4/20/14  THE MIND OF CHRIST

The Urgency of the Mission

    It is Easter.  What does that mean?  I know we are supposed to be excited.  I believe we are.  And yet, for many, a different word comes in the mix, a word we wouldn’t normally think about at Easter time:  Apathy.  Easter?  Well . . .
    A classic story:  a person was taking a survey.  He asked the respondent what he thought of ignorance and apathy.  The response:  I don’t know and I don’t care.
    There are people who have life situations that most people can’t understand.  Yet, a general sense of apathy allows the situations to persist.  Note this story:
    Jared E. Alcántara, Princeton, New Jersey
One time I was a part-time manager of the townhouse complex where we lived. Once a month, I would attend a manager’s meeting for the property management company that ran our complex.  I can still remember one of the meetings I attended. One of the managers told us that she had tenants that she had to evict earlier that month. They were living in total squalor. She had warned them in January in writing about their behavior. Finally, in August, she had to forcefully evict them. Why? During their entire time there, almost a year, they hadn’t taken out the trash once. The property management company needed to bring in a 40-foot dumpster just to clean out their apartment.
    Can you imagine living like that?  Can you imagine not caring about that condition?
    Many people live in that kind of a spiritual condition. They are surrounded by evil and the garbage of sin, and they just go on merrily on their way.
    Let me share one other story about spiritually apathetic people.
    A December, 2011, article in USA Today analyzed a surge in a group of Americans called the “spiritually apathetic”.  They aren’t atheists. Instead, according to the article, “They simply shrug off God, religion, heaven, or the ever-trendy search-for-meaning and/or purpose. Their attitude could be summed up as ‘So what?’”
    Some statistics from recent surveys:
    44 percent of respondents told a Baylor University study that they spend no time seeking “eternal wisdom”, and 19 percent said, “It’s useless to search for meaning.”
    46 percent of respondents told LifeWay Research that they never wonder if they will go to heaven.
    28 percent told LifeWay that “it’s not a major priority in my life to find deeper purpose.”
    18 percent denied that God has a purpose or plan for everyone.
    One professor of religion concluded, “The real dirty secret of religiosity in America is that there are so many people for whom spiritual interest, thinking about ultimate questions, is minimal.”
Cathy Lynn Grossman, “For many, ‘Losing My Religion’ isn’t just a song; It’s life,” USA Today (12-25-11)
    Many don’t care about God or anything to do with Him.  They have been blinded by the enemy.  But, as we rejoice in the gift of life that Easter gives, we will not be caught up in that mess.
    I refuse to be apathetic, because of the urgency we see in Jesus and what He did for the human race.  The sacrifice and victory of the cross makes all the difference.  We have hope and a future.
    Two quick passages from the Psalms.
Psalm 16:8-9 NKJV
8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
Psalm 31:24 NKJV
24 Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.
    Jesus was NOT apathetic.  He understood the urgency of His mission. Philippians 2:5-13 NIV
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
    Paul described Jesus’ attitude.  It was focused on the lostness of the world and the need for people to be saved.  Jesus was selfless and a servant who sacrificed everything to give us the gift of salvation.  Sacrifice puts the needs of others before self.
    Specifically, how did Jesus show this attitude toward us?  Jesus left unparalleled glory in heaven and took the lowly place of a servant. He followed His Father’s will and gave His own life.
    Because of His sacrifice, the world has the only opportunity available for freedom from spiritual death.  We HAVE eternal life when we believe in Jesus.
    Now, as His followers, we must show the same humility as we live unselfishly and sacrificially.
    Think of who made this sacrifice.  This passage says  Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God,
    Jesus was, is and always will be God.  Jesus sacrificed all the glory and privilege of heaven to come to do what only He could do.  He gave Himself to save sinners.
    Jesus made Himself nothing, which literally means He “emptied himself.”  He voluntarily laid aside the privilege of His measureless existence as God.  Jesus took on human suffering, abuse, hatred and, in the end, the criminal’s death on the cross.
    The suffering was real.  Every horrible part of the whole process we have studied was real.  In the end Jesus was given amazing glory.
The Result:
Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
    We praise and worship Him today, for He is WORTHY to receive it all.
    This passage tells us to work out your salvation.
    We are saved by God’s grace, not our works.  Then, as we live for Jesus we must continue to work out, to live out our salvation to the end.  We must never give up but finish the race faithfully to the end.
    We are not trying to gain salvation or impress God by our efforts.  Instead, we show and strengthen our Christian walk through constant spiritual growth and development. Salvation is lived out through an ongoing process of surrender and obedience Jesus.
    As we live for Jesus and maturing in our relationship with Him, we must be aware of and resist temptation and sin. We are overcomers overs evil.  Romans 8 says we are more than conquerors.  This is a sustained endeavor to use everything God has given to defeat evil and rejoice in the life Jesus gives.

    Live your life in Jesus with a deep reverence and vigorous pursuit of God’s purposes.  Be filled with a reverent awe and trust of God.  Live with a sober awareness of God’s power, holiness and judgment against sin.  To fear the Lord is not a destructive fear, but a redeeming one.  It is rescuing, liberating and saving.  It brings us closer to God as we turn away from all evil.

Let this mind be in you . . .
 . . . the urgency of the mission.
Jesus came to bring change.  Talk about the change Jesus has brought in your life.
    Easter is about the desperate need of the human race to connect with Jesus and overcome sin in our lives.  The mission is to get the word out.
How do WE get the word out?
Use the Bible.  Which passages?
Have you received God’s gift of eternal life?