Allen Jackson - Interventionists "In Training" - Part 1
The theme for this session, and this evening as well, is about interventionist in training because it's, our story is not just what God's done for us, but what God intends to do through us. We are not just consumers of the blessings of God or consumers of religious messaging. God expects us to be a part of the delivery system, not just pastors and evangelists and professional preacher people, but all of us. Look with me in your notes. Acts chapter 2 says, "Every day they", they, the believers, "continued to meet together in the temple courts. And they broke bread in their homes and they ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved".
It says, they met together every day in the temple courts, and then in one another's homes; they shared food together; and, on a daily basis, there were new people coming into the kingdom. That is the model that we're given by the early church. I don't believe it's ever been amended or rescinded or altered. God intends us to make an impact in our world. People frequently, it's probably the most frequently asked question I have about the church. Am I concerned that it's too big? They're talking about y'all. And I'll answer, "No, actually, I'm a little embarrassed that there's so few of us".
There are more unchurched people in Rutherford County than in the history of this community. We are way behind the curve. Imagine if we were building churches as rapidly as we were building apartments. What if we were building churches as rapidly as we're building new neighborhoods or we're building restaurants? See, those of us that fill churches tend to... We're kind of content with the status quo on our faith front. We want there to be new schools for our kids, and new soccer fields for our kids, and new things for lots of us. And I'm telling you, I'm not embarrassed about how many of us there are. I'm sorry that there aren't more of us. And I believe God will change that if we'll say yes.
2 Corinthians chapter 5 says, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us". Ambassador in the 1st century and the 21st century really shares the same meaning: someone who is a representative of a sovereign nation that is sent to another nation, and that ambassador establishes an embassy in that nation to which they were sent, and that embassy becomes the sovereign territory of the sending nation. I visited Jerusalem not too long ago, and one of the first things I wanted to do was go take my, have my picture taken in front of the new United States embassy in the city of Jerusalem.
We post an ambassador there, but we post ambassadors to many of the nations of the world. They're representatives of this nation to those nations to facilitate better relationships, to help cooperation, to understand so we can work together for the mutual good of both nations. But it's well understood that the ambassador doesn't go there to be completely assimilated; they're a representative of someplace else. They may want to be sensitive to the local culture, be aware of it, may even learn the local language, but they don't assimilate. If they become more enmeshed in the nation to which they were sent and more representative of that government than the nation that sent them, we have a word for that. We call them traitors. They have abandoned their assignment.
Well, that's the precise image that the scripture uses of us. It says we are Christ's ambassadors. He's making his appeal in our world through us. We're in the world, but we're not of it. We have an allegiance to someplace else, a different set of values, a different set of commitments, a different set of perspectives. And, while we're in this world representing someone else, we don't want to become so well assimilated that we're indistinguishable from the people of this world system. Jesus said, "If you acknowledge me before men, I'll acknowledge you before the Father. But, if you deny me before men, I'll deny you before the Father".
We do a lot of things around here to try to facilitate that ambassadorial role. I hear the discussions that take place. Sometimes we're not all that comfortable with it. People will say to me, "Pastor, pray for me. We moved into a new neighborhood, and it's a pagan place". Sounds like a divine appointment to me. God sent you there to be a light. Or you'll say to me, you know, "Pastor, pray for me. The place I work, I'm the only Christian". Harvest time. I understand it's not easy. If you were posted as an ambassador to Namibia, it's a beautiful country, southern part of Africa, some remarkable geography there. But you'd probably have a hard time getting sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast. Different culture.
And God puts us in places sometimes that aren't so comfortable or aren't so exciting. We'll do some things together to try to help that. We'll give you mugs at Easter time, so it's not just a cold invitation. We'll try to make something to do to soften that. We'll provide some opportunities. We'll show movies occasionally on a Sunday night, or we'll have a hoe down and invite the children from the community to interact with us. We'll do some things to try to facilitate those interactions. But, the end of the day, we're here representing the kingdom of God.
We're in the midst of a little initiative we pulled together a few weeks ago. We got some cameras and filmed some small group sessions and wrote curriculum to go with it and then have given you that video and those study guides. We ask you to open your homes or gather your friends in a restaurant or where you work and take four weeks and do a little, have a Jesus discussion, a faith group. Hundreds of you said yes to that. Hundreds more said, "I'll sit in one, and I'll be ready to do it the next time".
I know because you've been giving me the reports every weekend. When I wrote this series a few weeks ago, I put it together thinking it was kind of an uninterrupted run up to Easter. But, this past week, a couple of people brought me a list of questions that were coming out of the groups, questions that came from the studies you're doing. And so I rewrote my outline; I'm just gonna give you those questions that they handed me this week and see if I can unpack them with you because I have a feeling, if some of you are having questions, more than some of you are. Sound okay?
And I just put the questions in your outline today. I didn't put them in any particular order; they were the order they were given to me, and they're unredacted. Seems like a lot of cultural interest these days in unredacted things. So I didn't mess with them. Now, I'll caution you on the front end, not all of the questions have complete answers from scripture. We don't have all the information we would like yet, but we have enough information from scripture to be able to respond to them. Now, it's also an observation; I've done this lesson now two or three times, and I think the questions alone often tend to elicit kind of a bit of anxiety, maybe even fear.
And I think that's inappropriate. I'm gonna try to present the responses in such a way that they're encouraging and affirming, and build anticipation, not fear. Because what's ahead of us is not frightening; it's exciting if you're a Christ follower. All right, so that's the background; here we go. There's, you've got seven questions; I haven't gotten through all seven yet, so don't pass, some of you looked how long that outline is, you're already mad. Forgive me, in Jesus's name. I'll stop on time, I promise; what we don't do this morning, we'll do this evening at the evening service.
Number one, since our souls go to heaven when we die, could they come back through new births, plural, reincarnation? Interesting question. Our souls go to heaven when we die; could they come back through multiple new births? Well, the Bible says that you are a Spirit; that you have a soul, your mind, your will, and your emotions; and you live in a body. You are a Spirit; you have a soul; and you live in a body. We're complex beings; that's why it's not always easy to discern what interrupts our health and our well being. Is it physical? Is it emotional? Is it spiritual? It's not always immediately apparent.
The scripture gives us some insight into this. Hebrews 9, in verse 27 says, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he'll appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him". Man is destined to die once; it's a one-time appointment. The Bible very clearly tells, us in multiple places, that there's two appointments none of us can avoid: death and judgment. Doesn't say it's going to happen repeatedly. And, in fact, there are worldviews and world religions that suggest that time is cyclical and that you enter time and you go through it and you step out, and you can step back in.
Depending on how you did the first time, you get an upgrade or a downgrade. And you just keep making the circle until you get it right, and finally it's, you graduate, grasshopper. But that is not a biblical perspective; the biblical view of time is linear. Look in Galatians chapter 1, in verse 1; it says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". In fact, that's the first sentence in the Bible. In the beginning. If there's a beginning, by logic, there will be a conclusion. It is a linear progression. Some months ago, it's been some years ago now, actually, we did a rather extended study called The White Board Bible.
And we wanted to learn the big picture story of the Bible, not just little Bible stories, but what's the book about? What's the objective? And so we built a timeline, 12 points around which you could arrange all the smaller stories, you know, from scripture, so you can understand where Isaiah fit in relation to Noah. And the first point on the timeline was creation because that's where the Bible starts, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". And it moves in a linear fashion, all the way to the book of Revelation. Way down here, 12 points later, where we said, the book of Revelation says, "Then the end will come". The end of what? The end of time. Not the end of your existence; your Spirit is eternal. But God gives us each one a singular journey through time.
Look at that next passage you've got in your notes. It's Matthew chapter 24; Jesus is speaking; he said, "This Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come". The end of what? The end of this age. Not your end, not the end of humanity, the end of this age. Now, here's the beauty of that. You and I only get one trip through time. So the joy of this invitation is, whatever season of your life you're in, whatever circumstance you face, the invitation is to honor God in that season. There's no optimal season where it's easier to choose the Lord.
You know, I think sometimes we think, when you get old, it's easier to choose the Lord. Actually, that's not true. The statistics are overwhelming. If you don't choose the Lord prior to 16, it's highly improbable you ever will. Tiny fraction of percentage of people accept the Lord once they reach adulthood. So you only get one chance to whatever season of life you're in. If you're a little person, you only get one chance to honor God as a preschooler. It's important, parents; you'll have to help with that; you're a big part of that story.
Since our church began, since we were small with no resources, we've all been given, often has given the children a priority. We do that until today; we give them the best spaces, the best volunteers, the best resources that we have because we want them to imagine that church and Christianity and their faith and God is a positive, uplifting, encouraging part of their journey. We don't ever want them to be content in a dead, dry, empty place of worship. But you only get one chance to be a teenager for Jesus. Use your, those years of transformation and change and awakening and expanding sense of your strength and an awareness of the world, use those to honor the Lord. You only get one chance to be a college student for the Lord.
I think it's far more important to be enthusiastic for Jesus than to be an enthusiastic Greek. You only get one chance to be single for the Lord. Being single is not a curse; use the freedom that it brings to your life to honor the Lord. You only get one chance to be newlyweds for Jesus. It's not a time for selfish indulgence and to make yourself in charge of everything; it's a time to honor the Lord. You only get one chance to parent little children for Jesus. You only get one chance to be, have teenagers in your house, that's enough. You only get to be retired one time for Jesus. And, in every one of those life seasons, I hear language that's a little distressful.
Retired folks say, you know, "Now it's my calendar. It's my money. I've worked all these years. I've given my time. Now I can do what I want, when I want, the way I want". No, that's as much a mistake as a teenager saying, "I'm gonna sow my wild oats" or a college student saying, "I wanna sow my wild oats. There's plenty of time for restraint later". No, you will forfeit the privilege of that season. You see, it's a backwards approach because we've imagined that godliness and holiness and righteousness is limiting and diminishing and takes something from you. It's a lie. You only get one trip through time. There's no do-overs; there is no do-overs.
I watched a video this past week of last year's Easter service, and the worship folks had prepared one song where the room went dark, and they were trying to simulate lightning and thunder, and there's a lot of the bass sound, but there were spotlights passing over the room, kind of sweeping over the room. And I saw several of you, just for a moment, you'd appear in the light, and the light would move. That's kind of the way I see time. We step into time for a moment, and then you're gone again. And we have all this cultural discussion about different generations and their approaches and their ideas, and the differences between this season and that season.
I think we way over-talk that because the truth is it's a pretty brief journey through time. Your teenage years may feel endless if you're in the middle of them, but, later on, you'll think they just went like that. But I believe that's true of every season of life. Wherever you are, say, "Lord, help me to honor you in this place". What would that look like? If you'll start practicing that choice wherever you are, it'll be easier in the next season. If you keep delaying it, it gets incremental, exponentially more difficult. The Bible gives us a linear view of time.
The second question is, are we really gonna have a new 2.0 body, physically? Sound like somebody had a headache. Well, "2.0 body" is not a biblical term. Pastor uses it, but it's derived from scripture. Luke chapter 24 is Resurrection Day in the chronology of Jesus's life, and the disciples have been hiding, but the messages began to come to them that the tomb was empty. And so some people went to explore, and, in truth, they found the tomb empty. And there's a lot of confusion amongst Jesus's friends about what's happening. And that's where we step into the narrative. It says, "While they were telling these things, he himself", Jesus, "stood in their midst and he said, 'Peace be to you.' But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit".
Now, that sentence makes perfect sense to me. They have just spent the most remarkable three years of their life; they were recruited by this itinerant rabbi that said, "Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men". And they said, "Okay". And they've seen things they never thought they would see anywhere. They've watched this Jesus fellow walk on water, and they were at a wedding where he turned water into wine, and they followed into a cemetery at Bethany where he spoke to somebody that was in the tomb, and a man who'd been dead four days walked out.
They've seen him on multiple occasions facing the most brilliant people of his generation who were trying to trap him in logic problems, and he outsmarted the smartest people of the generation until they wouldn't even ask him any more questions. They've seen him in the midst of angry mobs, and he would walk through them untouched and unscathed. They've seen him in the midst of storms, speak to wind and waves, and the wind and the waves behaved according to his instructions. He's told them to feed a multitude when they didn't have the resources to do so, and he took a small boy's lunch, and, with that, provided the resources to feed thousands of people.
They're quite convinced that there isn't any circumstance that presents to Jesus for which he doesn't have a response. Understandably so; they've never known anybody like him. It's why they have sworn their allegiance, their future, their faith to him. They call him Lord, not as a matter of some religious affiliation. They've never known anybody like him before. Now, in truth, he's been saying to them, "This next trip to Jerusalem is gonna be different. I'll be arrested and betrayed".
And he walks them through it, and he's told that to them multiple times. But I don't believe they're really listening because they have multiple experiences that suggest what he's saying to them really isn't the reality. They're gonna bet on experience over some theory. And they get to Jerusalem this time, and it begins to unfold. They're in Gethsemane praying, and the soldiers come to arrest Jesus, and Peter, being true to Peter, decides he's gonna fight. And Jesus restores the damage that was done, and they watch him be led off. But I'm quite certain they expect him to find a way out of that conundrum. There's gonna be a trial, and they've seen him be, try to be trapped by logic on multiple occasions.
So I'm quite certain they think he's gonna reason his way out of this, except, for that trial, he stands silently; he offers no defense. And I suspect the anxiety began to grow, and they took him from that trial and presented him to the Roman governor. And now I think they're back on familiar ground because they watched him go in Zacchaeus's house, and Zacchaeus was the biggest thief they knew. And, after a meal with Jesus, Zacchaeus came back and said, "I'm gonna restore everything I've stolen". I think they're looking for Pilate to come out of the governor's palace and say, "This man is the Son of God". But Pilate comes out and washes his hands. He says, "I'm gonna release a prisoner today. Who do you want"?
And now I think the disciples may be a bit encouraged again. After all, they've seen Palm Sunday when they came into the city and the people were going Hosanna to the Son of David. And the crowd says, "Give us Barabbas". "And what do you want me to do with Jesus"? "Crucify". Now the fear is becoming palpable, and the unimagined begins to happen; the soldiers lead Jesus into the praetorium, and they begin to beat him mercilessly. When he emerges, he's almost unrecognizable, and, like a common criminal, he's carrying a cross through the streets of Jerusalem. And they get him outside the city, and they torture him to death. And the disciples have no frame of reference. They're devastated; they're heartbroken; they're frightened; they're hiding because, if they can take Jesus, they're next.
Now on Sunday morning, the tomb is empty, and they're rattled; they're frightened; they've lost their bearings, and they're trying to sort it out. And Jesus steps in the room, and Luke says, "They thought it was just a spirit, a ghost. They're just projecting their emotional trauma around their friend. It isn't real". And watch what Jesus says. "He said to them", verse 28, 38, "'Why are you troubled, why do doubts arise in your hearts?'" I know it's Jesus, and I don't think he meant it in a condemning way, but I do think he was calling them out a little bit. "Why are you troubled..." "What do you mean, why are we troubled"? "Why do doubts arise in your heart"?
It feels, seems clear to me, Jesus expected them to have believed what he told them. Do you think he really expects us to believe what he told us? I mean, that'll recalibrate your faith. He didn't say, "Get together, have a study, and debate it". That's why he keeps saying, "I'm telling you the truth". Watch what he does next, 'See my hands and my feet, it's I myself; touch me and see, a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones as you see that I have.' "And when he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still couldn't believe it because of their joy and amazement, he said to them, 'Have you got anything to eat?' So they gave him some Captain D's", Living Bible, "piece of broiled fish".
Jesus stood in front of his friends and gave them permission for a complete inspection. He said, "Come check it out; it's me". He is physically alive again. The Bible talks about the first Adam and the second Adam, who is Jesus, that, through the first Adam, death came to all. But Jesus was raised to life after his physical death, as the firstfruits of a new promise for all humanity.
Look with me at 1 Corinthians 15, "Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Each one in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father and after he's destroyed all dominion and authority and power".
Same chapter, verse 42, "So will it be with the resurrection of the dead, The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it's sown in dishonor, it's raised in glory, it's sown in weakness, it's raised in power; it's sown a natural body, it's raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body".
The promise of scripture is that, just as Jesus was raised to life after his death, so you and I will be raised to life again. Our earth suit will be raised to life again. The question is when? Because your current version is on a countdown clock. How humbling is that? That rascal will betray you. All the strength and invincibility of youth begins to deteriorate. We take more maintenance, and that thing that is so fearfully and wonderfully made becomes a reminder that you're a creature. It invites us to turn our faces to the Lord. But it says that, when Jesus returns, there will be an end, an end of this age. We just read it, "When he comes, those who belong to him will be raised to life again".
You know, there are many ways we learn about God. We can study and apply ourselves and learn in that way. But another way is God gives us insight and understanding. The biblical word for that is a revelation. Well, I wanna ask God to give you insight and understanding into his concern for you. Let's pray:
Father, I pray that, by the Spirit of God, you would give us a revelation of your great love for us, of its magnitude, its scope, of how you give expression to that in our lives. I thank you for it, in Jesus's name, amen.