Being a Multiethnic Church

Thank you, Gary.

If you'd like to keep your Bibles open, that'd be great.

If you've just joined us, we are in our annual vision series.

We've been dealing with big topics of things like racism,

ethnocentricity, unity, diversity,

what does it all look like in terms of working out in a local church.

Our vision, hopefully you have heard it many times in the past,

hear it again, is to treasure Jesus together

that is make Jesus supreme together

for God's glory and the joy of all people.

Now, I'm convinced that we pursue that vision as a church

in a neighbourhood that we're in, a multi-ethnic neighbourhood,

by building a multi-ethnic church of people

whose hearts are transformed towards one another by Jesus Christ.

Now, in this series, I've been making the point really clear

again and again and again.

This is not about fixing the politics of our world.

It's not about a political statements of where we sit with racism.

This is a series that's about hearts.

It's about your heart.

It's about my heart.

That's what it's about.

And together, I want to talk about those transformed hearts coming together

as a local church in relational generosity.

That's fundamentally the transformation of God's grace to us

is that his radical generosity to us makes us radically generous people,

not just with finances, but relationally generous.

Being a multi-ethnic church is fundamentally about our relational commitment to each other

and not, first and foremost, about structures and how we do things.

It's not first and foremost about language and structures and leadership.

It's about relational commitment.

And I want to pick that issue up today from Luke 17 and a few other verses.

So three points today.

If you've got the St. Paul's app, it'd be great to open it up

or just get a pen and pencil, you know, piece of paper, whatever.

Three points.

Being a multi-ethnic church requires us to be a community of forgiveness,

a community of reconciliation, and a community of love.

That's the three points.

And I want to focus on the first point the most.

So when I get to the end of the first point, you go,

my goodness, he just got through one.

That will be the most point.

Then I'm going to quickly move through the other two.

Okay, a community, a forgiving community.

First of all, we notice from Luke 17 that forgiveness is hard.

Every single one of us had people out there who owe us.

People who, in our mind, owe us.

Might not have never met them personally, but we think that they owe us

because of how they've treated us,

even if that treatment of us has not been a direct treatment of us.

We just assume that they've treated us badly.

And we tend to hold it over them in some way,

even if it's a secrecy of our own hearts.

We might be more demanding of them if we know them personally,

or we might just keep bottled it up inside and don't speak of it.

Generosity means that you release those things.

We let it go.

We forgive.

Does that sound hard?

Well, in Luke 17, it appears the disciples thought forgiveness was hard too.

When Jesus starts talking about forgiveness,

the first response of the disciples is an emphatic,

in the Greek language, increase our faith.

Increase our faith.

It's another way of saying,

Jesus, how on earth is that even possible?

How is it even possible for us to forgive like this?

Verse 4 is the enormity of the challenge that Jesus puts before the disciples.

He says that if your brother sins against you seven times in a day,

and seven times he comes to you repentant, you must forgive.

Now, the number 7 was symbolic for Jewish people.

It's a number that means completeness, fullness, perfection,

beyond which nothing more is possible.

What Jesus is saying here is worse than you think.

Someone put it like this.

If a person would wrong you as completely and as fully

as any person could ever possibly wrong another human being,

you must forgive them.

Just let that sit with you for a moment.

That's his command on his disciples.

Imagine the worst thing that anybody could possibly do to you,

something so bad that nothing beyond it is even possible.

Jesus says to his disciples, you must forgive them.

That's why the disciples say, increase our faith.

He's saying, that's impossible, Jesus.

That's impossible.

It's an enormous challenge.

But we cannot shrink back from it.

There's a little phrase here that is easy to ignore.

And it's actually connected to what follows,

not to what the two previous verses is.

In verse 3, it's connected to what follows.

We connected to normally what is previously,

but actually connected to what follows.

Jesus starts this section with, watch yourself.

Watch yourself.

Then he talks about forgiveness.

We are called to watch ourselves when others sin against us.

When someone wrongs us, we normally pay a great deal attention to them.

Think about how much they have wronged us and how much they have hurt us.

Jesus says you are to pay attention to yourself, your own heart.

This is so crucial for us.

As a multi-ethnic church of diverse people,

it is so easy to inadvertently say the wrong thing,

to be culturally offensive and not even to be aware of it,

to forget someone's name and for deep hurt to be settled in

because of someone, I've used the wrong name.

It's so easy to hurt.

It's so easy just to pack it all in the heart.

And Jesus says, watch yourself.

Watch yourself.

Why?

I'll illustrate it, then I'll unpack it.

The Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy was married to his wife Sonia for 48 years.

On the eve of their wedding,

he gave his 18-year-old fiancé his diaries to read.

They included the details of his many sexual experiences,

including with a servant who worked for him in that moment

and who bore him a child.

The child who his fiancé was not aware of was, in fact, Leo's child.

When she was in her early 70s,

she was writing, this is right at the end of her life,

she was writing in her own journal very, very bitterly

about what she had read over 50 years earlier.

One historian wrote this about that journal entry.

For half a century, jealousy and unforgiveness blinded her

and in the process destroyed all love for her husband and other people.

In other words,

she reads of his sin

and she's destroyed by it.

She's the one who's ruined.

Hebrews 12, 15,

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God

and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Watch yourself.

Because anger, when someone wrongs us,

will always tell us it's not actually anger.

Anger will tell you that I'm not anger,

I am justified,

I am truth,

I am righteous.

But if we keep a hold of that anger,

it will defile us.

Now there are four words in the English language

that all come from the same core root word.

They are

wrath,

which means rage,

anger,

fury.

Reef,

which means to twist together flowers,

branches,

vines.

Writhe,

is to be bent out of shape and contorted.

And wraith,

which is a ghost-like figure,

image of someone

just before or after their death.

They're all connected,

the same root word.

And when we stay angry with people

and we hold a grudge,

we stay resentful,

we become distorted,

twisted by anger.

They may well move on.

We don't.

We become a person who's afraid

of trusting another human being.

Can you see how that destroys relationships?

We become joyless.

We become suspicious of people.

We demonize others.

We become a hard person.

If someone wronged you,

and if this is the case for you right now,

put your heart on high alert.

The wrong that's being done to you

is probably the least of your problems.

So,

forgiveness is hard.

So what does the practice of forgiveness look like?

There are at least three things

that we must do

if we're to avoid becoming twisted

and destroyed by bitterness.

The first thing

is that we must refuse

to caricature

the other person,

the person who's wronged us.

Jesus is making an important point here

when he says,

if your brother sins.

He's talking about,

in this moment,

Christians wronging Christians.

And he's reminding us

that we all have a common family.

When our temptation

is to highlight the differences,

don't forget to emphasize

the unity

in whose you are.

But in Mark 11, 25,

Jesus says

that we are to forgive

anyone

who wrongs us.

Not just brothers,

anyone.

And the principle is the same.

We must stress

that we have

a common unity

with whoever they are.

We share a common humanity

in the image of God.

Every human being

is a complex person

made in God's image

with great dignity

and worth.

We also share

a common sinfulness

with all people.

It is impossible

to stay angry

with someone else

unless you feel

superior to them.

Get that?

Let me just let that

sink into you

a little bit more.

It is impossible

to stay angry

with someone

unless you feel

superior to them.

We must identify

with the enemy.

We must bring

ourselves down

in humility

and them

up

in image

of God.

the second thing

we need to do

is to inwardly

surrender the right

to repayment

and to pay

the debt ourselves.

The word for forgive

that Jesus uses

in this passage

is a very specific word

that means

to release a person

from a financial debt

and it means

to absorb

the debt yourself.

How do we forgive?

We can only forgive

if we

inwardly

inwardly

we forgo

seeking repayment.

Normally

if someone

makes us happy

we in turn

seek to make

them unhappy.

If someone

rejects us

we in turn

seek to reject

them.

If someone

destroys

our reputation

we destroy

their reputation.

We might

do it

directly

and tell them

off

and make

them feel

bad

or we might

do it

behind their

backs

and gossip

about them

and ruin

their reputation.

The less

obvious way

though

is to

inwardly

nurture

the hurt.

Inwardly

nurture it.

We keep

playing it

over and

over and

over again

in our

minds

so that we

can stay

angry with

them.

And we

take any

little bit

of feed

that we

can get

to feed

it into

that anger

so the

anger

just stays

really healthy.

Whichever

way we

do it

we feel

like we

are getting

repayment.

forgiveness

but

it is

instead

robbing

our life

of joy

and peace

and contentment.

We become

harder

and bitter

and twisted

and closed

off

from others.

Forgiveness

disciples were

right here

increase our

faith.

Forgiveness

might hurt

in the short

term because

we refuse

to repay

and instead

absorb

the debt

but it

leads to

joy and

peace and

freedom

for eternity.

The third

thing we

must do

is in

verse 3

if your

brother or

sister sins

against you

rebuke

them.

That is

what it's

saying here

is it's

not loving

to let

someone go

on doing

anything

that they

want

but

be really

careful with

this verse.

really

careful.

The purpose

of the

rebuke

here is

not to

put the

other person

down.

The purpose

of the

rebuke

is in

fact to

lift them

up.

It's

not to

win an

argument

it is to

win them

over

in relationship.

The goal

of the

rebuke

here is

restored

relationship

not a

further

breaking

of the

relationship.

the truth

must be

spoken in

love for

the other

person.

We need

to inwardly

forgive

then rebuke

in order

to reconcile.

In other

words we

must seek

the good

and we

must will

the good

of the

person we

perceive to

have wronged

us and I

emphasize the

word perceived

to have

wronged us.

we need

to will

the good

of the

other

and if

you're a

Christian

if you

are not

spending

extensive

time

praying

about the

individual

and their

goodwill

before you

seek to

rebuke

them

don't

assume

even for

a moment

that you're

doing it

with good

intentions.

what that

ultimately

means is

we chuck

out the

old

statement

I forgive

them

but I

just don't

want to

see them

or having

to do

with them.

That

statement

is not

biblical

in any

way.

To say

that means

that you

might not

in fact

be seeking

vengeance

on them

but you

are not

seeking

their good

either.

So watch

yourself.

So lastly

on this

point

unlocking

forgiveness.

So by

now

you might

be

echoing

in the

bottom

of your

heart

increase

my

faith.

I hope

you are.

It's a

core

element

of our

community

here.

Fortunately

Jesus

has given

us a

good

answer

to

what

follows

in

verse

five.

In

these

verses

we

have

a

parable

and

a

metaphor.

The

parable

starts

at

verse

seven.

Suppose

you were

the

Lord,

the

master,

the

owner

of a

property

and

you

had

some

people

plowing

the

paddocks

and looking

after your

livestock

for you.

At

the end

of the

day

would

you

say

it's

time to

finish

up,

come

on in

for

dinner.

would

you

say

thank

you

so

much

for the

way

that

you've

taken

care

of

my

sheep

today

and my

goats

and my

chickens.

Now to

the

apostles

hearing

this

from

Jesus

in

the

first

century

the

apostles

answer

to

that

would

be

no

no

no

you

wouldn't

say

that

at

all

to

your

servants

that's

ridiculous

us

modern

people

hear it

very

differently

we

would

say

of

course

we

want

to

do

that

we

love

to

be

affirmed

we

need

to

be

affirmed

in

fact

if

no

one

affirms

me

I'm

not

going

to

turn

up

to

work

tomorrow

we

know

it's

part

of

running

business

well

we

need

to

affirm

people

and

love

them

and

care

for

them

and

we

need

to

say

well

done

well

done

well

done

we

need

to

understand

this

parable

in

the

first

century

these

servants

are

not

slaves

traded

in

the

marketplace

who

have

no

rights

on

the

other

hand

they're

not

employees

of

your

business

these

were

people

who

fell

into

debt

because

of

bankruptcy

and

instead

of

being

put

into

prison

to

rot

they

are

working

for

the

person

who

they

owe

the

money

to

in

order

to

work

off

the

debt

and

that

in

first

century

Judaism

meant

for

up

to

seven

years

you

could

hold

these

people

for

seven

years

and

so

the

servant

in

this

scenario

is

never

off

duty

until

that

debt

is

paid

the

master

of

the

house

wouldn't

thank you

for

helping

so

much

you're

doing

your

job

you're

doing

your

duty

you're

paying

off

a

debt

and

so

Jesus

got

the

apostles

here

to

imagine

themselves

as

the

masters

and

helped

them

to

see

that

it

would

be

inappropriate

for a

servant

to demand

thanks

from the

master

and

especially

a

master

who

is

so

gracious

enough

to

not

in fact

throw

you

into

prison

in the

first

place

but

to

allow

you

the

opportunity

to

work

off

your

debt

that

is

this

master

is

already

a

gracious

master

and a

good

master

you're

doing

your

duty

you've

got

a

debt

and

you're

paying

your

debt

and

then

in

verse

10

Jesus

flips

the

metaphor

so

you

also

when

you

have

done

everything

you

were

told

to

do

should

say

we

are

unworthy

servants

we

have

only

done

our

duty

when

you

have

done

everything

you

are

told

to

do

including

forgiveness

you

should

simply

say

I

am

just

doing

my

duty

Jesus

is

saying

here

when

you

refuse

to

forgive

you're

forgetting

who

you

are

you

are

forgetting

that

you

owe

God

everything

he

sustains

us

every

minute

of the

day

and

if

you're

a

Christian

you're

also

forgetting

that

this

is

a

God

who

has

redeemed

you

when

we

say

I'm

not

going

to

forgive

that

person

we

are

in

fact

in

that

moment

putting

ourselves

in

the

judge's

seat

we

are

playing

God

Jesus

also

uses

a

metaphor

to

help

us

to

see

how

we

can

live

the

forgiving

life

verse

6

if

you

have

faith

as

small

as

a

mustard

seed

you

can

say

that

this

mulberry

tree

be

uprooted

and

planted

in

the

sea

and

it

will

obey

you

in

other

words

what

Jesus

is

saying

if

you

got

the

smallest

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

the

smallest

understanding

of

who

he

is

even

the

slightest

understanding

that

you're

a

sinner

saved

by

grace

if

we

understand

the

good

news

of

the

gospel

at

all

you

have

everything

you

need

to

forgive

the

only

way

of

getting

out

of

the

behavior

and

the

attitude

of

being

a

servant

acting

like

a

king

over

other

servants

is to

marvel

at

the

king

who

became

a

servant

we

will

never

be

long

suffering

and

forgiving

until

we

marvel

at

his

suffering

on the

cross

for our

forgiveness

we

will

we

will

never

be

able

to

forgive

other

people's

tiny

debts

against

us

until

we

marvel

at

Jesus

dying

on the

cross

to pay

our

incalculable

debt

Jesus

is the

judge

of the

universe

who

left

the

judge's

seat

and

got

judged

for

our

sin

to

understand

the

Christian

gospel

at all

the

good

news

at all

even

a

tiny

bit

is

enough

to bring

transformation

in your

life

even

a

mustard

seed

portion

of

the

gospel

of

grace

can

turn

us

into

a

person

who

forgives

radically

and

lives

generously

across

all

lines

of

division

in

our

society

and

the

church

well

that's

my

first

point

we're

a

forgiving

community

secondly

being a

multi

building a

multi

church

like this

will mean

we're

a

community

repenting

as

well

we're

a

repenting

community

of

racism

and

ethnocentricity

repentance

is a

personal

and a

relational

term

it

signifies

going

back

on what

we have

done

before

and

renouncing

the

misbehavior

and the

attitudes

that have

caused

harm

to

ourselves

and to

others

in the

bible

repentance

is a

theological

term

pointing

to an

abandonment

of a

course

of action

or course

of actions

of which

God

has

been

wronged

himself

our action

against

God

which has

been

wronged

by embracing

what he

dislikes

and forbids

the

Old Testament

Hebrew word

for repentance

means to

turn

or to

return

it means

to return

to God

the New

Testament

Greek word

means to

change one

mind

it's 180

degrees

same sort

of concept

heading in this

direction

in life

and all

of a

sudden

I

go that

direction

in life

towards

God

it means

going

back

to

God

repentance

means to

alter

our

habits

our

behavior

attitudes

our

outlook

our

policy

our

direction

and

our

behavior

repentance

is

about

spiritual

revolution

so what

does it

mean to

repent of

racism

and

ethnocentricity

repenting

first and

foremost

is to

God

to

God

all

sin

is

ultimately

sin

against

him

against

his

will

and

his

good

creation

it's

crucial

that we

repent

for the

more

deliberate

ways

that we

have

violated

the

image

of

God

neighborhood

love

love of

our

neighbors

and the

new

creation

and the

gospel

of God's

grace

to us

in

Jesus

Christ

now keep

in mind

that we

are all

called

not only

to repent

of deliberate

and known

sin

but also

for the

sins that

we are

unaware

of

such as

Job

repenting

on behalf

of his

children

just in

case

they

sinned

Psalm

Psalms 19:12

19

verse

12

but who

can discern

their own

errors

forgive

my

hidden

faults

that's a

prayer of

repentance

from

Psalm

19

please

forgive

me

for the

things

that I

don't

even

know

that I've

done

so the

Christian

should be

willing to

repent

for the

ways in

which we

may be

committing

the

sin of

racism

and

ethnocentricity

of which

we are

barely

even

conscience

of

I'm

of the

view

that

corporate

repentance

at least

comes to

grips

with the

way that

our

society

has

treated

various

groups

of

people

in

the

past

I'm

of that

view

the

Bible

always

says

that

we

have

not

repented

if we

have

not

changed

and we

have

not

produced

fruit

in

keeping

with

repentance

that's

Matthew

3

8

and

this

fruit

of

repentance

will

take

various

forms

depending

on

who's

doing

the

repenting

now

I think

there are

two ways

that a

church

like this

can

produce

such

fruit

of

repentance

the

first

way

we

bear

the

fruit

of

repentance

is

for

members

of

this

church

to

make

sacrifices

of

power

and

comfort

so

that

we

continue

to

grow

into

a

church

that

shows

how

in

Jesus

Christ

the

racial

and

cultural

barriers

that

divide

this

world

outside

the

church

do

not

divide

it

inside

the

church

because

of

the

power

of

the

gospel

that's

one

way

we

bear

the

fruit

of

repentance

that

in

itself

should

tell

us

that

fruit

of

repentance

is

hard

it

is

filled

with

difficulties

and

it

causes

a

whole

lot

of

people

to

walk

away

from

a

multi

ethnic

church

because

they

do

not

want

to

surrender

power

and

comfort

that's

not

a

reflection

just

on

this

church

anywhere

in the

world

where

a

multi

ethnic

church

is

seen

to

be

built

power

and

comfort

must

be

surrendered

and

those

who

have

it

do

not

want

to

surrender

it

it's

a

difficult

journey

fraught

with

danger

the

second

way

for

Christians

to

bear

the

fruit

of

repentance

is

to

work

against

racial

injustice

and

inequality

in

society

and

the

possibilities

there

for

us

are

frankly

just

way

too

numerous

to

mention

in

a

sermon

like

this

in

the

society

in

which

we

live

but

I'll

pick

on

one

very

briefly

I

would

be

very

keen

for

us

to

be

supporting

justice

and

mercy

ministry

amongst

the

aboriginal

people

of

our

country

finally

a

loving

community

that's

what it

takes

to

build

a

multinational

church

is

a

commitment

to

love

now

recently

I

preached

on

the

parable

of

the

good

samaritan

and

the

call

to

love

your

neighbor

so

I'm

not

going

to

re-preach

that

but

there

was

one

point

I

left

which