A Burden For The Lost

Good morning.

Our passage today is 2 Corinthians 5, chapter 5, verses 11 through 21.

My name is Christine Oswald.

I have the privilege of serving back in kids, and the privilege also of reading our word, God's word together in our gathering.

So again, the passage is 2 Corinthians 5, 11 through 21.

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.

But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.

We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart.

For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God.

If we are in our right mind, it is for you.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this that one has died for all, therefore all have died.

And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks, Christine.

Well, good morning, Harbor.

My name is Ryan.

I serve as one of our pastors here.

It's my joy to be opening up God's word with you yet again.

Man, uh, I hope you experienced what I just experienced as she read.

That's a packed uh just part of scripture.

It's full, it's deeply worshipful.

You can almost say it's like a Hall of Fame lineup of Bible verses.

It's probably uh most of the verses that you memorized in college ministry or in the little scripture pack that you have for your kids for scripture memory.

It's like the 99 Huskers, it's just stacked.

Some of you don't even know who the 99 Huskers are.

I'm praying for you.

You should hang out with your dad or your grandpa, okay?

They're coming back.

Who knows?

Hey, but if I'm honest, I'm a little bit intimidated, but I'm more so just expectant of what God's gonna do in this full passage.

So would you join me as we kind of just sit underneath the word again as I pray?

Father, we thank you for your wonderful word.

Thank you for your people, thank you for all generations uh represented here today.

We ask, as your word says, that we'd become like little children to receive your word as a gift, to be teachable.

And uh, Father, I pray humbly for myself, restrain my flesh, empower me through your spirit, and let your word come to bear.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Do you ever have those moments where you realize that life is such a gift?

And life is really hard.

Right?

Like, I don't mean that in a depressing way, I mean that in a pretty sobering way.

There are gifts upon gifts, like watching your kid take their first steps, enjoying a good meal, uh, enjoying a job well done.

Life is a gift.

And yet, often right alongside those gifts are things we never would have chosen.

An unexpected diagnosis, financial strain, anxiety you can't seem to shake.

Sitting beside someone you love in a hospital room, unexpected.

Sometimes see these heavier moments have a way of sobering us to what actually matters.

I've felt this personally in this season.

Uh man, there's been so many things to celebrate.

Uh, we've welcomed new kids into our family, we've baptized folks here at Harbor, we're taking new ground in Sarpee County for the kingdom.

And at the same time, over the last six months, I unexpectedly almost lost my dad.

I've walked closely with friends who are battling anxiety.

Just last week, I sat in a hospital room with one of my best friends as he was recovering from open heart surgery.

And this past week I talked with another friend who unexpectedly lost his mom.

Moments like this, they do something to you.

They have a way of just cutting through all the noise.

Things that seemed really important suddenly don't seem quite as important.

And the things that don't really, we rarely think about, they all of a sudden just feel enormous.

Eternity comes into focus.

And see, when eternity comes into focus, our burdens get realigned.

You start thinking differently about the people around you, don't you?

Like you realize their greatest need isn't to like get a better paycheck or less anxiety or a healthier body.

You realize that actually all those things are good, but there's so much more infinitely at stake.

Do they know Christ?

Have they been reconciled back to God?

For the last four weeks, we've been answering this question over and over of what does it actually mean to be an authentic Christian, or what is authentic Christianity?

The first week we started off with just a Godward orientation that our whole life is pointed towards God.

Second, we we looked at a uh that the mark of authentic Christianity should be pursuing holiness.

And last week, Trevor unpacked for us that we should be loving one another.

And today we come to our fourth and final mark, a burden for the lost.

But here's what I don't want you to hear this morning.

Right when I say a burden for the lost, some of you are like, man, another guilt trip on how I should share my faith, or like uh a little hack on or quick tricks to share your faith with your neighbor.

This is not a sermon on the thing.

The apostle Paul is gonna take us somewhere much deeper than guilt or hacks ever could.

He's gonna show us that the gospel actually realigns and deepens our burdens.

See, and that's important because the apostle Paul is in Corinth.

He's writing to these Christians in a city where, much like us, we're probably surrounded by competing ideas of what truly mattered.

Corinth was a place deeply concerned with status, image, outward appearance, reputation, visible success.

And some of those same categories have kind of seeped into their church.

They were tempted to then evaluate their leader, Paul, even from a distance, on visible success, according to what was impressive.

But Paul wants us to completely reorient the way we actually see the world.

The cross changes these categories.

Notice how Paul's gonna set up in this section.

And we started in verse 11, but I want you to look at verse 10.

This is what verse 10 says.

He says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

That's a sobering reality.

Like every one of us is gonna stand before Christ.

And then verse 11 notice it says, Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.

Do you see what Paul's doing here?

He's living with eternity in view right now.

He knows every person he encounters, it's what C.S.

Lewis says, they're not a mere mortal.

They're an eternal person who will one day stand before God.

And so Paul can't just like simply shrug his shoulders and be like, hey, you do you, you believe what you gotta believe, I'll do me.

No.

He's burdened, despite what people think about him, to persuade others.

And then Paul is gonna tell us why he's so burdened if you keep reading.

He doesn't care if he's misunderstood because of verse 14.

He says, the love of Christ controls us.

The love of Christ controls us.

There it is.

See, Paul lives with a fear of the Lord, and then he's controlled by the love of Christ.

He knows judgment is real, but he also knows grace is glorious.

See, eternity gives him urgency, and the love of Christ actually compels him towards people.

And that's gonna bring us uh to our big idea this morning, Harbor.

Okay, our big idea is this authentic Christians have a burden for the lost because the love of Christ controls them.

Authentic Christians have a burden for the lost because the love of Christ controls them.

Not guilt, not religious pressure, not because we're trying to win an argument or prove that we're right, the love of Christ.

And so we have to ask, okay, what happens then when the love of Christ actually starts to control us?

Well, uh, Paul is gonna just walk us through three things.

The first is Christ's love changes who you live for.

Second, Christ's love changes how you see people.

And third, it changes what you do.

Okay?

First, let's look at Christ's love changes who you live for.

If you got your Bibles where you can follow along on the screen, you we're gonna be in verse 14.

For the love of Christ controls us.

Because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died.

Man, this verse confronts the very thing we've just been talking about all series, right?

Like there's a version of Christianity that is among us that actually uh affirms intellectually or in our heads that Jesus lived, he died, and he rose again, but actually it's never made its way from its head down to our heart.

Or you could say it actually has no bearing on our everyday life.

And see, it actually never became love.

It was just an idea, and therefore never it actually reoriented the center of your life.

But see, Paul says authentic Christianity goes deeper than your head.

He says the love of Christ actually starts to control you.

But see, when Paul says the love of Christ, he's not primarily talking about our love of Christ.

He's talking about Christ's love for us.

See, that word love is like flippantly tossed around today.

Like I say, like, I love ribs, you know, I love things, like, or we just say that all the time.

You see it on posters, but this is not what Paul's talking about.

Paul isn't talking about a feeling, he's talking about an event.

He's talking about the cross.

Verse 14 says, one has died for all.

Christian, you ever doubt that God loves you?

Look at the cross.

Paul says, look at what he did for you.

He he died.

And then Paul says something that kind of sounds really strange at first, as like as you read it, especially in the ESV.

He says, One has died for all, therefore all have died.

You're like, I'm alive.

What does that mean?

Uh Paul is getting at one of the most beautiful realities in all of Christianity.

Don't miss this.

This is union with Christ.

When you put your faith in Christ, his death counts as your death, his life counts as your life.

This is why Paul goes on in verse 15 then to say, He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Don't miss that.

Jesus Christ didn't die just to forgive you of your old life.

He actually died to actually give you a brand new one.

Like before Christ, it was like, what do I want?

What makes me comfortable?

What will people think about me?

But Paul says when the love of Christ actually starts to control you, it gets a hold of you, something deep inside of you actually flips and changes.

The control center of your life gets rewired.

You don't live for yourself anymore.

Something new controls you.

Let's get real.

Everybody's controlled by something.

Matters what hour of the day, right?

Approval.

What will they think of me?

Comfort.

What's easiest?

Success.

Will this get me ahead?

Fear.

Will they reject me?

Convenience.

I'll follow Jesus as long as it fits the life I've planned or the influencer's plan that I follow.

But Paul says now, the love of Christ controls us.

Not money, not career, not possessions, not your parents' opinions, or the pressure of the crowd of youth sports.

The love of Christ.

See, the freedom is, and the reason is, is because, Christian, you are no longer your own.

Paul backs this up in 1 Corinthians 6.

It says, you are no longer your own, but you were bought with a price.

You belong to Christ.

Now, that kind of, for us, the Westerner, that kind of sounds a little bit oppressive until you actually realize who you belong to.

You belong to the one who loved you enough to actually give himself for you.

The one who actually died in your place, the one who was raised for you, the one that actually showed immense love and loved you more than any ability you could ever fathom, or any ability to run your own life.

Imagine the classic illustration of just like you're trapped in a burning house.

You can't get yourself out.

And somebody runs in and carries you to safety, but in the process, they're actually terribly injured.

Would you ever casually look at that person again?

No, you wouldn't need a rule commanding you to love them or appreciate them.

His sacrifice would be enough to just appreciate them.

And Jesus didn't merely risk his life for you.

He gave it.

And scripture says that we weren't innocent victims, were we?

No, we were actually rebellious villains.

Yet Christ moved toward us.

See, this is why authentic Christianity isn't like, fine, Jesus, just tell me what to do.

Like it actually starts to begin to touch everything.

You stop living for yourself and you start living for Jesus.

Maybe uh your decision matrix lately has become about convenience and comfort.

Like, what is an awkward or hard?

What protects our families' weekends?

What gives our kids every possible opportunity?

Guys, those aren't bad questions, but they can't be the questions that actually control us.

Christ loved us.

Maybe there's somebody in your life who doesn't know Jesus.

And you felt that prompting maybe 10 times, 100 times, and you kind of keep stuffing it, you know, like ask the question, invite them to small group, or tell them maybe about what Jesus has done in your life recently, or maybe just invite them to church.

But every time fear sneaks up and actually says something different, says, Don't make it awkward, dude.

Comfort says, not tonight.

Approval says, like, what if they think you're weird?

Y'all, we are weird, just so you know, okay?

Some are like, you're weird.

Paul says, those things they they don't get to control you anymore.

The love of Christ controls us.

And now we're we're starting to see why actually this creates a burden for the lost.

Because, guys, think think about it like this: if if your long belongs to if your life belongs to you, other people's spiritual needs are just an interruption.

But if my life belongs to Jesus, then the people that Jesus has placed around me, they're no longer interruptions for my mission.

They are your mission.

See, Christ's love changes who you live for.

And when it does, Christ begins to change something else too.

He changes how you actually see people around you.

Look with me at verse 16.

It says, From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

Man, notice those first three words.

From now on, like something has permanently happened that has changed the way Paul sees the world.

So you have to start to ask yourself, like, what happened?

Well, Paul, again, like, think about it, it's been he's been united to Christ.

The love of Christ has actually taken a hold of him.

And now Paul says, like, I can't even like look at the people I've been around the same.

When he says, like, I no longer see or I no longer regard the people according to the flesh, he's not talking about just like how he sees people or like the color of their skin.

That's in part, but what he's actually talking about is he's talking about the normal, shallow categories that you and I actually just evaluate people through.

Appearance, wealth, status, categories of what they can do for you, maybe their interests, or maybe the people that are easiest to be around, or the people that are, you know, the ones I want to be around, or impressive.

See, the Corinthians were doing this, and we can just name it.

We do this.

They're looking at Paul through these worldly categories.

They're evaluating and being like, hey, is this a guy we can trust?

Does he look the part?

Does he have enough tenure and success?

And Paul says, knock it off.

He says, stop, like, stop looking at people the old way you used to look at people.

The cross changes the categories.

Kent Hughes, uh pastor and commentator, has this category that he says is gospel disregard.

I love this category.

I think it's really helpful.

He says this isn't a this isn't a disregard for people.

Uh much more, it's actually a disregard for the superficial categories by which the world assigns value to people.

So, Christian, the gospel actually begins to free you from like dividing everybody up into categories, like you got your blue collar, your white collar, your jock, your geek, your rich, you're poor, you're Republican, you're Democrat, you're preppy, you're redneck, or you're cool or you're awkward.

Should I keep going?

I got called crunchy the other day.

I don't even know what crunchy means.

I don't know what the opposite of crunchy is, squishy.

Like no one wants to be squishy.

Like, like the gospel says that though, like those aren't the deepest realities about a person.

Christ gives you new eyes.

And see, there's beautiful irony here.

Think about the writer of this.

This is Paul himself.

Paul was the guy that once got Jesus wrong.

Amen.

The second half of verse 16 says, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.

Man, see, Paul used to look at Jesus through human categories.

He saw Jesus as a false teacher, a threat, someone who actually needed to be stopped.

Paul was so convinced of his evaluation of Jesus that he persecuted followers of Jesus.

And then Paul meets the risen Christ.

And suddenly he realizes I've got Christians and I've got Christ all wrong.

And once Jesus changed the way Paul saw him, Jesus began changing the way Paul saw everyone else.

Let me say that again.

Once Jesus changed the way Paul saw Jesus, it began changing the way Paul saw everyone else.

See, guys, that's what the gospel does.

It gives you new eyes.

And verse 17 is gonna like deepen this reality for us.

Verse 16 tells us how you should no longer see people.

Verse 17 is gonna tell you how you should see people.

Verse 17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

If that verse don't get you fired up, your wood is wet.

Amen.

Come on, like you are like your old self is gone and you are new in Christ.

Notice those words, though.

Do not skip over in Christ.

We talked about this in our first point.

This is one of Paul's favorite ways of describing a Christian, not Christian.

He describes them as in Christ.

As a Christian, this isn't merely someone who just believes certain facts about Jesus or attends church or tries to follow Jesus' example.

A Christian is someone who has been united to Christ by faith.

And Paul says that that union with Christ is so radical that the best language he can even use, the best description handle he can even give you, is new creation.

Not merely improved, not a better version, not a better religious version of you.

New creation.

The old has passed and the new has come.

Some of you need to hear that right now.

You don't feel new.

But you need to be reminded.

You are not your past sin.

It may be part of your story, but it's not the end of your story.

Sin doesn't define you.

Christ defines you.

You're not defined with your struggle with lust.

You're not defined by your divorce or your gossip or your resentment or your yelling at your kids.

Those old patterns may still flare up and rage war, but they don't.

Own you.

In Christ, God has made you and belong, you belong to him.

In Christ, you are new.

But see, we sometimes miss the richness of this theology here.

We kind of just think about it like interpersonally, like just me and Jesus.

But there's so much more theology packed into here.

This is not just an individual reality of like Ryan becomes the better and fullest version of Ryan.

There's something so much more.

The Old Testament actually speaks, even with Isaiah, about promising one day that God would actually renew all of creation and that sin would be no longer.

He talks about new heavens, new earth.

And in the Bible, Revelation 21 says that, like, hey, behold, I'm making all things new.

Every tear is going to be wiped away.

Sting of death is going to be taken away.

So Paul is actually saying that like future creation has already begun taking place right now.

Presently, through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Hence, if you are in Christ, you already belong to the coming world.

You're participating in new creation as new creation.

You are God's design to bring God's kingdom to bear in this world.

So Paul is actually just saying, like, guys, like, stop evaluating people by these old temporary patterns and lenses of a dying world.

The gospel, it gives you new eyes.

And Harbor, this gets really practical.

Because we just naturally walk through our everyday lives categorizing people.

We almost do it instinctively.

But see, when the love of Christ starts to just like slow you down and control you, those categories, they stop being ultimate.

You don't look at people primarily of what they can do for you.

You look at people in light of what Christ has done for them, for sinners.

You look at your successful neighbor and you don't merely think, like, man, nice house, great career.

Seems like they got everything together.

You begin wondering as you walk by, you're like, man, I wonder if he knows Jesus.

You look at the guy in the gym, and the deepest reality isn't whether he's more jacked than you.

He's an eternal being.

You look at that frustrating family member.

I know you all have one, okay?

Like you, if you don't, you're probably it, okay?

You look at that frustrating family member and don't merely think like, look, here we go again.

You think that is someone made in the image of God, reflecting the family of God, who needs grace just as much as I desperately do.

See, the cross of Jesus Christ changes the categories.

This naturally changes who we move towards.

We naturally gravitate towards the people that look like us, who live like us, who travel like us, who talk like us, who parent like us, who educate our kids like us, have similar interests, and we're in a similar stage of life.

And guys, don't hear me say, like, there's nothing wrong with those attractions or having things in common with your friends.

Those are graces.

But the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us a new lens to see and relate to people that our preferences, they actually take a back seat to the way Christ sees people.

See, and that's the danger of nominal Christianity.

Nominal Christianity can simply just baptize the categories and preferences we already had.

But Jesus doesn't merely affirm our old categories, he's gonna give us new categories.

And that's where this actually begins to start creating a burden for the lost.

Because when I look at another Christian, I see somebody in Christ.

I see somebody that has been made new by Jesus.

But when I look at somebody who doesn't know Jesus, I don't see them merely as they are right now.

I see them as they could be in Christ.

Somebody who's desperately in need of being reconciled to God.

Think about it.

Like this means you should never write people off.

Paul would have been pretty high on people's lists to write off.

Amen?

Guy coming at me with a sword, trying to kill my brother, like I'm writing him off, right?

Okay?

That guy is never becoming a Christian in my mind.

But Jesus made Paul new.

That's where a burden for the lost begins.

Because evangelism begins before you ever even start to open your mouth.

It actually begins in your eyes and how you start to see people.

See, it's less like getting a new set of tools, and it's actually like just getting a brand new pair of glasses.

Many of you know this, like if you were like in the 90s and your parents just kind of forgot to get your eyes checked, you know, not saying my parents did that, but like I couldn't see the chalkboard for some time.

And then I realized, wow, I can see the chalkboard.

Like I might have ADD and other things, but like there are other things that actually helped.

And when I could actually start to see the chalkboard for the first time, I was like, I have a new way of seeing and learning and actually even just evaluating God's world.

See, before Christ, your eyesight was blurred to the temporal.

But now in Christ, you actually have an eternal focus, an eternal lens.

And when that happens, a burden for the lost takes over as primary.

And it's far more effective than tips or tricks or anything I could give you.

Because I know every evangelism technique, every diagram I could draw for you in the world, it still wouldn't help you actually start to care for people.

You wouldn't consistently pray for people, you wouldn't move towards people, you wouldn't press through the awkwardness with people or plead for people until you actually see people differently.

See, before we need better techniques, we need gospel eyes.

Harbor, can I can I just take a second to encourage you?

Like, this room is full in part because you guys are doing this really well.

Like, I can't tell you how many stories I've got to celebrate in probably the last three or four months of people actually just having a burden, asking me and Trevor to pray for their neighbors, to pray for their lost family.

And people are actually showing up, hearing the gospel, getting reborn, and actually being baptized.

I just want to, I just want to pour gasoline on the fire that the Spirit has actually ignited already in you.

See, when the love of Christ controls you, you start to see people differently and it deepens your burden for Christ.

It changes who you live for, changes how you see people.

And lastly, it changes what you do.

Look with me at verse 18.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

Notice where Paul starts.

All this is from God.

Amen.

Don't miss that.

Like, who is the primary actor in salvation?

God is.

God initiates, God pursues, God reconciles, God gives, and God makes his appeal through you.

See, the gospel does not start with us like working our way back to God.

It begins with actually God moving toward us.

Paul says, through Christ who reconciled us to himself.

Now, that word reconciliation just like dominates and permeates this part of Scripture.

Paul uses it repeatedly.

And reconciliation means actually like bringing back parties that were actually separated, alienated.

There was hostility, and now peace has been made.

But before you read our culture into scripture, this isn't just a therapeutic word about like two friends that had a TIF and now they like made up at Starbucks, okay?

Our problem with God was much, much infinitely deeper than that.

See, sin had actually alienated us from God.

We were basically, we weren't basically good people who had just kind of a minor infraction or a rub with God.

We were sinners running in rebellion the opposite direction.

Yet, Paul says God moved toward us.

Through Christ, God reconciled us to himself.

And then look what happens next.

He gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That's incredible.

Like the reconciled now become the sent.

The people that God has brought in here are now sent towards the people who are still far off.

And notice the word Paul uses.

I love this word.

He notice, notice he says gave.

The ministry is a gift.

It shouldn't feel like a weight or a wage.

It should feel like a gift.

See, evangelism is not God standing over you saying, like, get out there and sell them the gospel.

No, it's God actually, like, he could accomplish his purpose however he wanted to, however he desires, but in his sovereignty and in his grace, he actually chooses to give you the privilege of participating in what he's doing in the world.

If you have ever played a small part in somebody coming to know Jesus and being made new, you know exactly what he's talking about here.

Maybe you've invited somebody or you've prayed with somebody or maybe you've even just like uh invited somebody to a small group or church or started to read the Bible with them, and then you actually had the privilege of watching somebody be made new in Jesus.

There are few joys in this world that can actually come close to that.

Like you realize, like, God let me be a part of this.

Like most people think, if I were just to ask you in an honest survey, okay, I wouldn't get the results.

Like, what would be the best gift to you in this life right now?

Some of you would be like, man, just peace and quiet for my kids, all right?

We love kids, but like, amen.

Or like enough money to go on a dream vacation, or just enough money to make rent.

But can I tell you, like, this is the most ultimate gift to be a part of the message of reconciliation.

When you get to experience somebody becoming new, it floods all of the effort that you've ever put out.

It gives you a deep sounding joy and peace and rest that like is eternal, not temporal.

It can't be stolen.

No one can take it from you, no one can steal it.

It's a gift.

But also notice, he says there's a message of reconciliation.

Verse 19.

In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

The ministry of reconciliation requires the message.

In other words, Christians have to use words.

There's been this popular saying that I think is like stamped on bumper stickers and it's cute and it's on coffee cups.

It's from Francis of Sisi, but and it says, preach the gospel, and it sometimes use words.

I understand the sentiment, but often it's very unhelpful and it's actually just a cop-out.

Like we shouldn't talk about Jesus and while living in ways that completely contradict him.

I yes.

But guys, words are necessary.

The gospel is news, good news.

And news actually has content that needs to be communicated.

Nobody looked at you this week in the carpool line, leaned out the SCV, and was like, man, she was patient.

It's probably because the eternal Son of God died substitutionally for all sinners and now he rose again from the grave.

No! Like at some point, somebody had to tell them where that patience came from.

Our lives adorn the gospel.

And our mouths, they announce the gospel.

That's why Paul calls it a message.

And let's just talk real.

Like that intimidates you, right?

You're like, Ryan, I'm not good with words, I'm not an evangelist.

What if they ask me a question I can't answer?

What if I fumble my words?

Welcome to the club.

Like, but here's what should free you.

Go back to the beginning of the section.

All this is from God.

You are not responsible for saving anybody.

You are not responsible for saving anybody.

You can't.

John 6, other scripture interpret scripture.

It's helpful here.

It says like no one can come to the Father unless he draws them.

Ephesians 2 says, it's by grace, by faith, not your own doing.

It is a gift of God.

See, God awakens dead hearts.

God opens blind eyes.

God grants faith.

God saves.

Man, this should just take the enormous weight off the bar or off your shoulders for you.

You don't have to manufacture the perfect moment, the right lighting.

You don't have to answer every objection.

You don't have to be impressive.

Actually, you don't need to be impressive.

You shouldn't, because then they're actually going to glorify you, not the Son of God.

You actually just need to be faithful.

But here's the beautiful mystery of God's sovereignty.

Listen.

The God who ordains the salvation of sinners also ordains the means by which sinners hear the gospel.

Paul says in Romans 10, how are they to believe in him whom they've never heard?

How are they to hear without somebody preaching?

See, God saves and God sends.

His sovereignty doesn't make evangelism unnecessary.

His sovereignty actually just gives you confidence in evangelism.

Because ultimately their salvation doesn't depend upon my eloquence.

Thank God.

Anyone else?

Amen.

Like some, if that, if that was true, some of you wouldn't be in the room.

It depends upon God's power.

But this also isn't, Romans 10 isn't talking about pulpit preaching.

Paul means just telling other people about Jesus.

So maybe you fumble your words, maybe it's a little clunky, maybe it's awkward, and you walk away thinking like that was weird.

Or I could have said that better.

That's okay.

God has been saving people through awkward, ordinary conversations and awkward, ordinary people since the beginning of time, not huge events.

Paul is then gonna give us just this incredible picture of the gospel again.

Verse 20.

He says, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.

God making his appeal through us.

Ambassadors.

My wife was known as a in college, she was known as a uh, she doesn't know where I'm going with this.

Don't worry, okay.

Uh she was known as a bearcat ambassador.

We went to a school called call Northwest Missouri State, the mascot was Bearcat, so she would, you know, walk backwards and give people tours, like over here, you see this, you see this.

She would, she would be a tour guide, helping people actually encounter and see and experience that campus.

See, an ambassador doesn't represent himself, he he represents a king and a kingdom.

He he doesn't invent the message, he's been entrusted with the message.

See, Paul is saying God is making his appeal through you.

God is making his appeal through you.

Through you.

And what a privilege.

God has chosen to make his appeal through ordinary people, through imperfect words, awkward conversations, invitations, hot dogs, and meals in your home, and just through opening the scriptures with people.

To be an evangelist is just to be a reporter.

Reporters don't make the news, do they?

They tell it.

They do put a spin on it.

Don't put a spin on the gospel, okay?

But that's really what you're doing, right?

Like you were a reporter, you're telling people the news about what Jesus has done in your life, reporting the facts about what Jesus has done and will do.

And you're letting God take care of the rest.

Sleep well at night.

But see, this is why your story matters.

Your story, not just the gospel story, how the gospel story actually hits your story.

This is why at Harbor, every single member, we ask and require and teach you and help you and walk alongside you to know and share your story using the gospel.

That's not just some test or evaluation, it's so that you can actually impart the gospel to others.

And you can actually push back darkness when doubt comes that you're not a part of his story.

See, because it's not ultimately about how you've become better, it's about how Jesus actually made you his own.

Look at what Christ has done.

Lastly, just notice the intensity of Paul's burden.

Notice the intensity.

He doesn't say, man, just slip in Jesus when the conversation just kind of stirs there, right?

In Jesus' name.

He says in verse 20, he says, We implore you on the behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Implore means like there's affection, there's urgency, there's intensity, there's longing.

But some of you need to hear this.

Paul is not trying to win an argument.

Some of you just love to argue and then slap the name of Jesus on.

Or you love to argue in theological debates.

Paul longs and is broken for these people.

He wants people to be reconciled to him.

Paul knows eternity is real and he knows Christ's love.

Therefore, he implores them with love.

He knows what it's like to have been empty and an enemy and to be reconciled.

And so he persuades and he appeals and he implores.

Harbor, a burden eventually opens its mouth.

And uh, Harbor, like this is where I just kind of want to press on for you.

I want you to just kind of picture who's the person that God has actually already put in front of you.

Who's the person that you actually, when you just bow your head, and if I was to ask you just to pray, who you have a burden for the lost, they just come to mind.

Maybe it's your friend you grew up with, maybe it's the guy or the gal on the bike next to you at the gym, maybe it's your coworker, maybe it's that family member or the barista.

Maybe the next faithful step isn't complicated.

Like you just need to ask a question about their spiritual background.

Maybe the next question or the next step is like, you just need to introduce yourself.

Or tell a story about how Jesus actually interacted and intervened in your life.

Extend an invitation to them to small group or to church or to read a book of the Bible.

Maybe it's writing their name on your bathroom mirror in the morning so that you actually just see their name.

If you're like me, you're a forgetful person, and you're like, oh I'm gonna pray for that person right now.

Let's be honest though.

Can we be honest?

Some of you in the room, you know you should be burdened, but you're not.

I've been there.

That person came to mind, but you're not burdened for that person.

You're not.

Can I just encourage you in this moment the freedom of Christ that you have, like just to name that today, this week, and plead to your father in heaven to break your heart for the lost again, to remind you of what it was like to actually be far and to cause you almost to weep over that.

Maybe some of you actually, before you can carry reconciliation to others, actually need to experience reconciliation.

Like you've been around Christianity, you know the language, you've been in church, but throughout this series, or maybe even this Sunday, you've realized you're like, I have a nominal faith.

I'm a nominal Christian.

There's freedom in that.

You you've known about Jesus, though, but like you haven't surrendered your life to Jesus.

And I think God is inviting you to actually, He's drawing you to actually just surrender to Him.

And I want you to hear Paul's words this morning, if that's you.

Be reconciled to God.

Not try harder so that God will accept you.

Be reconciled.

Receive what has been accomplished for you in Christ.

Paul's gonna end this section with verse 21.

Uh and if you're gonna memorize one verse in the Council of Scripture, man, just start here.

Like if you already started another verse, scrap it, okay?

Like, use this verse.

It's a summary of the gospel, okay?

For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin.

That's hard, okay?

Uh so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

See, theologians have often called what Paul is going to explain for us is the great exchange.

Jesus knew no sin.

Hence, he lived the life that you should have lived, that you could never live.

He was perfectly obedient, perfectly righteous, perfectly patient.

And yet, for our sake, he made him to be sin.

Now, that's not saying that Jesus became sinful.

What that's saying is he actually stood in our place for all of sinners on the cross.

Our sin was counted to him.

He bore our guilt, he took our judgment, he died the death that we deserved.

But see, a lot of Christianity, and often we just stop there.

That's only half the gospel, but Paul doesn't stop there.

He says, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

See, our sin is counted to Christ, but Christ's righteousness is counted to you.

We give him our guilt and he gives us his righteousness.

It's all grace.

And notice this phrase again.

You should be tired of this phrase.

In him.

There's union with Christ over and over again.

Our reconciliation is found in Christ.

Your salvation, your new creation, your righteousness is found in Christ.

And harbor.

That's why authentic Christians have a burden for the loss.

Not because we think we're better than anybody else.

You're not.

We're not.

It's actually the exact opposite.

You just remember how lost you are.

We remember what Christ did for us.

We remember the love that moved toward us when we were far from God.

And you just remember how lost you were.

And when you when you receive a love like that, Romans goes on to say that the Holy Spirit pours God's love into your heart.

I love that image.

He's overflowing love into your heart.

What is that?

What happens?

It actually spills out and gushes out onto others.

You want to know how to share your faith and have a burden for the lost?

Just ponder God's love for you in the cross of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Like when the love of Christ actually starts to control you, it changes who you live for.

You no longer live for yourself because you realize who you actually are in yourself, but for the one who died and rose again for you.

It changes how you actually start to see people.

You don't relate to people on temporal categories anymore.

You relate to people made in the image of God on eternal categories of who they can be in Christ.

And it also changes what you do.

You've been reconciled and entrusted with a message.

You get to announce as an ambassador.

And now God sends you as his people, as an ambassador, into his world to the lost, and is imploring you to ask them to be implored to say, be reconciled to God.

Authentic Christians have a burden for the lost because the love of Christ controls them.

Let's pray, Harbor.

Father, we thank you that you are a God of everlasting, reckless, generous, fountainous love.

We've been running the opposite direction, and you have pursued us, you've turned us around, you've clothed us, you've delighted in us, not because of anything we've done, but because of what Jesus has done.

Father, help us not to actually just underappreciate this.

Help us to savor this, to have a deep burden because of this.

Would you change the realities of our own inner personal lives?

But would you change the reality of how we see the world and what we're called to do?

Father, don't let anyone walk out of here that's pondering this.

In the name of Jesus, in your kindness and in your hospitality, would you apply the work of Christ's redemption to their hearts?

And so, Father, we ask that expectantly and worshipfully.

And at the same time, would you spur in us a renewal for a burden for the lost?

Not just to fill up baptism tanks, that to saturate Sarpie County with maturity and with love and formation, all just because of the love of Christ.

All because of the love of Christ.

Would people know Harbor as a people who are loving, who are saturated, who are impressed by the love of Jesus?

Amen.