INTRO:
… although this is a festive time of year, it can also be a difficult and stressful time for a certain group -- a group whose needs, all too often, are overlooked in our society. That group is: men. Why is the Christmas season so hard on men? There are many complex and subtle reasons, by which I mean: women.
This problem dates to the very first Christmas. We know from the Bible that the Wise Men showed up in Bethlehem and gave the baby Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Now, gold is always a nice gift, but frankincense and myrrh -- at least according to my dictionary -- are gum resins. Who gives gum resins to a baby?
The answer is: men. The Wise Men, being men, didn’t even start shopping for gifts until the last minute, when most of the stores in the greater Bethlehem area were closed for Christmas Eve. The only place still open was Big Stu’s House of Myrrh. (Dave Barry, Christmas 2004)
Of course this is just for fun – there were perfectly good cultural reasons for giving frankincense and myrrh, but it does raise the question: What exactly do you give to a King? Especially a King who has everything – all power, all wisdom, all wealth at his disposal.
We’ve been answering that question over the last couple of weeks. What does Jesus want for Christmas?
1. He wants disciples who will give Him complete control.
2. He wants servants to follow His example and demonstrate His love.
3. He wants ambassadors to represent Him in this world.
Before we go to the scripture to help you understand what this means, it’s important we start with a basic understanding of what an ambassador is.
am•bas•sa•dor
1 A diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another, usually for a specific length of time.
3 An authorized messenger or representative.
In order for the United States to protect it’s citizens in foreign countries, and in order to protect our interests in foreign nations – we have ambassadors appointed by our government. These folks are sent to live in other places that are not their home – but while there they act as a representative of the United States of America.
Jesus wants ambassadors for Christmas. He wants people who will represent HIM and HIS KINGDOM until He returns to the earth again.
We see this in Matthew 9:35.
Matt. 9:35-10:1 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
10:1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
It is God’s desire that all men, women, and children be saved through the shed blood of Jesus. And I always find it fascinating that in this quick little scene in Jesus’ life, he looks out over the crowd of people and he sees so many who will respond to the love and shepherding that God can offer them, if only someone will go as God’s representative and tell them about it.
There is no shortage in the amount of people who will respond to the gospel. The shortage is in the amount of people who will act as Christ’s ambassadors on earth.
Now let me share with you some amazing truths about our role as ambassadors for Jesus Christ.
1. Ambassadors for Christ speak and act with His authority.
Let’s go back to the passage I just read from Matthew 9. In verse 35 it describes what it was Jesus was doing: going, teaching, preaching, healing. He then makes his statements about the need for workers to go out in His name to bring in a harvest of souls. And then Matthew 10:1 records that he called his disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
Jesus doesn’t send out his disciples as “lame duck” ambassadors. Furthermore, we are not expected to act in our own authority to try and bring change into people’s lives or convince them of their need for Jesus in their lives. When we go out to serve someone in the name of Jesus, or to speak to them about the love of Jesus and their need to repent and receive eternal life, we go IN THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS. When we pray for someone to be healed, we don’t do it out of our own authority – we have been given authority in the name of Jesus to pray for healing. We have been given authority over the powers of evil at work in this world – not because of our own greatness of course, but because Jesus gives us HIS authority!
This same idea comes through in one of our foundational scriptures – the great commission:
Matt. 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus starts out saying “I have authority. All authority.” Then he instructs his disciples to GO and make disciples. But he closes with the words “Surely I am with you always.”
He has all authority. And he is with us always. Therefore, as his ambassadors, WE have been given authority to speak and act in His name.
When he sent out 72 of his disciples 2 by 2 he told them this:
Luke 10:16-19 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
When we step out to do His work, we never have to fear whether or not we’ll have the power we need. He has promised that we have his authority to defeat Satan. He has promised to be with us. He has promised us His power.
So why is the notion of being Christ’s ambassador sometimes scary to us? Because we’re afraid of what people will think of us. But if we get ourselves out of the equation, it can alleviate some of our fears. As Luke 10:16 says, if we speak to them about Christ, and they reject the message – they are not rejecting us – they are actually rejecting Christ. We’re just the messenger. If, on the other hand, they listen to you when you speak about Christ’s love, you simply celebrate that they have received Christ, not YOU.
What does Jesus want for Christmas? He wants ambassadors who will go out in his name and with his authority to represent Him.
TRANS: But if we are to GO in his name, what is our message to the world. As His ambassador, what does he want us to communicate to the world?
The answer comes in 1 Cor 5, where we learn that
2. Ambassadors for Christ are to bring God’s message of reconciliation to the world.
2Cor. 5:15, 17-20 [Jesus] died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. …
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 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.
Reconciliation means two sides coming together again. In Jesus Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself. This is the incredible news. It is the Gospel. And it is the reason Jesus came to the world 2000 years ago in Bethlehem.
But there are people all around us who don’t know that they can have their sins forgiven. They don’t know they can be a new creation. They think they have no hope.
That’s where we come in. As God’s ambassadors our main message to the world is summed up in the word “reconciliation”.
Here’s the amazing story of reconciliation:
The Bible teaches that God created each person and loves each person, but because of sin (disobeying God’s law) that relationship was broken. Because God is a just God he requires payment for breaking his law – and because he is so pure and holy, that payment is death itself (Rom 6:23 says The wages of sin is death.).
That’s where God’s work of reconciliation comes in. Though by his own decree a death sentence hangs over humanity, because of his mercy and grace he sent Jesus –born in Bethlehem, but then killed 30 some years later in Jerusalem – as the one to pay the death penalty.
In that one act of love, Jesus removed the judgment of spiritual death and separation from God. However – as we all know, reconciliation of a relationship takes 2 to go into effect. God has done all he can do to reconcile the world to himself through Jesus Christ. Now each person has a choice to either repent of their sin and come into relationship with God, or to go their own way and reject the offer of reconciliation that God has made.
It is a simple message to tell. But unless someone explains it to them, there are countless people in our community and around the world who will needlessly go to Hell – unaware that God desired reconciliation with them.
The amazing thing is when we as followers of Christ recognize our role as ambassadors, and are willing to act when the Holy Spirit gives us an assignment, amazing things can happen. Let me give you two current examples.
ILLUS:
3 weeks ago in small talk I discovered that a man who has been attending our church was about to be deployed for 6 months to Japan. I knew from previous conversations he was not saved, but was seeking the truth. So I asked him if he would like to get together at Solid Ground sometime the next week for me to explain what it means to become a Christian. He agreed – but when the time for the appointment came, he was unable to come.
Next Saturday I saw him again and discovered he was going to be leaving Monday morning. What did I do? I was incredibly spiritual and said, “Have a good trip – we’ll miss you.”
As I was walking out to my car, the Holy Spirit started to bring conviction. “This could be the last opportunity you have to share the gospel with Him.” So I drove to solid Ground, got a tract for sharing the gospel, and came back to the Senior Center. He was playing pool, and I just had to ask him if we could have that conversation right then. Well, he agreed – and 30 minutes later he was praying repenting of his sins and turning the controls of his life over to the Lord.
Why did that happen? God was calling him, and had been using a couple of people in our church to minister to him and his wife, and to witness to them. But he needed someone to “close the deal”. God tapped me on the shoulder and said “I need an ambassador to represent me to Him.” I almost missed it. But praise God I obeyed. There is one more on his way to heaven as a result!
Let me give you another example of what can happen when someone decides to be an ambassador.
ILLUS:
As you may know, over the last couple of weeks two women tragically ended their lives by jumping off Deception Pass bridge.
Last Saturday Pastor Terry Krueger felt impressed by the Lord to take some people from Coupeville CTK to the bridge on Sunday afternoon and simply pray for God to protect others from taking their lives in the same way.
Amazingly, shortly after the group arrived they saw another group arriving. It was the family and friends of one of the women who had jumped, gathering for a candlelight vigil on Pass Island. They were openly grieving, and had no one to lead their service for them, so Jim Cochran approached the mother of the woman who jumped and offered the services of their church group, including Pastor Terry, to help facilitate the memorial service. What followed was an incredible opportunity for Terry to share the gospel – about how Jesus Christ is the bridge to bring us back to God. What was a moment of despair became a moment of hope. And it all started with Terry following through on a Holy Spirit prompting to go to the bridge and pray.
CONCLUSION:
These types of stories are what God wants to do all over Whidbey Island. The fields are ready for harvest. What is needed are workers who will go in the authority of Jesus Christ, with the message of reconciliation, to bring in the harvest of souls that awaits us.
Will you give Jesus what he really wants for Christmas? Will you begin living as the ambassador for Christ that He’s called you to be? Will you pray daily for God to speak and act through you to a lost and dying world? Will you obey the next time you are prompted to speak of God’s plan of reconciliation with humankind?
For the sake of the joy that awaits you, and for the sake of those whose lives will forever be changed, I pray you’ll say YES!
PRAYER:
Sinner’s prayer to be reconciled to God.
Prayer of commitment to live as Christ’s ambassador.
