A Call To Action

                                                                 A CALL TO ACTION

            Facing a significant downtick in recruitment, the British Army has launched a unique campaign to engage young people between 16 and 25 who may be looking for a job with purpose. Each of a series of promotional posters is designed to make an impression on their target audience. And that impression starts with an insult. “Selfie addicts,” “Me Me Me, Millennials,” “Phone Zombies, Binge Gamers, Snowflakes,” etc.

            Each poster starts with a millennial stereotype and then reframes that characteristic as a positive. “Selfie addicts … your army needs you and your confidence.” Snowflakes are lauded for their compassion. Binge gamers are lauded for their drive. Whether or not the campaign will help to hit recruiting targets remains to be seen, but the posters are generating conversation on social media. Camden-based politician Sarah Hayward commented on Twitter, “Not sure why the British Army thinks insulting young people is a good recruitment tactic.”

            Meanwhile, Major General Paul Nanson expressed his belief in the campaign. “We understand the drive they have to succeed and recognize their need for a greater sense of purpose in a job where they can do something meaningful.” Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson called it “A powerful call to action.”[1] People may use labels to define us as we are, but God loves us as we could be. We all need a purpose greater than ourselves.

            When the World sees problems in us, God sees our potential. The British Army’s recruiting strategy was a powerful call to action, as noted by the defense secretary. We are reminded of another, much more powerful Call To Action a week after Easter. This call comes from the Commander in Chief, the Conqueror of sin and death, our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Let us see what this Call To Action entails. Matthew 28:16-20

            Why do I choose “A Call to Action” as a theme for my message instead of choosing more spiritual titles? It appears that the secular World understands the concept of Call To Action and employs it to its advantage. For instance, a call to action  (CTA) is a prompt on a website that tells the user to take some specified action. In marketing, CTA is an instruction to the audience designed to provoke an immediate response, usually using an imperative verb such as “call now,” “find out more,” or “visit a store today.”[2] CTA evokes precise and quick action from us.

            If the World understood the power of a call to action, how much more do Christians need to take note of and swing to this Call To Action coming from our savior and Lord? Let us look at various components of this Call to Action and how they would impact us today.

I. A Call To Action involves a command to Go and Preach the Gospel to everyone.

            At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He called twelve followers and designated them as apostles so that they might be with Him and that he might send them out to preach. (Mk 3:14). These twelve were with Him for three and half years of apprenticeship, if you will. We know that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and later on hung himself to death.

            After Jesus rose from the dead as promised, He met the remaining eleven disciples on a designated mountain. When they saw Him, they had mixed responses. They worshipped him, but some doubted. But to all of them, Jesus gave a command, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, Go!” Let’s reflect on this action verb: “Go.”

            The eleven disciples and the early Church did not fully obey this command until great persecution broke out. We read in Acts 8:1-4, “On that day, a great persecution broke out against the Church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went.”

            Since then, the Gospel has been preached all over the World. What does this command to Go and Preach the Gospel to all people mean for us today? To, “Go,” is an action verb and a command from Jesus, not a suggestion. Without exception, this command is for all believers at all times. In the last 100 years, many disciples of Christ traveled the World preaching the Gospel to all nations. Since then, the demographics of the world missions have changed. It is becoming harder for missionaries to go into the unreached countries.

            Under such hostile conditions for the Gospel, how must we obey the call to go? While some, in response to that call in their lives, will go to other countries to preach the good news. For most of us, the mission field will be where we live, go to school, work, and attend Church.

            We don’t have to cross the ocean to reach the World. Our neighborhoods and communities become the new frontiers as more and more immigrants from hostile nations to the Gospel come into the USA. As individuals at Hope Church, we have a golden opportunity to be involved in local cross-cultural ministry in and around Sharon.

            Another vast demographic in our country is the Millenials and the Gen Zs, who need the Gospel. Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 23 to 38 in 2019) is considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward is part of a new generation: Generation Z. Sadly, these precious young people are moving further away from a structured and organized religion.

            They are very active on social platforms such as Twitter, Instagram,  TikTok, and Facebook, where they spend hours. If Jesus were to look at them, what would he say? “They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”( Matt 9:36-38). Whether we like it or not, we live in a digital age. Let’s pray that God will raise digital evangelists, missionaries, and church planters to reach this digital generation.

II. A Call To Action involves a command to make disciples of all nations.

            Matthew 28:19-20, “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.”

            Whenever Good News is preached through Word and deed, the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sins, and they become born-again. In other words, they will be like children in God’s family. They will become strong and spiritually mature through discipleship. That was what Jesus commanded us to do: Make disciples Of all nations. How do we disciple people?

            We disciple new believers by teaching them to obey Christ’s commands in the Word. For that to happen, we must become devoted disciples of Christ first. That is part of our mission statement at Hope Church. We will know Christ’s commands as we read the scriptures. It is not enough to read the Bible, but we must live out those biblical principles. Only then can we teach others to do the same. At Hope Church, we take both preaching and discipleship seriously.

            I commend our discipleship team for teaching God’s Word during Sunday morning Bible times to young children, youth, women, and men, as well as special courses like the OT review CASKET series. I systematically preach and teach from various books of the Bible during the Sunday Worship services. All these efforts might help us become devoted disciples of Christ. 

            Let us be honest: These dual tasks of preaching the Gospel and Making Disciples of All Nations sometimes become overwhelming. Then, we must remember who is sending us into this World and giving us this Call to Action. Our Lord Jesus Christ has all the authority in heaven and earth. When we obey this call, Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will save people and make them his ardent followers. There will be great rejoicing in heaven every time a sinner turns to God. When we go out in His name, He promises to be with us till the end of the age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] Ian Stewart, “British Army Seeks ‘Snow Flakes’ and “Me Me Me Millennials’ In New Recruiting Campaign,” NPR (1-3-19)

[2] Eisenberg, B., CALL TO ACTION: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results, Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson, 2006, p. 20 

The Resurrection

                                                                  THE RESURRECTION

(Matthew 28:1-15)

 

            Tim Keller tells the following story: When my wife was growing up, every summer, her family spent two weeks at a small compound of cottages on the shores of Lake Erie. Now the cottages are all gone—that part of the beach is gone. Whenever she visits that childhood vacation spot, she weeps because she knows the beech is irretrievable.

            That sense of irretrievability is like a death. And the older we all get, the more we realize that certain losses are irretrievable; they’re gone, and that sucks the joy out of our lives. But here’s where Christ’s Resurrection offers something unique. Even religions that promise a kind of spiritual future or spiritual bliss only offer consolation for what you’ve lost. But the Resurrection of Christ even promises the restoration of what you’ve lost. You don’t just get your body back; you get the body you always wanted but never had. You don’t just get your life back; you get the life that you always wanted that you never had.

            But Jesus Christ is walking proof that you will miss nothing. Nothing! It’s all coming in the future. It’s going to be unimaginably wonderful. There is no religion, no philosophy, and no human being who can offer this kind of future. As Christians, our hope for the future is based on the historical fact of The Resurrection. So, if you are not a Christian, let me ask: Why wouldn’t you want that? Even if you don’t like different aspects of the Christian faith, why wouldn’t you want this hope for restoration? You’re not being honest with yourself if you don’t want that.[1]

            On this Easter Sunday morning, we will reflect on one of the fundamentals of our faith: The Resurrection. How do we know that the Resurrection of Christ is True? In Matthew and elsewhere in the scriptures, we find evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. We will also look at external evidence to ascertain this wonderful biblical truth of the Resurrection of Christ.

            The Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus are two central pillars of Christianity. If you remove one of these pillars, Christianity will not survive. Yet, since the first century, many have tried to discredit the Cross and eliminate the fact of the Resurrection of Christ. The apostle Paul, who once tried to persecute all those who believed in Christ, says: “For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” I Cor 1:18 Let’s examine scriptural and external evidence of The Resurrection of Christ.
1. The Resurrection of Christ was prophesied in the Old Testament
            Dead people coming back to life after being dead was a very familiar concept in the Bible. Consider these six incidents. 1. Elijah raised the Son of the widow of Zarephath. (I Kg 17:17-24). 2. Elisha raising the dead Son of a Shunamite woman (II Kg 4:32-35). 3. When a dead body touched the dead bones of the prophet Elisha (II Kg 14:20-21). Jesus not only spoke about his own Resurrection but also demonstrated it by raising three dead people: Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21–24), the Son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:1–17 and Lazarus (John 11:17–44).

            There were 27 prophecies in the OT concerning the Resurrection of Christ. King David prophesied, “You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay” (Ps16:8-11). After prophesying how the Messiah, Jesus, would die, Isaiah predicts his Resurrection, saying, “After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” Isa 53:11.
2. The Resurrection of Christ in the New Testament.
             Several times, Jesus predicted his own death and Resurrection in the NT. Matt 20:18-19, “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then, they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified.

            But on the third day, he will be raised from the dead.” There are other references to Jesus’ prediction about the Resurrection (Mark 8:31; Matthew 16:21, Luke 9:22). He gave a symbolic sign to the demanding crowd, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise again on the third day, referring to his own body. John 2:19
3. The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law could not stop the Resurrection of Christ
             The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went up to Pilot with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said, ‘After three days, I will rise again.’ So, give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.” “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” (Matt 27: 62-65).

4. The Empty Tomb stands as a witness to Jesus’ Resurrection.
            The tomb was tightly secured under the watchful eyes of the Roman guard. After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. To their surprise, the tomb was wide open as an angel of the Lord rolled away the stone. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.”

            The women went to the tomb with spices to anoint the body. Instead, they noticed an empty tomb without Jesus’s body. According to the prophecy, Jesus rose from the dead. In the meantime, the guards went into the city and reported everything to the Chief Priests. Jesus’ Resurrection meant the end of the Pharisee’s influence over the people, so they bribed the guards to spread a lie, saying, “While we were sleeping, the disciples came and stole the body of Jesus.” What a ridiculous rumor that was. If that was true, then what happened to the stolen body?

5. Jesus’s post-resurrection appearance to people for 40 days.
            Jesus appeared to the women and his eleven disciples on the mountain. He walked with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. He appeared to one of his doubting disciples, Thomas, who said to the other disciples, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

            A week later, Thomas and the other disciples were in a closed room. Jesus, through his post-resurrected body, comes right through the locked doors and meets Thomas. He invites Thomas to examine Him and rebukes him to stop doubting but believe in Him. (John 20:24-28).       After that encounter, Thomas became a devoted follower of  Christ. Church tradition tells us that Thomas was the first one to take the gospel to the subcontinent of India. Now, there is a church called The Mar Thoma Church, which sees itself as a continuation of the Saint Thomas Christians, a community believed to have been founded by Thomas the Apostle.

            Jesus not only showed himself to Thomas, but at one point, he had appeared to more than 500 people simultaneously. (I Cor15:6). Jesus spent 40 days with His disciples, teaching them about God’s Kingdom and giving them many convincing proofs that He was alive. (Acts 1:3).

            He commanded them before He was taken into heaven, saying,  “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20). Taking the Great Commission seriously, many preached about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ, making more disciples. How would I know Jesus rose from the dead? I know because He lives in my heart. Many here at Hope Church and millions more outside could testify that Jesus rose from the dead and lives forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2014/march/6031714.html

The Passion of Christ

                                                         THE PASSION OF CHRIST

            Words are powerful as they evoke certain emotions and make people act or react in a certain way. Certain words like “Lynching, Execution, Assassination, and Murder” touch our core and stir up all sorts of emotions. These terms do not come close to “Crucifixion,” says Fleming Rutledge, who wrote an over 600-page book on “The Crucifixion.”

            That one word evokes “horror.” The term suggests other levels of significance as well: It is a single death that stands for many deaths; it is an innocent death that results from the evildoing of others; it is an iconic death that takes on a universal meaning. These are some of the implications in the use of the term “Crucifixion,” but perhaps most importantly, it implies an extremity of dehumanization and, therefore, of godlessness.”[1]

            In recent decades, there has been a shift of focus from crucifixion to resurrection among Christians. What is more important, Good Friday or Easter? It is like asking when making a ham and cheese sandwich, which is more important, the ham or the cheese? It is not a ham and cheese sandwich if you don’t have both of them. Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, argues Fleming, “You can’t have the crucifixion without the resurrection and vice versa.”[2]

            The Passion and Resurrection are bound together in one narrative, notes another theologian. Tonight, for us to fully understand and appreciate the death of Christ on the Cross, we must grasp the depth of His passion leading up to His Crucifixion.

            By reading the narratives in Matthew 26:36–27:56, Mark 14:32–15:41, Luke 22:39–23:49, and John 18:1–19:37, we will get the full extent of Jesus’ heart-wrenching passion that began in the Garden of Gethsemane, continued up to Golgotha (the place of the skull) and ended with His humiliating death on the Cross. We reflect on The Passion of Christ. Mark 15:1-32.

            I would divide the Passion of Christ into three scenes in the narrative. We would have had so much gruesome graphic content if there had been video cameras. God had recorded those events with some horrific details to remind us of what it took Jesus to bring about our salvation.

I. The Passion of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Mark 14:12-42)

            On the first day of the festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover Lamb, Jesus ate his last supper with his beloved disciples. Unlike any other Passover meal, he introduced a tradition that would remain until his second coming.

            That tradition is now known as “Communion. Jesus symbolically offered his body and his blood, which would redeem humanity of their sins. No usual jubilation was associated with the Passover celebration in that room. Instead, there was sadness. He revealed to them that one of the twelve would betray Him. Peter’s pride might have been hurt when Jesus said that night before the rooster crows he would betray Him three times.

            Jesus took his disciples from the upper room to a familiar place called Gethsemane. Taking three of his closest friends, Peter, James, and John, further into the garden, he revealed to them his deep anguish, saying, “ My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. “Stay here and watch.” From that point, He had to go through the agony all by himself.

            Going a little further, he fell to the ground and prayed that the hour might pass from him if possible. “Abba Father, he said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet, not what I will but what you will.” He prayed such anguishing prayer three times. Luke describes Jesus’ passion this way, “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:43-44). Jesus poured out his deepest anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane for the sins of Adam and Eve committed in the Garden of Eden.

An angel strengthened him, but his passion continued from Gethsemane into Pilot’s Court.

II. The Passion of Christ In Pilot’s Court. (Mark 15:1-20)

            The time for everything the prophets wrote about the Son of Man was now nearing to be fulfilled. It was early in the morning when the chief priests, elders, the law teachers, and the whole Sanhedrin bound Jesus and handed him over to Pilot. Jesus remained silent against baseless accusations and the witnesses who couldn’t agree with each other.

            Pilot was amazed by Jesus’s silence and tried to release him but was prevented by the loud shouting of the crowds. The crowds that shouted earlier Hosanna, Hosanna now shouting Crucify Him. They wanted Barabbas, an insurrectionist, to be released instead. In the end, Pilot released Barabbas and handed Jesus over to be flogged and to be crucified.

            Roman flogging was a cruel act of punishment. Jesus received 39 lashes with a Roman whip, consisting of a short, wooden handle with several 18- to 24-inch-long straps of leather protruding from it. The ends of these leather pieces were equipped with sharp, rugged pieces of metal, wire, glass, and jagged fragments of bone. As if that wasn’t enough, the soldiers humiliated Jesus by putting a purple robe on him, twisting together a crown of thorns, and set on him and repeatedly stuck him on the head with a staff and spat on him.

            Luke mentions that the guards blindfolded him, beat him, and mocked him by demanding him to prophecy who hit him. Along with that, they hurled many other insulting things at him. Can you imagine how Jesus must have looked like after enduring the torture by the guards?            Isaiah 50:6, “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard, I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” Isaiah 52:14, “But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man." The Passion of Christ continued from the Pilot’s court to Golgotha as He carried a heavy cross that weighed approximately 165 pounds.

III. The Passion of Christ on The Cross at Calvary (Mark 15:21-39)

            It was around 9:00 A.M., and they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (Calvary), they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. It fulfilled  a prophecy in Psalm 22:18, “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garments.”     Jesus was nailed to the Cross along with two other criminals. While enduring pain, Jesus interceded for his persecutors. (Matt 23:34). In Ps 22:15, we read, “They pierce my hands and my feet.” Isaiah 53:12 reads, “Because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”

            Around noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at 3:00 P.M., Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sbachthani? (which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?) (Psalm 22:1). With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. “Jesus fulfilled 27 Messianic Prophecies in one day. And these are some of the 300+ Messianic prophecies that He has fulfilled through His birth, life, and resurrection.”[3]

            Why did Jesus go through such passion before and during his death on the Cross? The OT law tells us that without shedding blood, there is no forgiveness. (Heb 9:22). It was not the blood of the goats and the bulls but the perfect lamb of God that was Jesus. His blood satisfied the wrath of God and offered forgiveness to sinners. Isaiah 53:3-6, “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. He was pierced and crushed for our sins. We are healed by his wounds. What would you do with Jesus, who bled, died, and rose on the third day? Will you reject Him or believe in and accept Him as your Lord and Savior? Whatever you choose today will carry eternal consequences for your life.

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[1] Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, Page 80-81

[2] Rutledge, Fleming, The Crucifixion, Page 64.

[3] https://www.theycallmeblessed.org/27-messianic-prophecies-fulfilled/