Jul 30 2017 How to Live Out the Gospel Story in Our Own Lives - by Mike Marette

We’ve been going through a series on the gospel, what it is, how it relates to our lives, and then how we can communicate it and share it with people.

Starting the 27th, we’re going to be doing a series on how to get a good handle on our priorities; family, money, work, all those different things we have going on in life, and how to manage our time well and do the things that really matter the most.
I wanted to reiterate the seven elements of the gospel.
In the New Testament there are a number of summaries of the gospel, and these seven elements are found in those summaries. Especially in the book of Acts when Peter or Paul or somebody else preached the gospel, these seven elements are found within that. Now we don’t always have to tell all seven elements to tell the gospel, but this is what the gospel is.
First one is the eternal existence of the Son. The point of this is that Jesus is fully God. He wasn’t just a man.
The second part is the incarnation, the word became flesh, and this means Jesus was fully human. Jesus was fully God. Jesus was fully human. When somebody believes in Jesus, they are believing in God. We understand that Jesus was man, but it’s also important to understand that Jesus was a very specific man who lived at a very specific time, and we are believing in that specific human whose name was Jesus.
The third element is he died for our sins. There’s a cross-centered gospel that we preach. Then he was buried.
Fifth is the resurrection. In the New Testament, the resurrection is the dominant aspect of the gospel when it is preached. It covers the most amount of material. It is really easy for us to forget or really almost ignore the resurrection when we talk about the gospel. We focus so much simply on the cross, which is central, but the new testament writers and preachers focused on the resurrection more so even than the cross.
Sixth is the exaltation of Jesus, that he is Lord of all creation.
Seven, he is coming again to judge the world.
We’ve looked at what the gospel is, and we’ve talked about how to communicate the gospel, and we’ve talked about the importance of communicating the gospel. Last week Jeff and Melissa shared with us how to communicate the gospel relationally. Several weeks ago Dick and Sue talked about how to listen to other people’s stories, and then how to tell our story and the gospel story and connect their story, our story and the gospel story together. We talked about telling the stories Jesus told and using the same things that Jesus used to communicate the gospel. Today I would like to talk about how we can live out the gospel story in our own lives.
There is often a debate in the Christian world today over a quote that is attributed to Saint Francis. “Preach the gospel and if necessary use words.” It is a very good quote, but it tends to create a debate that is not very good. That debate is over those who believe we should just do good works, and those who believe we should proclaim, and somehow they fight one another. Today we want to look at how to make our lives gospel lives. 1 Peter 3:15 “15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.” We’re going to look at what it means to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts.
Another summary of the gospel by Paul in Philippians 2:5-8, and I think this summary is Paul’s most theological and most thorough summary of the gospel, Paul gives us an example to follow of how we ought to live and proclaim the gospel. It’s going to tell us what the attitude, mindset and heart of Jesus is. “5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” This is how Jesus lived the gospel. We talk about learning how to recognize, discern and discover what God is doing in and around our lives, God’s activity in our lives and circumstances. Well this is what God is always doing, lowering himself, sacrificing himself. If we simply learn how to do this, we will always live the gospel. This is about the incarnation. It’s existing in the form of God. He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Can you imagine that? It’s like being the CEO of a company, making all kinds of money and saying I don’t need this. I don’t have to have this positon. That’s only this much of being God and saying I don’t have to use that power and privilege. The incarnation is how God does missions and evangelism. If we ask God how he would do missions and evangelism, he would say I would leave my heavenly throne and become one with the people I am trying to do missions to. I would give up all my rights and privileges and suffer and sacrifice myself for their well-being. That is the best definition of missions and evangelism. It is the foundation to the mission activity of God, and it plays a crucial role in our understanding of the gospel. We are called to a nonidentical imitation of the incarnation.
“Paul wants his communities, including the one at Thessalonica, to embody the gospel of faithfulness, love and hope. This does not mean that they will act precisely like God or like Jesus which is impossible for all sorts of reasons or even exactly like Paul or his colleagues. Rather the Thessalonians will be expected to engage in what some have called nonidentical repetition. That is practices that are analogous to God, Christ and the apostles but appropriate to the social location and vocation of those who embody them.” We need to learn to act and live in ways that are similar to Jesus but are appropriate to our context, abilities and personalities. God has made all of us unique with unique abilities, personalities and context. We can be used in unique ways. There’s nobody else on earth who can be used in his kingdom the way you can be. He wants us to learn how to incorporate who we are and what our context and circumstances are that we live in and then figure out how can we act in ways that are similar to Jesus but relate to that world that we live in. It will be different for all of us.
Hannah in a few weeks is going to Guatemala. She has been called in a specific way because of who she is. We Skyped with the pastor she’ll be working with, and their whole focus is on helping her use her gifts in that very specific situation. For the first six months, they will be figuring out together how she can be most productive in God’s work there. We need to learn how to proclaim and live the gospel in ways that are compatible to who we are. I was at a pastors’ retreat this week and one guy who was there goes to college campuses and he preaches. He has a booming voice and personality to match. Dave Brunelle’s focus is on cross-cultural interrelational missions. He’s really good at it, because God made him in such a way to be really good at it. I have discovered there are some people who have special evangelistic gifts. For most of us, God wants to use us the most in a combination of living out the gospel in our natural setting, and then when the opportunities arise communicating with those that we’ve come to know the message. I think that’s the most effective way to do it. Hannah’s going on a mission, but we are all on a mission. We just may be staying right where we are. Three things that will take place: First, we will perform or live the gospel. Second we will proclaim the gospel in our response to the world and cultural systems we live in. Finally, just simply communication and sharing with people when the opportunity arises.
Philippians 2:9-11 “ For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This is kind of the diagram of Jesus’ downward mobility. He is the eternal word. He is God. In the incarnation he becomes man. He sets all that aside. He suffers and dies on the cross, resurrection and then exaltation. Here’s how this works for us. We need to in every circumstance and every relationship discern our privilege and advantage in that situation and lay it aside. As we set it aside, we are going to die to ourselves, our own selfishness, in the situation, in the relationship. Think of being a testimony and witness at work. One thing that’s very clear and obvious in most places, people look out for themselves. Their own advancement, happiness. What if all the Christians laid that aside? What a powerful thing that would be. That’s what Jesus did and is always doing. He is laying aside his privileges and advantages and sacrificially serving . That’s who God is. What’s the first thing we should think of when we look at Christ on the cross? We should say that’s what it means to be God. That’s what God is like. It fully demonstrates who he is better than anything else. The cross is what God is like. Do you want to be God? There you go. That might change your desire. To be God means to die on a cross. Jesus is the complete revelation of God.
Since 312 AD or CE, the church has gained and maintained privilege in the world and has attempted to dominate the world and culture. It has tried to maintain that. We use all kinds of methods and strategies. But the real strategy’s been staring us in the face all along. This incarnational strategy of setting aside privilege and advantage and not trying to dominate and domineer. We need to learn to ask ourselves what can I lay aside, so that we can enter into our community and into a person’s life. How do I lay aside my privilege and become a sacrificial servant that I might truly enter into somebody’s life who needs Christ? We think if we show we are wonderful, powerful and great they’ll listen to us. People really aren’t impressed with that. If you’re impressed with that, that’s another teaching. Terry, Alan, Annette and myself went to Honduras on a mission trip. His church has done a lot in Honduras, and they’ve really changed their mindset. Whenever anyone goes down to Honduras, they bring in the team and teach you are going there first to understand, listen and learn. You aren’t the knight in shining armor coming in. As we lay aside our privileges and are willing to die to ourselves, our selfishness, the result is transformed lives and God will receive glory.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” There’s all kinds of good works we can do, but the pattern of good works is to lay aside our privileges and advantages in order that we might die to our selfishness so life might come about in others. Only good works that have that pattern are good works in God’s eyes. Finally, to do all this we must learn how to act in ways that are wholly different than our world and culture. To live the gospel will require us to live in ways that are counter cultural, wholly different than the way the world works. When the New Testament Christians said Jesus is Lord, they were also saying Caesar is not. When we say Jesus is Lord, we are saying our way of life is not. Always, wherever you live, whatever nation you live in, whatever political system you live under. Jesus takes full loyalty without reserve, and we must live in ways that are so much like Jesus they are wholly different than what’s going on out there.
First for us in our culture we need to learn to have a spirit of generosity. So that possessing and consuming means less and giving and sharing means more.
Second, we need to develop a spirit of civility. It simply doesn’t exist, and we need to be different. You can be civil and hold convictions. You can hold convictions and destroy everybody. Be mean, nasty and ugly. Jesus was never ugly. Look at how he dealt with some of these people whose lives were unbelievable wrecked. The only people he was every harsh with were religious leading people.
Third, love your enemy pray for those who mistreat you. Bless those who curse you. Jesus said this. Our world desperately needs that out of the church more than anything else. Our world desperately needs Christians to love their enemies. He didn’t say love some of your enemies. He simply said love your enemies. That’s hard, we all have a struggle with that one.
Fourth, we live in a divided, taking sides, us and them, world. Jesus wasn’t that way. We have one side to take. When they said Jesus is Lord they were taking Jesus’ side. Jesus’, that’s it. We are to simply take his side.
Fifth, our responses to all the situations that life throws at us. Complaining, blaming and accusing are typical responses. What if we just didn’t do that? What if those weren’t our typical responses. Like Paul said, let your speech always be with grace seasoned as it were with salt, so that you may know how to respond. What a difference if you were always responding to people with grace seasoned with salt. Always, not 50% or 75% of the time, but always with grace seasoned as it were with salt.
Chris and Doug (who originally came to Kent to help start this church), both from sister churches, are involved in missions in China. Over the past 50, 75 years, China has had an unbelievable growth explosion in Christians and underground churches. But Chris shared that in the past two, three years that’s beginning to change. One of the things that happened is a tremendous amount of government persecution. People arrested just for meeting in their homes as churches. It’s really amped up. One of the main reasons is there was a big earthquake that killed a lot of people in China, and all these little house churches that nobody knew about all coordinated and started meeting all these needs, feeding people, housing people. The government said what is going on, and they began putting a stop to it. Who are these people, where did they come from and how are they coordinating like this? Things are getting really tense there. These people lived the gospel in China meeting in these house churches, undercover, hiding. When that’s the only way you can live it really zeros you in. It’s probably harder for us, but we still need to learn how to zero in on what really matters and live how Jesus lived.
Lord we thank you and pray for the Christians in China being arrested and having to curtail their meetings and the fear. Thank you for our freedom and help us not to be too casual about our faith because of that freedom. We are saying that Jesus is Lord, and we are saying nobody else is, nothing else is, no other system is, just the kingdom of God. May we live fully for that. May that be our heart. In your name we pray, Amen.