Hope Church LV Sermons
ON MISSION :: LIGHT
Amen, I want you to try if you can to use your imagination this morning, alright? And I want you to try to imagine a scene that is early in the ministry of the Lord Jesus. If you know much about the history of his life up before his public ministry, Jesus lived the first 30 years of his life in basic anonymity and obscurity. Most people weren't aware of who he was, they didn't know his name outside of the region where he lived, the town where he lived. But when Jesus began his ministry, about the age of 30, the Bible tells us that one of the first things he did was he called his 12 disciples to himself. Those original 12 that would be his followers that he would pour his life into. And after he called those 12 disciples, the Bible tells us that Jesus began to go through the region known as Galilee, the very first miracle that Jesus ever performed was performed in the region of Galilee at the wedding there at Kana. Jesus began for the first time to perform miracles and he began to heal the sick and he began to cast demons out of those that had been possessed and oppressed by demonic spirits and word began to spread and the Bible tells us that word spread so much that people multitudes from Syria began to travel down from the north and from Judea they began to travel from the south and from the 10 cities of the region of Decapolis they began to travel from the east and we find Jesus and Galilee beginning his public ministry and for the first time the multitudes are pressing in all around him. People being healed, Jesus touching people and he begins to teach the Bible says there's one with authority and they never heard a teacher like that. Multitudes came and in the middle of that Jesus pulls away with his followers and parenthetically let me just say there's a lesson there for all of us. If Jesus needed at times and seasons to pull away and spend intimate moments with the father and with his disciples how much more to you and I need to be very careful that at times and seasons we're very consistent in pulling away to spend time with the father and in fellowship with one another. Jesus pulls his followers, now at this point it's not the multitudes, not the mass of people that have come for the show to come and see the miracles and see the signs and wonders at this point it's just those that have embraced his message. They've embraced him as Messiah and he takes them up on a hillside and he sits down and he begins to talk to them about the radical counter-cultural life that he's really invited them into. We know this talk as the Sermon on the Mount, that's what it's been called for centuries in Christianity. Jesus pulled his disciples but it's very early on in his ministry and it's almost as if in his humanity Jesus for the first time is exposed to the darkness of the multitudes pressing in around him and the lostness of humanity and he's so overwhelmed with that that he pulls his followers away to sit them down and it's important that you note this, when you look out over this crowd if you're using your imagination, Paul tells us later about this crowd that there were not many wise, there were not many mighty, there were not many noble. This group of people was not a who's who list of the community, these were not the influencers and major players in society. They were just regular ordinary people and yet Jesus pulls them to himself and he begins to describe this radical way of life that he's called them to. And it's as if in that moment Jesus is saying to them, "Man, you've got a mission." Overwhelmed with the darkness, listen to what he says in Matthew chapter five, beginning in verse 14. If you have your Bible, you can turn over there, listen to these words. He says, "You are the light of the world." You are the light of the world. Overwhelmed with the darkness around him, overwhelmed with the multitudes. He pulls them aside, begins to describe this radical way of life. We've looked at it, we began studying through the Sermon on the Mount in the book in the month of January. We began to look at these Beatitudes, these radical, countercultural statements that we came to understand the only possible way for you and I to ever live them out is Christ in us. He's the only hope we have of living this kind of life. In the midst of that darkness, he pulls his disciples and he says, "You, you are the light of the world." The city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, who's in heaven. I see what Jesus was saying to his followers on this day and what he's saying to you and me today is, "We're on a mission." And that mission begins by living the radical life that Christ has called us to in the ordinary everyday places. You see, as we begin to allow Christ to live his life in and through us, we become light in the midst of the darkness. We live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Las Vegas is known by most people in the world as an extraordinary place, an extraordinary city. And yet when you peel back the glitz and the glamour, Las Vegas is really just a city like anybody else. It's like any other city. The only difference in Las Vegas is we're just a little more honest in our town, right? Every city's got sin. We just put ours on the front shelf here in Las Vegas. We don't have a corner on that market. It's everywhere. But in Las Vegas, our city's just more honest about it. But Las Vegas, when you get past that exterior, that facade that we put up, Las Vegas is a place just like everywhere else, it's a place of houses. Over 700,000 households in the metropolitan area of Las Vegas, a lot of us have homes here in this city. Some of us wish we didn't anymore, but we own homes here. As funny as I travel across the country and speak in other places, and I tell them that we live in houses, it's almost like sometimes they're shocked. They thought we all lived in casinos and buildings down on the strip. But this is a city of homes, apartments, houses, condominiums, it's a city of schools. Over 400 schools, universities, public and private colleges located here in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. It's a city of businesses, thousands of places of business in this city. And our mission is to live the radical life of Christ in us, in the ordinary places of our everyday life. Jesus in these verses uses two different illustrations. He says, first of all, you are the salt of the earth in verse 13. You looked at that last weekend. This weekend we're going to focus on that phrase, "You are the light of the world." I want you to look at that on the screen, and I want you to say it out loud with me this morning. You're ready? One, two, three. You are the light of the world. I want you to say it again. You're ready? You are the light of the world. One simple words, and yet in those seven simple words, our entire mission is contained. I want to break it down by looking at each part of this statement. Here's the first part, the word you. You are the light of the world. The word you is a simple word. It's a word that you've probably already used several times today, especially if you've already had your coffee, right? You're already using the word you. It's something that we use in sentences so often we don't even think about that little word. It's a word that simply means the one or the ones being addressed. But that little simple word you as it's used here in the Greek text really has a lot of significant meaning. Let me tell you some of the things that are meant by this word you. First of all, you is a very inclusive word. He didn't say you the apostles. He didn't say you the prophets. He did not say you the pastors. He didn't say you the missionaries. He didn't even say you the small group leaders, right? He didn't even say you the mature believers. He didn't say you that have been to some discipleship and training classes. He simply said you. Martin Lloyd-Jones said this about that statement, that little word you. He said the danger is that we may read a statement like this and think about somebody else. We read that little phrase you are the light of the world and we think, oh yeah you Billy Graham, right? You Billy Graham are the light of the world or are you the missionaries or you those people that we stood up here a couple of weekends ago in commission. Those 40 plus people that over the next couple of months are going to go to four different places around the world investing in God's activity as short term missionaries. Oh yeah, those people, you, you are the light of the world or you, Pastor Vance and Pastor Mike and Pastor Travis as you unpack the truth of Scripture each weekend, you are the light of the world, right? But he simply said you. Martin Lloyd-Jones goes on to say the danger is that we may read a statement like this and think about somebody else, the first Christians or Christian people in general but it is ourselves to whom it refers if we truly claim to be Christian. You see the word you is it's used here is actually you plural. Now in the more refined parts of the United States of America we don't make a big distinction between you singular and you plural. In the more refined parts of our country we simply say you for you singular and you for you plural and only the context of the conversation helps you understand if it's you singular or you plural. I'm not from one of those refined parts of the United States. Where I'm from we make it real simple. In the state of Alabama we enjoy clear distinction between you singular and you plural. You singular is you. You plural is y'all exactly right. And if I was to address this whole group I might even say oh y'all right? Now I know if you're an English major that is causing you great distress this morning to hear me say that like fingernails on the chalkboard right. But it communicates and what Jesus really said here is y'all it's you plural. And here's what that means every one of you. You see this important role in the kingdom that Jesus is describing here is not reserved for the elite ranks of the Christian faith it was for every single believer. As a matter of fact some of the people Jesus was talking to in Matthew chapter 5 they'd only been saved a couple hours. You imagine the new guy? Jesus says you are the light of the world whoa I just got here I'm kind of new. He wasn't left out Jesus said every one of you. You is also a very personal word it's not just inclusive it's a personal word. The word you here as it's used is also emphatic meaning that it doesn't just mean every one of you it also implies each one of you meaning you could translate it this way you yourself are the light of the world what that means is it's not talking about the person sitting next to you it's talking about you I want you to do something right now I want you to turn to the person sitting next to you and say you he's talking about you. You is also a word that expresses a sense of urgency used emphatically as Jesus used it here in this text it literally could be translated you and only you meaning that you could take that little word you and literally you could translate this verse like this each and every one of you and only you are the light of the world you. That word are it's a state of being verb it's one of those two be verbs I think sometimes we can learn a lot by what Jesus didn't say here Jesus didn't say you will be the light of the world right it's not future tense describing something that somewhere in the future they would do or achieve you know this morning as we end this message in a few moments I'm not going to have to call you to commitment to see if you're willing to be the light of the world right he didn't say you will be he said what you are let me tell you what else he didn't say he didn't say you have been this isn't describing a past tense activity that we used to be involved in it's not describing something in the kingdom that you retire from well faster you know I've served my time as being the light of the world I'm passing the baton on to the next generation now now he looked at every one of them each and every one of them and he said you and only you are what's the implication of that I want to put it up on the screen look at this statement the mission that God has for you is not so much something you will do it is something that you are it means the mission that Jesus describing here is not so much about your activity as it is your identity you are third phrase the light what is light lights one of those difficult terms to define and going to an English dictionary it didn't much help because if you go to an English dictionary and look up the word light there are over 30 definitions for the word light in the English dictionary for example one of them is not heavy I don't think that's what Jesus is implying here you are the not heavy people of the world that's that's not what he's saying another one means to dismount from a horse to light I don't think he's saying you are the dismounting from a horse people of the world that's that's not the implication but just if you narrow it to talking about light like these things that are on the ceiling or up here on the stage just talking about light in that function there are still many definitions for the word light I want you try to think just for a second in your mind about how you would define light how would you define light let me give you some examples of how the dictionary defines light light is an electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range including infrared visible ultraviolet next rays and traveling in a vacuum with a speed of about 186,281 miles per second now if that's the first definition that pops into your mind please get out more often all right you spending too much time with a dictionary let me give you another one this was my favorite not dark but let me give you one that I think really helps us understand what light is in this context light is something that makes vision possible you see without light we can't see the human eye has been created in such a way that if there's no light doesn't matter how well your eyes functioning if there's no light you ever heard anybody say it was so dark I couldn't see my what hand in front of my face if it's dark enough where you are if there's no light at all your eyes can be fully functioning and yet you can put your hand right here and you can't see it at all because without light it's impossible to see the same thing is true spiritually without light we would never see God without someone bringing light we would never know the truth about God without someone giving us light we would never discover relationship with God on our own we were what the Bible describes living in spiritual darkness but Jesus said of himself in the eighth chapter of the gospel of John Jesus said I am the light of the world what does that mean here's what it means Jesus came so that you and I could understand who God is and what he's like you ever had a child or a grandchild ask you what's God like let me tell you the best answer you can ever give to that question Jesus the book of Hebrews teaches us that up until the coming of Jesus Christ we had seen glimpses of God portions of the character of God through the Old Testament signs and wonders through the prophets through the law we got pictures and glimpses of God but we never saw a full revelation of God but Hebrew says when Jesus came Jesus was 100% of God in the flesh meaning that Jesus was God with skin on God in human form so that you and I could see in a human being exactly who God is and what God is like Jesus came to make it possible for people to know about God but also make it possible for them to have a personal relationship with God but now Jesus pulls his followers in and he says you each and every one of you listen and only you are the light of the world how's that possible well turn over in your Bible to 2 Corinthians chapter 4 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6 listen to what the Bible says for God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ but we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power of will be of God and not of ourselves who he says right there Christ came to live inside of us that's what he's talking about this treasure in earthen vessels you and I are the earthen vessels were the clay pot and now Christ has come to live inside of us and to the degree that we allow Christ to manifest his life in and through us guess what we become we become light Christ living his life through us so that others can see in us who God is and what he is like let me say it another way as Jesus followers his radical life is now being pressed out through our lives that others may know the truth about him and be invited into a personal relationship with him you and me now are Christ in us not something we're becoming Christ in us the light the only Jesus that some people in Las Vegas will ever see is Jesus in you you are the light last phrase of the world the word world here is a word that refers to the peoples of the earth the inhabitants of the earth does this refer to the nations at hope we talk a lot about the nations reaching the nations with the gospel absolutely you and are the light of the world you and only you let me tell you where it starts this principle that Jesus was describing starts in the ordinary places where we live our lives every day Las Vegas is desperate for the hope of Jesus Christ we live in a city that is spiritually dark I'm not telling you anything you don't know there's a lot of darkness in our city let me tell you what Jesus is saying to you this morning you every one of you each one of you only you are the light the only way for them to see God the only way for them to know the truth about God Jesus says you well how do we do this well look at verse 16 he says let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who's in heaven we hear that phrase and we think okay it means now we got to go out and do something to somehow show people Jesus but that's not the the impetus of what this verse says Jesus starts it with the word let here's what he's saying I've come to live in you that I might live through you let your light shine you know what the good works here are I saw something yesterday I'd never seen never noticed this before God spoke it into my heart as I was reading this verse again I wrote it down let me give you a definition of what these good works are look at it on the screen good works are the radical way of life that is Christ in me that's good works good works are the radical way of life that is Christ in me it's not me performing something no it's me allowing Christ to manifest his life in and through me that's why he gave the two examples he said a city's not put on a hill to be hidden you don't light a a lantern in a house and put it under a basket no he said you put a city on a hill so that it can shine you light a lamp so it can shine Christ is saying I didn't come to live inside of you I didn't come to place all of who I am in you so that it could just be this little personal thing between you and me he said no I've come to live in you that I might live through you let your light shine so that they may see the life of Christ in you you know what this does it puts all the emphasis not on activity it puts it back on intimacy with God now as I pursue intimacy with Christ Christ changes me on the inside so that what comes out of me is not a better me but it's Christ in me listen there are people who will say all Las Vegas man it's not lost Vegas is a hard place people aren't open to the gospel I don't believe that let me tell you what I believe I believe Las Vegas is just waiting for a gospel they can see as well as here you know what the world's tired of the world's tired of us telling them we've got something better than they've gotten and live in just like they live let's just be honest you want to talk about relevance in the church we can make relevance all about lights and music and style of dress but that's not relevance relevance is offering them something that's different than what they have the reason they think we're irrelevant is because we profess to have a life changing relationship with the God of the universe and then we live just like they live they're waiting to see his life in us and his life in us is attractional the word good that's used here in Matthew chapter five it's not the normal word for good in the new testament it does mean good but it also means the quality of being attractive he says man let my life so shining you that my life is attractive there's something different about it William Barkley listen to what William Barkley said about this I love this quote listen what look at it on the screen a Christianity whose effects stop at the church door is not much used to anyone it should be even more visible in the ordinary activities of the world our Christianity should be visible in the way we treat a shop assistant across the counter in the way we order a meal in a restaurant in the way we treat our employees or serve our employer in the way we play a game or drive or park a car in the daily language we use a Christian should be just as much a Christian in the factory the workshop the shipyard the mine the school room the kitchen the golf course as he is in church Jesus did not say you are the light of the church he said you're the light of the world and in a man's life in the world his Christianity should be evident to all listen why was the world so attracted to Jesus let me tell you why because they saw in him a life that they never seen before and they didn't know much about it but here's what they knew that's what I want here's what Jesus is saying with this light of the world let your light turn here's what he's saying let me live my life through you so people will say this man I don't know what you've got but I want whatever it is you have I want whatever it is you have here's what I'm saying to you this morning whether you realize it or not you're a missionary where you work where you live where you go to school you and I are missionaries God's placed us where we are to be light to demonstrate his life listen to the way Barclay went on look what he says look on the screen the Christian must of necessity be a missionary it is not by his words but by his life that he will attract people to or repel them from Christianity on the Christian there is laid the great responsibility not of simply talking about Christ but showing men Christ not just in words but in life are you saying pastor that we're never to share the gospel with our mouth no that's not what I'm saying at all what I'm saying is my life could become the greatest platform I have to share the gospel with others you see as others see Christ in me and are attracted to the person of Christ in my life and they say man I don't know what you've got but whatever you've got that's what I want they see the way we work the way we go to school the way we live in our homes and they say whatever's different about you my family needs that then we're able to say let me show you who that difference is and we take them to the gospel and we share with them how they too can have the life of Christ in and through them you each one of you every one of you and only you are the only hope Las Vegas has of knowing about God of having a relationship with him say well pastor how how can we impact a whole city can we be light in a whole city how do we do that I want to put a map up on the screen this morning as we close and this map is Las Vegas it's a map of our city here God's called us to be light in this valley and I told you when we began that Las Vegas is a place of over 400 schools the last week last weekend and this week I sent you an email and I asked you to help me preach this message this weekend I asked you to respond and tell me three things number one where you work where you live where you go to school Las Vegas has over 400 schools in our valley did you know that our church has personal relationships through your attendance and family members and over 150 of those schools oh you see those little blue dots up there every one of those blue dots is a school in Las Vegas a college an elementary school a high school a middle school university where people in our fellowship are on that campus on a weekly basis teachers students family members I said Las Vegas is a place of thousands of places of business you have over the last week submitted hundreds of those places of business where you work I want to put those businesses up there on the screen and you begin to see the businesses all over this city where God has placed us as a church family businesses where we are there to be light there were 700,000 households in Las Vegas I want to put up here some more dots that represent the households of people that are in some way connected to this fellowship we are the light of the world now listen if we think that means that somehow people in Las Vegas are going to come visit our services that's not the way we are light in this city let me tell you how we're light in this city right there do you realize the tens of thousands of people that every week are in the circles of influence that are represented right here in these seats you know what this means right we're missionaries you know why you work where you work why you live where you live why you go to school where you go to school let me tell you why because God put you there to be light Christ lives in you and Christ desires to manifest his life through you and Teddy's going to begin to play softly and in just a second we're about to end our service we're going to do this a little bit differently this morning all right we are going to have some of our pastors and prayer volunteers at the front and at the back and if you're here today just like there were some in the last service if you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and you're ready to give your life to Christ this morning in just a moment when we stand up and sing you feel free to go to one of these pastors that's over at the front or at the back and you go to one of them and say I need Christ in my life today and they'll show you from the Bible how you can experience salvation but for the rest of us we're going to do something a little different all right let me tell what we're about to do I'm about to commission you as missionaries this weekend we've commissioned our whole church and you don't really have an option Jesus didn't say do you want to be he said you are and I hope when you leave this morning you never see your job your neighborhood your school the circles of them I hope you never see them the same way again I hope from this point forward you realize I'm a missionary place by God his life is in me and he desires to make his life known through me so I want everybody here this morning to stand up with me right now this stand up and what I want you to do is I want you to just place your hand on the shoulder of the person next to you as if we're laying hands on one another and we are going to commission each other as missionaries in this city to be light in this city to bring light in the midst of the darkness that the light of Jesus Christ can be made manifest all over this valley you saw it on the map God in eight and a half years has strategically placed us all across this city so we can be light you imagine what that map would look like if we dropped the eight churches that we planted in Las Vegas up there and did all their businesses and schools and households and saw that spread out let me pray father this morning we recognize and understand the biblical truth that we are the light of the world we're the light of this city and God that doesn't just mean when we come together on the weekend and sing and preach God it means every day when we go to work when we go to school in our neighborhood and what I pray tonight is we lay our head down on our pillow we think about how you want us to be light in our neighborhood how you want us to be light in our place of business got how you want us to be light in the school and the place where we're learning or in those everyday ordinary places help us understand we are on mission we are missionaries and lord this morning I commissioned this entire congregation or that means we're setting ourselves apart to be used for your glory to be light in this city lord thank you for the thousands of people this week that we'll interact with every one of us for their own circles of influence lord the thousands of people or this weekend if every one of us that's been in one of our services just bumps into 10 people this week god there'll be 16 17 18 000 people that will come into contact with this week lord some in this room have influence in this next seven days over hundreds some thousands of people lord uses for your glory may we be your vessels to bring light send the name of jesus we pray and all of us say together