Northside Church - Sydney
Never Ending Story Week 6 AM: Impacting Eternity
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well guys, I don't think I ever forget this day. It was in February 1982. I was just a young man in my early 30s with lots of hair. It was my first official day as an ambassador. I've been chosen with five other young professional men in South Australia to be participants in what was called and still is called the Rotary International Group Study Award and it was where you essentially became an ambassador, not on behalf of the government and not on behalf of the whole of Australia, just simply in this case for the city of Adelaide, representing Rotary International in this case it was the city of Houston, Texas. We went there for six weeks and on this particular day I got a sense of what it means to be an ambassador because it kept getting drilled into us, what our responsibilities were, what we would be doing over there, how we would be representing Adelaide, and in that sense the whole of South Australia I guess, in a wider sense Australia. We started the day by going to have a cup of tea with the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, I remember that was a very prestigious moment, then we walked along Adelaide's very small city, you can walk everywhere, walked along to the Premier's office and had a little chat with him, given a few flags and different things to give away when we got to Houston, and finally ended up in the residence of the Governor of South Australia, who in those days, for you historians, was a former Methodist minister by the name of the Reverend Keith Seaman and he was the Governor of South Australia and we had a little chat with him and then met our families down at the airport, Big Farewell and we were on our way to Houston, Texas, my very first trip overseas actually. Doing the official role as ambassadors and it was an onerous task but a very, a great privilege, it would be interesting to pass the microphone around this group because I would imagine that some of you have had the privilege also of serving in an ambassadorial role, might have been in sport, might have been in business or education, we had a few in the first service, people given the task, that's why the Olympians sort of take that role, particularly the one who bears the flag, so seriously because it's a real ambassadorial role on behalf of our nation, well look in the passage, in this passage today Paul applies the idea of being ambassadors to the Christian life and he says in verse 20, here we are then speaking for Christ, in other words representing the very person of Jesus himself, he goes on, we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us, be reconciled to God, and so here's Paul, laying the awesome responsibility and privilege on himself and on the Corinthian Christians and on us to be ambassadors for our Lord Jesus Christ, people ready, willing and able to speak a word for him and more importantly to live our lives for him, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Book the Bible. This verse, verse 20 I believe highlights a powerful reality which relates to the work of the kingdom and it's been coming through this series week after week, namely this, the Christian gospel, the good news of Jesus only has a real effect in the hearts and lives of people when they see it in action, how many times has that been coming through in these last six weeks, that's when we start to connect with people, you say all the words, but it's when they see Christianity in action, that's when under the right circumstances people will start to take notice, when they see evidence that those who claim to have been changed by the Christian faith are themselves instruments of transformational change, when they say that those who say they are helped by their faith in Jesus are in fact involved in helping others, when they say that those who claim to have been rescued by Jesus Christ are themselves involved in the rescue of people in need, we saw it last week with the parable of the good Samaritan, this is why throughout the series there's been this repetitive emphasis on the discovery and the application of our gifts, that's come through so often, we've talked about the need for passion, what are you passionate about, to use the Bill Hywell's question, what makes you cry, what really touches you, and when gifts and passion intersects, then we start to discover God's purpose for us individually and in a collective way for the whole church, we then talked about how we, and our gifts and passion is going to meet like that, it's just the place, that's the sweet spot God wants us to be in, it's all part of the privilege and the responsibility of being an ambassador for Christ, and friends I guess it raised the question, and the question is this, how much stronger and more effective might the church be today if those charged with the responsibility, the privilege of speaking for Christ, were seen as worthy ambassadors, I mean sadly the church of Jesus is coming for a pretty rough time in recent years through the media, would you agree, I mean it's, we've been hammered pretty much relentlessly, the behaviour of certain tele-evangelis, the behaviour of certain abusive priests, sometimes Christian leaders who come across in the media with a harsh and sort of a negative and judgmental kind of tone in relation to certain social issues, I think Paul would say, you know, it's not through the media, it's not through the media that the church makes its greatest impact, and in his day of course the media was nowhere near as developed as it is today, but he would say it's not through the media that the church has its greatest impact, rather it's through the simple, ordinary witness and work of Christians like you and me, just the way we go about our work and our lives, the way we slowly but intentionally influence people, and as part of his urging the Christian or the Corinthian Christians rather and all of us to be effective ambassadors, Paul powerfully and succinctly outlined some of the foundational truths of the gospel here in the fifth chapter of the second book to the Corinthians, and his purpose is to get him fired up, he wants to get him excited about the Christian faith, he wants to remind them of the essential elements of this gospel we have so they'll take on the ambassadorial role with greater passion, so he highlights some of the big rock items of the gospel and he says, "An ambassador for Christ, as ambassadors for Christ rather, we're saying a number of things, we're saying a number of life changing things, first of all God is about new beginnings, that's got to be good news, verse 17, have a look at it, anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being, the old is gone, the new has come, friends one of the greatest aspects of the gospel is God is not so much interested in where you and I have been, he is far more interested in where we are heading, that's always been the case, it's certainly the case based on this passage in the fifth chapter, secondly God is about reconciliation and friendship, verse 18, look at it, all this is done by God who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making friends also, God is not about going after people for their sins, he's about building a bridge, he's about becoming our saviour, our friend, friendship with God is everything to the Almighty, he's something else God is about forgiveness, verse 19, our message is that God was making all human beings, his friends through Christ, God did not keep an account of their sins, he's given us the message which tells how he makes them his friends, God did not keep an account of their sins, Christianity is not about the desperate penitent sinner groveling his or her way to God, just hoping for a little bit of mercy, hoping that if they catch God on a good day they might get just a little smidgen of grace, it's not about that at all, I mean God has made the first move, God so loved he gave, he gave, God is all about taking the initiative, friends, these are the essential truths of the gospel, they're the key elements of the Christian faith which should make us all eager to be ambassadors for Christ, these are the core teachings of the gospel that can shatter, some of the preconceived ideas that people have about God going out after them, chasing him down relentlessly, mercilessly, it shatters the preconceived ideas, people have their own unworthiness, God says you're worthy because they say so, it shatters those preconceived ideas about legalism, the need to have to rigidly keep laws and regulations to earn our way to salvation, these powerful verses here in 2 Corinthians 5, explode some of the common misunderstandings, some of the common myths about the intimate relationship God is so eager to have with his people everywhere, so what's Paul's word to these Corinthians in light of all this, he says you're Christ's ambassadors, get out there and live out the reality of these truths in your daily lives, but you know, to the best way to fully understand and grasp and apply this notion of ambassador is to have a fresh look at what's involved in being an ambassador, if you ever thought about being an ambassador, if you ever thought about getting involved in the diplomatic core, I can think of some postings I would enjoy, a high commissioner to Washington that would be enjoyable I think, it's Kim Beasley over there doing a great job, there would be other parts of the world that would not be quite as pleasant being an ambassador, getting caught up in some of the skirmishes that take place and rescuing Australians, they get into trouble, but look let's think about it, a true ambassador, a true ambassador that has a number of things, firstly he or she knows and loves the homeland, I mean imagine how inappropriate it would be to send a cynical, jaded, negative person, a negative citizen of a certain country to be that nation's ambassador, I mean how crazy would that be, what sort of an image would that create in the minds of people wanting to learn about the attractive, positive features of the country involved, you wouldn't get that from this negative person, now you want someone who knows the land, loves the land, speaks favorably about the benefits and the opportunities the land provides, that's essential to be a good ambassador, friends in the context of Christianity, what is the homeland, what is the homeland, you know I believe it's the church of Jesus Christ, it's the redeemed of the Lord, the faithful people of God, that's the homeland, and you know it's impossible, it's impossible to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ independently of the homeland, independently of the church, I don't believe it can be done, people have tried to do it, they've tried to break away and distance themselves from the church to the people of God, look you can't do it, look I know the church has its problems, it has its points of inadequacy and vulnerability, it has its strange ways of doing things, like not here but you know some of those churches out there, it has its fair share of political intrigue and excessive reliance on past groups and committees and synods and all that sort of thing, but you know what it's made up of the people of God, the redeemed of the Lord, that's the church, for whom Christ died, we're not perfect, we don't claim to be, we are hopefully people under construction, hopefully we're people who are progressively growing in our faith and in our knowledge of the word, hopefully we're people progressively becoming more aware of his love, his grace, his guidance in our lives and all of this happens through prayer, through reading the scriptures, through service and ministry, through involvement, in connection groups, through celebration, getting into a weekly communion, just keeping us fresh and alive in our relationship with him, being receptive to the work of the Holy Spirit, but of course there's another important requirement for an ambassador, an ambassador is someone who is considered worthy, someone whom people were regarded as a person of worth and integrity, and of course from a Christian perspective, this is where it's very easy for people to get what our worthiness rather, to forget that our worthiness as follows of Jesus has nothing to do with who we are, but everything to do with who he is, I mean as follows of Jesus, it's all about him, it's not about us, I mean do we imagine for one moment that these Corinthian Christians who were the first ones being called to be ambassadors, do we imagine for one moment that they were worthy within their own right to take on that role, I mean this is the Corinthian church remember, this is the church which had a lot of moral and doctrinal problems, Paul was out to sort these guys out big time, they were in a real mess, but they loved Jesus, they were sitting at the door, his will and with a bit of guidance eventually they did come through, but they weren't worthy in their own right, this was the church with all of these problems and difficulties, but they knew as we all should that our worthiness in Christ is not a matter of who we are, it's a matter of who he is, and what he's done for us on the cross, there's something else about the role of an ambassador, he or she is an authentic representation, there's no place to superficiality or artificiality in the ranks of ambassadors, they must be the real deal, and it must be typical in every way of the land they represent, reflecting the values, the life and the culture of the land of course, for the Christian ambassador this means being real, being vulnerable, being as in touch with reality as we possibly can be, friends there's no room for pretense, for painting a picture of what life in the homeland is like other than that which is authentic and real, as we've said many times before, this means avoiding simplistic answers to complex questions, I don't want to be part of a church like that, it means acknowledging that our walk with Jesus is not so much about an easy life, it's more about becoming a strong person in him, and that's a point a lot of churches miss, it's not so much about an easy life being a Christian, it's about becoming a stronger person, more resilient person in him, here's the last thing that is so important, an ambassador, by virtue of their calling and the nature of the role must be willing to enter foreign lands, you can't be an ambassador and stay at home, you've got to be prepared to enter foreign lands, only then can the work of the ambassador really come into its own because only then we're talking to people and we're influencing people who've never been to the homeland, or if they have been it might have been for a short time, they might have had a bad experience, they might have got the wrong message, things might not have worked out all that well, friends you and I are destined as part of our calling as Christians to enter foreign lands, not necessarily, I'm talking figuratively of course, not necessarily going over to Madagascar or other parts of the world, that will be the case with numbers of us, but I'm talking about going to the foreign lands represented by our work, by our communities, our neighborhoods, our families, our friends, to love and serve in ways that touch people in their lands where they are, to become passionate about areas of ministry that may take us out of our comfort zone, that may be a little scary, the work of an ambassador can be scary because you don't quite know what you're letting yourself in for, when you leave the comfort and the safety of the homeland, this is the familiar land here, but the real work of ambassadors takes place out there in those foreign lands. And as effective ambassadors, may we find ourselves regularly and consistently being able to say with Paul, here we are then, speaking for Christ, here we are then, serving Christ, here we are then, looking for opportunities to be intentional in relationships for Christ, here we are then strengthening our love for the homeland, so that when we're in an ambassadorial situation, we can speak with great warmth and great effectiveness and great conviction about what the homeland has to offer. Friends, is that the sort of ambassadorial role you want to embrace this week? You can. We all can. Let's help, a pair of his Holy Spirit, let's claim that right now, shall we?