Sermon Transcript — July 16, 2005
Good afternoon everybody! In the opening prayer it was mentioned about being the time of year when the gardens come in. And when I came to sit down there was a bag under my chair—onions, and garlic, and cucumbers, and green beans and I don't know what else was in there. It reminded me of the list that I saw a few years ago of how to tell you're in a southern Bible belt red-neck church. And it was a whole list of things. But one of the items on there was "You know you are...if in the summer time people lock their doors at church to keep people from putting zucchini on the front seat." Things come in and they start going to town in the gardens.
I wanted to say, first of all, how much my wife and I have appreciated the warm welcome that we've been given by the home office staff, and the ABC students and the Cincinnati East church members. It's been very enjoyable in the two weeks that we've been here. And we appreciate it very much. We have found a place to live. It's not too far from here. And we'll be getting in sometime in early September. Things will settle then.
As far as the job goes, it's been very interesting. I see people around the office just calmly and coolly going about their business, and I feel like anything is but calm and cool here. The analogy came to mind this morning. It's like being on the on-ramp of a freeway, except it's rush hour. You have the rush hour traffic congestion, except everybody's going about 70 mph and you're trying to get up to speed. Maybe that's where that expression, "getting up to speed", came from—where you're trying to get up to the right speed where you can merge without causing any wrecks. And the freeway here is the work that's going on—many facets of it. I'm finding myself doing a lot to try to merge and there's cars coming at you from the side, and cars in front of you you have to watch, and cars coming up behind you, and you're watching your rearview mirror and side mirror and your gas—trying to do all that. And you know how it is. Once you get into the flow of traffic, it's easier. But in the meantime, getting up to speed has been rather exciting. There's a lot to learn and become familiar with, but the staff has made it pretty easy.
Mr. Pinelli already alluded to some of the meetings that we've had. We have had some very profitable meetings developing what I believe will be some plans that will affect the church for years to come in a very positive way. We have had a good ten years building a real solid foundation. And now we're in a position to go to further construction that is going to affect the church. And as things come along, which they will shortly, we'll be communicating to you those things, of course.
I don't know how many of you watch the Compass Checks on the Web site, or if you're familiar with Compass Check. That is our title for the Monday morning staff meeting that we have at the home office. We start the week off by coming together and having any announcements and news of the work—things that are going on—then usually a short address on some specific subject that's relevant to performing our jobs, working together, furthering the work that we've been called to do at this point and in this location. As time has gone by an increasing number of people have been watching these on the Web site because they have discovered it's probably the quickest way to stay up to date on things that are happening at the home office.
I want to share and expand with you on the theme from last Monday's Compass Check. And I will start with you the way I started there. And that is by reading a quote—two quotes, actually. The first says this:
God the Father calls whom he chooses and leads them to submit to Jesus Christ. Those individuals who accept that calling, and who receive the Holy Spirit, comprise the Church of God. God the Father has made known to the Church, His family through Jesus Christ, His intention and purpose for the creation.
Does that sound familiar to you? Do you know where it comes from? The next sentence tells you.
We do therefore establish this Constitution so that we might, as obedient children, yield to Him and see His will for the creation fulfilled.
That is the preamble to the Constitution of the United Church of God. The next quote is what follows immediately. Article 1 of the Constitution—the Mission Statement.
The mission of the Church of God is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God in all the world, make disciples in all nations and care for those disciples.
What I told the staff is that we are printing and framing, on parchment paper, a very nice version of this for them to post in their work places. And they are expected to look at that on a regular basis and to take some time each week at work to read it, and to ponder it and to think about what that means as it relates to our purpose for being here.
I would like to emphasize to you that that mission statement, preamble, was very carefully worded. Those who were on the Council in the early days of the church spent a lot of time crafting those statements. These statements are drawn from scripture. We did not invent this mission statement. We collected it from various places in the scriptures and put it in a very concise statement. So, it's not a mission statement that, as an organization, we sat down and figured out, "What do we want to do?" We had to find, "What does God state as the mission?" And then it was simply worded in a way that when it comes to find its way into a document that is essential for our organization's existing in this country, it very clearly words what our purpose is in life. It is brief. But never ever confuse brevity with simplicity, because it's not a simple statement. It's a very profound statement. It is a statement that carries a lot of weight. And it has a very deep impact if we have it at the core of our being. And probably, if we would have had it at the very essence of our being over the last ten years, we might have avoided some of the things that all of us, as individuals, might have said and done. I will explain that as we go on a little bit more.
Some people dismiss the phrase mission statement. They say, "Well, that's just a fad. You never used to hear that. It's come and it's going to go." Well, the term may be sort of new, but the concept isn't. If you want to talk in other words with a purpose, or your guiding principles of life—whatever it is—however you want to phrase it—the principle has always been there.
Frankly, I think mission is a very good word. It carries with it a sense of responsibility, which we are supposed to have. Let me put it this way. How many people do you know in life who live their lives with a firm mission of what their life is all about? How many people in the work place? In your community? In your family? At your school? If you were to sit down and say, "What is your purpose and how are you living your life?" could say, "This is my mission. And I am out to accomplish a certain mission in life." I think very few people do. It's become a little bit more fashionable, perhaps—some have looked at it more. I think probably far more people have read books about it than they've actually sat down and done the hard work of doing it. But how valuable would it be?
You see, brethren, if we don't have a mission, then we will accept whatever mission the world gives us. And sometimes those missions are pretty shallow. They're wrapped around individual ideas and concepts—whatever our culture, our environment hands to us. That's what we do. My brother-in-law, a few years ago, lived in Washington. There was a motorcycle club. These were all middle-aged men and women. He said their stated mission of their motorcycle club was to find the best ice cream in the state of Washington. Now they did that as a fun group. It was a hobby. But you know, at least they had a purpose for their being. And they had fun with it. And that's fine. But very few people in life develop a personal mission. And if they do, that can be very helpful, but the thing of it is, it just depends on what you decide. It's very individualistic. And if ten people in the world decide their mission is to rule the world, somewhere down the road we're going to have conflict, aren't we—if they succeed in moving along toward their mission.
The mission of the Church of God is not individualistic. It's not something that we invent. It is something that we discover. And after we discover it, then our only question is, "Will I identify with it?" "Will I adopt that as my mission?" And so this mission that I read to you is critically important. And I want to spend the rest of the time today exploring some ways in which it is important and why it is important.
Before we go there, let me make one more statement here. What can this mission do for you and for the church? Of and by itself, not much. Of and by itself, not much. It's like having a Bible in the house doesn't make somebody who lives there a Christian any more than having a cookbook in the kitchen makes you a chef. But on the other hand, that Bible in the house and that cookbook in the kitchen and this mission statement can be a tool that can significantly increase our chances of succeeding at what we're doing. It is a tool is what it is. It is something to help us along the way in life in several key ways.
Why is it important? First of all—I want to give you several reasons. First of all—fundamentally—this mission makes us ask an old question. It makes us revisit a question that some of you old-timers will remember going back that used to be asked of us at the Feast of Tabernacles. Why are you here? A mission makes us ask, "Why am I here? What am I doing? What is my purpose?" In other words, when it comes to the church, "Why am I called now?" "Why have I been called now?" That is something we can never lose sight of. And in the process of answering that, we begin to clarify and restate to ourselves continually the purpose of our lives. And if we identify that God-given purpose, then we begin to attach the importance of it. It becomes the most important thing to us in life. The value of that is that everybody wants purpose and meaning to life.
Humans do want purpose and meaning. We need to feel like at the end of the lives, "Didn't my life mean something?" There are many people who become very frustrated and discouraged at the end of life, because they cannot really identify anything that their life meant in the larger scheme of things. But at the same time it's very important for young people, starting out in life—adventuring out in their young adult years—to ask, "Will my life mean something? Will my life be worth something to other people or to other causes?" But we do crave meaning. And we need meaning to our lives. The deepest satisfaction in life comes from knowing that you're a part of fulfilling something meaningful. And there is nothing more meaningful that is going on in this earth than what this church is doing, and what God has been working out through His church. Nothing is more meaningful than that. But the focus on a mission statement gives us the right sense of purpose. That's the first point. It keeps the right sense of purpose very clear in our minds. It helps us to clarify, then, and examine our aspirations, our goals, our core values, our behaviors every day.
The more we think about it, the more we begin to ask, "Is what I'm doing in line with the mission? Are my interests, and are my activities, and are my efforts and all my energies really in line with the mission to which God has called me?" It helps us focus on the main purpose that we have in life. It helps us keep—as somebody said one time—"the most important thing: the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. It's very easy to be pulled away from that. When we read this mission statement, and we say, "Here I am in the Church of God. I am living my life. I've been X many years in this church. The mission of the Church of God is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God into all the world, make disciples in all those nations and then care for those disciples. Is that my focus?" If it is, every single member in the church has to ask, "How do I contribute to that? What has God called me to do to contribute to that? What is my life about? What do I stand for? What actions am I taking to live according to this mission?"
Let's go to Proverbs 29. Proverbs 29 contains a scripture that is a law of life. It's a good scripture to memorize early in life and to think about it often. Proverbs 29:18 from the New King James:
Prov. 29:18 – Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint, but happy is he who keeps the law. Where there is no revelation people are not restrained. The word revelation in the margin says, prophetic vision. There has to be a sense of understanding what is coming. God has cast the vision, which is where the Preamble of the Constitution has its focus. God has cast the vision. The mission tells us what to accomplish on the way and focus our lives on as we work toward that ultimate vision being fulfilled.
We have the grand visions. And then we have visions for our own lives—of how we fit into this. And there's a certain restraint that is accomplished by filtering our lives through this mission statement. It's not a restraint that says, "Don't do this and don't do that." It's not a restraint that ties you down some way. It's a restraint that by the force of focus leads to self-discipline, in which we say, "I don't need to do this in my life. I don't need to have this care of the world come into my life and distract me from where I need to have my focus." And in that way it helps us stay restrained. We start casting off restraints as the world throws all the cares of life at us—we begin to follow after this and follow after that—and we can become very distracted. And we can put our minds on other things. And Jesus warned that the cares of this life are one of the great dangers of the end.
Regularly visiting our mission says, "No, this is where I have to focus." And therefore it restrains us. It's a law of life. And we're happy. We're unhappy people if we get pulled in different directions, because then we begin to give our allegiance to different things. And so it is critically important in keeping and maintaining the right sense of purpose—keeping our eyes on God.
I won't turn there, but there's a very interesting scripture that uses the same Hebrew word for revelation. It's quite interesting in its lesson. 1 Samuel 3:1. Beginning that chapter, it says, The word of the LORD was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation. "The word of the LORD was rare in those days. There was no widespread revelation." Those were times when you read when people did cast off restraints—led particularly by the sons of Eli, whose story is being told there. They weren't in the word of God. They weren't mission focused on God's purpose for them. And as a result, they went off in all sorts of directions. And they cast off restraints and it led them down wrong paths. Staying mission focused helps us this way.
In Matthew chapter 6.... Matthew 6 and verse 22, Jesus said:
Mt. 6:22 – The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. Everything that we can see in this room and everybody who has vision in this room, it's coming through a very tiny whole in your head. And all that light that's coming through is going through a remarkable process in the brain—being transformed into an image that allows us to function in really awesome ways, when you look at this creation that God has built, is pretty phenomenal. And He said that the way this body goes depends on how clear-eyed we are and if that eye is full of good things. If your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! You cannot serve two masters. Believe me, Satan has a mission statement, too, in life. Other people have mission statements. We cannot be going after different missions in life. We just can't do it. We can't serve two masters. We will either hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. How important is this mission when God says, "Here is what I want you to do. Here's what I've called you to do. Here's what the church is to do today"? Therefore I say to you—and He begins a list of things that become common worries in life—what we eat, what we drink, what we put on. He's really talking about the things that we put value on.
We live in a very materialistic society. A few weeks ago I was in the middle of packing boxes and everything, and Dave Baker called from New York. And he was going through the same experience. He was moving. And we were bemoaning all the work and all the stuff that we have in life. And it accumulates. And when you don't move it for nine years, you don't realize how much you have. And you start looking at this. And he was telling me about preparing to go to Asia on a long trip—where he is right now—and he said, "You know, I'm going to be visiting members who put all of their life's possessions in a suitcase. And if they had to move, they could just pack it up and go." And it just makes you realize we've got so much stuff. And on the one hand, it's a tremendous blessing, but on the other hand, it can also be a tremendous distraction. And a lot of people get pulled away by stuff in life.
And so He's saying, examine the value system and our trust system, and don't worry about these things. And we come down to verse 32, and He says there is a value system of the world:
V-32 - ...after all these things the Gentiles seek. It's a very materialistic world. People seek their own inventions, their own missions in life – whatever they may be. But your heavenly Father knows you need all things. But you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Seek what we're heading toward. And seek to do it the right way. Until we get there—to the Kingdom—seek to live righteously and focused—very focused. And then He will take care of adding all the other needs to us. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. There will be problems come up next week. There'll be all sorts of things arise in life. But don't worry about it. The way you don't worry about it—one of the primary ways—is that we stay centered on our mission. Life is going to come and go. Things will come at us. But our mission never changes. We live for something really big. Our mission is for something very important. This is God's mission. And therefore it's the right sense of purpose. It keeps it alive.
Now, second point. Because it is God's mission—probably you could summarize it by Hebrews 2:10—of bringing many sons to glory—ultimately that's what He's doing with all of us on this earth. That's His goal. He never has and never will get distracted from it. God will never become distracted from His mission.
Interesting scripture in Isaiah 9 and verse 7. Isaiah 9:7 states:
Isa. 9:7 – This is a Feast of Tabernacles scripture we often read. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgement and justice from that time forward, even forever. That's the vision. But notice the last sentence in that verse. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. The zeal of the Lord of hosts is going to get this done. God is very zealous. A mission-focused people will be a zealous people, because the nature of the vision God has put before us is an inspiring vision. It's an inspiring mission. It lifts us high. And as we focus on that, that is one of the greatest tools for being a zealous people.
Now God along the way—what you read here in verse 7—along the way He has done something just incredibly profound in our lives. Let's go to I Corinthians chapter 12.
1 Corinthians 12—breaking into a rather long context here about the needs of the body—how the body functions. In verse 18 we find this statement that is very inspiring.
1 Cor. 12:18 – But now God has set the members, each one of them in the body just as He pleased. Sometimes we wonder why we're here, how we came to be here. He says, God set them in the body just as He pleased. Whatever your history is, whatever your story is, it was God's working to put you in this body as He pleased. If they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And that body has a mission. And you, within that body, have a mission. It's not to sit down and say, "Well, that's what the organization says, but mine's different." No, all of our individual missions in life flow right into this big mission. This body has a mission. Sometimes we have to ask God individually, "Help me see my role. Help me understand what you want me to do. Bring it to me what I need to understand about the way I can contribute in any way to this mission." People who are mission focused will have a giant step on zeal about those who aren't. You can't be zealous for something if it's not something that's important and a strong mission to you. It's hard for a lot of people to have much zeal about anything these days.
About fifteen years ago, a relative of ours, who had observed the church from a distance for a number of years, told my wife something we thought was just rather remarkable. He said, "I admire all you folks." He said, "I wish that I could get excited about anything in my life. I wish I could get excited about something." He wasn't looking just for a church. He just saw the value of life when you're excited about something.
There's nothing greater to be excited about than what we are doing. But at the same time we also have to understand there are a lot of zeal killers out there. There are a lot of things in life—events, people, issues—that sometimes kill zeal. But what is also interesting, you see some people whose zeal just sort of falls off, and you see other people who go through the same thing and their zeal level stays the same or even rises. So you have to ask, "What's the difference?" What is the difference? Life can change. People can change. Issues can change—sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. But our mission never changes. God has brought us into a mission that has been consistent for 2,000 years now with His church. It has never changed. We can come and go and it's not going to change. His mission will be the same. It's what excites Him.
The zeal of the Lord of Hosts is going to bring His Kingdom about. When we stay focused where He is, we're going to be tying into the way He thinks. And when God sees an individual who wants to be a part of that, who identifies with that, who looks to the future, who thinks about it, who understands his individual—or her individual—purpose in light of this grand scope of life and where He is taking us, who prays about it, who seeks it first and has their eyes on that future, there is somebody in whom God can stir up that gift that is in them. And they will be a zealous person. They won't depend on other people for their zeal. They will depend on God. They won't depend on circumstances around them to tell them whether they're going to be excited about life or not. They will depend on God and they will have a consistent basis for having that heat. That's what the word zeal in Greek literally means—heat—having a fire—having a zeal.
We need to realize that being mission focused is our first line of defense against the zeal killers in life. We're all susceptible. There are times when sometimes you get hit with something and it just sort of takes the wind out of you. You know how you start getting it back? You go back and say, "What is my mission?" What is my mission? What is it from God?
Ephesians, chapter 4, if you will. Ephesians 4. We draw this zeal from identifying with the big picture—identifying with what God is doing. And as we are all many members, but we are one body. Ephesians 4. Let's break into the thought in verse 15:
Eph. 4:15 – Speaking the truth in love—speaking about all of us—we may grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ. That's one of our personal missions in life—is to grow up to be like Him. ...from whom the whole body—no matter what we are, where we are as individuals—the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies. And God put us in the body as it pleased Him to supply some thing. ...according to the effective working by which every part does its share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. A mission-focused people will be thinking continually about being joined, about being knit together, about working more effectively, about doing our share, about trying to cause growth in the body. Why? Because they're mission focused. They say, "This is what God wants." They won't even try it if they're not mission focused. And it helps us rise above the zeal killers in life.
If we're not zealous, if we're not passionate for the mission that God has given us, then we need to reexamine what our mission is. Do we have one? Have we identified with it? Let's make sure we do. This is so important because it comes from the source of zeal. It comes from the real source, which is God.
We live in an energy-less society in many ways. So we learn how to invent things to increase our energy. We market them. And apparently there are a lot of people who need energy, because we consume a lot of things in this culture that we have. We have vitamins. People chomp on these in a multi-billion dollar industry—mostly to get energy and health. The last few years we have seen racks and racks of energy bars—not chocolate for a spurt, but real energy. You can get double shots of coffee now—espresso in cans. You can get Red Bull. (I should get some product endorsement somehow for...) New one on the market: Full Throttle—Full Throttle energy drink. All these things are marketed out there. A lot of people don't want to eat right, exercise correctly and get good sleep, which would probably have the most profound effect on their energy level. We want shots. And sometimes people want spiritual shots. Say something. Stir us up. Do the right thing. And when you do the right thing, and when you say the right thing, then I'll get zealous. That's not the way it works. Being zealous comes from being personally focused on this mission. The mission is not the sole factor alone, but it's a very important element.
Now the concepts of 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 lead us to the next point. This church, that has this Constitution and mission statement, operates in many different parts of the world. Laws vary widely. Regulations, in order to operate, vary widely. And virtually every nation requires the organization of the church to have governing documents. And we find that one size does not fit all. Every nation has to develop its way of operating according to the law of the land. So we work out our structure. But the bedrock never changes. You won't find different mission statement in other parts of the world where the church of God is concerned. The preamble, the mission statement, fundamental beliefs are the foundations of our operation. You can go from Bakersfield to Bolivia to Burkina Faso and it's going to be the same, because it's God's. God gave us the mission. Therefore, the great advantage of a mission-focused people is that it has an impact on our sense of unity. It has an impact on our sense of unity. This mission statement is unique. No other business has it. No nation has the same thing. No corporation. It is historic. It puts us in a chain of people that have been carrying this mission for two thousand years. And it's people all over the world. And it has a unifying factor—no matter how different we are, no matter where we are—if we all share the same mission. It keeps us together. It cements people in many ways.
Now, along the way, as individuals in the body, we have a lot of different ideas. We carry differing opinions. Sometimes they're not all the same. We can have pretty strong ideas at times. I'm not talking about doctrine. I'm talking about the way we go about doing things. And to have a common mission becomes very important at those times. We will always have varying opinions about, not what the mission is, but, how to do it and how to do it the best. And sometimes we can have strongly held opinions—about we ought to do it here; we ought to do it with that person; we ought to do it spending that much money; we ought to do it in this manner; we ought to do it now rather than later; we ought to do it later rather than now. There are all sorts of things that get put on the table when it comes to how do we preach the gospel, how do we care for people. Differing opinions can either energize us or divide us. It's just the way it is. We should have no trouble figuring that out. Just look at the family. Family life can be divided if we don't have the same mission in our family.
Differing opinions tend to divide us when we elevate our personal opinion to the mission level. This mission is at a pretty high level. This mission's at a pretty high level. But if I have an opinion about it, and three other people have three other differing opinions about it, and we all elevate our personal opinions to this level, to the point where we say, "My opinion is the way, the others don't count," because my opinion then becomes my mission. And my mission can start interfering. And that can happen in life. It can happen in life. Sometimes we have trouble functioning within a body if we put our opinions forward and we haven't learned how to do it. We haven't learned how to do it properly. We don't, sometimes, know how to put it within the context of the overall mission.
On the other hand, differing opinions can be great when it comes to new ideas—fresh ideas. When we bring those things to the table and we say, "Let's put this forward and see how it fits. Let's see how it works. Let's subject it to a multitude of counsel. And let's see if we can move this forward a little bit." But when that is done and it becomes personalized, or "if my idea is not accepted" and I get my feelings hurt or offended, then it becomes all about me, doesn't it. Brethren, if it becomes all about me, I've lost sight of the mission. Every individual...this mission makes us put ourselves in the proper perspective of the overall good of where we're going as a church.
This comes into play in many ways. When you start looking at it through these eyes, you see things in the Bible in a different way. For example, you know what Matthew 18 tells us. It's how to go to your brother when a brother has offended you—how to go to your brother. It gives several steps there. But you know, when you think about the mission of the church, I believe Christ had more in mind than just keeping people happy together. I think He had more in mind than just saying, "Hey, why can't we all get along? Here's how you do it." There's something even greater. He gave those instructions because in the larger scheme of the effect of life, when we have unresolved conflicts, you know what happens? It starts getting in the way of our being able to do the mission effectively. Those things will happen in life. They're inevitable. They'll come along. But it starts getting in the way of either preaching the gospel or caring for disciples. It drains our energy. Unresolved conflicts begin to eat up valuable time and resources. They start, then, affecting other people. We tend to start focusing on problems rather than productivity. So when Jesus said, "Look, go to your brother. Fix it. Fix these things so that it doesn't start affecting your capacity to contribute effectively to the mission." Because if it's not resolved, sooner or later it will.
So everything in the Bible—you start seeing that God tells us how to start doing something—it affects the mission. It's like the shuttle launch right now. It's being delayed. They had to haul it back in and try to fix this thing, because if they didn't fix it, it would lead to a bigger problem potentially. That happened with our last one. There was a relatively small problem that didn't get fixed. It led to a big problem. It destroyed lives and it set back the whole NASA mission for years. The same thing could be true when the church—mission-focused people—will do everything they can to analyze, "Are my actions, are my words, going to further or hinder the mission?" If we say, "I want this mission to be furthered," then we are more unified in the way we are going to approach life.
Let's go to 2 Corinthian, chapter 3, verse 18.
2 Cor. 3:18 – But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the spirit of the Lord. Therefore—verse 1, chapter 4—since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully—because when we do, it gets in the way of the mission. It's foolishness. It hurts us personally. But it also hurts the work of the church. So these things are renounced. ...but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. Most people through time have not responded to the gospel that has been preached. But it doesn't change the mission does it. Going on, verse 5: For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God commanded the light to shine into our lives and He said, "I called you to do something. I brought you here. And you are to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the way we live. But, verse 7, we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Very important thing here. Mission-focused people understand that this is all about God. And they put themselves in a lesser role. When Jesus came on the scene, John said, "I must decrease and You must increase." Mission focused people have their sole interest in what will move the mission ahead.
Last night at dinner there was a group of us that had a lovely dinner. And we were sitting eating dessert and having coffee and tea. Someone got up and started tinkering around the kitchen, and somebody else said, "Are you making more tea?" And one of the ladies at the table said, "No, they're brewing another pot of coffee." At that point, I said, "I'm not going to drink anymore." My wife looked at me, and patted me on the arm, and smiled, and said, "Dear, it's not all about you." She said it in the context of some light-hearted teasing that we'd all been having going on. So, don't get the idea that she was serious. (What are you shaking your head for?) But we all laughed and it was a nice, little joke, but it illustrates a point. This phrase that has worked its way into our vocabulary in recent years is pretty good. It's not all about you. It's all about God, isn't it? When everybody says that it's all about God and the mission that God has given us, it's easier for us to be united. It's easier for us to be focused on the same thing. And it's easier for us to do a lot of things. Verse 8.
V-8 – We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed. We are perplexed at times, but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. How do people survive all these things in life? How do they do this and stay together, and stay arm in arm, and stay focused? A lot of it has to do if their minds are on what God's wanting them to do, rather than their own personal circumstances. And it keeps us tightly knit. ...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. That's also part of preaching the gospel—living the gospel. As the old saying goes, "Always preach the gospel, even if you have to use words." Live it first. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. Verse 16.
V-16 – Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Paul was a mission-focused evangelist—apostle. And he strived to keep everybody's minds focused on that mission.
Let's go back and revisit verse 10 for a moment.
V-10 - ...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. Somebody might say, "What? That's morbid. What do you do? Put statues on your car dash? Crucifixes? Wear things around your neck that have Jesus dying?" That's not what it's all about. But we should always carry with us the memory of what the Passover means—about the life and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Here was somebody who was mission focused. He never got distracted from His mission—kept His mind on His mission all the time. Essentially what this means is that we always keep that in mind. And so it guides us because we have Jesus Christ, as our elder brother, in mind, the purpose of God, the mission we've been called to, and what He went through to bring us to this point. We keep this in mind and it becomes the filter for us that we can say, "What I'm about to do, what I'm about to say – is this worth the death of Jesus Christ? Am I about to do something that's going to cause sin?" You know, we keep that with us so that the life of Jesus Christ may be lived in our lives—may be manifested in our bodies. In the same way, it helps us think, "What do I need to do to further this mission? What do I need to do to avoid anything that hinders this mission?" When we are mission focused, it unifies us with God, helps us become much more unified with one another.
There are a couple of other areas in which it helps us as well. Trust. Mission focused people will begin to build trust with one another. We'll save this for another day to examine. It would be good if you began to think on your own about what does a mission-focused person have going for them. It builds trust. It also strengthens our faith, because you see, brethren, when we go back to this mission we realize it's God's work. It's God's mission. It's God's calling. And when the fiery trials come, and the darts and the problems, and when people sin, and when other people make mistakes that hurt you, understanding His mission keeps our eyes on Him – keeps our eyes on Him—not on the circumstances surrounding us, not on the people. And that keeps us faith centered—keeps us faith centered.
I will end by telling you a story about faith, though, that's very important—why it becomes important to stay mission focused. I was visiting with an individual one time, who had gone through a very difficult time—one of the most difficult times in his life. He'd been through Sabbath trials, the threat of losing jobs over the Sabbath. But those were external. This was the first time that he faced an internal trial. And it was unexpected. And it had to do with being mistreated by a brother—a brother in a very influential position no less. It felt like the song that we used to sing some years back. T'was not a foe that did deride, for that I could endure. No hater who thus rose in pride, or I would hide secure. But thou it was my friend and guide. It's those kinds of trials that it really hit. And it was a very difficult time.
And I remember very clearly standing on a hillside out in the desert, having taken a walk out there. And this individual telling me about it and just in the process of telling it and recounting it, started crying – just the heart-racking sobbing, because it had been so devastating and so disillusioning. He said, "How could it have happened? How could somebody treat somebody like that? Especially somebody that you looked up to and somebody in such an office?" And he said, "I came that close to leaving the church." He said, "I came that close to leaving the church." He said, "I reached a point where I was just about to go." He said, "I decided to go back where I started, and I got back to scratch—hauled some booklets off the shelf and reread Why Were You Born? reread What Is Faith? reread Holidays vs. Holy Days, reread all the booklets that were the core booklets that brought us into the truth."
He said, "It led me to a point. I got back on the foundation and I realized two things. Number one, the individual who caused the pain just simply had some problems. Those were his problems. And it was not in my capacity to do anything about it, but his life did not represent the church. He was not the church. This person was not my purpose in life." And it was a big step. And therefore he learned, don't let that person's faults, no matter how they hurt you, drive you out of the church.
Number two, he learned, God called us into the truth. And the truth will set you free. It won't set you free from the mistakes of people, but it will set you free from it killing your faith. And a big part of that comes from being focused on the work that God has called us to. It keeps us centered on Him. And that means that our faith is molded and shaped by Him—not by people, not by circumstances, not by issues in life. And that kind of faith will sustain through anything that life can throw at us.
It's very important to be focused here. It's something that we've been talking about a lot in the last few weeks. One pastor told me this past week...he said, "The fast that we did as the church had a lot of impact on people." And one of the comments stood out. He said, "One member told me, 'This is first time in years that I have fasted for something other than my own personal problems. And it was very good,' he said, 'for me to fast in a way that put my focus totally outward looking on the needs of the church and doing the work.'" It was a fast that was centered on the mission. How can we further the mission? How can we have this go forward in very powerful ways?
Brethren, God has called us. And He's called our children. And He's going to be calling more people into something that is bigger than any of us. But He's called us to be a part of it. And He says, "Keep the focus there. Keep it there. Keep it in the forefront of your hearts and minds. Don't hold back. Don't hold back in life. Don't hold back based on what people do. Keep the mission burning in your thoughts and in your prayers and in your actions." And when you do, you'll have the purpose in life. You'll have the zeal that goes with it from God. You'll have a sense of unity that covers the times when unity can be threatened. We can have faith. Keep the mission of God in mind.
If you have been wounded, if you've been hurt, if you've been disillusioned or disappointed, I'd venture to say it was by human beings, not by God. One of the best ways to get over it—it's not the only way; it's not the only salve to put on the wounds—but one of the first things that we have to do is get back on God's mission. Be mission focused. Find out what He has to do for you. It's not about personalities. It's not about individuals. It's not about nations. It's not about politics. It's about being mission focused that helps us rise above all the other sideshows in life. It's what will keep us centered. The gospel of the Kingdom of God will be preached into all the world. It'll be preached into all nations. And disciples are going to be made and they're going to be cared for. And those who are part of doing that are going to be very, very mission focused.