There’s this misconception that a lot of people have . . . that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament.
- The God of the Old Testament is this grouchy old dude who’s really ticked off at everyone and just wants them to suffer and so he creates rules and regulations and boundaries and expectations that are absolutely impossible. There’s no room for grace. There’s no room for error. It’s almost as if he sets us up for failure because he gets a lot of pleasure out of seeing us completely missing the mark because when we do . . . he gets to take us out. Sometimes in the most creative of ways; worms eating people alive, bears attacking kids out of the woods,
- And then we get to the New Testament and it’s almost like he completely changes gears and He becomes this nice old dude who is all about compassion and grace and mercy and love. It’s almost as during his 400 years of silence he went through some anger management classes and got in touch with some of his own childhood issues that carried into his adulthood and is now able to be compassionate.
But I want you to know that the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament and his desire has always been the same . . . to be our God and for us to be his people. And there is no greater joy than being in that perfect relationship with your creator.
And over the past year, we’ve been studying the story of God in hopes of helping us understanding God’s character and to help us see his longing to be our God and for us to be his people.
And over the past few months we’ve been hanging out with Jesus because if you want to know God, if you truly want to get a glimpse of who God is, then you must know Jesus.
You see, there is no knowledge of God, no revelation of God, no declaration of God apart from the life and ministry and sacrifice of Jesus.
And so as we enter into today’s story, I want us to pray that God will reveal himself to us and that through Jesus, we will see God more clearly.
LET’S PRAY . . .
Jesus has been this “rockstar” Rabbi . . . very popular, lots of friends on Facebook, packs out the house every time he speaks . . . He’s been preaching and teaching, and healing and casting out demons . . . and everywhere He went, thousands of people followed him.
And last week, we saw a transition take place . . . “He set his face towards Jerusalem”. Jesus is staking his claim, and determining his future . . . “This is who I am, this is where I’m going, and this is what I’m doing.”
And as he begins this multi month walk toward Jerusalem, toward the cross, toward his place of death, burial, resurrection, and ascension . . . he’s building a team of people to help him accomplish this mission set before him.
Although really messed up and totally not getting it . . . yet . . . he has the 12 who have been following him for a few years and have been trained by him and now he adds 72 more people. In our culture, we would call them volunteers and He sent them out 2 by 2.
And He does this, I believe, for a couple of reasons . . .
- Accountability; making sure that they don’t compromise the mission or fall into sin.
- And . . . to work things through, to talk things over, to learn together, and pray together.
- You see, ministry can be the loneliest place on earth and because of that, it’s also the place that people can get into the most trouble . . .
- Which is why I believe ministry is not to be done by an individual; lone rangers with big visions
- But rather by a team of people, called and led by God to work together to accomplish his mission and His purpose.
Jesus knows this and so he sends these volunteers out 2 by 2 and what he tells them is that the harvest is plentiful, that there is great opportunity, there are people whom God has already been working on and ready to open their hearts to Jesus.
They just need someone who knows and loves Jesus to come and serve them and speak to them, and pray with them, and answer their questions, and to see them come to a life-saving, life-giving, eternal relationship with Jesus.
In short, they are called to practice the faith that they had confessed and to help make the invisible kingdom, visible. And by doing this 72 are transformed from bystanders to active participants in the work of God.
This is an exciting call . . . God has already done the work you just have to go out and harvest but you have to go empty handed. You can’t bring money, no sword to protect yourself, no food or supplies, no sandals for your feet. You have to leave all of those comforts and necessities at home and go only with a message; the kingdom of God has come near.
And yeah, before I forget . . . you’re gonna be mocked, made fun of, opposed, and rejected. And there are gonna be these wolves out to get you on this journey who are going to try to get you to compromise your mission, your morals and doctrine and the truth and everything that I’ve taught you.
OK team, bring in your hands . . . 1, 2, 3 ready . . . break!
How’s that for a locker room pep talk? But, Jesus needed them to be aware of how perilous the work of the gospel would be and he needed them to trust that God has already done the work and that he would take care of their every need along their Journey . . . so, no stuff, just a message!
Well, the 72 go out into villages and they do ministry, and they pray for people and they share Christ with people, and they set up community groups in the homes of new converts. They see lives changed, souls saved, bodies healed and they come back to Jesus and they are just buzzing. They’re thrilled. They’re excited. They’re like, “Jesus, you’ll never guess what. We could tell demons what to do and they listen.” It was just like you said it would be, “That’s awesome . . . that’s fantastic.”
Jesus says, “You think that’s amazing . . . I’ve got something even better than that. There’s a father who loves you, and heals you, and redeems you, and rejoices in you and I’m on this mission to build His kingdom and your name is written on the list of those who will inherit this kingdom”
Boo yah . . . What, what! As Jesus tells them this truth, he is fired up. He’s excited. He’s happy. He’s rejoicing. His voice is loud and his hands are all raised up in the air.
But what’s got him so fired up? It can’t be his circumstances. He’s walking over rugged terrain in the heat with a bunch of his disciples, some of whom are really weird. He’s homeless, not sure where he’s gonna eat his next meal and he constantly has to battle with religious dudes. And he’s marching toward Jerusalem to get murdered. So it’s certainly not the circumstances that have got him pumped up.
Out text says that he was rejoicing in The Holy Spirit. You see, the Holy Spirit brings joy even in the midst of the most difficult of circumstances.
Let’s unpack this . . .
Jesus is pumped up, he’s excited, he’s rejoicing in the Holy Spirit and then he prayed, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and reveled them to little children; yes, Father for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows who the Son is except the father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Here in this moment we see the whole trinity . . . One God, three persons; God the father, God the Son, and God the spirit. They co-exist, sharing attributes, sharing love, communicating, glorying in one another. There’s no sin. No lying. No betrayal. There is only love and affection and connection in God. So when the three are together . . . there is nothing but happiness and joy!
Now, some of you have been hanging around religious people and you’re like, “God can’t be happy. I’ve met some of his people and they’re not happy people. I mean, those people are no fun at all . . . and if they’re in heaven, I’m gonna ask for my own room.”
But you need to know . . . God is joyful . . . always has been. No one is as happy as the Trinitarian God.
And in this text God is first revealed as, “Abba”; Father. This is a mind blowing concept.
You see, the Jews saw God as a “Force”, a spiritual being, something impersonal; something up there, out there. So sacred and distant that you didn’t even speak his name and you certainly hoped that you didn’t do anything to offend Him because you were very aware of the creative ways he takes people out.
So when Jesus starts talking about God as Daddy, he was walking a very thin line.
But you see, people don’t need a force . . . they need a daddy. We are like crazy orphan kids and the last thing we need is a Red Bull to give us more power and energy to live better lives. What we need is a dad who loves us and gives to us a new life.
- God’s not a force. He’s a father.
- God’s not impersonal. He’s personal. And he loves us.
And he looks at you and me; some of us are neglected and abused kids. Some of us are rebellious kids; some of us are just bratty, horrible kids. And he says, “You know what, you need a dad”, so . . .
- He sends Jesus to us so that we might be adopted
- And he gives us a new name . . . Christian
- He gives us the inheritance of the family . . . the kingdom of God.
- When Jesus prays to the father, he is modeling for us the fact that God is a father who loves us and desperately wants to be in relationship with us . . . He always has!
And then Jesus says something that is mind-blowing, earth-shattering, history altering. He says, “no one knows the son, except the father and no one knows the father except the son.”
What he’s saying is, “I’m the only person on earth who knows God” . . . that’s a big statement!
Jesus is saying, “As the son of God, as the second member of the trinity, the father and I have been together perfectly and eternally.
- He knows me like no one else
- I know him like no one else
- and no one knows him unless I reveal him to them.
Here’s the point. No one knows God the father apart from God the Son. No one knows God apart from Jesus.
Some of you are here and you are desperately seeking for God. Some of you, you don’t know what’s going on inside of you. You don’t know why your life’s not working. You don’t know why you’re here. You don’t know what you’re feeling.
Let me tell you this . . . Jesus is revealing himself to you right now so that you can be adopted into the family of God, and to know and experience the love of the father.
You see, it’s about Jesus. It’s only about Jesus, and it’s all about Jesus. And if you understand that, the Holy Spirit wells up in you with rejoicing. There’s and enthusiasm and excitement.
What, Jesus is God? Jesus came and died and then conquered death? Jesus is preparing a place for me? I have a dad who loves me and wants to adopt me into his family?
Woo-hoo . . . good news, good news, Good news!
Yeah, all that other stuff in my life really stinks . . . but God loves me anyway . . . that rocks!
Now some of you are a bit stuffy . . . you can’t get fired up about this stuff because you live in your head and you feel that you might look a little foolish if you get a little pumped up about Jesus. So Jesus says, “you need to be more like a child” Not childish but child-like in your faith.
You ever seen kids with their dad? They’re not stuck in their head.
- If their dad says, “hey kid, I’m your dad and I love you with all my heart, let’s hang out”. The kid’s not gonna say, “Father, what do you mean by love? Eros, Agape, Phileo?”
- And is your love for me predicated on my love for you? Do we have an Armenian relationship? Or did you love me first and so we have a Calvinistic relationship? .
Some of you are like that . . . God says, “hey kid, I love you, I forgive you, let’s hang out” and you’re like, “Well, before we do that I need to study the footnotes and wrap my head around this.”
Jesus says . . . “Rejoice. If you know the father is in you . . . rejoice because the holy spirit takes the love and joy and the peace and the life of the Trinitarian God of the Bible and puts it in the child of God and we should get just a little fired up about that . . . and blow it up with our friends, raise our hands in the air give a little woot, woot!. . . that’s living with childlike faith!
Well, he pulls the disciples aside in this little holy huddle and he says, “All right, guys, here’s the deal. You remember that thing called the Old Testament? You remember what the prophets said and what the kings wanted . . . You remember that?”
“Oh yeah, Jesus, we remember the Old Testament.”
“Okay, that was about me and here’s the deal . . . it’s happening. The kingdom of God is among you, because the king is here, and the kingdom is showing up.
- You know why those demons obeyed you? The kingdom of God has dawned.
- You know why people are getting healed? The kingdom of God has dawned.
- You know why people are getting saved? The kingdom of God has dawned.
- Do you know who I am? I’m the King of Kings.
- That’s why all of this of this is happening and you really need to get a little fired up about that.
It’s as if they’re along the journey toward Jerusalem and Jesus says, “all everybody, huddle up. Pull over for a minute. We just need to stop for a minute and pay attention to what’s been happening. And then rejoice in that! Throw a little part.
This is supposed to awaken in them awe-filled joy
“Wow, God. You let me see what you’re doing and be a part of it.”
But do you know what’s amazing? They hadn’t even seen him rise from death yet.
He hadn’t gotten to Jerusalem. He hadn’t died on the cross. He hadn’t risen from the dead. He hadn’t conquered sin, and death. He hadn’t yet ascended into heaven. He had not yet sent the Holy Spirit.
Logos Dei, we are on this side of the cross and on this side of Pentecost and to be honest with you, this is the most exciting season I ever remember in the history of our church.
Yeah, money’s tight. Something things are difficult; we have more ideas than we have people, we can’t seem to balance the sound on Sunday mornings, someone stole the church video projector out of my car last week.
But Jesus is pulling us aside today and he’s saying, “Look at what’s going on. Look what God is doing. The harvest is ripe, people are ready to here this gospel message I have given to you and have been preparing for you . . . so get pumped up and be filled with joy and enthusiasm and hope and expectancy and pray that God will bring more people to Logos Dei because the harvest is ripe but the workers are few.
So, here’s what were’ gonna do. We’re gonna share in communion with one another in a few minutes so that we can be reminded of what Christ has done for us and during that time, I want you to reflect on where you see God at work in your life and at Logos Dei and as you come forward I want you to write that thing on this white board . . . and it’s gonna fill up and that’s ok because God is doing something amazing among us.
And then we’re gonna gather back together and get a little pumped up with music . . . we’re gonna invite the kids to come back in here and celebrate God’s kingdom around us and his work among us and I warn you, it might get a little crazy in here!