Out of Africa

First of all, it's a great pleasure to be here.

And Vanessa sends her apologies.

She sends her love.

She really wanted to be here, but she's just incredibly tired.

As I said to Chris and to you earlier,

we got off the plane late Friday,

so we're both suffering heavily from jet lag still.

So as Paul asks the Ephesians to do in chapter four,

please bear with me.

Now, I'll just read this passage out to you.

Ephesians chapter four, verses one to 16.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life

worthy of the calling you have received.

Be completely humble and gentle.

Be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit

through the bond of peace.

There is one body, one spirit,

just as you were called to one hope when you were called.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all

who is over all and through all and in all.

But to each one of us, grace has been given

as Christ has apportioned it.

And this is why it says,

when he ascended on high, he led captives in his train

and gave gifts to men.

What does he ascended mean?

Except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions.

He who descended is the very one who ascended higher

than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.

It was he who gave some to be apostles,

some to be prophets,

some to be evangelists,

and some to be pastors and teachers

to prepare God's people for works of service

so that the body of Christ may be built up

until we all reach unity in the faith

and in the knowledge of the Son of God

and become mature,

attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants,

tossed back and forth by the waves

and blown here and there by every wind of teaching

and by the cunning and craftiness of men

in their deceitful scheming.

Instead, speaking the truth in love,

we will in all things grow up into him

who is the head, that is Christ.

From him the whole body,

joined and held together by every supporting ligament,

grows and builds itself up in love

as each part does its work.

Now this is the word of the Lord.

Let's move that out of the way.

So Vanessa and I have been working,

as many of you, most of you will know,

with African Enterprise.

Initially we started working there in 2007

with the Pan-African Missions Department

from the Malawi office

and in 2010 we moved down to the city of Peter Maritzburg

in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

And last year I volunteered for the Leadership Training Centre

and Vanessa continued her work on

in the Communications Department,

heading up the international communications

for the organisation.

And we decided that,

well we both really felt that the Lord was telling us

that it was time to finish our time with African Enterprise.

As many of you will be aware,

African Enterprise has just celebrated

their 50th anniversary of ministry in Africa.

And to celebrate that,

in conjunction with the local churches of Peter Maritzburg,

they held a city-wide mission in the city

where it all started back in 1962

with Dr. Michael Cassidy.

And the Lord really said to us

that he wanted us to actually be there

for the city-wide mission

and help out as much as we could.

And then after that we would move on.

And it was then we had the offer.

Well first of all it was then we actually found out

that Vanessa was pregnant with Benjamin.

And it was then also we had the offer

to move to Cape Town

and work alongside George Whitfield College.

So it's a great time of heavy changes for us.

And it has been a very interesting time

in post-apartheid South Africa.

South Africa, there is no doubt

it is still suffering from a heavy hangover

from the apartheid regime.

And that regime really goes back to the 1700s

where the Boas came in

and started taking over the land

from the Bantu and the Koi people

and with the force of shotguns.

And because they had their land taken off them

which was their livelihood

and everything they had

they were forced to work

for these new white people

who then basically lauded it over them

and the rest is history.

In 1946

75,000 people

went on strike

because miners

black African miners

were receiving

a twelfth of the wage

that white South African miners

were receiving.

75,000 people went on strike

an unarmed protest

and

the police

met it

with violence

and a thousand people

were killed

or injured

during that

uprising

to try and get

more wages

for black South African workers.

In August

2012

3,000 people

who were miners

they were getting paid

very little money

and they were really being

discriminated against

in the wages

they were receiving

they were marginalised

they were being unfairly treated

and they stopped work

3,000 of them went on strike

and the police

responded to their protests

by killing 34 of them

shooting 34 of them dead

and

another 80 of them

were injured

and wounded

so South Africa

is suffering heavily

from a hangover

from apartheid

and needs your prayers

desperately

that that nation

will

be able to get

through the resentments

and the bitterness

of the past

which leads to so much

hatred and violence

within the country.

But South Africa

the secular world

is not the only place

that that resentment

and bitterness

can be found

and unfortunately

that has gone through

into the church

and while we were there

in the lead up

to the citywide mission

many of the churches

who were involved

in the citywide mission

came together

the pastors

from the church's

assorted denominations

and assorted colours

to meet with

a fraternal

a black South African fraternal

known as the Indemasa Fellowship

and the meeting

was because

the Indemasa Fellowship

did not want

to actually

minister alongside

the rest of these guys

because

they felt that

during the apartheid

era

that they had been

mistreated

by the other pastors

that these pastors

had supported apartheid

and there was still

bitterness

and hurt

and resentment

between

and enmity

between

the actual

racial groups

within the church

and

this meant

that they then

went through

a process

of reconciliation

which started

before the mission

and is continuing

on and will

continue on

hopefully

for a couple

of years to come

but the good news

is the process

of reconciliation

has begun

but even

African Enterprise

was not exempt

from the

racial

hurt

and

feelings

of bitterness

and feelings

of resentment

towards

different people

groups

and it was

so strong

that in the times

where I was asked

to preach

at devotions

on three separate

occasions

the Lord

put on my heart

to preach

on the topic

of unity

in the body

of Christ

and the first time

I preached

on the topic

of what it was

to be truly

great in Christ

and today

I'm going to

I'm not going to

exegete the passages

if you want to find

a good exegesis

on Ephesians 4

1 to 16

Reverend Chris Jones

did a terrific one

last year in November

it's still on the website

and I recommend

you have a

have a look at that

or listen to that

and also

John Dunn

has done some

terrific studies

before his health

deteriorated

on the book of Ephesians

so you might want

to get hold of that

I'm not going to

exegete the passage

today

but I just wanted

to relate some

of my own experiences

which I felt

had some similarities

with what is going

on here in the

church at Ephesus

the analogy

is problematic

so forgive me

for that

one is about

two different

groups of people

who are racially

different

the

obviously

the black

South Africans

and the non-blacks

but

the other

is the Jews

and the Gentiles

who basically

have different

beliefs

so the analogy

is problematic

but there's also

a lot of similarities

so the first time

I preached

on the topic

of what it was

to be truly great

and I think

this topic

is very relevant

to the passage

here today

because the passage

here today

Paul is speaking

to a group

of

Christian believers

in the church

at Ephesus

and

he's speaking

to them

as a group

but he is

addressing them

as to their

individual

responsibility

within that

group

and

so

on preaching

on true

greatness

what struck

me

is that

often

when we

look

at true

greatness

as Christian

believers

we look

at the

people

who have

got

the

Billy

Grahams

or the

Michael

Cassidy's

or the

great

preachers

up front

or whatever

it might

be

but

in actual

fact

true

greatness

in the

scriptures

is a

man

hanging

on a

cross

bloodied

and wounded

taking the

sins of

the world

upon him

that is

true

greatness

in the

scriptures

and

I started

to see

that my

criteria

for judging

what a

truly

great

Christian

was

was

actually

very

faulty

and it

was not

based

on the

Bible

and

so

I

really

felt

that it

was

strong

for people

to

understand

that on

that day

when the

Lord

says

well done

good and

faithful

servant

it won't

be based

on your

position

it won't

be based

on our

position

but it

will be

based

on what

we did

with what

the Lord

gave us

as it

said in

the parable

of the

talents

where

it wasn't

based on

how much

they had

but what

they did

with what

the Lord

had given

them

that's

what really

mattered

so true

greatness

is about

us living

in the

fullness

of the

calling

that

Christ

has

given

us

to

live

in

no one

is better

at being

Chris Jones

than Chris

Jones

no one

can be

Chris Jones

other than

Chris Jones

and no one

can be

Darian

Clensos

other than

Darian

Clensos

thank God

but

my point

is that

no one

can be

better at

being

us

than us

we are

designed

to be

who we

are

living

at the

maximum

potential

of who

we have

been

called

to be

in

Christ

each

one

of

us

here

today

is

a

skin

full

of

gifts

and

each

one

of

us

has

received

an

incredibly

high

calling

it is

not

a low

calling

it is

not

something

where

we

should

be

thinking

oh

well

I'm

only

a

secretary

or

I'm

only

a

cleaner

or

I'm

only

somebody

who

works

in

an

office

it

is

how

we

do

those

things

for

Christ

with

all

our

heart

as

in

working

for

the

Lord

that's

what

true

greatness

is

not

the

position

of

the

person

but

how

they

live

in

that

position

so

that

was

the

first

sermon

that

the

Lord

put

on

my

heart

to

preach

in

the

context

of

post

apartheid

South

Africa

to

a

wounded

and

divided

group

of

people

the

second

passage

that

the

Lord

put

on

my

heart

unity

and

we're

in

Galatians

3

and

in

Colossians

3

in

both

those

passages

let me

read

them

to

you

Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

if I

can

find

it

Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter

3

where

Paul

says

in

verse

28

there

is

neither

Jew

nor

Greek

nor

slave

nor

free

male

nor

female

for

you

are

all

one

in

Christ

Jesus

we

have

been

brought

together

by

the

blood

of

Christ

the

book

of

Ephesians

talks

about

how

Christ

has

made

us

brought

us

into

a

new

humanity

he

has

destroyed

the

dividing

wall

between

Jew

and

Gentile

and

brought

them

in

together

to

make

one

people

one

people

who

will

be

purified

and

who

are

the

race

who

will

live

forever

the

children

of

God

the

second

passage

was

Colossians

3

where

there

is

neither

Greek

nor

Jew

circumcised

nor

uncircumcised

barbarian

Scythian

slave

nor

free

but

Christ

is

all

and

in

all

and

so

I

continue

to

say

there

is

neither

Afrikaner

or

Zulu

or

Koza

or

Indian

or

Colored

or

Australian

or

American

but

all

have

been

brought

together

and

are

one

in

Christ

Christ

has

destroyed

that

dividing

wall

and

through

his

blood

shed

at the

cross

we

brought

into

the

new

humanity

filled

with

the

one

spirit

worshipping

the

one

God

the

father

of

us

all

the

father

and

God

of

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

and

what

an

incredible

calling

we have

been

brought

into

and

one

of

the

things

in

the

book

of

Ephesians

is

that

Paul

is

always

talking

about

where

we

have

come

from

and

what

we

have

been

brought

into

and

the

magnitude

of

that

and

the

incredible

future

that

lies

ahead

for

the

people

of

God

and

I

often

think

when

we

get

to

heaven

and

we're

standing

around

that

throne

and

we're

singing

night

and

day

and

praising

God

we're

not

going to

be

praising

God

and

trying

to

think

of

what

we're

going to

sing

next

when we

sing

hymn

34

or

what's

it

going to

be

I

think

we

are

just

going to

have

the

praise

pouring

out

of

us

it

is

going

to

pour

out

of

us

when

we

see

what

God

has

done

for

us

we

will

not

be

able

to

stop

rejoicing

and

praising

him

because

we

will

be

overflowing

with

such

gratitude

that

is

what

God

has

got

prepared

for

those

who

love

him

and

that's

what

God

has

got

prepared

for

us

in

the

new

heavens

and

the

new

earth

and

so

Paul

in

the

get

your

mind

off

the

present

and

look

to

what

God

has

prepared

for

you

and

what

he

has

brought

you

into

the

magnitude

of

that

and

the

future

he

has

for

you

preach

my

heart

out

as

I

did

the

division

still

remained

and

so

the

third

time

I

was

asked

to

preach

at

devotions

once

again

I

felt

strongly

the

need

to

preach

on

unity

this

time

I

preached

on

loving

one

another

and

being

one

in

Christ

and

I

preached

on

John

John 13 · chapter mention

chapter

13

where

Jesus

says

by

this

will

all

men

know

that

you

are

my

disciples

if

you

love

one

another

not

by

our

doctrine

not

by

the

church

we

go

to

not

by

the

social

group

we

are

in

or

whether

we

go

to

summer

school

or

whatever

else

it

might

be

but

by

this

disciples

if

you

love

one

another

Jesus

says

a new

commandment

I

give

to you

that

you

love

one

another

as

I

have

loved

you

it's

not

an

option

it

is

a

commandment

and

so

Christ

is

commanding

them

to

love

one

another

he's

commanding

us

to

love

one

another

and

in

John

John 17 · chapter mention

chapter

17

he

prays

to

the

father

and

he

says

may

they

be

one

as

you

and

I

are

one

what

an

incredible

responsibility

that

puts

on us

to be

one

with

one

another

to

be

tender

hearted

forgiving

one

another

being

meek

and

gentle

as

I'm

being

gentle

now

but

what

a

responsibility

that

puts

on

us

to

be

meek

and

gentle

to

one

another

and

to

be

one

with

each

other

because

it's

by

that

that

people

will

know

that

the

father

sent

the

son

in

other

words

our

oneness

is

what

demonstrates

to

the

world

that

Jesus

is

the

real

deal

that

he

has

come

from

the

father

that

he's

not

just

some

guru

he's

not

just

another

prophet

but

that

this

Jesus

is

the

son

of

God

as

he

says

he

is

our

oneness

is

what

will

demonstrate

that

our

unity

will

demonstrate

that

our

love

demonstrates

that

we belong

to

Jesus

our

unity

demonstrates

that

Jesus

was

sent

by

the

father

I

preached

my

heart

out

as

I

did

the

division

still

remained

and I

really felt

the Lord

had spoken

to them

through

me

and it

didn't

seem to

matter

that I

had

preached

like I

did

and that

the word

of God

had come

through

and that

Myles

Gilliam

the head

of

African

Enterprise

had

affirmed

that

that was

that he

really felt

the Lord

had spoken

that day

but as

the mission

came closer

I started

to see

something

which I

think

underlies

everything

that Paul

is saying

I think

it is

the thing

that goes

without saying

in this

passage

and that

is

that there

is

without

it goes

without saying

that the

gospel is

being

proclaimed

because once

that mission

came up

all of a

sudden

this body

who was

so focused

on their

differences

and their

things which

divided them

and made them

different

and made them

upset with

one another

and all their

hurts and

grievances

instead of

having their

eyes on

themselves

all of a

sudden

everyone

had their

eyes

on the

one focus

which was

the proclamation

of the gospel

which was

the word

of God

going out

and new

converts

coming in

and Paul

when he

talks

here

he says

he says

it was

he who

gave some

to be

apostles

some

to be

prophets

some

to be

evangelists

and as

I got

to that

point

some

to be

evangelists

he talks

about

for the

building

up of

the

body

and I

thought

well

the only

way

the

evangelist

really

builds

up

the

body

is

that

the

evangelist

is

speaking

the

word

of

God

and

new

people

are

coming

into

the

church

and

what

happens

when new

people

church

people

are

praying

for

them

people

need

to be

taught

people

need

to be

discipled

all of

a sudden

every

part of

the body

comes

alive

and is

doing

its

thing

but

without

the

proclamation

preach as

we may

those

divisions

will

remain

now

the

mission

to

Peter

Maritzburg

was

definitely

not

a

faultless

mission

there

were

still

difficulties

from

time

to

time

but

an

incredibly

divided

community

came

together

as

an

army

for

the

Lord

who

were

focused

on

people

who

needed

to

come

to

know

Christ

and

come

out

of

their

sins

and

come

into

the

light

now

I

know

the

situation

in

Sydney

here

is

very

different

to

what

it

is

in

Maritzburg

and

there

is

a

hardness

to

the

gospel

I

believe

in

Sydney

but

I

still

think

the

message

of

the

gospel

is

the

power

of

God

unto

salvation

for

all

who

believe

and

the

proclamation

of the

gospel

is what

brings

the body

of Christ

alive

that's

really

the

main

thing

I

want

to

say

today

is

that

the

proclamation

of the

gospel

is what

brings

the

body

alive

and

I

think

every

single

one

of us

have

got

different

roles

to

play

some

of

us

are

evangelists

some

of

us

are

people

who

work

quietly

alongside

other

people

wherever

the

Lord

has

placed

you

do

not

think

lowly

of

your

calling

because

you

are

the

Bible

that

many

people

will

read

and

you

are

the

witness

to

Christ

where

you

are

through

your

life

and

actions

and

through

your

words

and

I

just

want

to

encourage

you

and

encourage

everyone

today

as a

body

of

believers

be

encouraged

to

proclaim

that

word

and

just

tell

it

where

it

is

just

go

out

and

proclaim

the

lordship

of

Christ

the

cross

of

Christ

and the

forgiveness

of

sins

because

people

throughout

this

city

are

stuck

in

their

sin

and

they

are

living

in

terrible

situations

because

of

their

sin

I

think

many

people

have

learned

to

live

with

their

sins

many

people

have

learned

to

live

a

lifestyle

which

accommodates

for

their

unbelief

and their

sin

and their

darkness

but

they

are

living

in

pain

and

they

are

living

in

torment

and

they

are

living

in