Exiles: Exiles Influence | Ps Luke Harrison

If you're new or visiting, thank you.

Thank you for joining us. We are so

privileged that you decided to join us.

And um we're thankful that as you join

us, you join us in the wrap-up of our

series called Exiles.

And uh we've been unpacking this through

the book of

Daniel.

Don't you love when this happens? It's

really testing my faith. How much I know

my message. I probably could do it.

There we go. We're back.

And we've been unpacking this through

the book of Daniel.

And what we've been doing is realizing

and understanding

as we look through the book of Daniel

that we are in the world but not of the

world. and that ultimately God has

placed us strategically in this world.

And so ultimately what we've been doing

is looking at two key themes as we've

unpacked the book of Daniel. And um I

might ask Jay to pass me my phone

because I actually have my notes on my

phone as well. Love technology.

Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. And

we've been unpacking two key themes.

Here's the first theme. The theme is the

fact that um that God has called us

in a world that's compromising not to

compromise, not to bow down to idols,

but rather to turn towards God. The

second key theme we unpacked and spoke

about was this was the fact that God's

called us not to feed on the things of

the world, but rather to turn to repent

and to feed on the things

of God.

And so today, the question we need to

ask ourselves is simply this. Based on

the learnings over the last two weeks,

how do we respond?

And I'm going to tell you because I've

got my message here and it's awesome.

I'm going to test my eyes because uh

this is going to be fun. But praise the

Lord. And so we're going to unpack the

theme. How do we respond?

How do we respond in the knowing that

we've been called to be distinct? How do

we live in this place? Because as

Christians, we find ourselves living in

this tension that ultimately we know we

are in the world but not of this world.

And so we fight this tension where we're

trying to figure out are we called to

assimilate to culture

or are we called to isolate from

culture. And the reality is we've not

called to do any of those. And so if

we're not being called to assimilate,

i.e. become the culture that we're

living in and we're not called to

isolate, then ultimately what are we

called to do? And friends, the response

is simply this. If we're not called to

assimilate and we're not called to

isolate, then we're called to influence.

And so today, very simply, the title of

my message as we unpack the story of

Daniel is this is exile's influence.

Exiles influence. We don't assimilate.

We don't isolate, but we influence. And

we're going to unpack learnings from

Daniel 1 as to how we do that.

You see, it's come to known that as that

as Christians, we called to bless the

city without becoming it.

But how do we live a life of influence

and respond accordingly to what God has

called us to? And it's simply this.

There's a saying.

Apologies. I'm just getting my life

together.

Bless Jackie with their goods. Jackie

delivers.

Love our production team.

And so what we've been doing is

unpacking the uh the book of Daniel, but

also looking at it through the lens of

Jeremiah. Jeremiah 29, not verses 11. I

know that's a favorite, but Jeremiah's

29:es 4-7 simply says this as we unpack.

And if you've got your Bible with you,

the call to be exiles. Here it is.

Jeremiah 29:47 says this. Thus says the

Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all

the exiles whom I have sent into exile

from Jerusalem to Babylon. Pause,

highlight, score, whatever the asterisk,

little things are called. Highlight

that. Listen to it again. Whom I have

sent into exile from Jerusalem. So we've

been called to be in this world, not of

this world.

Goes on and says, build houses and live

in them. Plant gardens and eat their

produce. Take wives and have sons and

daughters. Take wives for your sons and

give your daughters in marriage that

they may bear sons and daughters.

Multiply there. And do not decrease, but

seek the welfare of the city where I

have sent you into exile and pray to the

Lord on its behalf. For its welfare you

will find your welfare. We've been

called to be exiles.

We see throughout scripture that this is

happens time and time again where Jesus

calls us out to be in the world but not

of this world. In Matthew 6, excuse me,

in John 17 first and foremost,

if this works, the Lord is on my side.

In John 17:136,

it says this.

Now Jesus after um he had had the the

the last supper with disciples and

explaining and trying to give them

context of what's happening in and

what's about to happen to them says this

in John 17.

He says but now I am coming to you.

Jesus speaking to the father and these

things I speak in the world that they

may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

I have given them your word and the

world has hated them because they are

not of the world just as I am not of the

world. Jesus says, now listen, I do not

ask that you take them out of the world,

but that you keep them from the evil

one. They are not of the world just as I

am not of the world. Sanctify them in

the truth. Your word is the truth. in

the Lord's prayer. Our Father,

who is in heaven,

hallowed be your name. Your kingdom

come, your will be done on earth as it

is in

>> in heaven.

And so, we've been created to understand

and acknowledge that we are not of this

world, but rather we have been placed in

this world to be an influence for the

kingdom of God.

And so, today, that's actually what

we'll look to do. We will look to unpack

this concept that not only have we been

called to be distinct and different, but

we've been called to influence where God

has placed us. Here's a bit of shocking

news for everybody. If you're ready for

this, um, if you are saved and a

Christian, I'm sorry to let you know

you've been called to influence. If you

got an issue with that, don't take it up

with me. All I'm doing is reading

scripture. Take it up with the big man.

But we're going to unpack how we respond

with the knowing that God has called us

to be in this world and not on this

world and how he calls us to respond. So

Jesus, we just thank you, Lord. What a

privilege and honor it is to come around

your word. Lord, we just thank you that

as your word goes out that it won't

return void, but it will break chains

and restore hearts. Lord, that

ultimately that you would help people

understand where and how it is that

you've called them to influence.

And so Lord, we just thank you for your

word. We pray that people will come into

right standing. We thank you Jesus that

technology is now working in Jesus

mighty name. Everybody said, "Amen."

Awtoer says this. Don't take it up with

me. Take it up with Awto to says this.

The church is a body of people who have

been called out of the world to witness

to the world. Sorry, Jake. Can I give

this to you? Thank you, sir.

Charles Spurgeon says this. Every

Christian is either a missionary or an

impostor.

That that wasn't me. Says Charles

Spurgeon up there. Every Christian's a

missionary or an impostor. Which means

that we've been called not just to sit

on our stools or on our chairs on a

Sunday, but actually impact and

influence

the world and the environments we find

ourselves in.

The unfortunate part as Christians and

as the world is when we think through

influence, we get swayed by this idea.

We overlay the world's understanding of

influence over our understanding. And we

start to believe that influence has to

happen from a platform or with a

platform. That influence has to for some

reason be a big action. And only if we

apply those big actions does it count as

influence. But I'm here to tell you

today that Christian influence and

biblical influence is not just about one

action, but rather about a thousand

actions made in obedience towards

Christ. And so what we're going to look

to do is unpack that together as we look

and read through Daniel 1:es 8 to 21,

the learnings of Daniel and how we can

apply the lens or apply this to the lens

of influence. So, if you've got your

Bibles with you, we're going to jump to

Daniel.

If you are in Exodus, friends, you've

got to keep paging over.

And if you are in Lamentations

and if you are in Ezekiel, keep going

and then you'll find Daniel. Here we

are. Daniel 1:es 8 says this is but

Daniel resolved that he would not defile

himself. Defile himself. Full stop.

Highlight whatever you need to do.

Make sure we understand this. But Daniel

resolved that he would not defile

himself with the king's food or with the

wine that he drank. Daniel initially

before anything else made a decision. He

resolved in himself. This wasn't just a

light decision. This was a decision that

had an inner shift within him.

It was a line in the sand. He was

putting his feet down, making a decision

not to defile himself. He resolved in

his heart that he would not defile

himself. And therefore, he asked the

chief of the Unix to allow him not to

defile himself. And God gave Daniel

favor and compassion in the sight of the

chief of the Unix. Now, it doesn't say

that God said to Daniel, "Hey, Daniel,

if you don't defile yourself, then I

will grant you favor."

Daniel's first response was, "Lord,

I'm choosing you. I resolve in my heart

that I do not want the things of the

world, but rather I choose you." So,

Daniel resolves in his heart that he

won't defile himself. And then the Lord

responds. And God gave Daniel favor and

compassion in the sight of the chief of

the Unix. And the chief of the Unix said

to Daniel, "I fear my lord the king who

assigned your food and your drink. For

why should he see that you were in worse

condition than the youths who are of

your own age?" So you would endanger my

head with the king. And then Daniel said

to the steward

uh then Daniel said to the steward whom

the chief of the Unix had assigned over

Daniel, Hanaya, Michelle, and Azaria,

"Test your servant for 10 days. Let us

be given vegetables to eat and water to

drink. Then let our appearance and the

appearance of the youths who eat the

king's food be observed by you and deal

with your servant accordingly or

according to what you see. So he

listened to them in this matter and

tested them for 10 days. At the end of

the 10 days it was seen that they were

better in appearance and fatter in flesh

than all the youths who ate the king's

food. So the steward who took their food

and the wine then the steward took away

their food and the wine. They were to

drink and gave them vegetables. Now

listen, verse 17. As for these four

youths, God gave them learning and skill

in all literature and wisdom. And Daniel

had understanding in all visions. We

jump to verse 19. It says this. And the

king spoke to them. And among all of

them, speaking about all of the servants

and slaves, none was found like Daniel,

Haniah, Michelle, and Aaria. Daniel,

shake your bed, make your bed, and under

the bed you go. Therefore, you'll get it

later.

[laughter]

Therefore, they stood before the king,

and in every matter of wisdom and

understanding, they received influence

about which the king inquired of them.

Three key themes as we unpack how we

bring this message of exiles into

response is simply this. Here's the

first thing I learned when it comes to

the life of Daniel and throughout the

book of Daniel is that influence starts

very simply with repentance and reliance

on God.

Daniel resolves in his heart first and

foremost not an idea to influence or do

anything else other than honor God.

You see when you look at the word influ

influence when you look at the word I

haven't found the word influence yet.

When you look at the word uh repentance

in the Greek and the Hebrew

throughout the Old Testament, the New

Testament, the word repentance means to

turn away from the things of the world

and turn towards God. It's this inner

shift. It's this resolve, this

understanding, this draw the sand,

drawing a line in the sand and going, I

don't want the things of the world,

Lord, and I turn to you.

This deep inner shift.

Think about what we said at the

beginning of the series that despite the

outward pressure to conform, we don't

bow to idols. Despite the constant

barrage of media and culture, we don't

feed on what the world sees and feeds.

I love the fact that there was this

decision from Daniel first and foremost

to honor God. His first action that

resolved in his heart was not how do I

make a difference, but rather how do I

honor God? This repentance is an inner

shift.

I think so often as Christians, we we

start with salvation

and then we move to wanting to do and

and serve God, but we miss this

opportunity where it's all about him and

honoring him in and through our lives.

You see, Daniel turned to God and was

reliant on God first and foremost. His

initial action was about influence. It

was not about influence. It was about

honor. Excuse me.

So, the first thing I learn is that

influence starts with repentance and

reliance on God. The next two you're not

going to like.

But remember, you love me and I love

you. And we're going to do this

together.

I read my Bible a few times

and I've come to notice something

is that influence is uncomfortable.

And and I don't mean this

disrespectfully. I genuinely don't. But

I think sometimes us, all of us

corporately, we we tend to read the

Bible and the stories in the Bible and

not fully comprehend that they aren't

just stories, but lives lived that had

consequences. And so, we want influence

without being uncomfortable.

You see, as Christians, we find

ourselves in this trap where we want the

blessing of David without the Goliath.

like Lord bless me but no challenges.

Don't want those. You can keep those.

Lord Lord Lord we we we want the

closeness of the disciples but not the

persecution.

We want the wisdom of Solomon but not

the sacrifice. We want the influence of

Daniel but not the fire. We want to live

and be impactful for the kingdom of God

but not be inconvenienced.

And friends, unfortunately, as I started

my message, I told you that we've all

been called to influence. And part of

influence requires a level of

uncomfortability or discomfort.

The one thing I've leed about

being uncomfortable when it comes to the

Christian life

is that it's not an option. It's a

necessity.

Like faith is not comfortable.

It's just not. But so often we seek the

benefits of faith without the

consequences. We seek the benefit of

influence without

without the uncomfort.

Being an exile that influence is going

to be uncomfortable. If we are going to

want God to use us in our daily lives,

then there needs to be a necessity to be

uncomfortable.

So influence starts with repentance and

reliance on God. Tick.

Influence is going to be uncomfortable.

So we've resolved that. Great. So we're

all going to be uncomfortable together.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Tick.

Here's the third one. If you didn't like

that one, you're probably not going to

like this one either. You ready?

Christian influence, real influence,

biblical influence is built on the

foundation of servantthood.

Actually doing something more than just

coming to church. I say this with a

genuine pastoral heart

that we've all been called to influence.

Andy Goule who's the founder of Red

Frogs that we partner with every year.

Some of our team go to the Gold Coast to

serve the young people at schoolies.

Puts it this way very simply. He says if

you want to win a generation, you need

to serve a generation. And I've been

thinking about this concept and this

premise of being um uncomfortable as we

influence. And it reminded me of a story

in Mark 10.

And it simply says this in Mark 10:es

35-45.

It says, "And James and John, the sons

of Zebedee, came up to him and said to

him,"Teacher,

we want you to do for us whatever we ask

of you." Pretty bold. I like it. And

Jesus sort of like it's like, "All

right, let's let's hear it." Love the

fact that he sort of like plays into it.

He goes, "Uh, what what do you want me

to do for you?" And they said to him,

"Grant us to sit one at your right hand

and one to your left in your glory." And

Jesus said to them, "You do not know

what you are asking. Are you able to

drink the cup that I drink or be

baptized with the baptism with which I

am baptized?" And they said to him, "We

are able." And Jesus said to them, "The

cup that I drink, you will drink. And

with the baptism with which I am

baptized, you will be baptized. But to

sit at my right hand or at my left is

not mine to grant, but is for those of

whom it has been prepared. Now listen.

And when the 10 heard it, the other

disciples, they began to be indignant at

James and John. And Jesus called them to

him and said to them, "You know that

those who are considered rulers of the

Gentiles lorded over them, and their

great ones exercise authority over them,

but it shall not be so among you. But

whoever would be great among you must be

your servant. And whoever must be first

among you must be slave of all. For even

the son of man, the greatest person to

influence, came not to be served, but to

serve and give his life as a ransom for

others.

What does it look like practically as

exiles? If influence is not about one

big action and is rather about a

thousand little decisions made in

obedience to God, what does influence

actually look like in our lives? I think

to be honest, we complicate it far too

much. The one thing I believe as

Christians is we've been called to

influence in a space where God has put

you.

I don't believe you've been planted or

put into a place or a church or a job or

a family

just for the sake of it.

God strategically placed you there.

And so I wondered to myself, what would

the world look like as Christians if we

showed up where God placed us? If we

served where God placed us?

in our households,

in our communities,

in our neighborhoods, in our churches,

in our cities, in our nations. I wonder

what the world would look like if we

just showed up day by day, not willing

or looking for that big action of

influence, but rather just serving like

the Son of Man did.

I love what CS Lewis says.

CS Lewis says this, "Do not waste your

time bothering whether you love your

neighbor.

Act as if you did."

I wonder if we all took that on. All all

of us personally

where we don't just consider the fact

that we've been called to be different

and distinct, but we act upon the

revelation of the love of Christ and the

way that he served us.

I wonder what our church would look like

if 80% of the serving wasn't just done

by 20% of the people, but that 80% of

the church showed up and served and

loved their neighbor and loved their

community. Pastor Bennett said it a few

times. What would this community look

like if our church doors closed? Because

that's what influence actually is. If

all we do is show up on a Sunday

and not influence the world that God has

put us in,

what are we truly doing?

I don't mean this to be harsh,

but I've noticed a trend, and I wonder

if you've noticed this as well.

As Christians,

we are very good at the lip service but

not very good at the hand service.

Bless you, brother.

I I I'll be praying for you.

Just let me know if you need anything.

Let let me know. Praying for you. God

bless you. Favor of God over your life.

Believe God's Jehovah Gyra. Praying for

you. Blessings.

Hey brother, let me pray for you.

Just let me know if you need anything as

long as it's not convenient.

I I genuinely don't mean this as a

rebuke,

but I think sometimes as the body of

Christ, we can be caught up in Christian

cliches, but the greatest cliche I've

seen is that the Lord Jesus served us.

Many of us sit here on these seats and

wonder, am I actually making a

difference, Luke? It's easy for you to

say on platform. You've got the mic.

You know, I said to my wife the other

day,

try not get emotional about this, but I

did. I said to her, talking about what

success looks like, and I said, "Babe,

if I had a conversation with one person,

just one person that allowed them to

encounter the love and the grace of the

Lord Jesus Christ, and when I go be with

my savior, I'm like, man, I've done it."

just one conversation where somebody

felt lost and alone

because of the way that I served them

and showed up in the hard times.

I feel like I would have done a great

job

cuz I think sometimes we underplay the

small [music] impacts we have on people.

But influence is like a ripple effect.

It's cascading.

We don't know the impact that that one

conversation, that one meal drop, that

one showing up for somebody in a her

time

would do not only for their lives, but

what about their family? And what about

the community they live in? And what

about the city of Sydney? And what about

the nation of Australia?

One moment of influence,

a thousand little steps in obedience

towards God could change our city

forever.

Am I making a difference though, Luke?

Is what I ask myself as a stay-at-home

mom,

as a single parent,

as the person who walks through those

corporate doors and is just one of a

number?

Am I actually making a difference?

Cuz Luke, you don't know what it's like.

I I do cuz I'm one of you.

Cuz tomorrow I walk through those doors

as a number.

And I ask God, God, can you give me eyes

to see where it is that you need me to

serve? Just a word of encouragement, a

willing to go the extra mile for

somebody who doesn't necessarily um

deserve it.

And it reminds me of a parable as we

wrap up

in Matthew 13. If we understand that our

first call to influence is repentance

and reliance on God and we understand

that that influence is going to be

uncomfortable and if we understand that

influence is actually built on the

foundation of servantthood

then this parable explains am I making a

difference? Luke

in Matthew 13:33, he told them this

Matthew 13:33

parable. Jesus telling them this parable

says, "The kingdom of heaven is like

leaven that a woman took and hid three

measures of flour till it was leaven."

You bakers would understand,

those of you that do the old sourdough

starters, the only thing I start is my

car.

is that when you take the start and you

put in the flour, it doesn't look like

it's doing much, but the cascading

ripple effect, the influence of the

leaven within that batch starts to

bubble over. And over time, you see that

loaf start to expand and grow. But what

seemed as small and insignificant in a

moment over time continued to influence

and influence.

See what looks small and insignificant,

what leaves you thinking, does this

actually work? Does this actually

matter? Can this make a difference? The

way I serve my family, the way I love my

kids, the way I love my neighbors.

These are the very things that God uses

powerfully to spread the kingdom.

See, right now, you might feel like your

influence is small.

You might feel like what you are doing

isn't making much of a difference.

But friends, my ask to all of us is this

that we don't underestimate the leaven

of your life to change the kingdom of

God.

Influence is going to look so different

for all of us.

But as Christians, we've all been called

to it.

as a church multiplying healthy local

churches. That's not where we put the

full stop.

It's to see cities and nations

transformed for the kingdom of God.

It's not just about these four walls.

We will never just be about these four

walls. We will never just be about a

Sunday service.

We will always be about the communities

and the cities and the nations and

[music] the world.

Because each of us, every single one of

you seated here or seated here at least,

has a calling to influence.

And so I wonder what that will look like

in your life.

And I wonder what the world would look

like if we all took hold and took grasp

of that.

Not one giant action, but a thousand

decisions made in obedience towards

[music] Christ.

But it starts with repentance and

reliance on God.

And so with every head bowed and eye

closed, I want to give people a moment

that have never said yes to Jesus. You

believe God's called you to an area of

influence to influence your life, your

your family, your community, your

neighborhood, your job. Starts with

saying yes to Jesus.

Bible says, "For the joy that was set

before him, he endured the cross."

That joy is you, each and every one of

us.

And so, if you've never said yes to

Jesus before, you've never [music]

allowed him to be Lord and Savior of

your life, or if you know in your heart

that at one point you had surrendered

your life to God, but if you've got to

be honest with yourself, you've walked

away from him. You've tried to do it in

your own strength.

And friends, that influence, that moment

of Christian influence starts [music]

with saying yes to him. So with every

head bow and eye closed, if that's you,

if you want to say yes to Jesus this

morning, would you be brave enough just

to raise your hand on the count of three

just so I know who I'm praying for?

One, friend, God loves you so much. Two,

know that your life matters and your

impact [music] matters and your

influence matters. Three. If that's you,

would you raise your hand high enough

and long enough just for me to see and

I'll let you put it straight back down.

Hands going up in the front already.

Come on. Praise Jesus.

Anybody else want to say, I want to

commit my life that today is the day of

salvation

either for the first time

or to recommmit your life to the Lord.

Come on. Why don't we pray this prayer

together? We're going to pray it from

our hearts to his ears. Say, "Dear Lord

Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross

for me.

I invite you to be the Lord and Savior

of my life.

Guide me, guard me, and give me peace in

Jesus mighty name." And everybody said,

[music] "Amen.