MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN SOMEONE’S FOREVER

Philippians 3:17-21

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Have you ever been some place or seen something where you felt that things just were not right? As you looked around, things didn’t seem to go together? I could think of a couple of items to share, but the one that is most pressing came during weddings in El Paso. Many Lutheran couples in El Paso preferred a particular organist. He was famous for his Elvis medley. Now, there’s something that doesn’t go together: Elvis and pipe organs.

Our congregation’s mission statement is printed everywhere: We are called by God to reach out, care for and build one another toward maturity in Christ. I would hope that if someone were to follow us around during the week, they would not think that our mission statement and the way we do our faith during the week is like Elvis and pipe organs—just doesn’t fit together.

We can get disconnected though, so that our mission and our living don’t fit together. We agree that there is a mission we can do, but because we like to turn things over to specialists, we call a pastor—today we install our third one! Pastors and other church professionals are trained, we tell ourselves, and they should do the mission. However, there are some 300,000 folks living in Aurora and at least 450,000 folks living in Denver—never mind those living in Parker and Highlands Ranch! Some 75% of them identify themselves as “unchurched.” Are three pastors and a DCE and a couple of teachers going to make an impact for the Gospel by themselves? What about the 1600 baptized members of Mount Olive? There’s a better ratio if we’re all in this together.

We all agree someone should get involved and do the mission of Mount Olive. However, you know how that goes when everyone agrees someone should do it, no one does it because everyone expects someone else to do it. We comfort ourselves that it really isn’t apathy that keeps us, we’re just too busy.

Maybe, you tried to get involved in the mission. Maybe you’ve tried to speak to a visitor or a stranger or even a friend and your tongue got tied and your invitation got mumbled. Maybe you got all self-conscious and your fears got in the way and you stumbled. So your good intentions to do the mission stumbled.

There is something wrong here. Our lives and our mission do start to sound like Elvis on a pipe organ. It is a good thing that our mission isn’t just our mission. If it were just up to us, it really wouldn’t get done. Mission begins with God, not us. In fact, the church used to just talk about mission as God’s. It was something internal with the Trinity: the Father sent the Son; the Father and the Son sent the Spirit—mission comes from missio, Latin for send. The Father missions the Son; the Father and the Son mission the Spirit.

The Father missions the Son because He saw how things would be if we were left on our own. The mess had already been made, and the consequences were eternal. The Father missioned the Son because He wanted to make a difference in our eternity. His mission became flesh as the Son was born of Mary as Jesus. Jesus lived in our place in obedience to His Father’s mission. He died in our place on the cross because of our sin and disobedience. His grave was meant for us. His resurrection seals His mission—He defeated sin, death and the power of the devil to make a difference in our eternity. Now, His Story that became history is now your story.

You and I are connected to His Story—to Jesus—by Baptism. Your eternity is different than it would have been. We were like those Paul writes about to the Philippians—living as enemies, serving our bellies as our gods—meaning we lived for ourselves and our satisfaction—and our end was destruction. Jesus connects us to His Story so our stories have a different ending. Okay, so if our eternity is different connected to Jesus, guess what? Our today is different, too. The missioning that began with Father’s missioning the Son and the Father and the Son together missioning the Spirit continues as you and I are missioned—we’re sent to make a difference in someone’s eternity.

We have a mission from God. It’s not Mission Impossible. Remember that show? Jim Phelps would go some out-of-the-way place and get his instructions, which would then self-destruct. Our mission isn’t like that because, first of all, our instructions don’t self-destruct. The Bible has withstood attacks for centuries—never mind the annual Easter-timed attacks on Jesus—and has continued to speak, continued to change our eternity, continued to mission us.

Our mission isn’t like the show in another way. Jim Phelps had to assemble his team and everything depended on their skills and cleverness. Paul directs us to what we count on when he writes of Jesus’ power that will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body. That same power raised Jesus from the dead. That same power uses us as His tool to invite, to witness, to make a difference in someone’s eternity.

We also don’t have to go to some out-of-the-way place. Our mission begins right here. Remember Jesus’ instructions to His disciples at His resurrection? He told them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria and the end of the earth. Our mission begins in Jerusalem—your own backyard.

Recall who was the first one brought to Jesus by a disciple? Andrew brought his brother Simon (Peter). He started in his family. Surely someone in your family—a brother, a sister, a parent, a grandchild?—needs to have their eternity changed. We take seriously Paul’s grief—he was in tears because these folks were headed for destruction, headed for Hell. Take seriously your mission—and the power that transforms that comes with the mission from God. Let Him use you to make a difference in someone’s eternity.

If you found a good restaurant, wouldn’t you tell a friend so they could enjoy it? If you discovered a tax deduction that would save friend money this tax year, you’d tell them about it, right? Well, if you’d want to make a difference in someone’s evening or a difference in someone’s year, why not let the Lord use you to make a difference in someone’s eternity? Friendship Sunday is March 25. Invite someone with you to worship and let God connect his or her story to His in Christ and His eternity with his or hers.