Made For Mission: Why Am I On Mission?

We're in week five of our Made for Mission series.

And if you have been MIA lately a little bit here and there,

here's a quick review. I do this every week to catch up.

But we started out by saying that we are all called, right?

Calling is not just for the spiritually elite or not for the spiritually elite,

but for everyone who calls Jesus Lord.

And week two, we actually answered the question, what's my mission?

We said our mission is Jesus's mission, right? So we better find out what he's about.

And week three, we ask, what's my message?

If I'm made for mission, then what do I say when I'm on it? And remember also,

we talked about how we can kick around that mission.

We can talk about it. We can lean on it. But are we going to stand on it?

Are we going to live on it?

Are we going to follow through with what God has called us to do?

But we learned that our message is simple. We're just supposed to share how

God's goodness has intersected with my life.

And ultimately, obviously, that is my transformation story, right?

Your transformation story, your salvation story that you get to share with other people.

Part of your testimony, in other words, right? Part of our testimony.

So we're supposed to share that. And finally, we talked about last week about who's my mission.

We said it's simply those around us that God has strategically placed around

where we live, work, and play.

So that's the life that we do, right? Those that we do life with.

And when we think about reaching our area, when we think about reaching Babinet,

Alabama, for example, it can seem overwhelming, right?

If we just think about the church being where we hold services.

When we begin to realize, though, that the church is the people that attend them all,

right, the people that attend them all, then all of a sudden we realize that

we have opportunities to make an impact where?

All over the place, right? The mission even gets greater, right?

It's Babinet, Alabama, but it also spreads across the world, all over.

In fact, today we're asking the question, why am I on mission?

Why am I on mission? Maybe while we are here together, maybe you're pumped up.

You're pumped up this morning maybe to go live out the mission that God has

put you on the planet to live out.

But in the craziness of life, do you ever find yourself asking questions like this?

Can't I just be a normal soccer mom instead of a mom on a mission?

Or do I really have to see my school as a mission field, Brother Joe?

Can't I just attend a church like everybody else and not be on mission, right?

Maybe, you know, my job's hard enough. Do I really have to try to force spiritual

conversations with my unsaved coworkers?

Maybe that's your attitude today. I don't know, or maybe just thoughts that you've had.

But before we dive into today's passage, I want to speak maybe to those who

might be here, who might be checking all this out, maybe new to the God Jesus church thing, right?

And as you're trying to figure this whole thing out, I think it's important

as we look at this next slide today, this is going to get you today, don't forget this one,

to understand that Jesus is inviting us into a chicken pot pie relationship, not a TV dinner one.

You think you can remember that? Jesus is inviting us into a chicken pot pie

relationship, not a TV dinner one.

You know, in a TV dinner, let me explain this, because the food comes in their

own compartments, right?

So you could devour the steak, but completely avoid the broccoli because it's from the devil, right?

And in the same way, we can easily, church, break our lives into their own distinct

compartments. We got one titled family, one titled work, one titled friends,

one for spiritual beliefs.

And in that picture, you could have strong spiritual beliefs that come out on

Sundays, but they really don't mix, if you will, naturally with the other parts of your life.

The only problem is that Jesus isn't interested in your spiritual life.

He's interested in your life. come on he's interested in your life with chicken

pot pie all of the food is fixed in so there's no picking and choosing is there

no picking and choosing man you eat the chicken pot pie you're getting all of

it come on you're getting all of it the broccoli.

The chicken, the carrots are all in every bite, whether you like it or not.

And the same is true, y'all, with our walk with God. He wants our relationship

with him, get this church, to touch every part of our lives and for us to get

rid of the compartments.

Get rid of the compartments. Let God break those to pieces.

Back in the day, anybody ever been to a Carl's Jr.? everybody heard of Carl's Jr.

Maybe on your trips or whatever, wherever you're going, but I probably heard

back in the day, some of you may have heard this, a catchy slogan they had.

If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face, is what they used to say.

But the same could be said, as we see in this next slide, in our relationships,

for us in our relationships with God, if he doesn't get all over the place,

it doesn't belong in your faith.

If he doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your faith.

John chapter 13, let's dive there for a moment.

John 13 · chapter mention

John 13, we'll be looking at verses 1 through 17.

It says, it was just before the Passover festival. Jesus knew that the hour

had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas,

the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power,

and that he had come from God and was returning to God.

So he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist.

After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet.

Drying them with a towel that was wrapped around him.

You know, the most frequent response, Eastwood, that people had to Jesus was utter amazement.

They simply just did not see it coming.

Has that ever been your response to Jesus? You just didn't see him coming, what he was going to do.

Maybe it was before, but now maybe we've been in this Christian thing for a

while and kind of know the drill.

Maybe that's how the disciples felt after three and a half years,

just think about this for a moment, of following Jesus.

Possibly, oh, another blind guy can see.

Oh, another paralyzed guy can walk. But this was something new right here.

You're going to wash my feet? No way. That was Peter's response, right?

For me, it's easy to turn mission on and off.

And I say me, I mean us as humans, right? We sometimes seem to have that we

can turn it on and off, we think.

But Jesus' church was always he's on mission.

One obvious difference was that he was God, but I think as we see in this next

slide, it was more than that.

He knew why he was on mission and it was stronger church than any of the reasons

or excuses that could have gotten him off track.

Check out all the excuses for a moment that Jesus could have easily come up

with not to wash the disciples' feet.

Let's take a look at them on this next slide.

How about, you know, he was having a nice meal, right, with his friends. That's a good one.

This is a party. I don't need to think about serving others for the next two hours.

If, you know, I get it if I'm on a mission trip or at church,

but can't I just enjoy a Friday night with friends? Why do I have to be on mission tonight?

The other excuse could have been, well, the people at the meal didn't deserve

it. They didn't deserve it.

Jesus knew that Peter would deny knowing him later that night.

Have you ever thought about that?

Judas would betray Jesus in just a few hours and hand him over to be crucified.

It's one thing when the people that you're serving are grateful,

but that wasn't an excuse for Jesus to bail out, was it?

His servant's heart was bigger than whether the person was deserving or not.

Another excuse he could have come up with was he was just grossly overqualified.

Washing somebody's feet was not even part of the role of a servant.

I mean, he could have easily built a strong case that this was far beneath him.

He could have said, I'll serve, but just not that.

I'll do anything, but just not that, right?

And seemingly he was making no impact by washing their feet.

That was another excuse because, hey, I'm just, what impact am I making?

Because another time Jesus spit in the dirt to make mud so he could give sight

to a blind man, if you remember.

This was different. Even after Jesus cleaned their feet, think about it,

an hour later their feet would be caked in filth again from walking through

the dirty streets, right, in open-toed sandals.

He could have easily just said, what's the point? What's the point?

And as we see in this next slide, here's a couple of more he could have said.

This was really an undesirable task. It's just too undesirable.

No human should have to clean the nasty gunk between somebody else's toes.

I mean, are you ready to wash my feet?

Think about it. I mean, it's humbling, isn't it?

For one thing, have you ever thought it from that perspective?

It's humbling to actually let somebody wash your feet.

And it's also humbling for the person who's washing the feet.

But it's not as strong as the other excuses, but I bet this was not something he really wanted to do.

But finally, he had a lot bigger stuff on his mind, don't you think?

A lot bigger stuff than washing feet. He knew that he was about to be arrested, beaten, and crucified.

And we read that maybe just an hour later, he is actually sweating blood because

of the stress in his life.

If there were ever a time to think about his own stuff, church,

this would certainly be it.

Yet here he is with every excuse in the book to not do it.

Here he is again, church, amazingly there, actually amazing those who are closest to him.

How does he do this? I mean, this may actually be, church, the most selfless

point of his life to this point, right?

How do I stay focused and passionate about the mission even when I don't feel

like it, stressed, or have some serious anger towards the people maybe even

I'm trying to reach out to?

Well, as you see in this next slide, that the foundation of his mission flowed

from where? His identity.

And so does yours, by the way, and mine.

Lots of things shape how we see ourselves and how we think other people see

us what if your identity ask yourself this question what if your identity was truly found in god,

you've heard a lot today about identity right identify as this or identify what

if your identity is in christ.

That was definitely true for Jesus and the Father.

Look at this for a moment. Look

at this list today, because I want you to see this in this next slide.

You see, Jesus' identity was truly found in God because, first of all, he knew who he was.

He was the Son of God. His mission was clear.

He knew whose he was. He was the Father's. What was there to fear?

He knew what he was here for. before the time had come to pay for the sins of who?

All of us, right? All mankind. And he knew where he was going.

He would leave this world and go where? To the Father in heaven.

His eyes were looking, church, beyond the cross.

And he knew where the power came from. Jesus knew that the Father had put all

things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, as we read earlier.

And as followers of Jesus, let me just say this today.

These are all true for us as well.

When our identity is wrapped up in God, he is infinitely bigger than the circumstances

that surround us, every one of us.

So Jesus's identity church was secure, but that doesn't answer the question

of why that led him to wash feet. It just seems weird, right?

Just a little bit weird. My identity is in Christ, but that has never inspired

me to stop and wash my friend's feet.

Well, let's read on a little bit farther. Look at John 13, verses 6 through 11 here.

John 13:6–11

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, Lord, are you going to wash my feet?

Jesus replied, you do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand.

No, Peter said, you shall never wash my feet.

And Jesus answered, unless I wash you, you have no part with me.

Then, Lord, this is what he says. Simon Peter replied, not just my feet,

but my hands and my head as well. Right?

Well, Jesus answered him. He said, those who have had a bath need only to wash

their feet. Their whole body's clean.

And you are clean, though not every one of you.

For he knew who was going to betray him. And that was why he said not everyone was clean.

What a crazy response. If I don't do this, then you have no part with me.

What are the simplest descriptions? And I want you all to see this in this next slide.

I want you to remember this today of what our relationship, one of the simplest

descriptions of what our relationship with Jesus is supposed to be like is,

pour out, pour in, pour out.

Let's just say it with me, all right? pour out, pour in, pour out.

We begin, church, by pouring out ourselves to God.

We share with him, get this today, the good, the bad, the ugly,

the filth, the grime in our lives.

The things that are in our hearts that shouldn't be there.

Impure thoughts, impure motives, all of it. We pour it out to God.

We confess it. We repent of it.

All of it. You know, like a good parent, Jesus wants to hear us talk about our

fears, even our stresses, our passions, our dreams.

Then after we pour out to God, guess what happens?

He pours back into us.

And the most often this most often happens through his word,

but can also be through other godly people, circumstances in life and through

the Holy Spirit in prayer.

He pours back into us. In other words, church, he fills us up with encouragement.

He fills us up with conviction, guidance, wisdom.

He fills us with the power of his spirit.

Then, church, from his overflow, guess what we do?

We go out as we're on mission and we pour ourselves out to others.

You see, if we don't follow this, if we don't pour out to God first,

are you getting the picture that all you're going to have to pour out to others is a bunch of filth?

If you don't pour out to him first and let him fill you with his spirit.

You see, I think we see this in the life of Jesus all over the place.

And I'm going to let you see just a few examples as we look at this next slide.

Because in John chapter 11, Jesus and the disciples get away to pray.

John 11 · chapter mention

Pour it out. In John chapter 12, Jesus is anointed, if you remember,

John 12 · chapter mention

by an expensive perfume in preparation for his burial. Pour it in.

Then here in John chapter 13, where we're at today, Jesus washes his disciples' feet, poured out.

John 13 · chapter mention

Right after this scene, get this, Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane,

where he pours out his heart to God, pour out.

The passage said that God sends an angel to strengthen him, pour in.

And finally, Jesus goes from there to give his life on the cross to forgive

the sins of all mankind, that includes you and me, the ultimate pour out.

To the depth that I pour out to God is the depth that God pours into me.

To the depth that God pours into me is the depth that I'm able to pour into other people.

I hope you get it today. Pour out to God all your filth, all your fears,

all your worries, all your anxiety, everything that's holding you back from

being on mission with Christ.

And let him pour into you through the power of the Holy Spirit to change your

heart, to give you strength and encouragement and passion and zeal.

And then you're able to pour out to those people that you're on mission to reach.

You know, you could probably imagine this. Maybe some of you had this picture

in your mind and have like a really dirty glass of water.

I would have had one up here today, but I knew we had the Lord's Supper table.

But a very dirty glass of water.

And maybe you can picture that, hey, if I pour that out to God,

he takes all that. And then he pours into me from his abundance,

which is pure, crystal clear, right?

The living water, right? Come on, the living water.

And then I'm able to pour that pure living water out into somebody else's cup

because it's overflowing out of my life.

It's overflowing out of my life. So pour out, pour in, pour out.

Now, what would happen? Just think for a moment. What would happen if you never

took the time to pour out to God through prayer and allowed him to pour into

you through his words and others?

What would you have? You'd have just a dirty cup, a dirty life, right?

When people come to you in need, this dirty water is all you have to offer.

The reality is you could very well be hurting somebody before helping them more

than helping them. They don't need our nasty water and filth.

What they need is Jesus' perfect healing water.

For Peter, think about it, church. God is doing this very thing by washing his feet.

You know what he's doing? He's given a powerful object lesson of replacing nasty

feet, pour out with clean ones, pour in.

Peter's first response was what? Tell me again.

No, no way. Not going to happen. But Jesus comes back strong, doesn't he?

And he says, if I can't do this for you, Peter, then you've missed the whole

point of the past three and a half years.

You see, church, from the very beginning, Jesus' primary call on Peter's life

had not been ministry, but intimacy, intimacy with him.

You see, Jesus told Peter on day one, what, follow me?

Not do what I do or get in line.

Jesus invited Peter first and foremost into a relationship, church,

and that's what he's done with each of us.

And what did he tell Peter if he would do that? He said, I will make you a fisher of men.

Notice, Peter's job was not to become a fisher of men, was it?

But simply what? What was his job? Follow Jesus.

How many of you think you can follow Jesus? How many of you think you can pour out?

Follow Jesus. Let him fill you. That's all it was. Pour out.

I mean, just follow Jesus and then allow him to make Peter into whatever he wanted.

You see, we got all this stuff, church, in our lives that makes us forget what

our real identity is, don't we?

But God wants to cleanse us and remind us of who we really are.

You might say, Brother Judd, made for a mission? Yes. Look at this next slide.

Made for mission means life in relationship with God.

Life in relationship with God. You're doing life with God.

The two can't ever be separated or will fade over time.

I'm telling you. The exciting thing is that then out of our identity of being

cleansed by God and refilled by his spirit, guess what he does?

He calls us, all of us, to join him, to join him on mission.

And listen to the last thing he tells Peter here and the other disciples to

do. Look back in John 13, verses 13 to 17.

John 13:13–17

It says, when he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place.

Do you understand what I've done for you? He asked them.

You call me teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am.

Now that I, your teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

He tells them, church, to go and do the same for others.

As I poured into you, now you pour into others.

You see, that story, I think, has multiple layers. Not only do we see where

Jesus puts his foundation so that he's able to stay on mission,

even when everybody else would probably give up or walk away.

We also find as God pours more of himself into us, he'll lead us to a greater

level of service and sacrifice as we're on mission to other people.

Everyone else in our world is about upward mobility. You know what I mean?

Everybody else is about moving up, right?

Don't make me break out in that song, but I mean about upward mobility,

get a better car, a better house, a better job, a better paycheck.

God, I want you to know this, actually leads us to downward mobility.

It's so foreign in our culture, to our culture, but it is his way.

You see, it's upside down, the

world we live in. He exchanged a throne in heaven for a cross on earth.

And before you write off his words today as cruel punishment,

listen to what Jesus says next. You got to hear this.

Look at verses 16 and 17 of John 13.

Very truly, I tell you, No servant is greater than his master,

nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Notice he doesn't say serve and sacrifice for others so that God will give you

brownie points, your spiritual brownie points. That's not what he says, is it?

Instead, he says what? You'll be blessed if you do them, Meaning you're the fortunate one.

I think there are two main reasons, as we see in this slide coming up,

that he says we'll be blessed.

Number one, the more you serve and sacrifice out of an overflowing cup,

the more you're like Christ. The more I'm like Christ.

And the more, number two, the more that you serve and sacrifice,

the more you are with Christ. What I mean by that, you're in relationship, right?

You're doing life with Jesus. The deeper you go down and I go down,

the more you get immersed in God's love.

It's only here in his love that you truly learn that Jesus is enough.

Jesus is enough, church. If you have him, you have all that you need.

You see, as it says on this next slide, as we live on mission,

it's huge that our why is secure.

Why am I on mission? It's simply that our identity is found in Jesus,

that we don't have to seek approval. Get this today.

Don't let distractions rob you today of this.

We don't have to seek approval. You don't have to seek approval in your work,

money, accomplishments, your abs or your biceps or your boyfriend or your girlfriend,

husband, wife, kids, parents.

We are fully approved by God as his child.

You're God's kid. You're God's kid.

Your father owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And from that identity,

he now calls us to do what, Eastwood? To serve other people.

We are called today to humbly and happily put others' needs before our own.

Jesus set the standard pretty high, didn't he? He really did.

He was God. Get this. Don't miss this.

He was God in the flesh and he washed grimy feet and told us to follow his example.

The God of the universe, the God who created you and me, the God who gives you life,

the God who allows you to breathe today right where you are,

is the same God who stooped down to wash his disciples' feet as an example to

us to do the same for a lost and dying world and for each other.

You see, this next week, I want you to think about this as we close.

Pour out all of your stuff.

You know what I'm talking about, stuff. Pour out all of your stuff to Jesus

and then allow him to pour himself back into you this week.

You see, Romans 10, 15 says, and how can anyone preach, Brother Ronnie, unless they're sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

And as you spend time with God every day and God washes you and I each day,

he will then send us out with some beautiful feet.

Do you have beautiful feet? Do people say that you've got beautiful feet?

They only come, these kind of feet, they only come from being with Jesus,

being in relationship with Jesus, pouring out to him, letting him pour into

you so that you can pour out to others.

Let me warn you though, you might not get it right.

Think about this. Peter and his clean feet fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane

an hour later when he's supposed to be praying.

A few hours later, he denies even knowing Jesus and he runs off in guilt.

So what does Jesus do? A few days later, Jesus meets him on a beach where it

all began, by the way, if you remember.

And what do they do? Peter pours out.

Jesus pours into Peter, and Peter, church, pours out to 3,000 at Pentecost,

and they get saved. They get delivered.

Come on. I'm telling you what, when we let God pour into us like this, miracles happen.

The Holy Spirit can accomplish more in 10 minutes than you and I can accomplish in 10 lifetimes.

That's the power of God. That's the power of the Holy Spirit. The rest is history.

Don't give up on a God who has never given up on you.

Satan whispers in your ear, you can't do it.

Don't stretch yourself, you'll fail. God pours in his whispers, I still believe in you.

I'm not done with you. The best is still to come.

You have no idea. Just trust me.

One more day, get back up. I'll be strong in your weakness. I've got this. You're not alone.

Did you know that the book of Mark.

Actually comes from the testimony of Peter. You know what's so cool?

A few decades later, when it's written, Peter's identity is so secure.

Guess what he does? He includes all his mistakes.

Can you just picture Peter? Oh, right here's the time when I screwed up and cut that dude's ear off.

And that's when I fell asleep in the garden when I should have been praying.

And that's when I took my eyes off Jesus and started sinking.

You see, as we see in this closing slide, the foundation of his mission flowed

from his identity in Christ.

And the same is true for every one of us, all of us.

Who knows, church, your worst moments might serve to help others when they feel

like they are failing. Are you ready this morning?

Are you ready? to pour out to God and let him pour into you so that you can

pour back out to a lost and dying world.