If You Want To make Disciples--You Need To Open Your Mouth" 2 Corinthians 2:14b-16 Message #15

Have you ever wanted to be like Jesus?

I sure hope so because becoming like Jesus is God’s goal for all of us who we are believers.

The Apostle Peter wanted to be like Jesus—so much so that one day when he and the other disciples were out on a fishing boat in the middle of the Sea of Galillee they saw Jesus walking toward them on top of the water.  At first, all of the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost and were terrified but Jesus identified Himself and told them to not be afraid.  Then all of a sudden, Peter gets this brilliant idea that if the Lord is walking on the water—maybe he could be like Jesus and walk on the water too and so he calls out to Jesus to see.  And what was Jesus’ reply?  “Come”  So Peter got out of the boat and lo and behold walked on the water just like Jesus.

Oh, he didn’t stay up long because seeing the storm, he panicked, took his eyes off the Lord and began to sink requiring the Lord to save him.  But, for a few seconds—who knows—maybe even a minute or so--he did walk on the water just like Jesus and experienced and enjoyed the thrill of a lifetime.  And the fact is, I think it thrilled Jesus as much as Peter because God is always excited when we want to be like Him.

But in order for Peter to have that soul thrilling experience in his life of walking on the water, experiencing the miraculous, seeing Himself doing what Jesus was doing—He had to forsake the safety and the security of the boat—take a risk—and get out of the boat.  He had to leave what was comfty, safe, secure, stable, conventional, and actually take a risk  if he was to experience the exhileration of trusting Jesus for the impossible.  If he wanted to walk on water—he had to get out of the boat.  It is no different for us today.

Do you want to be like Jesus?  Sure you do!

Do you want to make a difference in this world like Jesus did?  Of course you do!

Do you have a desire to see God do something really big in your life?  I hope so.

Do you want to experience the power of God in your life?  Absolutely!

Well—you’re going to have to get out of your boat.

You’re going to have to be willing to take some risks, lose the safety net, go out on a limb, sacrifice some of your comforts, give up some of your conveniences, and quit settling for the status quo.  In other words—you’re going to have to break out of the prison all these things have created to keep your soul from truly following and experiencing Jesus to the exhilarating adrenaline-charged degree that you could.  You’re going to have to get out of the boat if you want that for your life.

And the fact is, our church is going to have to get out of the boat too!  More than that—our church—we the members and attenders of this church—we who have made some kind of commitment to this church are in dire need of getting out of the boat and risking everything to be like Jesus so we can walk on the water and experience Him in a way we never will otherwise.

For our joy we need to get out the boat.

For the sake of our children who are wondering if there is anything out there to live for that is more exciting than cars, houses, new clothes, sports, being liked—we need to get out of the boat.

For the eternal joy of unbelievers in Vermont who do not yet know Christ because they have not yet been personally confronted with the Gospel—we need to get out of the Boat.

And for God’s glory we need to get out of the boat.

Sir Frances Drake, the great English Naval explorer who circumvented the globe from 1577 to 1580 must have known something about this to be to write this prayer:

"Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars."

In other words, Lord, get us out of our boat!

But this requires vision!  For Peter, it was the vision to be doing what Jesus was doing—to be like His Savior—His Hero—if you will.  It was that kind of vision that motivated him to get out of the boat and try the impossible.  And it is the same for you and I.  Unless we have a vision that is stronger than our creature comforts, more desirable than our convenience, more exhilarating than our hobbies, our sports, our homes, our comforts, and our small earthly ambitions—we will never experience the Lord in any kind of extraordinary, soul-expanding, mind-blowing, and life-transforming way.  Because if we don’t have a vision of Christ and His supremacy, His glory, His majesty, His splendor, His magnificence, His grandeur, His Absolute Incontestable Sovereign Power, and His Willingness to provide salvation from hellish existence on this life and hell itself in the afterlife—we will never get out of the boat!

As Andrew Murray, a great missionary of the past, wrote concerning the apparent lack of enthusiasm for ministry, evangelism, and missions in many churches:

“As we seek to find out why, with such millions of Christians, the real army of God that is fighting the hosts of darkness is so small, the only answer is—lack of heart.  The enthusiasm of the kingdom is missing.  And that is because there is so little enthusiasm for the King.”

You see, Jesus just isn't our hero.  He just can't compete with our sports, our big screens, our comforts, our crispy creams, our pursuit of the American Dream because He isn't our hero.  And that's why our churches and our western brand of Christianity is so weak, so anemic, so cowardly, so unwilling to risk, so enamored with the world, and so utterly irrelevant.  

John Stott, the great English preacher of the last century made the point this way:

“The highest of motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission . . . nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing . . . but rather zeal—burning and passionate zeal—for the glory of Jesus Christ. . . . Only one imperialism is Christian . . . and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His empire.” 

That is the only vision that counts—the only kind of vision that will take half-hearted, cowardly, weak-kneed Christians and turn them into burning, passionate, bold, risk-taking, Gospel-sharing followers of Jesus Christ. 

And in the end, when this age is over, and with all of the countless millions of the redeemed, we see Christ in the midst of inapproachable brilliant and glorious light seated on His Throne and we fall on our faces before Him Who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords—we will be full of incomprehensible joy and full of glory and there will not be a risk taken or a sacrifice made that will not have been worth it all a thousand times over.

So what is it that God wants to embolden us to do with this kind of vision of His Son or to put it another way—what is it that He wants to reward us for?

In a nutshell—God wants to manifest to everyone with whom we have contact wherever we are what it is like to know, experience, live life with, and enjoy Jesus Christ so as to give us the opportunity to share with them the Gospel.

That’s it—in a nut shell.

And you’ll find it in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.  Let’s read it!

According to Paul, wherever we are, no matter how we got there is where God wants to use us.  In other words, the most important place you and I can be in terms of our usefulness to God in terms of manifesting the essence and the character of Christ to unbelievers is where we are right now regardless of how we got here.  And Paul is not necessarily just referring to our location as in the physical place where we are right now.  He also has in mind our situation, our circumstances, our family, our kids, our friends, our job, our school, our church, our football team, our neighborhood, our doctor’s office, our grocery store, our favorite coffee shop or restaurant—basically wherever we are living life.

Wherever you are is the place and the situation God is wanting to manifest His Son so that those you are intentionally and unintentionally building relationships can experience the Person, Character, and Essence of Christ through you.  Listen, if you are a believer and you live in this community then God wants to use you to make His Son known to those you rub shoulders with everyday of your lives.

That is what Paul means when he says that God is always leading us in triumph in Christ so that we are manifesting the aroma of Christ—the essence of Christ, the fragrance of Christ in every place we find ourselves in.  And the fact is, Paul also wants us to understand that we need to be intentionally establishing relationships with the people we are rubbing shoulders with in every place we find ourselves for the purpose of intentionally living Christ out before them so that God can manifest the beauty, the majesty, the power, the love, the joy, and the hope of Christ’s character to them so that we can intentionally share the Gospel with them so that God can be glorified in either saving or not saving them.  That is what Paul is saying in verses 15-16.

Our lives as believers should have an impact on people wherever we are!

People should not ever be left wondering after we have spent some time with them who we are and Who we belong to as Christians. There should not be any doubt in their minds.  Furthermore, they should not simply be left with the impression that you are a nice person but rather that you are a nice person because of Jesus Christ.

Paul’s concern is not that we just be viewed by the world as really great, loving, generous, kind, neighbors and co-workers.  No—his concern is that everyone that we rub shoulders with experiences Christ in our actions and hears about Him in our words so that they either see Him as their Savior and live or find Him repugnant and are damned.

That’s what verses 15 and 16 are saying!

And if we aren’t doing this—if we aren’t intentionally living out our Faith in Christ so as to intentionally share Christ with the people God has already brought into our lives—God is not amused.  Listen to what He directs Paul to say in 1 Corinthians 15:34  “. . . for some have no knowledge of God—I speak this to your shame.”  

This is why I hang out for several hours a week in places like MacDonalds, Mrs. Murphy’s, Bagel Works, the Spiral Café, and Bob’s Diner.  That’s why I intentionally met and now have coffee with one of the guys who attend AA here.  I want to intentionally hang out where people are so as to intentionally build relationships so as to have God manifest the character of Christ to them so that I can intentionally share the Gospel with them.

Now, I don’t just go into these places to manifest a quiet testimony and to build friendships where I can share the love of Christ by simply being nice to them and hoping one day they will ask me about Jesus.  No, I intentionally go into these places to intentionally make friends so that God will intentionally manifest Christ to them so that I can intentionally tell them about Jesus.  In other words, evangelism is not about just making friends—it is about making friends so that I can share Christ with them because that is what real friends who know Jesus do.

It is not a question of using a friendship as an evangelistic tool to proseletize someone—NO—It is using friendship as a means or a tool of being the best friend I can possibly be by sharing with my friend the greatest news they could ever hear—which is Who Jesus is and What He did for them to make it possible for them to have a relationship with God and live a truly significant and fulfilling life now in this world and in the next.

Real friends don’t let friends slip into eternity without telling them about Jesus!  And that is the problem we struggle with—we build these friendships with our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, our fellow-coaches, our family members, etc. and we live out the Christian Life before them but never ever tell them about Jesus.  Oh we may invite them to church—but that is not sharing the Gospel—that isn’t fulfilling the Great Commission!

Listen, unbelievers are not typically saved by coming to church—they are saved when the church, in the form of individual Christians, goes to them and shares Christ with them.  But that requires—INTENTIONALITY on our part!  It requires that we intentionally—just like Peter—get out of the boat!  Listen, through this passage of inspired Scripture God is calling you and I to take what many believers in the US and especially here in Vermont feel is the scariest step of all—that step out of your boat to share Jesus Christ with someone else.

But if you're going to make disciples--you have to open your mouth!

So you ask—how do I start?  Where do I begin?  What’s it look like?

Has God ever helped you?  Has prayer ever made life more bearable?  Have you ever found comfort in Christ?  Haven’t you experienced the forgiveness of sins and the lifting of guilt off your shoulders?  Well that’s the same thing people all around you need to experience too!

You will talk to people this week who may learn they’ve lost a job, will realize their marriage is breaking up, may recognize the early signs of Alzheimer’s in themselves or a loved one, may find out they or a loved one has cancer, have struggles with their children, struggle with guilt, aren’t finding fulfillment in life, hate their job, or just know there’s something more to live for than what they have.  And you and I have the answer and the answer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And it’s not all that difficult to share—

Listen, God will give you the words to say to someone if you will only get out of the boat.  So—when God opens the door for you to share the Gospel—Just Do It—Just get out of the boat and do it!  And do it with simplicity, sincerely, and without unnecessary delay.  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking there is always tomorrow.  God is sovereign in the salvation of sinners but that does not mean there is not an urgency, or a concern, or a passion or an intensity involved on our part.  

In his autobiography entitled, Just as I Am, Billy Graham tells about a conversation he had with John F. Kennedy shortly after his election:

On the way back to the Kennedy house, the president-elect had his driver stop the car and turned to me.

"Do you believe in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ?" he asked.

"I most certainly do."

I then explained what the Bible said about Christ coming the first time, dying on the Cross, rising from the dead, and then promising that he would come back again. “Only then”, I said, “are we going to have permanent world peace.”

"Very interesting," he said, looking away. "We'll have to talk more about that someday." And he drove on.

Several years later, we met again, at the 1963 National Prayer Breakfast. I had the flu, Graham remembers. After I gave my short talk, and he gave his, we walked out of the hotel to his car together, as was always our custom. At the curb, he turned to me.

"Billy, could you ride back to the White House with me? I'd like to see you for a minute."

"Mr. President, I've got a fever," I protested. "Not only am I weak, but I don't want to give you this thing. Couldn't we wait and talk some other time?"

It was a cold, snowy day, and I was freezing as I stood there without my overcoat.

"Of course," he said graciously.  

But we would never meet again.  Later that year, the President was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas by an assaisin’s bullets.

His hesitation at the car door, and his request, haunt me still. What was on his mind?  Should I have gone with him?  It was an irrecoverable moment.

Well, Billy Graham didn’t wallow in that regret but he certainly learned a lesson from it.

If you are a believer in Christ—where you are on any given day—where you live, where you work, where you go to school, where you buy your groceries, where you bank, where you get your gas, where you walk, where you are living life is the most important place you can be regardless of how you got there.

And the people you run into on any given day are the most important people you could ever meet because all of them have been brought across your path by divine appointment.

And as C.S. Lewis writes, you and I have never met a mere mortal--every single person we talk to is an immortal soul that will spend eternity with Christ in Heaven or without Christ in hell separated from Him forever.

And it is in these places and to these people that God is manifesting His Son the Lord Jesus through you so that you will have an opportunity to share the Gospel with them—the Good News that God is willing to forgive any single one of them who will come to Him through Jesus Christ.

Take the opportunity—Get Out of The Boat—and Just Do It!

  

To make disciples is the calling of this church and of every church that bears the name of Jesus Christ.  But to do that we as a church have to get out of the boat.  And that will take courage—to actually talk about Jesus to people who don’t give a rip about Jesus.

It will take courage to get past the status quo and look at our church through the lens of Scripture to see if we really are the church to this community or are just playing church.

It will require courage to risk putting our money where our mouth is and get out of the boat financially to make some significant financial investments in our community for the sake of the Gospel.

It will take courage to act upon the truth that the church should exist the same way a fire does—by consuming its resources for the light and heat of those outside of it.

It will also take some courage to step out of our personal comfort zones to join hands and start working together as a church family to see our community impacted for the Gospel by people who are the church rather than people who just attend church.

  

And Christ can and will give us that kind of courage but only if we’re willing to get out of the boat and open our mouths!