A Call to the Nations

Again, my name is Chris. I'm on the pastoral staff here.

You're just, again, very welcome if you're new here.

Ramadan started last week. I don't know if you knew.

I don't know if you're celebrating.

Shavuot, the Jewish festival of weeks, started yesterday.

A month ago, it was Buddha's birthday.

And on Friday, the European football championship started.

We live in a world of competing religions

and a world of competing traditions and cultures.

And we live in a globalized, global city of Hong Kong

where we're surrounded by cultures that even 100 years ago

you'd have only read about in a textbook.

And, you know, I go into Kennedy Town

and there's an Egyptian fish and chip shop.

There's a Hong Kong pizza place.

I went to Cheung Chao the other day.

There's a restaurant called Morocco's which sells Indian and Thai food.

I mean, multiculturalism.

There's this mix of nations coming together in this one city.

And us sitting here, just as you listen to the different languages,

we're a mix of nations which have come together to one place.

And God has placed us in a city,

and this is increasingly true of cities around the world,

where there are now opportunities for nations

which would have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ

to come in contact with us.

People who would never have heard it in their home country

have come and are coming to cities like Hong Kong.

Watermark we planted five and a half years ago.

And right at the heart of our DNA is that we're a church

which is not just about making life comfortable for ourselves,

but the way that a church is healthy and fruitful

and every individual Christian will flourish and grow

is if you're living for something bigger than just yourself.

that each of us has a deep longing inside of us

for some kind of purpose,

to do something meaningful with our lives.

And I listen to so many people,

and they tell me,

I just don't know what I'm supposed to be here for.

And God has placed a desire in our hearts

because he says,

I want to call you as a church,

as individual Christians,

to something which is so much bigger

and greater than your mission for your life.

I want to call you to my mission.

And my mission is to go and make disciples of all the nations.

It's a global vision.

That's why we believe in church planting here at Watermark,

because we believe this mission

is something which is greater than what our own desires are.

And so we've been looking in this series at Isaiah,

at mission.

And Isaiah is this just amazing invitation

for us to join in with what God is up to in the world.

And it's an invitation that you don't want to kind of RSVP maybe to.

It's one you want to get on board with,

because what we've seen over the last few weeks

is that the mission starts when you find

that God is soul-quenchingly satisfying to the thirst that we all have.

And when you know that God satisfies your thirst,

then you go out to a thirsty world

which is hungry and looking for something,

and you can say,

look to Christ because he is satisfying.

We've looked at how we all have a craving for acceptance and belonging,

and Jesus dying on the cross welcomes us as outsiders into a family

so that we can be those who welcome outsiders into his family.

We've looked at how God reached out to us in our spiritual poverty

so that we could be people who reach out to those

who are also poor and disadvantaged.

And if you're a Christian, here's the point,

if you're a Christian,

you cannot, cannot enjoy God as he wants you to enjoy him

if you don't get on his mission.

Because to not overflow with the love that you have received to others

is like finding a cure for cancer and keeping it to yourself.

Every Christian is a missionary.

And so that's what we're going to look at today.

Every Christian is a missionary.

Now, I don't know about you,

but I kind of have this problem with the word missionary

because when I think of missionary,

I think of guys in kind of oversized hats

with like ridiculous moustaches,

kind of walking into exotic countries,

telling people they're uncivilized heathens,

and then forcing them to convert to Christianity,

taking their land away at the same time,

and then thinking they're doing God's will

because now the natives will have Jesus

and they've all got to have tea time at five o'clock

because that's what God likes.

You see, I'm British.

And God obviously likes British things.

But my guard once said to me,

he said when I started talking to him about Christianity,

he said,

Christianity, that's a foreign religion.

We Chinese, we have our own religions, thank you.

We don't need Western people like you

imposing your way of doing things and thinking on us.

We have got our own things already.

And it's that kind of image that Isaiah

and that world that Isaiah is actually speaking into,

where religion was actually synonymous with power,

self-righteousness, wealth, injustice,

and the people of Israel, God's people,

had lost their vision for what God had called them to be,

which would be the mission and a light

to the nations around them.

So God had brought them down low.

He'd exiled them.

Nations had come.

They'd stripped them low.

They'd been exiled in a foreign land

like the Koreans and Chinese

who were shipped off to Japan in the Second World War.

That's kind of what Israel had happened to them.

And it's a dark time.

They're feeling like God has abandoned them.

And some of you know what it feels like

to feel like God may have abandoned you.

But Isaiah comes to them and says,

there's a new day.

There's a new hope.

There's a new vision.

There's a new hope for you.

So here's my two key points I want us to really talk about.

One, the sun has risen, so wake up.

Two, God's vision is global, so look up.

The sun has risen, so wake up.

God's vision is global, so look up.

The sun's risen.

That first verse that we read,

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

The image here, and I've put in your bulletin chapter 59,

because that comes before,

is it's nighttime.

It's dark.

It's not Hong Kong dark, you know,

where there's so much light pollution

that you can't see the stars.

This is like power cut,

complete pitch black darkness.

Some of us watermark men,

we went on a blind simulation.

I don't know if you've done it.

It's called Dialogue in the Dark.

We went there last year,

and it's pitch black.

You cannot even see your hand in front of you.

And I don't know if you've had experience,

but it's extraordinarily what you do

when you can't see anything.

You see, in this situation,

you start groping men's legs

and hairy hands in front of you

just to kind of feel your way.

And you do kind of stuff

which you'd just be completely ashamed of

if people could see you.

But, you know, it's kind of reassuring

when you begin to grab hold of somebody

because you actually feel like,

oh, I've found somewhere to go.

And the picture Isaiah 59 paints is

the sin of the people of Israel.

It's cut them off from God,

and they're kind of groping around

like blind men,

trying to find some reassurance.

They're lost.

They're purposeless.

They need some direction.

And then suddenly,

up over the Mount of Olives

outside of Jerusalem,

the sun starts rising.

A new day is dawning.

And when the sun rises,

it does a couple of things.

Light, first of all,

it exposes what you've been doing

in the darkness.

You know when you turn the lights on?

If my hand was still on Graham's knee

as the lights came on,

I'd have been pretty embarrassed.

When light comes,

it brings your shame.

It brings the darkness.

It brings the things

which are deep down inside.

It brings them to light.

And that's painful.

You know, you didn't think

your room was dusty,

but then the sun flooded in,

and in the rays of the sunbeams,

you suddenly see

there's a million particles

of dust in your flat.

That's what God's light does.

It reveals the depth of your sin

when you thought you were okay.

But that's not all light does.

Light also comes,

and it dispels darkness.

The sins of the past

that have been revealed

are wiped out.

The despair,

the lossless,

the purposelessness

is a thing of the past.

There is new direction.

There's new hope.

It's a new day.

That's what light does.

Now, every religion in the world

recognizes in some way

that humanity is in darkness.

You know this?

You just turn on the news.

I mean, even last night,

there's violence

at the European football championships.

There's racism.

There's so much suffering

and pain in the world,

and every religion recognizes

that we're in a dark hole

we've dug of our own selfishness,

ignorance, guilt, shame.

It recognizes those things.

But every other religion says

the way out of this hole

that we're in

is to try and climb your way

up to God somehow.

Islam says you have five pillars

if you do them.

That's why you do Ramadan,

because if you do these things,

you'll kind of be able

to get out of the hole

and maybe get up to God,

get up to some salvation,

get up to find some light somewhere.

Buddhism says you've got to meditate

to get enlightened.

And if you meditate enough,

you'll get light,

you'll get out of the hole.

Atheism says,

in the words of the humanist chaplain

of Harvard University,

Greg Epstein,

he says,

we have the potential

for strength,

wisdom,

and love inside of ourselves.

We've just got to tap in

to the potential we have

and pull ourselves out of the mess.

There's no one else to help us.

Whichever way,

whichever religion you take,

it tells you

you've got to get out of the hole

by yourself of the darkness.

And maybe if there's a God,

just kind of hope

he'll give you a hand halfway

if you've been good enough

at climbing.

The problem is,

if you try and climb out

by yourself,

how high is good enough

for God to help you?

And the problem is,

no matter how much you climb,

you know,

we keep seeing to dig

the hole deeper as well

because we keep sinning.

We slip back down.

And either what we do

is when you rely

on your own efforts

to kind of get out of the hole,

you either end up

feeling so much better

than everybody else

who seems to be

a little bit lower than you.

And you kind of look down

and you exclude people

and you feel contempt for them.

Or you,

when you realize

you've slipped back down

and you feel like

you're a failure,

you end up kicking yourself

and think,

oh, I failed again.

But Christianity comes in

and says,

we don't hide

what's in the darkness.

We don't deny,

we don't blame others

and blame the people

out there

for our problems.

We just say,

the way out of the hole

is not if I try

and climb out

because I can't.

I need somebody

to climb into the hole

to come down

to us.

Christianity says,

God came down

to us

because we could not

go up to him.

Your light

has come.

We love God

because he first

loved us.

You know,

when the sun rose

this morning,

what did you do

to make it rise?

Did you send it

a quick kind of

reminder text

just to say,

hey, just in case,

it's kind of six o'clock.

Did you send an email?

Is it a mail?

No.

The sun rises

not because

of your effort

but in spite of you.

It's what the Bible

calls grace.

And this sunrise

in verse two

is God himself,

God's glory.

You see,

the light

that every religion,

every person

is looking for

in the world,

in John 8,

Jesus comes

and he refers

back to this

prophecy of Isaiah

and he says,

I am the light

of the world.

Not just of a few

little religious people.

I'm not just the light

of the guys

who climbed really well

out of the hole.

No,

I am the light

of the world,

even of the British.

He who follows me

will not walk

in darkness.

You'll not stay

in the pit

but will have

the light

of life.

All religions say

you've got to make

your own way

out of the hole.

Christianity says

God made his way

down to us.

On the cross,

Jesus came into

the pit

of our selfishness,

our ignorance,

our pride.

He died our death

when we couldn't

reach him.

He brings us

into relationship

with the God

of the whole universe.

Religion,

even religion

dressed up

in Christian clothes

makes it all

about you,

all about your efforts,

all about what

you've done.

The world

and your salvation

is on your shoulders

but Christianity

says we have

an amazingly

glorious God

and no other God

in any other religion

is like this God

because no other God

would come down

to us.

Your light

has come.

There's no other

salvation

in the whole of history.

Read any religious books,

there is no other God

who does this

as a holy God

of the universe

who comes down

and dies for his people.

There isn't one.

That's why

Christ

is our light.

If you're not a Christian,

Jesus is asking

you,

reaching down

and saying,

will you stop

trying to climb

out of the hole

by yourself,

trying to do your,

get your way up

to kind of make yourself

feel good

and write about yourself

through your work,

through all the other things

that you try and do

and will you let go

of the wall

that you're climbing

and hold on

with a hand of faith

to Christ.

Repent of making life

about you

when actually life

is about

the worship

of the creator God

of the universe.

Pastor John Piper,

he says,

missions exist

because worship doesn't.

You know,

you only praise

something

according to the worth

of the deed

or the person.

when I was about

seven or eight,

I managed to swim

25 meters.

I told my mom,

that's about all the glory

and recognition

that that deserves.

But you know,

it's the Olympics this year

and if I won the gold medal

at swimming,

which I'm not going to,

then that would deserve

global recognition

because that's a feat

that is worthy

of praise.

But if the God

of the whole universe,

the holy,

awesome God,

creator God

who is so far above us

would choose

to come down

and die on a cross

for you

and for me,

is that not worthy

of global praise?

For millennia,

people have been looking

to get out of the hole,

but Christ has come down.

And so he calls us,

he says,

your light has come.

If you're a Christian,

notice what the response is.

Arise,

wake up,

shine,

your light has come.

You've got to shine

because your light has come.

Now if you're a Christian,

you know some of this.

But,

but it says,

strange,

arise and shine.

Think about it.

If you tell

a reflective surface

to shine,

that's a bit weird.

Right?

Because it just shines

automatically.

Okay?

You see,

normally it's like

the IFC.

You know,

when the sun hits

the windows on the IFC,

you see the light

shining.

Right?

And the picture here

is of the city of Jerusalem

which represents

God's people

shining,

radiating,

reflecting the light

of this amazing God

out to the people,

the nations all around.

That's the image.

But,

why does he command you

to shine?

Well,

because the thing is,

the only way the IFC

will not reflect

the light of the sun

is if it's wrapped

in one of those,

you know,

those green kind of

skyscraper blankets.

Do you know those kind of things

when they're doing the scaffolding

and they kind of wrap them around?

You know,

and Isaiah is saying,

the sun,

Jesus Christ,

has risen on you

so you can't put God

on snooze in your life.

Turn over and wrap yourself

in a blanket

saying,

God,

I quite like the light

but now is not the time

that I want to reflect you.

I don't really want

to wake up now.

I'd like to be comfortable.

I've got a few other things

that I'd like to do

with my life.

Let me just kind of

wrap myself up

a little bit more.

I've got work to do.

I've got kids to get in school.

I've got this.

I've got that.

I've got all these different things

and he says,

wake up.

You say it to your kids

in the morning.

Wake up.

Shine

because you're not

going to experience

the beauty

and the warmth

and the grace

of the sun

if you don't,

if you're hiding

under the blankets.

The preacher Spurgeon

once said,

I believe

that there are

some Christians

who've wasted

a large part

of their lives

for need

of somebody

or something

to wake them up.

He says,

there's more evil

worked in the world

by lack of thought,

by people just being

comfortable with their own lives,

than by downright malice.

There's more good

left undone

through lack of thought

than through any

aversion

to doing good.

Some Christians,

he says,

appear to have been born

in the land

of slumber

and they continually

live in their

native country

of dreams.

They occasionally

rub their eyes

and suppose themselves

to be wide awake.

But they're in

the enchanted ground

and though they know

it not,

they're little better

than sleepwalkers

most of their days.

Are you

a Hong Kong

sleepwalker

who is actually

just loving

the comfort

of your own bed,

your own world,

your own mission?

Because God says,

wake up.

I've got a bigger

calling for you

than your little

tiny vision

of just building

your career.

I've got so much

more than your

tiny vision

of just getting

your kids

into that right school.

I've got something

so much bigger

for you

and I want you

to enjoy me.

I want you to know me.

But if you just

stay in that bed

wrapped up in your blanket,

you're never going

to enjoy the sun.

there's a purpose

in life

and he wants you

to be on his mission.

Wake up.

Some of us,

we've seen the light

but you know,

we've taken steps

and you're busy,

you're active,

you're doing things

in church,

you're doing all this stuff

but it's so easy

that we think

that God has

all these expectations

on us

and we're trying

to meet up

to all the expectations

that we think he has.

So when you hear

God say something

about get on the time

to mission,

it just feels

like another burden,

another kind of heavy weight

that I've got to do.

And you maybe look

at the things

that you've done

or you haven't done

and you feel

you've messed up

and you've failed again.

And so it sounds to you

like I'm telling you

to climb out of the hole again

to kind of make yourself

a better Christian

and God's call to you

is not get on mission

because it will make you

a better Christian.

God's call is

look back to the sun

of God's grace

and God's mercy

because that's,

if you want to radiate the sun,

you look at the sun.

You don't become obedient

to God

by focusing on your sin.

You become obedient

to God

when your sin

leads you to the cross.

You see the depth

of his love,

his grace,

his mercy,

his forgiveness for you

and you respond

in worship

and that's going to leave you

and motivate you

to love him

to get on his mission

more than guilt

or failure ever will.

Wake up.

See the sun.

Your light has come.

Secondly,

there's a global vision.

So look up.

It says,

verse 2,

3,

For behold,

darkness shall cover the earth

and thick darkness the peoples.

But the Lord will rise upon you

and his glory will be seen upon you

and nations will come to your light

and kings to the brightness of your sunrise.

That's the word of your sunrise.

Lift up your eyes all around

and see.

God's mission was global

before globalization.

And there is

an inauguration of this vision

when Christ,

the light of the world,

comes.

And there will one day

be a completion

of this vision

when Christ returns

and all the nations

will come and bow down

at his feet.

But in the meantime,

in the gap between the cross

and the Christ's return,

Jesus says to his disciples

in Matthew 5,

he says,

You

are the light

of the world.

Did you know that?

He says,

You are the light.

And you think,

But Jesus,

you just said,

You're the light.

And he says,

Yeah, yeah, yeah,

I am the light,

but you,

like the IFC,

are called as my people

because I'm creating

a new people

who have seen this light,

who have a new identity

in Christ

from all the nations.

And you are to reflect

this beautiful image

to a dark world

around you.

A people

who are not

hiding our light

under a basket

or a blanket,

but a people

who are not defined

by our culture,

but are defined

by Christ

and his identity.

As we've said,

we live in a city

which is surrounded

by many nations.

In this church,

we have many nations.

Who here is from

South America

or America?

Who here is from

Europe?

I do count,

even though England

wants to be out of Europe.

Who here is from Asia?

Good proportion.

That's good.

We're in Asia.

Okay.

Who here is from Oceania?

Like, that's Australia,

New Zealand,

if you didn't know.

Okay.

Who here is from Africa?

Okay.

Who here is from Antarctica?

Okay.

Milan thinks he's a penguin,

but,

yeah,

we're a little lacking

on the Antarcticans there,

but you get the point.

God has brought nations

even into this church.

Isn't that incredible?

God wants to open our eyes

to see that his mission

is not just about

kind of getting up

and being more busy

with more activity.

His mission

is about giving you

a new lens

to see the world

around you.

It's a new lens

to see,

and he wants you

to look up

and see what is around you

so that you begin

to see

who God might be

calling you to.

He's bringing

a multi-ethnic people

to himself,

but the lens

through which

you need to see

has a couple of lenses.

I just want to talk

about a couple here.

One lens

through which

will help us

to see the people

that God has placed

around us

is this.

God loves

unity

in diversity,

and God

is making

a people

whose chief identity

is not their culture,

but is Jesus Christ.

The light

that we're drawn to

is Jesus.

That's our centerpiece.

However,

cultural diversity

is beautiful

and celebrated.

I don't know

if you looked

in this passage,

but did you see

there are

Arabic tribes,

you know,

Midian,

Ifa,

Sheba,

that's kind of

Yemen direction.

There are

traders,

that's the ships

of Tarshish,

foreign traders,

all these

formerly enemies

of Israel,

and do you know

what they're bringing?

Sheep,

goats,

camels,

frankincense,

gold,

all kinds of things.

These are the

cultural

and national

treasures

of these tribes,

of these ethnic groups,

and they're offering

them in praise

to God.

You see,

when God

called Adam

to fill the earth,

well,

that's the one

commandment

we've done

pretty well.

We have

filled it.

You know,

there is,

we have.

You know,

there's languages,

there's languages,

and it's not just

babies,

okay?

There's languages,

there's music,

there's food,

there's architecture.

Every culture,

language,

ethnic group

has wealth

and beauty

that when

the nations

are drawn

to Christ,

that beauty

is not just

kind of ignored

and suddenly

everyone's become

monochrome.

But actually,

that is glorious.

Because,

you know,

samba

was never meant

for the glory

of Brazil.

It was meant

for the glory

of God.

The iPhone

was not meant

for the glory

of America.

It was meant

for the glory

of God.

Dim sum

was not meant

for the glory

of Hong Kong.

It was meant

for the glory

of God.

And one day,

that will happen.

But in the nations,

when we come,

we should celebrate.

Each of us

has something

unique

that God

has placed

in us

because of

our cultural

heritage.

John Piper

again says it

like this.

He says,

the beauty

and power

and praise

that will come

to the Lord

from the diversity

of the nations

are greater

than the beauty

and power

that would come

to him

if the chorus

of the redeemed

were culturally uniform.

There is more

depth of beauty

is felt

from a choir

that sings

in parts

than from a choir

that only sings

in unison.

Unity in diversity

is more beautiful

and more powerful

than the unity

of uniformity.

Do you get that?

Unity in diversity

is more beautiful

and more powerful

than the unity

of uniformity.

So when you look

around at each other

when you look

around at each other

do you see

the beauty?

Because there is

a picture

of heaven

here

but as his people

now in the church

we are called

to be a foretaste

a little picture

not perfect

that will come

but a little picture

and it is

amazing privilege

to be an international

church

in an international

city

and so often

we fail

to miss it

fail to see it

so let me ask

when did you last

celebrate the fact

that you have got

people from every

nation in this place

in your community

groups?

How do you look

to actually

thank God

for the cultural

differences

that you have?

because if you

want to have

a mission

for the nations

you have to see

the glory of God

that he wants

to transform

and you need

to see

there is a unique

beauty

and there are

some cultures

you can see

everyone can see

the beauty

more than other

cultures

and we all have

a different view

there are some

cultures you think

I can see the beauty

there are some

cultures you think

I'm looking

but there is

beauty

and if you want

to get a vision

for the nations

you have to see

where the beauty is

that's one lens

the second lens

though

is every culture

is in darkness

that's what it says

the nations

are covered

with like

thick clouds

so the sun

is blocked out

from reaching it

that's the language

there

there is evil

and idolatry

in every culture

one culture

is not better

than another

I mean just

look around

look at

the caste system

which is still

which is illegal

but still exists

in India

look at ISIS

and the stuff

that's going on

in Syrian refugees

look at the racism

that's going on

in Europe

and America

and all the strong

anti-immigrant feeling

look at the tensions

in Hong Kong

and the mainland

look at

you know

I walked into a shop

in Central

and the shopkeeper

spoke to me

very politely

behind me

was someone

like an Indonesian

helper

and suddenly

her tone

of shopkeeper

changed completely

there was a look

there was a tone

which said

you are not worth

something

every one of our cultures

has a darkness

of a racism

of a self-importance

and the church

is called

to be a different

light

the reason is

in the darkness

every culture

needs the gospel

religion telling yourself

to get out of the hole

is not going to do it

the gospel

has the resources

to say to every

single culture

there is beauty

but there is also

brokenness

you need a light

you need a savior

and the thing

is for me

I can be so indifferent

to the darkness

that I see around me

so wrapped up

in my world

in my work

and all those other things

that I haven't woken up

to see the darkness

here

or I can find

my identity

so much

in my own culture

that I don't see

the need

of the gospel

I only see

the things

that I dislike

I don't see myself

as particularly racist

or nationalistic

I grew up

in an all white town

but a second family

was a beautiful family

from an Angolan family

who were refugees

I've taught people

from pretty well

every country

in the world

I'm married

to someone

from Hong Kong

I have friends

in every continent

except Antarctica

but I used to teach

in a place

with a lot

of Muslim students

from the Arab world

and our staff room

was right next

to the bathroom

and break time

would come

and while we were

trying to relax

just get a few minutes

break before I had

to teach another lesson

suddenly

through the door

and the wall

I would hear this

and then again

for ten minutes

and I would go

into the bathroom

because you need to go

and it would be covered

like I mean

Noah's Ark

could have floated

on the water there

because of the ritual washings

that had been going on

it had soaked

the whole floor

and I'm kind of skating around

thinking

I can't believe this

I can't believe

these kind of people

so inconsiderate

they

are disgusting

that's what I thought

disgusting

now

to my mind

did I kind of think

well actually

I may be the only Christian

that these people

have ever met

in their entire lives

what an opportunity

to share the gospel

with these people

was that a thought

that came to my mind

not even close

didn't even cross my mind

all I could think about

was

and how these guys

were making

my bathroom break

just so much worse

than I thought

it should be

because you see

it's not that

there are things

that don't annoy you

in other cultures

there are

some are

just neutral

cultural things

some are sin things

some are

you know

it's a whole mix

of things

but I would

I would

even with the other teachers

we'd kind of

knowingly

you know

there's that

there's that kind of

knowing look

do you know

when someone comes past

that kind of

superiority thing

oh it's them

do you know

you know that kind of thing

British are experts

I don't

you know

we've taught the world

you know

it's

it's called self-righteousness

and that's how

I was responding

and you know

the reason why

I'm sometimes

blinded to see

the people around me

and the opportunities

that there are

around me

is because

sometimes I don't like

the differences

in culture

it's sometimes

uncomfortable

it sometimes

offends

what my own culture

holds as important

you know

British culture

doesn't do that

but when

someone

offends

what your culture

judges as

appropriate behavior

we end up

judging them

and thinking

we're culturally

superior to them

and we often

end up excluding

and then we have

comments

then we have looks

and when we do that

what I've done

is I've begun

to find my identity

in my culture

more than in Christ

and I've blinded me

to seeing other

people's need

for the gospel

because I think

I'm actually a little

bit higher out of

that hole than they are

they're obviously

so deep

too deep for Jesus

but it's actually

I mean it's insane

I think I'm better

because I'm more polite

but they could turn

around to me

as a British guy

and say

why are you so bad

at hospitality

because actually

they would open up

their home

at the drop of a hat

to have a stranger

even come in

with a meal

and if you go

in the UK

to invite a stranger

into your home

is like inviting

a terrorist to tea

it's like

you know

it's like

you don't do it

but every culture

has brokenness

our greatest need

and the greatest need

of the people

who you see around you

isn't more politeness

that will be nice

sometimes

particularly when

you're on the MTR

but that's not

the greatest need

of people around us

the greatest need

we all

every culture

needs

the light

and when we've forgotten

when I act

with that self-righteousness

I'm saying

my righteousness

is not in Christ

I'm saying

that I've forgotten

that Christ

came down

into my

darkness

crossed over

the greatest

cultural barrier

between heaven

and a pit

of racism

a pit of segregation

a pit of hurt

a pit

where we just

we just

love the idea

of tolerance

but we hate

the idea

of actual people

right

we love the notion

of tolerance

until you actually

meet people

who are just

not like you

but the gospel

has resources

to level the ground

and it tells us

I can't base

my identity

on my culture

because the culture

is both beautiful

and broken

I need to see

when I'm faced

with that

my own need

of grace

I'm not defined

by my culture

I'm defined

by an amazing God

who is worthy

of universal

worship

that's what

we proclaim

and you know

even as an

international church

it's very possible

for us to be

international

but still segregated

because we still

have attitudes

in our hearts

we're actually

deep down

even though

we don't say

we kind of

think we're better

and Christ says

the gospel

changes that

you're a new people

you're united

in me

celebrate the culture

where there's

difference

remember grace

remember grace

because Christ

crossed that

barrier for you

I know

that we all

have stereotypes

you know

stereotypes

are natural

we all generalize

you know

we all generalize

we generalize

because we have

to survive

you know

if you see

three English guys

all drinking tea

at five o'clock

you assume

that all English

guys drink tea

at five o'clock

right

you know

we do that

yeah

and you see

another guy

and then

it just kind of

confirms

your stereotypes

but when

your stereotypes

stop you

loving the people

that God has

placed you

around you

and you withdraw

from them

that's when

you see the gospel

as you've forgotten

the gospel

you've forgotten

the gospel

and the cross

because Jesus

crossed that

cultural barrier

for you

will call you

to cross

maybe even

in this church

there are people

that you have

never gone up to

because you're

actually just afraid

you don't know

what to say

you don't know

what to do

and why don't you

start and reach out

and just say

hi

I'd love to find out

about your culture

because that's

where when we

begin to see

the beauty

we begin to

God begins

to open our eyes

and we begin

to be a light

in this dark place

which is segregated

so terribly

in so many ways

so practically

what does this mean

I think one thing

get curious

get curious

get curious

think about the people

in your offices

think about where

you're going on holiday

think about the business

trips that you take

you may be going

into places

and meeting people

and their cultures

where they've never

heard the gospel

or they think

they know the gospel

but they're actually

just religiously

trying to climb

their way

out of the pit

and you may be

the only light

of grace

that they see

so get curious

about their culture

show an interest

because you can say

my God is a God

who loves cultures

why don't you get curious

and go and chat

to Amelia afterwards

and find out

about what she's up to

we have a Mandarin

ministry

in Watermark

if you speak Mandarin

there are a million

Mandarin speakers

in Hong Kong

many of whom

have never heard

the gospel

what an amazing

opportunity

for us to be here

and be involved

go and talk to David

or one of the guys

who are involved

in the Mandarin ministry

come and see me

when you go on holiday

this summer

some of you are going to go

why don't you get your kids

if you go on

get your kids

to actually research

how many people

are Christians

in that country

what's the church

like in that country

what's the religions

like in that country

because when we get

curious about things

God begins to open

our eyes

to see the need

God has given us

as a church

a unique privilege

to impact nations

some of you

are going to transition out

and God's going to

transition you

to other nations

that is a great

missionary call

to a new place

and it's not that

we have to go in

and just lambast

everyone with the gospel

it's there we go

as a light

showing grace

and reaching out

to them

and in that process

of doing that

and asking about

somebody else

we begin

to then see

where the gospel

makes a difference

in their own lives

and we call

people to see

a God

who is worthy

of worship

final thing

this vision

the last book

of the Bible

Revelation

do you know

Isaiah 60

is in the last

book of the Bible

Revelation

21

22

it says

that heaven

the new creation

God

will be

the sun

and the light

because there will be

no more need

for light

because God alone

will be the light

of every nation

and it says

the kings

who represent cultures

will come in

God

is the one

who is worthy

of our worship

he's worthy

of the people

in your office

knowing about him

will you wake up

will you look up

will you see

that God

has got us

on this trajectory

where all the nations

you know

there's going to be

samba in heaven

there's going to be

hip hop

there's going to be

all the cultural

expressions

so let's enjoy

let's see

let's get on board

with a God

who is worthy

let's pray

Father I pray

that right now

you would show us

where some of us

have actually

I think probably

all of us

in different ways

myself

so often

that we actually

find our identity

more in our culture

or more in the way

we think things

should be done

than in you

show us where

we're blind

to see the people

around us

because we've been

so wrapped up

in our little blankets

open our eyes

to see that you're

calling us

to something greater

show us

what that means

show us

what the next step

that you want us

to take is

whether it's just

greeting somebody

whether it's just

asking questions

whether it's actually

we need to get

and giving money

whether it's we need

to just find out

whether it's we need

to just see the people

in our own congregation

and begin to start

reaching out

may we be a church

which

reflects

the beauty

of a God

who has such

diversity

may we be a people

in a world

of segregation

and racism

and self-righteous

judging

and pride

that we don't

when we see that

in ourselves

we just run back

to the gospel

may we see that

Jesus

you're our only hope

you're a light

and may that be

something beautiful

in this divided city

that other people

will be drawn

to the worship

of you

in your name

amen

and hear

life

you're our only

who's

the �