Fall Retreat 2022: Friday Evening Session

I have the privilege of introducing Bauer.

I've known Bauer longer than most pastor friends I have.

I mean, because I got to know Bauer.

I've known him probably for like 10 years now, 9, 10 years.

And Bauer, I met him through Paul at King of Grace when I was still a green seminary student.

And something that really stood out to me even from my early interactions with Bauer is just his humility.

And how I remember whenever we would go to a conference together or attend a seminar together,

I could always hear Bauer's keyboard just in the back because he's always taking copious notes.

And even though he already knows so much and has learned so much, he's always learning.

He's always a student of God's word.

And also, even though I was such a young seminary student, he always treated me with so much respect,

which is he didn't need to, but he did.

And I just remember that.

It stands out to me about Bauer.

Bauer has been pastoring for 21 years.

He's been ordained for 21 years.

He's been in the same church, Crossway Church, that Bailey was a part of at one point.

And Will was a part of at one point.

Will is obviously Bauer's son.

And, you know, I mean, there's increasingly a lot of pastors think of pastoring as a profession.

And you try to climb the ladder in the same way.

And time and time again, I'll see sometimes pastors go to greener pastures,

whether it's out of New England or to a bigger church or to where you can get paid more

or where you could have less to do directly with people.

You know, or it's just people always doing that.

But Bauer has been in the same church his entire pastoral ministry, 21 years.

I look up to that.

And I aspire to that.

And that's a testament to your calling, God-given call, but your character, Bauer.

We're grateful for you.

So it's my joy to welcome you to our retreat to be our speaker.

Thank you.

Please come.

Thank you for that kind welcome, Sean.

Sean, those are very meaningful words.

One of my reflections on our history together, I don't know where we were when we had this conversation,

but there was a phrase that was attributed to you as I was trying to understand more deeply

our understanding of Scripture.

And I think the phrase, Sean, I don't want to attribute something that doesn't accurate like you said,

but in essence, what I took from it was that all Scripture is covenantal in nature.

And that phrase, like a key, like a master key that unlocks all the doors and houses,

I just began to turn it both in the Old Testament and new after our conversation,

and also in my reading and study,

and began to look at Scripture over time from more as how Scripture operates on us

in a dynamic way through King Jesus than simply me approaching the text and pulling from it.

And it was one of those inflection points in our journey.

So I appreciate you taking what was a very thick understanding,

kind of narrowing it down that I could start to...

Is that... Did you say that?

Yeah.

Yeah. Is that Jeff? And you were quoting Jeff?

Well, Jeff Percival then, through his brother, Sean.

Jeff didn't say that, or I didn't listen when I was with Jeff in the same way.

So that was a...

Let me begin this way.

I was praying on the way up, as I'm sure many of you were,

taking in the beauty of the leaves and the less beauty of the traffic.

And I was thinking about how best to begin a time with you on mission mindfulness,

for I'm here to learn, too, and hear from the Lord and engage with you afresh this topic.

And I was thinking about, and we've been thinking about this as a church,

what Paul meant when he said to the Corinthians in his second letter,

in chapter 12, I know a man in Christ.

I know a man in Christ.

And then he introduces 14 years earlier a vision he'd been given.

When Paul speaks of being a Christian,

he never says of himself,

I'm a Christian, like we would.

It doesn't mean what we're saying is wrong.

He never uses that phrase.

When the word Christian came into use, you know,

because you studied the Book of Acts as a church,

it was in the church in Antioch where that word Christian first came into use.

But up to that time, people who were Christians were called people of the way,

which is found in Scripture, or disciples.

And Paul uses neither of those to refer to himself.

He refers to himself almost without exception in terms of his identity as being in Christ.

And so I was reflecting on that as I thought about beginning our,

and I thought 41 years ago,

as a senior in high school,

a man who was in Christ shared with me during a study hall

in the cafeteria of our high school

the message of the gospel.

And if you knew me as a senior in high school,

there's no reason why I should have listened to anything George said in that moment.

Except George was the individual who sold us our weekend supply of hashish

and was a devout fan of,

this will date me,

but the Jackson 5.

And we liked the Jackson 5 in the 1970s.

George had become a Christian earlier that month.

And there he is with me in study hall at a cafeteria table

reading from the Bible,

from the Gospel of John,

and calling me to repent of my sins

and put my hope in Jesus.

And I shouldn't have been listening.

But I know a man in Christ.

And he, Christ, had my attention.

Two weeks later, I'm in a meeting

with, I don't know, probably 500 or more people,

not much younger than you.

And Phil Perry and the other pastor,

Paul, who's, I forget his last name,

gave a gospel message

to primarily public school students

there in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

This was a church plant, not unlike Trinity,

and everyone had been invited

by people like George to come to this meeting.

And boy, the message was crystal clear.

There was a clear invitation given,

and I didn't respond to it that moment.

But I know a man in Christ

who, when he went home that night,

Jesus revealed himself.

And 41 years ago, I repented of my sins,

tears flowing out of my tear ducts in my bedroom.

And that next morning,

I got up and greeted my parents,

who at that point, I was alienated from my parents,

even though I lived in their home.

And I said, Mom, Dad, brace yourself.

This is the only language I knew.

I'm a born-again Christian now.

And I might as well told them I was a communist.

I mean, they were, you're a what?

And they didn't believe it,

but I know a man in Christ.

41 years later, last story.

This introduced mission mindfulness.

We shared the gospel with my parents,

because all of my sisters came to the Lord

by God's grace, different ways.

One through me, which is remarkable,

since she hated me prior to Christ.

And the other through John Stott's ministry

there in All Souls Church in London,

at a time when she was being proposed to

by a very wealthy young Muslim man there in Europe

who was in love with Bobby.

And yet she's sitting under the preaching

of the gospel through John Stott,

realizing if I choose this way,

she didn't, she became a Christian,

she's walking with the Lord now,

as is my youngest sister Day.

But my parents both came to the Lord,

and the reason I should share this

is because my dad,

who rejected Christianity for his entire life,

and although loved his kids,

would always say to us,

I don't wanna hurt your faith,

but I think what you believe is totally bananas.

He said a little more strongly than that

if you knew my dad.

He was a lawyer, corporate lawyer in Philadelphia,

big man, kind of a John Wayne sort of figure

if you know who that is.

So the last summer before he died,

we shared with him again,

we all shared with him in different ways,

the simple message of the gospel.

We called him to believe in Christ.

We said there's a,

even mom believes now, dad.

Please.

He got angry, he got abusive.

We couldn't tell if it was the alcohol he was drinking,

we couldn't tell if it was just,

turned out that at that point,

his lungs had deteriorated

due to a 40-year habit of smoking Lucky Strikes,

that's an unfiltered signal.

He had about 13% capacity in his lungs.

He was basically suffocating.

Couldn't, but we didn't know that.

This physician on the main line,

you'll have to edit this out,

basically he lied to him about the condition of his health.

And I visited dad in the hospital there that fall

and basically said goodbye to him.

He was in and out of consciousness.

We're putting him on oxygen,

but he was fading, drove home.

And my phone went off,

and it's my sister Day who,

and she says,

you are not gonna believe this.

And I said, what?

I just drove six hours,

and she said, dad wants to talk to you.

Dad wants to talk to me.

He came too?

And there's my dad without his oxygen on.

And he says, Bauer,

I wanna become a Christian.

And then my sister, you know,

is doing this thing with the phone, you know.

And I asked my dad in so many words,

probably the wrong question, Sean.

I'm not a very effective angel.

I said, dad, why do you wanna become a Christian?

And why he was unconscious or in that,

he was aware of eternity in a way

that we had spoken to him for years about,

but that his eternity was Christless

and that our eternity was in Christ.

And so there on his deathbed,

a man who was unconscious,

coming to due to being oxygenated,

he repented of his sins,

confessed Christ for the first time as Savior,

and he went on to live for another two or three weeks.

And so we brought in every Christian we knew

to really test his faith,

to see if this was sincere.

We'd read scripture to him.

We'd talk about counting the cost.

We challenged him.

And I know a man in Christ.

It was my dad.

So before conversion,

we hear the invitation,

come to me,

all of you who are weary and laden,

Matthew 11.

Come to me, Christ says,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you,

for I'm gentle and lowly,

humble in heart.

My yoke is easy.

My burden is light.

But then when you walk through that door

by God's grace

and you look back at Ephesians 1,

it doesn't say come to me anymore.

From beginning to end,

from before the foundation of the world

to when we're face to face with Christ.

If you're a Christian

and you put your trust in Christ,

it says you are in Christ.

It's our identity.

It's so mysterious

and yet it's so gloriously gospel-centered

that that really becomes the basis

for me of standing here before you

to talk about mission mindfulness,

not because only I responded 41 years ago

to a gospel call,

but because I can say with the Apostle Paul,

as can you,

we know a person in Christ

by God's grace.

It's us.

It's a miracle.

So please open in your scriptures

to Matthew 5.

I'm gonna pray

and then we'll look at

the passage together.

Over the next three days

and then again on Sunday,

we're gonna look at this

from some different vantage points.

We'll use Jesus' Sermon on the Mount

to get us started,

both today and tomorrow,

and then we'll consider

one of his parables of the kingdom.

Let me read the scripture.

I'm gonna read for the sake of context,

Matthew 5, verses 1 through 16,

Matthew 5:1–16

but I'm gonna focus tonight

on verses 13 through 16,

which are familiar words to you

and I hope makes a meaningful application

for our small group time together.

As we go,

this is God's word.

May God give us his grace

to listen attentively to it.

Seeing the crowds,

verse 1 of chapter 5,

Jesus went up on the mountain

and when he sat down,

his disciples came to him

and he opened his mouth

and taught them saying,

blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger

and thirst for righteousness,

for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted

for righteousness' sake,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you

when others revile you

and persecute you

and utter all kinds of evil

against you falsely on my account.

Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward is great in heaven,

for so they persecuted the prophets

who were before you.

You are the salt of the earth,

but if salt has lost its taste,

how shall its saltiness be restored?

It is no longer good for anything

except to be thrown out

and trampled under people's feet.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill

cannot be hidden,

nor do people light a lamp

and put it under a basket,

but on a stand,

and it gives light to all in the house.

In the same way,

let your light shine before others

so that they may see your good works

and give glory to your Father

who is in heaven.

Let's pray.

Jesus, you call us to join you

in your mission,

and for those of us,

I presume most of us,

if not all of us,

who have put our faith in you,

Lord, it is not only a privilege,

joining you in your mission

is part of who we are.

So grant us,

grant us, Lord,

by your spirit of illumination,

a deeper perspective,

understanding, and vision

for this mission you have joined us to

and use us individually and collectively

to call others into your glorious light.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

That's my main point.

I'll repeat it again at the end of the message,

and I'll introduce it again this morning

as we'll look at the first 11 verses,

first 12 verses of this Sermon on the Mount,

is that Jesus calls us to join him

and his mission

in everyday ways.

And this evening,

I just want to introduce this idea

of salt and light,

which I'm sure is familiar to many of you,

but give you perhaps a fresh perspective on that,

and then make some fresh applications

through an illustration or two

and then set you up for some discussion.

In verse 13,

as we just read,

Jesus says to his disciples,

you are the salt of the earth,

but if the salt has lost its taste,

how shall its saltiness be restored?

And so the question that we ask of scripture

when we see a statement like that

is what does Jesus mean by salt?

It may surprise you.

One of the commentators I consulted

when I did this message for Crossway

at the beginning of the year,

in the ancient world,

there are actually 11 options

for what salt could refer to here,

11 different options,

which in light of the reductionist tendency

of modern-day evangelicalism today,

that number shocked me

because most people assume it's one thing

when actually in the ancient world,

the original hearers

could have heard preservation,

which salt certainly functions as with meat,

but it was also used in sacrifices.

Salt was added to Old Testament ritual sacrifices.

It's a symbol for peace,

friendship,

even wisdom.

So with that in mind,

and without a lot of time

to walk us through all 11,

I think Jesus is quite clear

in what he means

when he says of salt

that salt,

to be salt,

can be tasted.

It says if salt has lost its taste,

it's right there in the text,

how saltiness be restored.

So,

if we are to be salt

in our mission mindfulness,

then there must be something

about our lives that's tasty.

Imagine I invited you,

I'm having a hard time, Gary,

with this mic,

just because I'm very,

I use a lot of mannerisms,

so I apologize.

Imagine if I invited you over

for an Easter dinner,

which we did with dear friends.

I don't think it was your parents,

Bailey,

but it was someone like that,

and we love having people

in for meals,

as I'm sure many of you do.

Hospitality is a privilege.

And it got to be dessert,

and Linda had made a type of,

is it good?

Awesome.

That's great.

Thank you.

Linda had made a casserole for dessert.

I think it was,

it was kind of like coffee cake.

That's probably not what it was.

She'll be here tomorrow,

which she can correct me

on my illustration.

And the individual,

the male individual,

dove into this

before any of us

had an opportunity

to take a taste of it.

And he took a very large bite.

I'm not sure he chewed it

quite as thoroughly

as he should have.

And he swallowed it,

and he started choking

on our table,

which I don't know

any first aid.

So I kind of looked at Linda

like,

if he's going to die

at our table

over your dessert,

I'm not of any use here.

And he spit out

on the plate

what he had been chewing,

which that's usually

a sign that it's,

something's very wrong.

And he starts laughing.

And we ask him,

what's wrong?

What are you laughing about?

And he says,

your coffee cake,

your casserole,

doesn't have cinnamon.

It's full of red-hot

chili pepper.

And Linda's jaw dropped

and I was like,

really?

What a great prank.

So I took a big bite

and I threw it in.

I goes,

oh my gosh.

It's like,

it was just

throat-burning,

flame-hot.

so the point is simple.

If you trust in Christ,

when people get a taste

of your life,

they should notice

something very distinct.

distinct.

The world notices

distinct flavors.

So what is it about

our lives

that cause

our coworkers

or fellow students

or Tony,

the Uber driver,

who if there's time,

I'll share a story,

which probably is

what we'll wait

till tomorrow.

Or,

I'll change your name.

Sarah,

the classroom student.

Or,

someone in your family member

that's belligerent

when you share the gospel

with them

and is angry.

Or a neighbor

who mistreats you.

What stands out?

It's when we

obey the commands

of Christ

in ways

that they

recognize.

The point is simple here.

There should be

no

diluted

disciples.

This is not a command.

This is an indicative.

If you're a Christian,

you are

salt

in Christ.

I am salt

in Christ.

Trinity

is salt

in Christ.

The red hot

chili pepper

is in us

already.

And when we

obey

the commands

of Christ

in

relationship

with others,

they taste it.

of course,

there's a lot

of things

we can do

as Christians

that aren't

explicitly connected

to a command

and they may

sense it there too.

But there are

those clear commands

in scripture

that when we

obey it

in our culture,

in relationship

with others,

oh,

they see it.

And then they have

to respond

to it.

Jesus doesn't

just call us

salt here.

He doesn't

just tell us

to be who we

are.

He says

that we're

also the

light of the

world.

Verse 14,

you are the

light of the

world.

A city

on a hill

cannot be

hidden.

And then he

goes on to

talk about

a lamp,

not putting

it under

a basket,

but giving

light to

all the

house.

So,

so,

Jesus calls

us the

light.

He doesn't

say be

the light.

He says

this is

who you

are.

You are

visible.

I have

made you

visible

through my

work of

regeneration,

big words,

through my

work of

gracious

gospel

conversion,

a new

heart,

a new

mind,

new

affections,

a new

orientation,

and then

are growing

into that

identity.

As Christians,

we're visible

and we

are salty

Jesus puts

it this

way in

verse 16

then as

he rounds

out this

brief teaching.

Let your

light shine

before others

so that they

may see

your good

works and

give glory

to your

Father who

is in

heaven.

So,

the connection

between our

tastefulness and

our visibility

is our good

works,

grace,

which gives

glory to

God the

Father in

heaven.

And the

good works,

I just want

to suggest

to us,

are the

good works

of obedience

to the

commands Jesus

gives us in

this most

fundamental of

sermons like

you must

love your

enemies.

You must love

them and I

must too.

our friend

Edward,

Bailey knows

Edward,

is a

Dominican.

He moved

to a

neighborhood

near where

I live

where although

the Dominican

is the

largest minority

group there

in that

community,

they are not

the majority

race in that

community.

He would be

lower income

but the way

this community

is laid out

is you can

have higher

income across

the street from

lower income

mixed neighborhoods

missing income

and it was

trash day

and my

brother Edward

put his trash

out with

his little

recycle can

and like me

I love

trash day.

He was

excited to

see his

trash carted

away.

Came home

that night

from work

and someone

had moved

his trash

can and

put it where

the trash

truck wouldn't

see it and

there was

still trash

in the can

and still a

bucket full of

recycles and

he thought

that's weird.

That would

be very

disappointing

for me.

I always

look forward

to coming

home to

empty trash

cans and

empty recycles.

My wife

says I have

a trash

fetish.

Put him

out again

the next

week.

Now he

had two

cans of

trash and

two buckets

of recycles.

Goes off to

work, comes

back 12

hours later

and the

trash cans

have been

moved again

and the

trash hasn't

been picked

up and now

he's getting

suspicious like

who's messing

with my

trash, right?

I mean there's

nothing more

infurious to an

American than

messing with

their trash.

So the next

week he decides

to stay home

from work.

I don't know

maybe he was

sick.

Now he's got

three cans of

trash and three

things of

recycles and

he's watching

in the window

and there

across the

street comes

his neighbor

who is a

different race

and upper

income and

he moves

Edward's

trash and

he moves it

to the back

where the

trash truck

won't see

it and

Edward who

is a very

godly man

gets very

angry and

I don't know

the Spanish

language very

well but I

suspect his

wife does and

what she was

hearing coming

out of Edward's

mouth in that

moment was

not bless you

oh father

for my

neighbors but

I am going

to give that

man the

business and

Lillian says

to her husband

Edward I

think you need

to pray to

the Lord before

you go confront

him because

God brought us

here not only

this country but

to this

neighborhood to

love our

neighbors and

to share the

gospel with

them and if

you go into

that conversation

angry at him

and hate him

and begin a

fight with him

that's not

why we're

here and so

he prays he's

convicted of his

anger because

he's really angry

like any American

is when you mess

with their trash

and the Lord

convicts him

breaks his

heart he then

goes out to the

man not as an

angry you know

trash defending

but as a person

who realizes I

am salt and I

am light and I

am called to love

my enemies and

he confronts the

man and he

says you know I

saw you move my

trash and I was

angry with you but

I'm a Christian I'm

an evangelical

Christian and

Jesus loves you he

died for you and

he wants me to tell

you that and I

want to ask you

because I love you

too why are you

moving my trash

you know what he

said he said I've

been watching your

family every Sunday

dressed up so

nicely getting into

your minivan and

driving off to

church and I've

been saying to my

radio audience I

have a radio show on

Sunday that I live

across the street from

a Christian from an

evangelical and

they're all hypocrites

because they don't

love their enemies

they hate their

enemies and I only

need to mess with

their trash to

expose how

hypocritical they

really are that's

convicting but he

didn't stop there he

said but now I have

to tell my audience I

met a real Christian

someone who really

does love his

neighbor even when

I was doing

something that to

him could have

been hurtful can

you imagine where

Edward could have

gone he could have

said this man's

moving my trash

because we're a

different race

this man's moving my

trash because we're a

different income level

this man's moving my

trash because we don't

agree politically

this man's messing with

my property for every

reason that seems to

fracture our culture

and fracture the

church today and

instead he encountered

a Christian who was

who he was supposed

to be salt and

light and obeying

Matthew 5 verse 43

Matthew 5:43

you have heard that it

was said you shall love

your neighbor and hate

your enemy but I say

to you love your

enemies and pray for

those who persecute

you so that you may be

sons of your father who

is in heaven for he

makes his son rise on

the evil and on the

good and sends rain on

the just and on the

unjust for if you love

those who love you what

reward do you have you

therefore must be

perfect as your heavenly

father is perfect there's

no invisible Christians if

you're a Christian you're on

display and there's no

Christians that don't taste

differently because we are

the song but the call here

right Jesus calls us to

join us in his mission in

everyday ways is there any

more any everyday than

putting out your trash to

join him in everyday ways in

our relationship with others

as those who are in

Christ I know a church in

Christ it's Trinity

Cambridge and the Lord

providentially has put you in

relationships with dozens if

not more of non-believers in

work in neighborhood and in

life may God by his grace give

us the ability to taste

differently and look

differently and obey Christ

differently for his glory let's

pray Lord as we begin this

weekend of mission

mindfulness first Lord we are

humbled and grateful that you

are mindful of us in calling us

to yourself through the clear

compelling transforming message

of the good news of the gospel

thank you Jesus for dying on the

cross in our place you being the

perfect obedient unique son of

God thank you Lord for in dying

and being buried being raised

again that we would not only be

forgiven of our sins but receive

Lord righteousness through faith

an adoption into your family and a

new identity as sons and

daughters as part of your

glorious kingdom help us Lord now

as we go to our small groups to

to not think so much about perhaps

what the text means so that

important but give us eyes to see

what are the the little and maybe

not so little ways that we are

visible to others that our lives are

are in a sense flavoring

their experience of you and use us

Lord to call them into your

glorious kingdom courage us Lord as

we meet in small groups to be

missionally mindful we pray this in

Jesus name and everybody said

amen

amen

medici

amen