Life Reimagined - Your Mission, If You Choose to Accept It

Copyright: South Bay Community Church
Sermon Preamble
            We continue our series on our journey of life reimagined to a life of fruitfulness, abundance, joy, and peace as stewards of God. We don’t have to be stewards, but we get to be stewards. As stewards, we get to be sons and daughters to whom God has given full authority with responsibility to manage our part of God’s family business. We care for, nurture, expand, and multiply in fruitfulness every aspect of creation and life. Yet, we don’t always experience that good, beautiful, and abundant life.  Often, some thing seems missing in our lives; our lives are telling us we need to recalibrate, realign, reboot, and reimagine, in order to get back in step with who God is, who we are, and who God has made us to be as stewards. Recall our definition of stewardship: Stewardship is trusting in the promises of God, to deploy the resources of God, to accomplish the mission of God, for the glory of God. Last week, Dr. Long laid the foundation that stewardship begins with trusting in the promises of God. God’s promises affirm God’s love, care, and commitment towards us. Trusting in the promises of God means we can relax and trust God’s faithfulness, and focus on being the stewards God invites us to be.  In this message, we will focus on the next two parts of the stewardship definition: we deploy the resources of God to accomplish the mission of God.

As God’s Stewards, we must know our mission
            Two short biblical passages will frame this message. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). “(Jesus) died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them” (2 Corinthians 2:15).  Jesus says that he came to do the will of God the Father who sent Jesus. Through Christ, we receive a new life, where we are no longer living for ourselves, but we are living for Christ. Like Christ, we are also on a mission. Our lives are not our own. If we are on a mission like Jesus and for Jesus, we must first understand that mission is the key, and that mission is the core to stewardship.
            Reviewing our stewardship definition, we need to trust in the promises of God, because we need to rely on God’s care and faithfulness to fulfill God’s mission. We are to deploy or use the resources God has given us to accomplish the mission. They are tools God has given us to fulfill God’s mission. As stewards of the earth and all of creation, we are also stewards of God’s mission.      
            As stewards of God’s mission on earth, we are more than sightseers. Our mission is bigger than us. Our existence is about more than our comfort, pleasure, and what is in it for me.
            The mission is so serious and critical to God that Jesus died for it. Since we are stewards in partnership with God, do we understand how important the mission really is? Do we understand that partnering with God in the mission is the good, beautiful, and abundant life we are seeking, because it is not just about us. We gain satisfaction in partnering with God in the mission. We are wired for it, and we are born for it. We hunger for a purpose and greater meaning to life. When we partner with God in the mission, God is glorified, and we experience deep joy.

The mission of Jesus is also our mission
            In a powerful and intimate prayer, Jesus says to God the Father, “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began” (John 17:4-5). There is tremendous joy and God is glorified when we partner with God in God’s mission. There is a heavenly celebration.  We learn about our mission by watching Jesus. Since we are to live for Christ, His mission is our mission.
            Jesus said, I came: (1) To do the work of the Father (John 6:38), (2) To bring Good News to the poor (Luke 4:18), (3) To proclaim freedom for captives, the oppressed, and to give sight for the blind (Luke 4:18), (4) To give hope that the time of the Lord’s favor has come (Luke 4:18), (5) To seek and save the lost  (Luke 19:10), To embody the Kingdom of God and offer a good, beautiful, and abundant life through Christ (John 6:10).  We see the mission of God incarnate in Jesus. To put it succinctly, Jesus came to restore, renew, and reunite those who are away from God so that they might experience the love of God. That is our mission as well. When Jesus commissions us to go and make disciples, it is the same mission. They enjoy a good, beautiful, and abundant life in the Kingdom of God, by living according to God’s Will and God’s Ways which are always for God’s glory and our good.
            As stewards of God, we are sent, like Jesus, with a mission. The genius of God is that God invites us to partner in God’s mission in a personal and custom way. God invites each of us into the mission in a way that fits us. Sometimes, we may not enjoy it. Sometimes, it will be hard. Sometimes we will have to sacrifice and deny ourselves as Jesus tells us. However, God has uniquely created us to fit into the mission.
            We all have the same mission from God to restore, renew, and reunite those who are away from God. But we have different experiences, different gifts, different interests, different passions, and different burdens that touch our hearts. There is so much brokenness in the world that there are many ways to restore, renew, and reunite those who are away from God.
            God has given us every resource for our mission assignments. God has given us everything we need to fulfill our part of God’s mission. Remember from our stewardship definition that we are to deploy the resources of God to accomplish the mission of God. If we do not deploy the resources of God, then we will have trouble accomplishing the mission of God.

As God’s stewards, we must deploy resources for the mission of God
            Jesus tells a story about deploying resources. Review Matthew 25:14-28. What nuggets can we draw from this story as we consider deploying the resources of God to accomplish the mission of God?
            First let’s notice the generosity of the owner. The original Greek word for the money is talents. A talent was the largest sum of money in the ancient world. Just one talent was worth the wages of a day laborer for fifteen years!  The first servant received the equivalent of day wages for 45 years. The second servant received the equivalent of day wages for 30 years. The third servant received the equivalent of day wages for 15 years, which is still quite a sum of money. The resources they were given to manage were large and abundant. The same is true for the resources God has given us. Our gifts, talents, skills, finances, material goods, creative and strategic minds, our health and wellness, and our opportunities and experiences are examples of resources God has generously given that we must manage well to accomplish God’s mission. We have so much more than we may realize because God is generous.
            Second, let’s notice that each servant is given an amount according to his ability. Like God’s resources given to us, the resources given were personal and customized for the recipient.  The owner gives the servants what they could manage well. In other words, they were equipped for success.
            Third, let’s notice that the owner does not specify exactly what they are to do with the resources. The owner trusted the servants to manage the resources until the owner returns. God trusts us! There is freedom in how to use and invest the resources for the mission within the limit and expectation that they will be used for the benefit of the owner.

The owner’s response to the first two servants who deploy the resources
            Let’s notice when the owner returns, the response to the first two servants. Both doubled the resources for the owner. Both fulfilled their mission. To both the owner says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together” (Matthew 25:23).  We see the theme of abundance and fellowship with the master. 
            The owner says the exact same thing to the two servants. The owner is not more excited about the servant who doubled from 5 to 10 bags than the servant who doubled from 2 to 4 bags. With our egos and human insecurities, we tend to focus on numbers and comparisons. We measure what appears to be greater, bigger, or better compared to what appears to be less than, inferior, or not as good. We measure what others are doing, and we compare to what we are doing, judging ourselves and others. The owner, who represents God in this story, is only focused on the faithfulness of the servants. Did they invest, use, and deploy the resources they were given? Did they fulfill the mission? That is all that matters to the owner. Had the third servant doubled his bag, he too would have received the same affirming words from the owner and invited to celebrate. But the third servant made another choice.

The owner’s response to the third servant who did not deploy the resources
            The original hearers of the parable would have thought the third servant wise and the first two unwise and risky until they heard the punchline of Jesus at the end. Burying money was considered the safest way to protect it in the ancient world. A person who buried money was not liable for it. The third servant acted according to the standards of his time. He kept the status quo, and played it safe and comfortable. The original hearers’ surprise was the owner coming back and calling the first two servants faithful, giving them more responsibilities, and inviting them to celebrate.  The different response of the owner to the third servant gives us things to ponder about not deploying resources for the mission in our own lives. The owner describes the third servant as lazy, lacking the inclination to work. Possibly due to lack of motivation, inconvenience, or complacency, he did not want to do anything more with what he had been given. Perhaps he watched the other two and declared that he did not want to do what they were doing, but he owner did not ask him to do what they were doing. The invite was only what the owner knew the servant could handle. The servant chose not to deploy the resources.
            There is also a theme of fear.  Perhaps it is just an excuse, but the third servant mentions he is afraid of the owner (Matthew 25:25). Perhaps the third servant is afraid of failing by taking a risk, so he buried the resource without trying. The third servant does not know the owner well and lacked the owner’s vision and mission. For failing to deploy the resources given and failing to fulfill his mission, the consequences are severe.  The resources of the third servant are taken away, and he is also sent away. This parable applies to every resource God has given us. It applies to our gifts and talents, to our time, to our money, to our health, to our relationships, into our influence. In all areas we will continue to unpack in this series as stewards seeking a life reimagined. Any gift or resource God gives us is meant to be used somehow and some way to accomplish God’s mission to restore, renew, and reunite those who are away from God to experience God’s love and the good, beautiful, and abundant life in the Kingdom of God.

Questions for us as an individual 
            Are we on mission like the paratrooper, or are we merely sightseeing like a skydiver? Are we deploying and investing our resources to accomplish the mission? Are we burying our resources because we are afraid to try, or we are afraid to fail?  Are we unmotivated because to invest our resources feels like too much work, and we just don’t want to do so. What is true for us individually is also true for us as a church family.

Deploying resources to accomplish the mission of God as a church family
            In July 2022, we engaged in a workshop to unpack our unique calling as a church and find why we exist in terms of our unique way of fulfilling God’s mission. In the workshop, 40 leaders and members participated in the process of discerning and discovering God’s mission for us as a church family.
            In the process, the first question shared was, “What is something specific that makes you most proud to be part of the church?” We shared various stories.
            The second question asked was, “How did you contribute to the lives of others?” The process was to condense down to an infinitive verb. Each smaller group shared their verbs to make a large list. Everyone chose their top three verbs. The top three verbs were to serve, to love, and to pray.
            The next question was, “What was the impact?” Everyone chose their top three impact statements. The top three were: people experience the love of Christ, God is revealed, and people experience love, joy, and hope.
            The small groups were combined into two big groups. Each group was asked to create a Why Statement by combining one of the three action verbs with one of the top three impact statements and choosing another verb to start the statement. To our surprise, both groups selected the same action verb and impact statement. It took some discussion to agree on the first verb to begin, but we did come to an agreement. This is our church why statement:
We seek to shepherd our community to serve so that people experience the love of Christ.

Closing Bottom Line
           We are stewards on God’s mission. God has trusted us with generous resources to be used for God’s mission, both individually and as a church. The questions for us are: Will we accept the mission, as paratroopers or merely as skydivers? Are we faithful servants deploying our resources for the mission, or are we burying our resources in the ground? We may find our response is neither, but rather it is a continuum or graph that varies for different areas of our lives.
            Since these questions apply to every area of our life, and we will continue to go from macro as a church body to micro as an individual, in all you do in word or deed, do all to the glory of God. Stewardship for a life reimagined applies to every area of our lives.
            Trusting in the promises of God, requires us to deploy the resources of God, to accomplish the mission of God, for the glory of God to have a good, beautiful, and abundant life reimagined. This is your mission, should you decide to accept it!
           
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Sermon Preamble
-What are some examples of God revealing through biblical scripture the all mighty, infinite, unlimited greatness of God? How can we confidently trust in the promises of God that affirm God’s love, care, and commitment towards us, as God invites us to be stewards?

As God’s Stewards, we must know our mission
-Why do we need to trust in the promises of God to fulfill the mission of God?
-What are we to do with the variety of resources God has given us?
-In jumping out of an airplane, what is different between a paratrooper on a mission and a sightseeing skydiver?
-How do we bring glory to God?

The mission of Jesus is also our mission
- The missions of Jesus are to restore, renew, and reunite those who are away from God so that they might experience the love of God. As you review the list of examples, what mission most fits you to partner with God in a personal way customized to you?

As God’s stewards, we must deploy resources for the mission of God
-What material and non-material resources (such as different experiences, different gifts, different interests, different passions, and different burdens that touch your heart), has God given you to manage a mission assignment from God?

The owner’s response to the first two servants who deploy the resources
-Based on the parable of the talents spoken by Jesus in Mathew 25:14-30, what do you notice would be the response of God, as owner, when we deploy the resources as a steward in God’s mission rather than bury the resources God has given us?

The owner’s response to the third servant who did not deploy the resources
-Based on the revelation of knowing God from the scripture in the parable of the talents, what response do you anticipate from God, as owner, to the one who refuses to deploy the resources given by God?

Questions for us as an individual 
-What are some reasons or excuses as to why we would bury our resources given by God, rather than deploy those resources?

Deploying resources to accomplish the mission of God as a church family
-What is your response to our Why Statement? Was it a surprise?
-Knowing the process we went through to get here, what does this statement say or mean to you?
-How do you see South Bay Community Church already living its custom mission?
-How might we as a family live into our why even more as stewards on mission for God?

Closing Bottom Line
-Will we accept the mission? Are we sightseeing skydivers or paratroopers on a mission?
-Will we be faithful servants deploying resources for the mission, or are we burying resources?

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