The Heart of Mission (pumps the blood of Christ)
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 377 Hymn Writer Loses Joy of Salvation
377 Hymn Writer Loses Joy Of Salvation
Robert Robinson, author of the hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” lost the happy communion with the Savior he had once enjoyed, and in his declining years he wandered into the by-ways of sin. As a result, he became deeply troubled in spirit. Hoping to relieve his mind, he decided to travel.
In the course of his journeys, he became acquainted with a young woman on spiritual matters, and so she asked him what he thought of a hymn she had just been reading. To his astonishment he found it to be none other than his own composition. He tried to evade her question, but she continued to press him for a response.
Suddenly he began to weep. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he said, “I am the man who wrote that hymn many years ago. I’d give anything to experience again the joy I knew then.” Although greatly surprised, she reassured him that the “streams of mercy” mentioned in his song still flowed. Mr. Robinson was deeply touched. Turning his “wandering heart” to the Lord, he was restored to full fellowship.
—H. G. Bosch
Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Last week, we read from with its comparison of the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked. In our Gospel text today we open with the assessment of Jesus by the Pharisees and scribes: Jesus is not the “blessed man” of ; he is one of those who are “like the chaff that the wind drives away.” In their eyes, is a warning that Jesus ignores, not only to His peril, but putting the entire nation at risk of a repetition of the Babylonian Captivity.
Were they right, or did they fail to grasp the true purpose of God’s Law and the coming of the Messiah? it has been two years since Jesus launched His mission with His announcement in the synagogue in Nazareth. During that time, He had taught and preached about the Kingdom of God, cast out demons and performed miracles. Rather than repent and believe the Gospel, even when they were encouraged to do so by John the Baptist, they dug in their heels and, not learning from the king in the illustration in last week’s Gospel text, decided that they could defend their position against this King who comes against them.
Jesus does not give up on the Scribes and Pharisees, His teachings and parables would either drive them or draw them. If they had ears to hear, they would hear. If not, the words that He spoke to them would condemn them at His return in glory.
(ESV) — 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Wait a minute - last week it sounded like Jesus was looking for an excuse to kick people out of the Kingdom, now He’s on a mission to rescue lost sheep! Are you confused? Last week, you thought, if you heard some people preach from the Gospel reading, that if you weren’t keeping it 100% for Jesus, you were O.U.T. and you might as well not even bother to sign up if you weren’t certain that you were going to be “sold out for Jesus,” in the words of a Helen Baylor song. Now today, you hear Jesus saying that, far from weeding out the less than perfect, Jesus is trying to avoid losing even those who wander away. But wait, there’s more!
(ESV) — 8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
This time, Jesus compares the sinner to a person who gets lost through no fault of his own. Listen closely to what the woman in the parable says to her neighbors: “rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I lost.” Do you find it amazing to think that God might take personal responsibility for the fate of your soul? Listen to the Word of the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah:
(ESV) — 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Last week was Jesus telling us that we can’t be double-minded and truly learn from Him, truly be discipled by Him. This week He tells us that He could not be double minded and truly be our Savior. He can’t just be the Savior of the convenient people, the “good” people, and the properly raised people. If Jesus is going to be the Messiah at all, He must be the Messiah of all!
As members of Christ’s Body, we follow the Head as He goes through the earth, seeking to save the lost. We see what He sees, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and we feel what He feels, the exceeding sorrow over sin not only our own sin, but the sin that ensnares those around us. The Word of God that delivers us from the bondage and penalty of sin, that brings joy to our souls, we seek to share with those around us. The Apostle John put it this way:
(ESV) — 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
The Heart of Mission pumps the Blood of Christ!
That’s why we do not shrink from proclaiming the Law in all of its harshness to those who try to drown out the voice of the Lord when He speaks to clearly about sin and unrighteousness. That’s why we don’t hesitate to confront evil by exposing it to the light of God’s Word and by praying for those who are ensnared by it, even though they might even despise us for doing so. When by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, this ministry bears the fruit of repentance, we rejoice because we know that the devil loves regret, but hates repentance. Hear the Word of the Lord through the Prophet Ezekiel:
(ESV) — 10 “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Hear also the Word of the Lord through James, the brother and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ:
(ESV) — 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Christ reveals His Heart to us today, even as He revealed His Will last week. The same Lord who would take on death itself to give you life wants you to moe beyond affection and embrace love, move beyond passive enablement and move to active ministry. As He enables us to be His disciples by the power of the Spirit that He gives to us in His baptism, so He calls us by that same Spirit to embrace and live out His passion to seek out those who are yet scattered, yet covered and hidden by the darkness of sin, so that they might also walk in the sunshine of the Glorious Gospel of Christ, as it is written:
(ESV) — 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
The Heart of Mission pumps the blood of Christ.
So let the peace of God, that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds, through Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.