Reach, 23 September 2018
Reach
Series: FAC-DNA
Acts 17:24-28
Series Overview: God has placed us uniquely in our city and world for such a time as this, a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family.
Big Idea: Do we have eyes to see People on the Move, People Overlooked, and People Lacking Access?
One of my favorite songs as a kid was about a wee little man. Have you heard this one?
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, And a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed that way He looked up in the tree and he said, 'Zacchaeus you come down, For I'm going to your house today!' For I'm going to your house today!
The nineteenth chapter of Luke tells the story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus, a man so short he climbed a tree to see Jesus as he was Jesus passed through a crowd in Jericho.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. (Luke 19:5-6)
Did I mention Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector? Imagine an IRS agent who works on commission…and can charge whatever he wants. Needless to say, he was not popular with the people, especially the religious people. Why is Jesus giving this guy the time of day? This is a hated man, the scum of the earth.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” (Luke 19:7)
Who was upset? All the people! Jesus, do you know who this guy is? He has robbed us all? I wonder if they intentionally pushed Zacchaeus away from Jesus, forcing him to climb the tree for a better view.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8)
That was an incredible promise! This guy cheated everybody…out of most everything they had! How could he pay back four times the amount? It actually doesn’t matter, because he’s not the key character in this story.
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10)
My name is Kirk and we’re in the middle of series addressing the “why” question of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, our global family. Why do we exist? What’s in our DNA? The Zacchaeus story shows us why Jesus came to earth—to seek and to save the lost.
He didn’t come to start a new religion.
He didn’t come to win a preaching contest.
He didn’t come to give us a list of rules to follow.
He didn’t even come for the righteous and holy people of his day.
He came to seek and to save the lost. This is expressed beautifully in one of the core values of The Alliance.
• Lost people matter to God. He wants them found. Luke 19:10
If Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and he asks us to follow him, what should we do? We should seek and save the lost! Obviously, we can’t save them, but we can point the way to salvation, to the cross, to the empty tomb, to Jesus the Messiah. We can let them know about the King and His reign.
It’s interesting to note this year The Alliance has done regional events called Seek. They are all about us seeking God, yet it was God who first sought us. Jesus’ mission was to go and seek the lost.
Seek is a verb. It’s an action verb. It’s hard to seek in the La-Z-Boy unless you are seeking a tv show with your remote control! It’s hard to find something lost by relaxing on the beach or lying in bed. You need to go. We need to go. We’ve said throughout this series we’re guided by the Great Commandment (love God and love your neighbor as yourself) and the Great Commission…go and make disciples. Some have translated it “as you are going, make disciples.” In either case, we love God and others by reaching out to the hurting, the broken, and the lost.
The “why” is to glorify and obey God.
The “what” is to love God, love others as we love ourselves, and make disciples.
But how? In the first two weeks of this series, we heard Alliance president, Dr. John Stumbo, talk about love and proclaim. We are to proclaim good news with love. Everything we do should be done with love—"a rugged commitment to be with another person, to be for another person, and to grow together in Christ-likeness” as Scot McKnight likes to say. It’s not just a feeling, but involves action, presence, advocacy, and transformation. That transformation comes through the proclamation of the gospel with word and deed as we show and tell. Here’s Dr. Stumbo on our third verb: reach.
Stumbo video transcript:
I’m calling us to three things when I say reach. Reaching the overlooked. In every community, there’s somebody being missed. I experienced it when I was in a wheelchair that often the disabled are overlooked. And for some communities it’s the deaf. For some it might be children. For some it’s senior citizens.
I don’t know who it is that’s being missed in your community. It might be the immigrant who’s come to your town. Would you ask God to give you eyes to see and to reach those who are currently being overlooked, missed, in your own community?
Reaching not only the overlooked but also those that are on the move. Never before in human history have there been so many people in transition, no longer living in the home of their origin. And when we first started speaking of this four years ago, it was just seeming to arise as a significant worldwide trend. And now it’s amazing how many people are in transition, and some of those have come to your community.
And I challenge us to be people who reach those who are overlooked and not get so caught up in the political wrangling on so many issues that center around immigration that we miss the simple fact that The Alliance from pre-day one—Dr. Simpson, in his earliest days in New York City—[has been] ministering to the immigrant. And so who are we to think that we’ve grown past that or that our issues are more complicated this day and age, so we can forget that? Friends, let’s reach those who are on the move.
And thirdly, under that category of reach, I’m concerned there’s still people that do not have access to the gospel of Jesus, and so . . . reaching the overlooked, those on the move, and those lacking access.
This is a justice issue, is it not? Is it not unjust that you can still live in this world and still not know that forgiveness is available to you? You don’t have to accept that message, but to not even know that the Christ has come to provide that? It’s not satisfactory, it’s not good enough. So, happily, you’re part of a family that’s doing something about it. You’re part of a family that is reaching those [who] are lacking access, and I’m continuing to ask the Alliance family to engage further in that process.
Let me state again,
• Lost people matter to God. He wants them found. Luke 19:10
As the classic songs says, “I once was lost/But now am found.” Hallelujah! Someone reached out to you and me. Someone loved us. Someone proclaimed good news to us. In many cases, it was a family member.
Perhaps it was a friend.
We’ve been blessed in this nation to have a robust history of faith. Although Christians in this country have not always acted like Jesus, religious freedom in our great land has made it possible to have access to the Bible. We even have Christian radio stations and television stations and thousands of books and videos to help us find God and grow in our relationship with Him.
But it’s easy to take that access for granted. It’s easy to assume everyone knows about Jesus, his death, his resurrection, his love, and his coming return. The truth is, there are people in our city and around the world who have no clue they are loved. They only know Jesus as a swear word, if at all. They know nothing of grace, forgiveness, joy, or hope. And like Jesus’ pursuit of Zacchaeus, it is a privilege for us to reach out.
Paul spoke…
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. (Acts 17:24-26)
There is so much packed into this paragraph. In fact, Heather and I stood on the very place in Athens, Greece where Paul spoke to a group of Greek philosophers and leaders at a place called Mars Hill or the Areopagus. As I often say, our faith is based upon historical events and real people.
God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Acts 17:27-28)
We need to reach out to others because God reached out to us. It’s not hard to find people in need of God’s love and our love. It used to be expected that people in our nation would spend Sunday mornings attending a worship gathering like ours here today. As fewer and fewer people are exposed to the gospel—the good news—they are remarkably unaware of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Put another way, our world, our nation, our city is filled with unreached peoples. They’re right here! You don’t need a passport to reach the nations. They’re in line with you at Kroger, they’re pumping gas beside you, they live on your street. Will you reach out? Will you offer them a smile? A cup of coffee? Jesus the Messiah?
Kudos
As much as I want to challenge you to reach out to the overlooked, people on the move, and those lacking access, I want to offer some encouragement.
As a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family, we have been actively involved in reaching our Jerusalem—Toledo—as well as our Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. For thirteen decades we have been reaching out to the overlooked, those on the move, and those lacking access. Through the Great Commission Fund, Envision trips, overseas projects, partners like Water for Ishmael, Cherry Street Mission and the After School Klub, and spiritual conversations we are living out our mission and calling. It is such an honor and privilege to serve such a vibrant church committed to outreach…reaching out. And we’re just getting started!
But I want to add as a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family, we’re also committed to reaching in. We need both. In almost thirty years of vocational ministry, I can never remember being a part of a church with so much grief, loss, hospitalizations, and suffering. For whatever reason, we are in a season of pain and trial, pruning, reflection…yet I continue to hear stories of our family members loving and serving one another. Hospital visits, cards, meals, prayers…we are a family of love and I’m humbled and blessed to be a part of it. Family first.
But healthy families grow. It’s a both/and. We want more and better family members. It’s not about building the Alliance family or the FAC family, but rather God’s family, God Kingdom. We want to enhance the quality and quantity of God’s family, God’s Kingdom.
We are to love.
We are to proclaim.
We are to reach.
Will you join us?
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
Series: FAC-DNA
Acts 17:24-28
Series Overview: God has placed us uniquely in our city and world for such a time as this, a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family.
Big Idea: Do we have eyes to see People on the Move, People Overlooked, and People Lacking Access?
One of my favorite songs as a kid was about a wee little man. Have you heard this one?
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, And a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree For the Lord he wanted to see.
And as the Savior passed that way He looked up in the tree and he said, 'Zacchaeus you come down, For I'm going to your house today!' For I'm going to your house today!
The nineteenth chapter of Luke tells the story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus, a man so short he climbed a tree to see Jesus as he was Jesus passed through a crowd in Jericho.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. (Luke 19:5-6)
Did I mention Zacchaeus was a wealthy tax collector? Imagine an IRS agent who works on commission…and can charge whatever he wants. Needless to say, he was not popular with the people, especially the religious people. Why is Jesus giving this guy the time of day? This is a hated man, the scum of the earth.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” (Luke 19:7)
Who was upset? All the people! Jesus, do you know who this guy is? He has robbed us all? I wonder if they intentionally pushed Zacchaeus away from Jesus, forcing him to climb the tree for a better view.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8)
That was an incredible promise! This guy cheated everybody…out of most everything they had! How could he pay back four times the amount? It actually doesn’t matter, because he’s not the key character in this story.
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10)
My name is Kirk and we’re in the middle of series addressing the “why” question of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, our global family. Why do we exist? What’s in our DNA? The Zacchaeus story shows us why Jesus came to earth—to seek and to save the lost.
He didn’t come to start a new religion.
He didn’t come to win a preaching contest.
He didn’t come to give us a list of rules to follow.
He didn’t even come for the righteous and holy people of his day.
He came to seek and to save the lost. This is expressed beautifully in one of the core values of The Alliance.
• Lost people matter to God. He wants them found. Luke 19:10
If Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and he asks us to follow him, what should we do? We should seek and save the lost! Obviously, we can’t save them, but we can point the way to salvation, to the cross, to the empty tomb, to Jesus the Messiah. We can let them know about the King and His reign.
It’s interesting to note this year The Alliance has done regional events called Seek. They are all about us seeking God, yet it was God who first sought us. Jesus’ mission was to go and seek the lost.
Seek is a verb. It’s an action verb. It’s hard to seek in the La-Z-Boy unless you are seeking a tv show with your remote control! It’s hard to find something lost by relaxing on the beach or lying in bed. You need to go. We need to go. We’ve said throughout this series we’re guided by the Great Commandment (love God and love your neighbor as yourself) and the Great Commission…go and make disciples. Some have translated it “as you are going, make disciples.” In either case, we love God and others by reaching out to the hurting, the broken, and the lost.
The “why” is to glorify and obey God.
The “what” is to love God, love others as we love ourselves, and make disciples.
But how? In the first two weeks of this series, we heard Alliance president, Dr. John Stumbo, talk about love and proclaim. We are to proclaim good news with love. Everything we do should be done with love—"a rugged commitment to be with another person, to be for another person, and to grow together in Christ-likeness” as Scot McKnight likes to say. It’s not just a feeling, but involves action, presence, advocacy, and transformation. That transformation comes through the proclamation of the gospel with word and deed as we show and tell. Here’s Dr. Stumbo on our third verb: reach.
Stumbo video transcript:
I’m calling us to three things when I say reach. Reaching the overlooked. In every community, there’s somebody being missed. I experienced it when I was in a wheelchair that often the disabled are overlooked. And for some communities it’s the deaf. For some it might be children. For some it’s senior citizens.
I don’t know who it is that’s being missed in your community. It might be the immigrant who’s come to your town. Would you ask God to give you eyes to see and to reach those who are currently being overlooked, missed, in your own community?
Reaching not only the overlooked but also those that are on the move. Never before in human history have there been so many people in transition, no longer living in the home of their origin. And when we first started speaking of this four years ago, it was just seeming to arise as a significant worldwide trend. And now it’s amazing how many people are in transition, and some of those have come to your community.
And I challenge us to be people who reach those who are overlooked and not get so caught up in the political wrangling on so many issues that center around immigration that we miss the simple fact that The Alliance from pre-day one—Dr. Simpson, in his earliest days in New York City—[has been] ministering to the immigrant. And so who are we to think that we’ve grown past that or that our issues are more complicated this day and age, so we can forget that? Friends, let’s reach those who are on the move.
And thirdly, under that category of reach, I’m concerned there’s still people that do not have access to the gospel of Jesus, and so . . . reaching the overlooked, those on the move, and those lacking access.
This is a justice issue, is it not? Is it not unjust that you can still live in this world and still not know that forgiveness is available to you? You don’t have to accept that message, but to not even know that the Christ has come to provide that? It’s not satisfactory, it’s not good enough. So, happily, you’re part of a family that’s doing something about it. You’re part of a family that is reaching those [who] are lacking access, and I’m continuing to ask the Alliance family to engage further in that process.
Let me state again,
• Lost people matter to God. He wants them found. Luke 19:10
As the classic songs says, “I once was lost/But now am found.” Hallelujah! Someone reached out to you and me. Someone loved us. Someone proclaimed good news to us. In many cases, it was a family member.
Perhaps it was a friend.
We’ve been blessed in this nation to have a robust history of faith. Although Christians in this country have not always acted like Jesus, religious freedom in our great land has made it possible to have access to the Bible. We even have Christian radio stations and television stations and thousands of books and videos to help us find God and grow in our relationship with Him.
But it’s easy to take that access for granted. It’s easy to assume everyone knows about Jesus, his death, his resurrection, his love, and his coming return. The truth is, there are people in our city and around the world who have no clue they are loved. They only know Jesus as a swear word, if at all. They know nothing of grace, forgiveness, joy, or hope. And like Jesus’ pursuit of Zacchaeus, it is a privilege for us to reach out.
Paul spoke…
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. (Acts 17:24-26)
There is so much packed into this paragraph. In fact, Heather and I stood on the very place in Athens, Greece where Paul spoke to a group of Greek philosophers and leaders at a place called Mars Hill or the Areopagus. As I often say, our faith is based upon historical events and real people.
God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ (Acts 17:27-28)
We need to reach out to others because God reached out to us. It’s not hard to find people in need of God’s love and our love. It used to be expected that people in our nation would spend Sunday mornings attending a worship gathering like ours here today. As fewer and fewer people are exposed to the gospel—the good news—they are remarkably unaware of Jesus and the Kingdom of God. Put another way, our world, our nation, our city is filled with unreached peoples. They’re right here! You don’t need a passport to reach the nations. They’re in line with you at Kroger, they’re pumping gas beside you, they live on your street. Will you reach out? Will you offer them a smile? A cup of coffee? Jesus the Messiah?
Kudos
As much as I want to challenge you to reach out to the overlooked, people on the move, and those lacking access, I want to offer some encouragement.
As a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family, we have been actively involved in reaching our Jerusalem—Toledo—as well as our Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. For thirteen decades we have been reaching out to the overlooked, those on the move, and those lacking access. Through the Great Commission Fund, Envision trips, overseas projects, partners like Water for Ishmael, Cherry Street Mission and the After School Klub, and spiritual conversations we are living out our mission and calling. It is such an honor and privilege to serve such a vibrant church committed to outreach…reaching out. And we’re just getting started!
But I want to add as a Christ-centered, Acts 1:8 family, we’re also committed to reaching in. We need both. In almost thirty years of vocational ministry, I can never remember being a part of a church with so much grief, loss, hospitalizations, and suffering. For whatever reason, we are in a season of pain and trial, pruning, reflection…yet I continue to hear stories of our family members loving and serving one another. Hospital visits, cards, meals, prayers…we are a family of love and I’m humbled and blessed to be a part of it. Family first.
But healthy families grow. It’s a both/and. We want more and better family members. It’s not about building the Alliance family or the FAC family, but rather God’s family, God Kingdom. We want to enhance the quality and quantity of God’s family, God’s Kingdom.
We are to love.
We are to proclaim.
We are to reach.
Will you join us?