Jesus Courageously Completed His Mission
TEXT: Various Texts
Sunday, March 24, 2002
We have been taking a fresh look at Jesus and seeing what makes him so attractive to people and what draws people to him to this very day. So far, we have talked about Jesus’ spiritual connection, that Jesus was a person without prejudice, that he loved people and drew out what was best in them, and that although he was God he did not use his authority and position over people but instead served them with humility. He spoke God’s word in a language and a way that allowed people to relate to it. My hope last week was to model the preaching of the gospel in a way that you could relate to and experience.
Another quality about Jesus that impresses us is what we see as he enters Jerusalem knowing that he would give his life for us and knowing that this would involve a lot of pain and suffering. Jesus courageously completed his assigned mission when he entered the city that day. It took great courage, great focus, and a great sense of purpose. I wonder if we have such focus and determined perseverance in our own lives.
Do you know your purpose in life? Do you know why you are here? Do you know what God wants to do in your life? Jesus did. Knowing it, he fulfilled God’s purpose. There is something attractive about people who have tremendous focus and purpose in their lives.
I think this is one of the reasons we like March Madness. We see teams who have tremendous focus, and we know that the team that desires it most will achieve the purpose that they have in their minds and hearts.
We are drawn to people like William Wallace portrayed in the movie “Braveheart.” He was a Scottish revolutionary who freed Scotland from the oppression of England. We are amazed by the graphic nature of the film, but we are also amazed by what one person with vision and purpose can do. A person like Mother Theresa inspires awe because of what she accomplished.
Do you have a good sense of God’s vision, God’s focus, and God’s purpose in your life, or are you like Forrest Gump? All through the movie, Forrest Gump asked one question, “Mama, what’s my purpose?” As people, I think we have a need to live beyond the here and now. Our lives are more than being born, routine living and dying. We want to find some meaning, some focus, some purpose, something greater than ourselves. Do you know what that is, or are you confused?
Many of us are confused because we are not sure what God’s will is for our lives. I hope to help you discern God’s will and purpose for your life. When people talk about this, they mean one of two things: There’s God’s general purpose for all our lives, and then there is his specific purpose. I can tell you right off that God’s general purpose for all our lives is The Great Commission and The Great Commandment. The Great Commission is stated in Matthew 28:20: To make disciples. The Great Commandment is stated in John 15:12: To love another.
If you want an easy way to remember this, just remember Show and Tell. Everyone has played show and tell in school. You are proud of something so you take it to school and show it and you tell about it. That’s what we are to do as disciples. We love our Lord, he is something we are proud of, we show his love to others, and we tell others about him and what he means in our lives.
This morning, I’d like to focus on God’s specific purpose for our lives. This is where we get hung up because we don’t know exactly what God wants to do in our lives. There are four passages that will help you to discern God’s specific call on your life, and I’d like to look at those and pose some questions to you.
The first passage for discerning God’s specific will for your life is in Isaiah 6: 8. This is the calling of Isaiah, and it happens in church. He has been in church all his life, and all of a sudden God shows up at this one worship service. God announces that he has a need, and he asks, “Who will go for me? Whom shall I send?” Isaiah probably looked around, hoping someone else would raise their hand. Finding that no one did, he said, “I’ll go. Here am I, Lord. Send me.” In that passage, I think we see that God presents specific opportunities in which he says there is something that needs to be done, and who will go? Are you responding to his call?
This reminds me of the parable of the sheep and the goats? What separates the sheep from the goats in God’s mind? The passage goes like this: “I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you ministered to me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” All those are needs that are seen in people’s lives and what separates the sheep from the goats is that the sheep responded to the need and did something about it. The goats said, “Let someone else volunteer. I’m just too busy.”
In 1946, Louis Slotton was an atomic researcher who did fundamental research in atomic fusion. The experiments were rugged in those days, and they would bring two spheres of uranium together and the moment of critical mass, he would split them apart with a screwdriver so that it wouldn’t explode. One day, the screwdriver slipped and the two hemispheres of uranium came together and produced a beautiful blue haze in the room. Knowing that it would kill everyone in the room, Slotton spontaneously grabbed the two hemispheres with his hands and pulled them apart. He saved everyone in that room at the cost of his own life.
I think of Todd Beamer, and we call him a hero. When the need arose, he spontaneously responded to it. Every hero will tell you that he or she is someone who simply responded to a spontaneous need, who rose to the occasion. What needs do you know about? What spontaneous opportunities has God presented to you where someone says, “We need this. Will someone go?” Are you saying yes? That’s God’s specific call on your life.
Another way of discerning God’s purpose for our lives is to reflect on this question: Is the work I am currently doing the work that God has given me to do? Compare and contrast King David and Nehemiah. David wanted to build God a temple and he had it in his heart to do so. In I Kings 8:17-19, “But the Lord said to my father, David, ‘Because it was in your heart to build me a temple, you did well. Nevertheless, you are not the one to build my temple. Your son, Solomon, is.’” David had something good to do for God, but it was not God’s calling on his life.
Contrast this with Nehemiah who, on reflecting on his desire to build the walls of Jerusalem, said this in Nehemiah 2:12: “I had not told anyone what the Lord had put in my heart to do.”
Is the work that you are doing now by your own choosing, or did God tap you on the shoulder and put it in your heart to do. There is a difference. There were times in my life when I mistakenly did what I thought was good to do, but it wasn’t God’s desire for my life. Right after college, I went home to take care of my mom and my brothers and sisters. I knew I should do that, and it was God’s will. What was not God’s will was for me to take the third job. I took three jobs at one time knowing, stubbornly knowing it was wrong. I rationalized it by saying I was taking care of my family, but it actually took me away from my family, away from spending time with my brothers and sisters who still needed to be raised. For awhile, it took me out of church. I was doing something good, but it was not what God had given to me.
What passion burns in your heart? You have something that you know needs to be done, and you have a desire to complete it. That’s God’s specific will for your life. Another way of getting at this question is who’s setting the agenda for your life? Have you ever asked the question, “God, what do you want me to do?” Who controls your day planner? Have you ever submitted it to Christ? Have you ever asked him, “Lord, although the things on my day planner are good, which of them are not your work for me? What belongs on my day planner?”
A good way to start each day is to say, “Lord, I know what needs to be done. I know what I want to do. But what do you have for me? Plan my agenda, and set it for me this day, I pray.”
A third way of discerning God’s specific purpose for our lives is to ask , “Is what I am doing bringing glory to God?” Jesus’ entire life was lived to glorify God. From John 17: 4-5: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave to me. Now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Father, the time has come, glorify your son that your son may glorify you.” Are you bringing glory to God in your life?
So often, we think of God’s will and purpose. We think it’s so grand in design and we say, “Oh, God, I would do anything for you. I would go to Africa on a mission trip for you. I would start a Habitat project for you. I could really stretch myself and go on a youth mission trip as an adult advisor.” It may be that God’s specific will for your life is not this grand design. Actually, it isn’t. God’s specific call on our lives is to glorify him right where we’re at already, to be a missionary right where we live. We are all called to be missionaries in our workplaces and missionaries in our homes. Parents, are you missionaries to your children? Are you doing everything you can to bring them into a right relationship with Christ?
We are called to be missionaries to our spouses, missionaries to our friends, missionaries to our relatives, missionaries at the gym where we work out, missionaries to our neighborhoods, missionaries to the strangers we come across who have a need. In the process, we are to live our lives in such a way that people say, “You know what? There’s something different about you. What do you have that I don’t have?”
Glorifying God is living in such a way that we point towards the source of our life, which is God. Are you glorifying him right where you’re at? That’s God’s specific call on your life.
The last text to look at is II Timothy 4:7. Paul is at the end of his life. He, of all people, has lived his life for God 24-7. Paul lived a life of integrity and faithfulness to Christ. You’ll note in Romans 7 that there were times that he failed. But here’s how he characterizes his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.”
Have you finished the race? Have you completed the work that God had for you to do? This has less to do with volunteering for something and more to do with the quality of our volunteering. Note that Jesus at the end of his life completed the work God had given him. He didn’t stop at Jerusalem and say, “Okay, I’ve worked long enough. I’m tired, and I’m going to retire now and let someone else do the rest.” He didn’t stop 90 percent of the way–he went all the way and completed God’s work. Paul did the same. Are you completing the task that you said yes to, or do you simply have a title but you’re not doing the job and you know it.
Another way of getting at this question is the Old Testament concept of vow-keeping. When a person took a vow and promised God that he would do something, that became God’s specific will for his life. Are you keeping the promises you made in your life? Think of all the promises you have made. How about the promise of membership? How about the vows you took at baptism? How about fulfilling the personal commitments you have made? The ones where you said, “God, if you do this, then I’ll do this.” Did you follow through? How about the telemarketer or charity that asked for a donation and you agreed to send $34. Did you do what you said you would do, or did you say you would contribute to simply get them off the phone? Are you faithful to your marital vows, and are you completing them? Are you keeping the promises you made to your children? Or is your life an endless series of broken promises, and your children no longer believe you when you make a promise. How about your church? Are you doing the job you agreed to do with excellence, or are you simply agreeing grudgingly and not following through? Think of your life itself. No one knows when we are going to be called home. If you pass away today, could it be said of you that you finished well? If you are an older member, my challenge to you is to finish well.
I’d like to conclude with a poem. One of the songs I have always enjoyed is called “Cat’s in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin.
“A child arrived just the other day. He came into the world in the usual way,
but there were planes to catch and bills to play. He learned to walk while
I was away. He talked before I knew it and as he grew, he said, “I’m
gonna be like you, Dad. You know I’m gonna be like you.
“And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in
the moon. When you coming home, Dad? I don’t know when, but we’ll
get together then, son. You know we’ll have a good time then.
“My son turned 10 just the other day. He said, “”Thanks for the ball, Dad. Come
on, let’s play. Can you teach me to throw?” I said, “Not today. I’ve got
a lot to do.” He said, “That’s okay.” And he walked away with a smile
never dimmed and said, “I’m gonna be like him, yeah. You know, I’m
gonna be like him.”
“And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in
the moon. When you coming home, Dad? I don’t know when, but we’ll
get together then, son. You know we’ll have a good time then.
“He came home from college just the other day, so much like a man I just had to
say, “Son, I’m proud of you. Can you sit for awhile?” And he looked at me
and he said with a smile, “What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car
keys. See you later. Can I have them, please?”
“And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in
the moon. When you coming, Son? I don’t know when, but we’ll get
together then, Dad. You know we’ll have a good time then.”
“I’ve long since retired and my son’s moved away. I called him up just the other
day. I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind.” He said, “I’d love to,
Dad, if I could find the time, but my new job’s a hassle and the kids have
the flu, but it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad. It’s been sure nice talking
to you.”
“And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me. He’d grown up just like me. My
boy was just like me.”
“And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in
the moon. When you coming home, Son? I don’t know when, but we’ll
get together then, Dad. You know we’ll have a good time then.”
Many of us raise our children that way. One day, it’s too late and they’ve grown up and we can’t have an effect upon their lives. We do the same thing to God. This song characterizes our relationship with God. God calls us to serve. We say, “God, I’m too young and I have so much to do in school. But it’s sure nice talking to you.” “God, I just got married and I’m getting to know my wife. I’ll be talking to you.” “God, you know I’d like to do that but I’ve got children now and there’s so much to do. But it’s sure nice talking to you.” “The kids moved away and I’ve got to go visit them. But I’ll say yes, give me another call.” “God, I’ve retired and my body’s so old and it’s hard just getting around. There’s this trip we’ve been planning for such a long time. Call me again. I’ll consider it.”
“And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue and the man in
the moon. When you gonna serve, Son? I don’t know when. But we’ll
get together then, God. You know, we’ll have a good time then.”
Sometimes time runs out and we may wake up some day and say, “God, I have time now. It’s convenient for me now.” And there will be a profound silence because now God’s too busy for you and your time is up. You are called to account for your life. Don’t be like that father who always had an excuse or a reason why he couldn’t spend time. Instead, say yes to the opportunities God presents to you. Say yes to those inner leadings that you have. Say yes to being a missionary where you’re at. Say yes to completing each task and finishing your life well.
Let’s pray.
