
over forces of evil.
Jesus being metaphorically there.
And over all the power
of the enemy.
Nothing shall hurt you.
He's saying,
yes,
when you're with me,
that is the kind of confidence
you should have.
Nevertheless,
Jesus says,
nevertheless,
do not rejoice in this,
that the spirits
are subject to you,
but rejoice
that your names
are written in heaven.
There's an incredible principle
in this paragraph.
Jesus tells us emphatically
not to rejoice
in our ministry success,
but to rejoice
that our names
are written in heaven.
To find our joy,
our delight,
not in our performance,
not in how well
things have gone for us
in ministry or in mission,
not to make that
our heart's delight,
but to make the fact
that our names
are written in heaven
our hearts delight.
What does that mean
that our names
are written in heaven?
Well, it means
that God knows us
and God's justified us
and accepted us
and made us a part
of his family forever.
And how does that happen?
How do our names
get written in heaven?
Is it sort of like
an all-star list?
Okay,
Laura Takasugi,
10 converts,
she gets on the list.
No, right?
How do our names
get written in heaven?
Not by our works,
but by his grace,
through faith as a gift.
When my children were born,
we had to fill out
this paperwork
for each one
to make sure they'd like
get a birth certificate
and get a social security card
and have a name
and all this sort of stuff.
So I'm assuming
that through all that,
their names are written down,
somewhere,
at City Hall
and their names
are written down somewhere
at the social security office.
And what they have
written down there
is that Jack and Claire
and Owen
are the children
of Nick and Beth Lauer,
born in New Haven,
Connecticut,
et cetera, et cetera.
And their names
were written down
before we really knew
anything about them.
You know,
we didn't even know
what color their eyes
were going to be.
Before they'd done
anything good,
their names were written down
as our children.
And friend,
it's the same thing
spiritually with us.
when God redeems us
in Christ,
before we had done
anything good,
he writes our names down
permanently in heaven.
you belong to my family now.
And Jesus says,
rejoice in that.
Make that your joy.
In other words,
rejoice more
for what God
has done for me
rather than
what God might do
through me.
Make my joy
more
that I'm
loved by God
in Christ
more than
that I'm used
by God
in Christ.
And what's the danger
if we get that mixed up?
Why is Jesus so adamant?
I mean,
he's kind of,
he's sort of raining
on their parade
right here.
Great!
But,
right?
What's the danger?
Well,
there's a massive danger
if we place
our worth
as disciples
in our success
in mission.
Because isn't that
just another form
of self-salvation
and self-justification?
That my sort of
present,
subjective
joy
and peace
in the Lord
is based on something
that I do,
how well things
are going
in mission.
And if that's
the sort of
thing we're trying
to base
our joy on,
our stability on,
then we're just
going to ride
a rollercoaster
of up and down
when things are going
great in mission
and we had a really
good conversation
with our neighbor.
We're going to feel
awesome and we're going
to feel like we're doing it
and we're even going to
start to feel proud
because I did it.
But then when things
are going really bad,
maybe when we kind
of messed it up
with our co-worker
at the water cooler
or whatever,
said something
kind of awkward,
you know,
then we get out
despairing.
Ah, I blew it.
They're never going
to come.
Ah, I'm such a failure.
Beat ourselves up.
Jesus says,
I don't want you
to ride that rollercoaster.
I want you to rejoice
that your names
are written in heaven.
Put your joy there.
Because the reality
is if we don't
put our joy there
and we put it
in our ministry success,
then what's going
to happen
is that our mission,
our ministry
is actually going
to be motivated
more by fear
than by love.
This is the other danger.
We're going to be
motivated by fear
that we're falling short.
And I better get
out there and do it.
Motivated by fear
that we're not
measuring up.
Oh, I'm not
as good as Christian
as this person.
I better get out there.
Motivated by fear
that we might be
losing God's favor.
And friends,
a mission motivated
by fear
is not going
to be a fruitful mission.
It's not going
to be winsome.
It's not going
to be glad.
It's not going
to be attractive.
But if we place
our joy,
if we place
our self-worth
in the fact
that our names
are written in heaven,
then,
our mission
is going
to be motivated
by love.
Because we know
that God loves us.
Regardless of what we do.
Even if we stink
at evangelism,
God still loves us.
And then we can go out
just because we love
the other person.
Because we love God.
God.
And Jesus ends
his teaching
in this chapter
on mission,
anyway,
reinforcing
kind of this
joyful confidence
in two ways
in these last
two paragraphs
of our text.
Starting in verse 21
and in the second paragraph
starting in verse 23.
In verse 21,
it's very interesting.
In that same hour,
Luke says,
Jesus rejoiced
in the Holy Spirit.
It's one of the few times
where we're told
that Jesus rejoices
in the Bible.
Here is a window
into the joy
of our Savior.
And what is it?
What gives Christ joy?
That the Father
has revealed
these gospel truths
to his disciples.
And then in 22,
he kind of unpacks
that a little more.
And in 22,
we have this
incredible,
mind-blowing statement.
All things
have been handed over
to me and by my Father.
And no one knows
who the Son
is except the Father
or who the Father
is except the Son
and anyone to whom
the Son chooses
to reveal him.
That is a wild statement.
The problem is
that we're used
to reading the Bible.
So when we read
a verse like that,
it seems kind of familiar.
But when we look
at a verse like that
with fresh eyes,
you have to realize
that that is an insane
thing to say.
If I were to say
that Matt knows me
really well,
okay, that's fine.
We spend a lot
of time together.
But if I were to say
that the only one
who can really know me
because I'm so great
and so profound
and so awesome
is the Father,
what in the world
would I be saying?
these are the kind
of verses
that you expect
to find in the
Gospel of John,
right?
In the Gospel of John,
Jesus is always saying
stuff like this.
I've come from the Father.
I'm one with the Father.
Don't you get it?
And then sometimes
critical scholars
will say,
oh, Jesus never says
anything like that
in the synoptics.
And then we've got
verses like this
that just blast
right out of the page.
As stark
and as clear
of a statement
of Jesus' high
identity with God
as we find anywhere
in the Gospel of John.
Jesus himself saying,
no one knows
who the Son is
except the Father
or who the Father
is except the Son.
Now why does that
bring Jesus joy
in anyone to whom
the Son chooses
to reveal him?
I think in the context
of thinking about mission
and our joy,
and mission,
the heart of mission,
what Jesus is saying here
is that look,
I'm the one
who's at the center.
What matters
in all of this
is knowing me.
Knowing the Father
through the Son
because the Son
has chosen
to reveal it to you.
That's what it's all about.
Knowing God.
Not performing.
John 17, 3 says,
Jesus says,
this is eternal life
that they know you,
the only true God
in Jesus Christ
whom you have sent.
This knowledge,
this fellowship
that we have with God,
with the Father,
through the Son,
that's what brings Christ joy.
That that has sort of
broken up.
That the vertical axis
between us and God
has been split open
and there's fellowship now
between us
because the Son
has chosen
to make it happen.
second thing
that Jesus points us to
in verse 23
is that what the disciples
are seeing and hearing
is the climax
of the Old Testament.
That everything
that God had been doing
horizontally in history
is coming to its
point of climax
right now.
Interesting.
I tell you,
many prophets and kings
desire to see
what you see.
David wanted to see
what we see.
Solomon wanted to see
what we see.
Isaiah,
Jeremiah,
Ezekiel.
Scott and I were talking
about Ezekiel
before the service.
And the amazing thing,
you remember what Ezekiel saw
in Ezekiel chapter 1?
He saw a representation
of the glory
of God itself.
And it kind of freaked
him out.
And yet,
Jesus says,
all of them
were wanting to see
what you see
and hear what you hear.
The great fulfillment
of all these promises.
The glory of God revealed
and his saving work done.
So friends,
this is the heart
of our gospel mission.
That our names
are written in heaven.
That the Son reveals
the Father
and we can know him.
And that that long story
of the Old Testament
has come to its climax
and we're living
in the midst of it.
And to just end,
I think if we take
these things to heart,
we'll at least
have three results.
I think if we really
sort of push down
on these things
that Jesus points us to here,
if we really take them
to heart,
I think that's going
to give us first
a lot of freedom
in our mission.
when we know
that our place
in God's family
isn't based
on our ministry productivity,
suddenly we're free.
It frees us
from the burden
and the guilt.
Second,
I think it gives us
a lot of confidence.
The Son
has revealed the Father.
Jesus is very clear there.
I'm the one
who reveals the Father
to people.
I'm the one
who chooses to do it.
The Son
has revealed the Father
and the reason
that gives us confidence
in mission
is because the Son
continues to reveal
the Father.
It's not ultimately
my words or your words
that's going to change
someone's heart.
It's God's work.
I'm just the messenger.
And Jesus is faithful.
He loves the lost
and he's going
to accomplish his work.
This is going to give us
a lot of confidence
in mission
if we take these things
to heart.
And last,
I think this gives us
a lot of excitement
in mission.
To know
that what's happening
through Christ
in the church,
the kingdom advanced
to all nations,
that this is what history
has been waiting for.
That this is what
God's history
has been leading to.
And this is the trajectory
into the new heavens
and the new earth.
That the rightful
King and Savior
is here.
That the one
who can restore
our hearts
and reconcile us
to God
and to one another
has come.
And that should
give us excitement.
That we're not
just trying to convince
people to believe
something that we believe.
We're beckoning
them into life.
We're beckoning
them into the thing
that God made them for.
And that ought to be
thrilling
and that ought to be
exciting.
Because ultimately
mission is just that.
It's an overflow
of joy.
joy.
You know,
you see it here
that Jesus
sends out the church
just like the Father
sent him out.
The sending of the Son
results in the sending
of us as his disciples.
And why did the Father
send the Son?
Why did Jesus
go to the cross
and endure all that shame?
Hebrews says,
for the joy set before him.
It was a mission of joy
that sent the Son out.
That's why he's rejoicing.
Because the disciples
are finally starting
to see it.
That their relationship
with the Father
has been healed
through the Son.
And they can take part
in sharing that news
with everybody.
Well, let's pray together.
Father, we're so grateful
that you not just
call us to yourself.
But Lord,
you give us a place
in your kingdom
and you give us
a purpose and a mission.
Lord, we confess
the ways in which
we've been scared
or been fearful
to share with others
the news about you.
Lord, we thank you
for the confidence
that we have
that you're a good God
who loves your children
and you love the lost.
And Lord,
we need not fear rejection
or alienation.
Lord, because
ultimately,
God, the joy
of seeing others know you
is greater than
the potential loss
of perhaps experiencing
rejection or alienation
or not being liked.
Lord, I pray that those
things would well up
in our hearts,
that we would bring
our neighbors
and our coworkers
and our friends
before you in prayer
and God,
that you would draw them
to yourself by your spirit.
Help us, Lord,
to be faithful
in this mission,
we pray.
Amen.
Friends, we're going
to sing one song
in response to close.
So let's stand
and let's respond
and let's sing together.
Amen.