When I was a freshman in high school I walked through the doors of mission Christ for the first time. There were a lot of reasons I came.
My band was playing a show there at a thing called club Christ, my band has since broken up.
There was a girl who invited me who I thought was pretty great, she is now married to an old roommate of mine.
There were also a lot of friends I had made who were going, all of which have now moved on to different things in their lives
I came to mission for a lot of reasons, but I stayed because I heard the gospel preached in such a way that showed me that I had a part to play in it.
I remember sitting there listening to Bill Brannan speak about the life and calling of God and being hardly able to sit still. I wanted to jump up right then and there and go over to the dairy queen and tell everyone about the amazing things God was doing.
It was at Mission Christ that I first believed in my heart that God was involved with this world, and had called me to help.
Since then so much has happened I can’t even tell you a small fraction of it. I have seen people healed of diseases. Spoken to demons and cast them out of people. The deaf have been healed before my eyes and the lame have walked. I have had prayers answered time and time again. Have had my heart broken and changed. I have had times of despair, and times of Joy. But the reason I started on this journey has come back to me time and time again.
I have a place in this story, and it is a better, sweeter, and higher calling then anything my wildest dreams have imagined.
The Gospel is a thing of wonder, and wonder is to be treasured above any riches of this world.
There was a great teacher who died tragically in a car accident a number of years ago. His name was Mike Yakonelli, he had become a father to many people like myself, and had given his life to helping kids know God. I heard the last talk he ever gave and I will never forget one thing he said.
Mike told a story about kids. He said if you go into a kindergarten classroom and ask the kids who here can sing? Every hand will go up.
What can you sing?
Anything!
Where can you sing?
Anywhere!
If you ask who can dance, it’s the same.
But go to a high school class and you’ll have a different story. A few cautious hands go up for singing, even less for dancing.
Ask a group of middle age people who can sing, you’re lucky to find one.
Somewhere in between recess and retirement most people loose hope in doing anything.
And with that the wonder leaves to.
Do you remember what it was like to be young? How broken chalk on the sidewalk could be a hidden treasure. The way a robin could catch your eyes. A duck was the highlight of a day, and your surroundings could instantly be turned into a battlefield and a stick into a sword. In those days I truly believed I would spend my adult life killing wild lions that would attack the villages in Africa where I would live. The Amazon would be my road, and I’d find myself in all the right places at all the right times healing, and helping all kinds of people.
The thing is I still believe that’s how I’m going to spend my life.
God has restored my wonder… not only that he has expanded it beyond anything my 6-year-old mind could ever imagine.
Today Mission Christ still inspires me. There are people like Joan who still believe they can dance, and sing, and break dance, and do martial arts, paint, and do anything. There are breakfast awareness clubs, and Free Huron hugs. There are people like Matt who call me in the middle of the night with impossible goals, and there are enough people willing to try to do it. There are people who are willing to risk it all because they believe that God can change their school, their family, and even their hearts.
We are in the midst of this story and each one of us has a distinct place.
I can’t tell you where God wants each person to be, but I know it is a life that is both amazing and impossible.
The very heart of God is being made known in us.
And all of us have a part to play.
And each one of us has everything we need to bring the kingdom.
God has given you a calling.
He has empowered you with his own spirit to see it, and do it.
And he has brought you into a community to accomplish it.
You are not alone.
And you can’t pretend like you are.
This life of wonder and purpose is not to give you satisfaction.
Remember the fall of Satan. He envied the glory of God. And he was cast down.
That temptation is still here.
Do you feel like your relationship with God, and with others has faded? Do you find yourself angry, or jealous? Has church been difficult for you because you can’t find the community you want?
Detrick Bonhoeffer states:
“Those who love their vision of community will destroy it, but those who simply love will create community wherever they go.”
Jesus Say, “"I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father. "You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you. "But remember the root command: Love one another.
(Joh 15:11-17)
For Jesus Joy did not stem from his vision, but from love. And he has called us to live this too. Love… that means others before self. That means Calling before comfort. Love is not that little feeling you have when you see a “pretty lady” it’s the life that gives all to see that child of God set free. The love God calls us to is not bound by what we can get but what GOD can give (and for those of you who don’t know, that love has no limits).
That is why the calling of God is so great in your life.
That is why we can have wonder.
That is why we can believe, even anticipate, that the impossible will be made reality.
God loves with no borders guidelines or limits and he calls you to do the same!
Joan asked us what makes us cry in movies. We’ve seen epic battles, and touching acts of love. But I want to ask you what makes you cry in this world today. What are the battles you face, and who are the people who touch you.
It’s in these places we can see the kingdom of God come in power today.
Does anything break your heart?
Has anyone?
In so many of the books and movies we watch love conquers all. But in our world love is a scarce commodity.
Maybe you’ve been hurt and broken. I know I’ve been. I’ve tried to love, and it didn’t last. I’ve trusted and been let down. People have left, died, or just grown cold, and it’s so easy to go cold with them. Love isn’t safe.
But I don’t want to live a safe life. I want to live a real life.
A life of love is both dangerous and without boundaries. Love calls for the deepest parts of you, and threatens to break them to pieces, but love never fails. Love is how the story began, and how it ends. Because love is the spark inside where God’s own image is manifest in your heart, and in our midst.
Is there someone in your class God is calling you to love?
Think about it.
Is there a coworker God wants to whisper his love to though you?
How can you show love to your neighborhood?
The city?
A whole nation?
How can you tell the world that they are loved by God?
Who here can you love tonight?
