Citizenship
Notes
Transcript
I am not sure if I have shown this picture of not, (probably not because I try to hide it)
But it is a picture of when Arika and I first started dating.
And we looked a lot different (I think we aged well) but you since that picture was taken there have been a lot of changes that have taken place.
We graduated college, we got married, we got big kid jobs, we moved to Buchanan.
And there have been a ton of amazing things, but there have also been a fair amount of challenges that have come our way in life right?
But the question becomes for us but really any relationship despite the highs and despite the lows are we able to keep our focus where it should be in the relationship.
And you know today we are going to be continuing the series called “The Story” and (I know we had a two week break), but really the past few weeks we have begun to look at the life of this guy named Paul who was one of the leaders on the early church.
And Paul was someone who really helped expand the church, and because of this he had a lot of highs in his ministry, but he also had a lot of lows.
but despite the highs and the lows, despite the challenges we see Paul keeping his focus on where God is calling him.
and so we are going to be starting in Acts 20:22-24 and jumping to Ephesians, but really we are going to be seeing how Paul was able to stay so focused, but also how He instructed others to live.
And so once again starting in Acts 20:22-24 it says:
22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
So look at what is happening here, because Paul is telling where God is leading him.
And He goes I do not know whats going to happen to me there,
Really the only thing he knows is that whatever city he goes to he ends up facing hardships and in a lot of cases prison.
And we think “Wow, Paul is really being optimistic about God’s calling in his life, right?
But you know its not that Paul is being a debby downer, because he is just saying what happens to him, but in verse 24 that we read he says somthing really powerful.
He says “I consider my life worth nothing” and he even continues to say “my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me.
And he is not saying I do not care about my life, but he is saying this is really not my life, but I have given my life to God and what God wants from me is what matters the most.
Because my life is not my own.
In a way its kind of like how this past week I checked out this book from the library.
And the truth is I can do whatever I want with this book
I can use it as a paper weight, I could use it to hammer something into the wall, I could use it as a place mat to catch any crumbs when I eat, and really I could even tell you this is my book.
But here is the issue because first off its not my book right? I have been given it for a limited time.
And like I said I can use it for different purposes, but if I use it for a purpose different than what it was created for which is reading it will either unused for the task it was actually created for or really it might get damaged and destroyed.
And you know the truth is so often in our lives (even a Christians) we love to say “this is my life and I am going to live the way I want to”
But the issue is God is the one who has given us life and not just our life itself.
But every blessing, every gift has been given by God.
And when we end up saying this is my life we can start to look like this book where whether we are not being used for what God created us for and sometimes because of this we even end up damaged and worn.
And really this is why Paul tells us this is not my life, but God’s and I want to be where He has called me (which for Him was sharing the God’s grace)
He was not concerned nearly as much about getting the newest car or donkey as he was about making an eternal impact.
In fact Paul ends up going to prison quite a bit, but whats amazing is even when he ends up in prison he does not sit there and pout, but he ends up writing letters from prison to different churches giving them instructions and encouragement.
And I want to look at a section of one of the letters Paul writes to a church called Ephesis
because in this letter he tells them what this type of surrender looks like.
It says this in Ephesians 2:19-22.
And in this letter he is telling them what Jesus has done for them, and how entering a relationship with Him has changed them and it gets to verse 19 that we are about to read and Paul uses the word “Consequently” meaning because it this relationship this is what it means.
Look at what it says:
After consequently place “Because of this relationship”
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
So like I mentioned Paul is showing what this surrendered life looks like in the context of a relationship and I want you to notice what he says.
Because one of the first parts is He says you are no longer a foreigner or a stranger, but you are a citizen of God’s people.
You know when you are part of something it begins to shape and impact you doesn’t it?
I mean are there any baseball fans here?
To be honest I am not crazy about baseball, but if you have ever gone to a game there is something exciting about it isn’t there?
Because you pull into the parking lot and there are thousands of fans and venders
Then as you walk into the stadium you walk down this long tunnel with a bright light that opens up to thousands of other people all around you.
Then as the game goes on you are doing cheers and chants and by the end of the game you take a person like me and all the sudden I am the number one Oriels fan right?
But really when we enter into a surrendered relationship with Jesus where we become citizens of heaven, we begin to move away from being shaped by a lot of the life taking things in our life and move to being shaped by the life giver! (Jesus)
Where instead of being shaped by the toxic work environment, we are shaped by Grace
Instead of being shaped by what most people consider success we are shaped by being in God’s will.
And really here is the difference in my illustration, because we are not shaped into fans, but we are shaped into followers who are ready to go where He calls us.
And I love this next part because in verse 20 that we already read it tells us that as citezens of the kingdom of heaven; Jesus becomes the cornerstone of our lives that everything else is built on
And I am not a contractor so hopefully I am explaining this correctly, but a cornerstone on a building is a really important part of the building.
Because if it is set wrong the rest of the building will be set wrong.
Which will make it look and function poorly.
And really the issue for us is that we have so often is that (in our lives) we either have the wrong cornerstone entirely or we distort who Jesus is and we end up with this shaky foundation.
And we get to that last couple verses we read (verses 21 and 22) and it tells us when the cornerstone is set in our life we begin to be built into a temple.
Meaning as a Christ follower your life is being built into a dwelling place for God.
And this is a little scary because I look at my life and think does it look like a a temple for God.
If a temple for God could drive does my life look like God’s dwelling place going down the road?
When I go out to eat and the service is terrible do I look like God’s dwelling place at that restaurant?
When someone hurts me badly, am I being a dwelling place for the God of the universe?
And I want to jump to one last section in this letter that is a couple chapters down in Ephesians 4:1-6 because Paul keeps on expanding and growing what is looks like to be surrendered in our walk with God. It says this:
1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
So Paul starts this section by saying that if you consider yourself someone who is following Jesus then you need to live a life that is worthy of the calling you have received.
And I want to pause here for a second because that word “Worthy” is a really interesting work is the Bible’s original language, because it is actually a word picture that is really powerful.
Because in Biblical times they would measure out things with one of those old fashion scales where you would place a weight on one side and then whether is was gold or wheat they would place enough on the other side of the scale (MAYBE INCLUDE PICTURE)
And they would keep adding to the scale until both sides were even and once they were even they would say that they are worthy of each other.
And so you almost get this picture of your life and how you are living on one side and then your relationship with God and where He is calling you on the other-side.
And Paul is saying are these areas even? Is how you are living and matching the God you serve?
Are you living in a manner worthy of your calling as a follower of Christ?
And let me just finish up with the real practical side of this because Paul gives a few areas that we need to live worthy of our calling and we are going to go through these a little quickly because I do not want you to loose sight of the big picture,
But he says:
Be humble- this was a charachter trait in Biblical times that was very rare and the only people who were taught to be humble were servants
But Paul is saying be humble and realize thats its not you who are accomplishing the task that God has called you to, but it is God working through you.
He says be gentle or meek- which is the oppisite of harsh and constently angry-
it doesn’t mean that we cannot get angry, but it means we should be a very graceful people.
Be patient- No one likes being patient right? I mean if you go to the Secretary of state and there is a long wait, your patiences wears thin
And when life is that way and we are ready for God to tell us to go somewhere or do something our patience gets a little more thin, because we like to go quickly.
But Paul says be patient- give control to God
He then moves on to say bear each otherwith love and make every effort to keep unity-
You know I say this a lot but the reason this passage and others stress this idea of unity, is because the truth is we need each other
Because we do not come to church just to hear a message or worship through music, but we come because we believe that we push each other to look more like Jesus.
Thats part of the reasons we have events like potlucks and axe throwing, because we have fun, but these relationships push ourselves closer to God and each other.
And I think its important to ask ourselves am I living a life worthy of God’s calling?
And maybe its one of these areas, but maybe its another area in your life.
Maybe there are things like gossiping that are ruining this unity that God has called you too
Maybe there is an addiction and you are thinking this doesn’t look like the dwelling place of God
Maybe its a relationship with a signifigant other (whether its a spouse of boyfriend/girlfriend that is far off from where God has called it.
And this is a really uncomfortable and personal question but what area are you looking at saying I do not look like a dwelling place of God here.
What would it look like to make Christ the cornerstone this morning in this area but more importantly in your life?
And as we close we will be singing a song called cornerstone, but maybe this morning you just need to surrender an area this would be a great time to say I am ready to surrender this area to God and live a life worthy of where He has called me.
Will you pray with me?