Markham Baptist Church Sermon

Preached in Markham Baptist Church, November 7, 2004

“You were made for a mission.” This is the theme of the last chapter of The Purpose Driven Life. We have been made for a mission. Rick Warren points out that that word mission comes from the Latin word meaning, “sending”. So we have been sent into the world as representatives of Jesus Christ. This is God’s plan - He has made us new creations, forgiving our sin, and coming to live in us so we can fulfill the five purposes for which we have been made: to love Him, to be part of His family, to demonstrate a Christlike character, to serve Him and to tell others about Him. Once we are His, God uses us to reach others.

So we read in God’s word, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

That’s a wonderful image! Did you know that we are Christ’s ambassadors? I know it sounds like a typical name for a Christian singing group. But seriously, we are Christ’s ambassadors and if you think of the image you think how appropriate it is to apply it to us. We live in the world but we know that this world is not our home. We have our citizenship in another realm, in the kingdom of God. We live in this world not as residents, but as representatives of the King of kings. We are under His orders, and His directive.

And we live in this land to further His purposes and interests in the world in which we live.

And being an ambassador is a full-time job. There is never a time when an ambassador stops being an ambassador as long he or she is under the employment of his or her government. It’s a full-time job. So with Christians. We are Christ’s ambassadors.

Do you know why you live it the neighborhood you live in? “Because I could afford the house?” No. Do you know why you work in the job you have been given? “Because this is what I’m good at?” No. You live where you live and you work where you work because God has appointed you to that place - He has made you His ambassador.

Do you know why you go to the school that you go to? To be God’s personal ambassador, to be His representative there.

I’ve told you this one before, but Stuart Briscoe tells of how he asked one Christian woman he met for the first time, “What do you do?” And she said, “Pastor, I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ cleverly disguised as a machine operator.”

The truth is that there are people in your sphere of influence that can be reached only by you. You have a unique advantage of working with someone, of being in relation to someone of living next door to someone and you have an entrance into that person’s life that I don’t have or anyone else in this room has. God has sent you into that person’s world to speak a word for Him. You hold the key that may very well enable that person to step through the door of faith.

Now as ambassadors of Christ we want to be sure that we represent our Lord adequately and fully. If there is an opportunity for an ambassador to speak a word in favour of his country you can be sure that he will speak it. If there is a plug she can give for her homeland you can be sure that she will give it. There is no remaining silent as an ambassador. And so with the Christian.

To be sure there are some who argue that they don’t need to verbalize their faith because, they say, they share their faith through the way they live.

And it is true that what we ARE is vital. We all know the saying, “What you are speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” It is vital that our lives correspond with what we say.

But let me also say that good deeds alone are never adequate without the support of the spoken word. It was Elton Trueblood, the Quaker theologian and scholar who wrote, “The person who says I don’t need to share my faith; 'I just let my life speak' is insufferably self-righteous.” And he goes on to ask, “What one among us is so good that he can let his life speak and leave it at that? We should make our lives as good as we possibly can, but at the end of the day we are still imperfect and unworthy.”¹It is precisely because our lives are not good enough that we must also have the courage to witness by word.

As ambassadors of Christ we want to be sure that we represent our Lord adequately and fully that means acting and speaking on behalf of our Lord.

Further, as ambassadors of Christ we want to be sure that have our Lord’s interests always before us. And what is our Lord’s ultimate interest? Is it buildings? To look at the North American church today you would think so. But it’s not buildings that Christ came for. No, His ultimate interest is people. Our God values people over religious traditions.

Read Isaiah 1 and you see that God is so tired of the multitude of sacrifices, “I have more than enough of burnt offerings.” (Isaiah 1:11) Instead God calls his people to “encourage the oppressed, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17) Why do we always get the order wrong? Why do we spend so much on what is trivial and so little on what really matters to our God – the souls and lives of people?

When our Lord walked this earth He demonstrated how He values people above all things. He values individuals, forgotten people, lost people, hurting people above all other things. So He tells stories of lost sheep, a lost coin and prodigal son - all emphasize that that which is lost is of infinite value. It matters so much that a shepherd will leave all his other sheep to find the one that is lost, a woman will give an all out search for the one coin, and a father will stay up waiting, watching for the one son that is lost.

That is who our Lord values, that is to be value of his ambassadors. So Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God.”

That’s our clarion call! Jesus put it this way he said, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19). You know that is not about changing our profession and becoming evangelists. No, it’s about a whole new mindset. It’s about realizing that now that we are ambassadors of Christ we are seeking to infiltrate the office towers, and the schools and the institutions of this world not to make a living, as important as that is to the welfare of your family, not to get an education as good as that is, but it is to influence people for Christ. That’s the value, that’s the goal, that’s the target that we are aiming for.

We are ambassadors for Christ. We have a whole new mindset, not only as individuals but as a church – this church thing is not for us it is for them! My friends the world is dying and Christ can save them and will save them but not without us, not if we fail to go, not if we spend what we have on our selves and our comfort. God help us if we forget the value our Lord places on the world. You have heard me say, don’t love the things of this world, well there is a very real sense in which we don’t love the world enough.

And once we have the proper mindset, once we realize that we are Christ’s ambassadors who value people above all else, what do we need to do? As individuals we want to share our faith, but we don’t know how. How do we do it? The idea of faith sharing may seem a bit intimidating. Well need to keep in mind that when it comes to faith sharing we are all individuals. You have gifts and abilities and a character that is unique to you. Not all of us will be Billy Grahams. No, we all will have an individual style. Let me make it clear that in order to share your faith effectively you don’t have to be someone you’re not. There are some givens here, we need to be prayerful we need to be humble, willing to serve God when and where he wants, responding naturally to the opportunities God sends our way.

I want to spend the remaining time today looking at different styles of faith sharing. Bill Hybels highlights these in his book, Honest to God ²and I find them to be very liberating – realizing that I don’t have to be someone I’m not in order to effectively be an ambassador for Christ.

The first style flows out of last week's study. It is service. In Acts 9 we read of a woman by the name of Dorcas who made a huge impact on those around her by doing acts of service. She made clothing for the poor and the forgotten and gave them out in the name of Christ. She probably never knocked on a door and asked people if they knew where they were going when they die. She probably never preached a sermon, yet through her acts of service she was able to point people to God and the love of Christ.

Dorcas was a service ambassador. Are you like her? Do you have a tender, compassionate heart able to help others? Perhaps you have the spiritual gifts of mercy, or hospitality, or encouragement, giving and counseling. You may be an effective ambassador as you connect sharing Christ with serving Christ.

Know that there are many people out there who are just waiting for someone like you to come along and show them the reality of Christ before they will believe.

There is also the invitational style. In John 4 we read of a woman who after a long conversation with Jesus on a hot day by a well became convinced that he was the Son of God. When the thought struck her she ran back into her village and begged people to come and meet Jesus for themselves. And many came, and we read in John 4:39 that many Samaritans believed in him as a result.

The Samaritan woman was an invitational ambassador. Perhaps she wasn’t a great speaker, she couldn’t articulate her faith really well, but she could invite.

Maybe this is you. You know how to invite people to “come and hear.” If it is you then you need to get busy. Find out about events specifically designed for unbelievers. Find out about Christian concerts and special events. Invite people to come to the Alpha dinners. Invite people to come hear the Christmas cantata, invite people to come to worship. Invite people the Unionville Alliance Saturday night live program, or the Markham Prayer Breakfast. Use your cheerful, wonderful style to invite people to come and hear about Christ for themselves.

There is a relational style. This style is demonstrated for us in Mark 5. There we read of a man who is tormented by an evil spirit. He lives in a graveyard, among the dead and has done physical harm to himself. Jesus comes upon him, casts out the unclean spirit and the man is overjoyed. You can imagine, and he begs Jesus to let him join Him as an itinerant evangelist.

Jesus refuses and instead says to him, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." (Mark 5:19). Jesus tells him to be a relational ambassador who shares his faith with those he’s close to.

Jesus in effect says to the man, go to the people you know, and share with them what I have done for you. Tell the people you are in relation to, pray for them, live a transformed life and be available when someone wants to talk to you about what you have.

Does this describe you? Do you have friends and family members who don’t know the Lord? Do you have neighbours you meet with? If so, begin to pour your time, concern and prayers in their direction. Make yourself available to be God’s personal agent to them.

There is the testimonial style. In John 9 we read of Jesus healing a blind beggar. The Pharisees become aware of the healing and question the man about what he thought of Jesus, because they think it must be someone very godless because it happened on the Sabbath. Essentially the Pharisees want the man to agree with them that Jesus must be a sinner for doing such a thing. And the man gives a wonderful answer, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I know, I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:24)

So this type of faith sharing is simply telling the story of how God has worked in your life. They say, “I was spiritually blind, but now I see. Jesus Christ changed my life, and he can change yours.”

It is a good idea for this person and indeed for us all to write out a brief testimony and become familiar with it so you can present it clearly. Rick Warren has some good words about how to write your testimony in study 37 page 292-293.

There is the confrontational style. Peter personifies this style. In Acts 2 we read Peter’s dynamic sermon and as you read that you see that Peter does not hold any punches. He says in conclusion, “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus , whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36)

Peter confidently and bluntly stated the good news. It was so effective that three thousand people trusted Christ that day.

Is that your style? Be sure you have compassion and love in your heart, we do not confront out of anger. But if God has made you passionate and forthright then ask God to lead you to people who need someone to look them right in the eye and say, “Here’s the truth. What are you going to do about it?”

The final style is intellectual. The apostle Paul often used the intellectual approach. In Acts 17:2 we read that Paul reasoned with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, explaining and proving Christ’s resurrection.

Are you this way? Do you have a mind that enables you to present proofs for Christ and his word logically and succinctly. In our age we think of such people as C.S. Lewis, Ravi Zacharias, Josh McDowell and Chuck Tysoe. You have never heard of Chuck Tysoe - he was in my previous congregation and he has a wonderful intellectual mind. He is the type of person who invites Jehovah's Witnesses in and he discusses with them the illogic of their faith and the logic of the Christian faith.

What about you? Are you an intellectual ambassador? Perhaps you like to debate the issues and enjoy examining evidence and can put together a logical argument for the existence of God and the need for Christ. If so then take your calling as an intellectual ambassador seriously, read, study and train yourself.

The story is told of a man in a small Chinese village who was born blind with cataracts. Somehow he got to a Christian hospital and the surgeon there operated on his eyes. When at last the bandages were removed the patient gazed around the ward. For the first time in years, he could see. True, it was only a little, but it was a miracle. The surgeon said, “You think you can see, But I believe I can help you see much better than this. Come back in six months time, and I will operate again.” So the man stumbled back to his village to tell everyone what had happened. Six months later he stared the long trek back to the hospital. When he arrived the surgeon welcomed him, and saw tied to his wrist a long rope, and hanging on it seventy others who had followed the man to the place where the blind were given sight.

Of all the questions that will be asked of us at the end of the day, the most searching may well be: “Did you share the good news? Did you bring another?”

ENDNOTES:

1. Elton Trueblood, The Company Of The Committed (New York: Harper & Row, 1961) p. 53.

2. Bill Hybels, Honest To God? (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing, 1990) p. 125-132.