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[2545.62 --> 2552.00] Christian evangelism as our mission. Now, evangelism is the word that we use in the church |
[2552.00 --> 2559.18] that means preach the gospel, preach the good news. The Christian mission is to preach the gospel so |
[2559.18 --> 2567.28] that people will come to know God. Verse 3, know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are |
[2567.28 --> 2579.74] his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Know that the Lord is God. But how will they know |
[2579.74 --> 2588.82] unless someone tells them? Now, in the Hebrew language, the language that this psalm was first written in, |
[2588.82 --> 2600.80] know isn't just a suggestion. It's a command, right? Know that the Lord is God. But also, the word for |
[2600.80 --> 2609.04] know in Hebrew isn't just about knowledge, right? It isn't just about the fact that the Lord is God. I |
[2609.04 --> 2616.80] mean, it is that, and it's true, but it's also more, right? Know in the Bible means something deeper than |
[2616.80 --> 2624.72] information. And so, you might come across a line that says something like, Abraham knew Sarah, |
[2624.92 --> 2630.52] and she was with child. Jacob knew Rachel, and she gave birth to a son. |
[2632.40 --> 2635.54] Now, that's more than knowing facts about someone. |
[2637.74 --> 2641.42] If you don't know how that's more than knowing facts about someone, talk to your parents. |
[2641.42 --> 2650.50] Right? It's obviously more than a simple knowing, but it's the same word, right? The knowing that we |
[2650.50 --> 2658.16] are talking about here is fundamentally a knowing of relationship, of intimacy, of union, and fellowship, |
[2658.56 --> 2667.44] and covenanting, promising together. That's how God wants you to know Him, in relationship to Him. |
[2667.44 --> 2675.88] And for that to happen, the people who already know Him have to tell about Him. And that's ultimately |
[2675.88 --> 2681.34] what Romans 10 is about, when Paul there writes, and how can they believe in the one of whom they |
[2681.34 --> 2686.38] have not heard, and how can they hear without someone preaching to them, and how can anyone preach |
[2686.38 --> 2696.64] unless they are sent? But you see, there's not only a command here. There is a promise, right? |
[2696.64 --> 2705.00] Know that the Lord is God. That's the command. It is He who made us, and we are His. We are His people, |
[2705.16 --> 2715.00] the sheep of His pasture. That's the promise. In John 10, Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd, |
[2715.22 --> 2723.00] and that He knows His sheep, and His sheep know His voice. When you go out to preach the good news, |
[2723.00 --> 2729.74] the sheep of the Good Shepherd will hear His voice in you, from you, and through you, and will respond. |
[2730.52 --> 2736.44] That's a promise you can count on. Thanksgiving as Christian mission means that we must go out |
[2736.44 --> 2746.56] and proclaim this good news. And His people will know. His people will hear. And His people will come. |
[2746.56 --> 2754.70] And so then the third part of Christian mission as Thanksgiving. Give thanks to the Lord, |
[2755.28 --> 2760.10] mercy, and justice as our mission. Verse 4 says, |
[2760.54 --> 2768.16] enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name. |
[2768.16 --> 2773.80] Now, this is an image of the temple. Now, this is an image of the temple. And for the Jewish people, |
[2774.30 --> 2783.38] the temple was the seat of religious and cultural and, for a significant period of time, judicial life. |
[2784.64 --> 2790.98] Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise conjures up images of |
[2790.98 --> 2801.42] the ruling seat of God. The temple is the place of God's residing and His decreeing and His judgments |
[2801.42 --> 2809.70] echo out from there to the corners of the earth. It is a place of justice and rule and kingship. And so, |
[2810.50 --> 2815.96] as I read this psalm, I can't help but extrapolate out from that image a connection |
[2815.96 --> 2823.90] to the kingdom of God as it comes in Jesus. Jesus, who said, behold, the kingdom of God is at hand. |
[2824.22 --> 2830.54] Jesus, who said, destroy this temple and in three days I will rebuild it. And when John is recording |
[2830.54 --> 2835.14] that, he has a little commentary on the end. He says, after the resurrection, the disciples figured |
[2835.14 --> 2843.16] out that He was talking about the temple of His body. You see, the kingdom of God changes with Jesus. |
[2843.16 --> 2852.40] Jesus becomes the temple in our midst. Jesus fulfills everything that the temple stood for. |
[2853.16 --> 2860.78] And so, from the throne room of God right down to the sacrifices offered, Jesus is the fulfillment. |
[2862.54 --> 2867.80] And then here's the thing, right? Because the New Testament keeps going with this image. The New |
[2867.80 --> 2872.96] Testament tells us that we, as Christians, because of the Holy Spirit who lives in us by grace, |
[2873.16 --> 2882.00] through faith, that we have received Jesus, we are now temples of God. You are a temple. And that means, |
[2882.92 --> 2891.62] right, follow that line through, that you are the place where God and His reign in the world is revealed |
[2891.62 --> 2900.72] from, is exercised from. You, your hearts, are the throne room of God, right? It's through the church |
[2900.72 --> 2909.80] that God reveals His kingdom ethic. And so, the church becomes the agents of God's kingdom in the world, |
[2909.80 --> 2916.50] right? By subverting and overcoming injustice and bringing justice, by lifting up the poor and |
[2916.50 --> 2924.92] the marginalized, right? Not just of the church, but for the whole world, right? If God's kingdom will one |
[2924.92 --> 2932.28] day be revealed and fulfilled in the entire world, we, the church, live as if that day is today. |
[2933.84 --> 2939.88] And so now, every square inch of our lives and work and school and play and families and friends |
[2939.88 --> 2946.52] and hobbies belong to Him and are used for His purposes and the glory of His name. |
[2946.52 --> 2957.50] But I also can't help but think of the temple and seeing it as the place of God's mercy, right? Because |
[2957.50 --> 2963.18] here, sacrifices are made for the forgiveness of sins. Here, mercy is offered to the widow and to |
[2963.18 --> 2969.66] the poor and to the orphan. And so, the church isn't just about seeking justice, right, an equal |
[2969.66 --> 2976.04] opportunity for everyone. The church is about providing mercy. It's about giving people what |
[2976.04 --> 2982.60] they don't strictly deserve or not giving them what they do deserve, right? We don't repay evil for evil. |
[2982.90 --> 2991.04] Instead, we turn the other cheek. We walk the extra mile. We give our cloak and our coat. Our mercy is |
[2991.04 --> 3001.74] sacrificial because God's mercy required a sacrifice. To live God's mission, we seek justice and offer |
[3001.74 --> 3013.70] mercy. That is our thanksgiving. And finally, the fourth aspect of Christian mission as thanksgiving or |
[3013.70 --> 3022.90] thanksgiving mission, give thanks to the Lord charity as our mission. This is verse 5. For the Lord is good |
[3022.90 --> 3031.76] and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations. Now, first, a word about |
[3031.76 --> 3038.52] charity. Because some of you hear the word charity and then you immediately go back to the word mercy. |
[3038.52 --> 3044.50] charity. I'm not using the word charity in the way that you might be thinking. Not in the way that we |
[3044.50 --> 3049.58] often use it today where it talks about giving, right? A charity event is one that's offered to raise |
[3049.58 --> 3055.54] money for some kind. I just played in a charity golf tournament a little while ago. Sometimes you'll hear |
[3055.54 --> 3060.80] people say something like, I don't need your charity, right, when you're trying to offer them help of |
[3060.80 --> 3066.88] some sort. When I'm using the word charity here, I'm using it in the more classical sense of the word, |
[3066.88 --> 3075.28] where it means love. Jonathan Edwards was an 18th century Christian pastor and theologian. He's one |
[3075.28 --> 3081.56] of my favorite historical pastors, preachers. He has a series of sermons on 1 Corinthians 13. |
[3082.72 --> 3087.02] Now, if you don't immediately understand that, 1 Corinthians 13 is that text that you hear at |
[3087.02 --> 3093.42] weddings, right? Even Hollywood movies depicting weddings will quote it, love is patient, love is kind, |
[3093.42 --> 3101.00] it does not envy, it does not boast. Jonathan Edwards has a series of sermons on 1 Corinthians 13 called |
[3101.00 --> 3109.36] charity and its fruits. That's what I mean when I say the word charity, right? A 1 Corinthians 13 |
[3109.36 --> 3116.94] kind of love. So verse 5 says, the Lord is good and his love endures forever. |
[3116.94 --> 3125.90] Now, in Hebrew, that word love is one that you might be familiar with. It's hesed. Now, it's sometimes |
[3125.90 --> 3133.14] translated loyal love or unconditional love. It's God's love for his people, closely connected to |
[3133.14 --> 3140.30] the idea of God's covenant to them. Because God has made a promise to them to be their God and they to be |
[3140.30 --> 3146.62] his people. He loves them and he is loyal to that promise, right? In no small part because God is |
[3146.62 --> 3153.58] loyal to himself, he is true to his character and his word. And so, when God says that he will love you, |
[3154.00 --> 3160.64] he will love you because he's promised to love you. That's hesed, that's charity. The love that he has for |
[3160.64 --> 3168.78] his people ultimately is not contingent upon our deserving it or my goodness or my ability to earn it or yours. |
[3168.78 --> 3176.70] God loves you because he loves you because he promised to love you. And here's the thing, |
[3177.24 --> 3184.64] as Christians who give thanks to God for that hesed, that loyal covenant love, that charity, |
[3184.96 --> 3192.62] we too are called to live that same love and share that same charity. Christian mission is defined |
[3192.62 --> 3200.68] by charity. It's because of love that we go out into the world. It's because of love that we preach |
[3200.68 --> 3206.22] the gospel. It's because of love that we sing his praises. It's because of love that we seek justice and |
[3206.22 --> 3212.92] love mercy, right? Love covers over and courses through all the aspects of thanksgiving as Christian |
[3212.92 --> 3218.62] mission. We worship in love. We evangelize in love. We seek justice and offer mercy in love. We love because |
[3218.62 --> 3228.94] we are loved. Jesus says, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another. Just as I have loved |
[3228.94 --> 3238.56] you, you also are to love one another. Just as I have loved you, Jesus says, you are to love one another. |
[3238.66 --> 3246.14] The love of God for his people enduring forever is the type of love that you and I are to model |
[3246.14 --> 3260.30] and practice in the world. God is love, says 1 John 4. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. |
[3261.58 --> 3269.00] Right? You just cannot separate God's love for you from the type of love that you are called to show. |
[3269.72 --> 3274.50] Jesus makes this point when he summarizes the teaching of all the law and the prophets and he's relating |
[3274.50 --> 3279.70] God to that love of neighbor. He says, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul |
[3279.70 --> 3284.58] and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment and the second is like it. |
[3284.72 --> 3291.34] Love your neighbor as yourself. And so if you love God and say you love God, you must also love your |
[3291.34 --> 3300.30] neighbor. Charity, love is the mission of the Christian. That's how we give thanks to God. |
[3300.30 --> 3309.74] And so this Thanksgiving Monday, see just how big thanksgiving for the Christian really is. |
[3310.66 --> 3317.42] Thanksgiving to God is the mission of the church. A Christian who is thankful to God will show it in |
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