Unbind and Go: Resurrection Mission in Community

Mission isn't what we do, Martha in the kitchen. Mission is who we become, Mary at the feet of Jesus. Paul says to the Corinthians, the only letter of recommendation we need is you, yourselves. Your lives are a letter written on our hearts. Everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This letter is not written with pen and ink, but with the spirit of the living God. [01:08:11] (48 seconds)  #LivesAsLetters

We can choose to go anxiously forward, bound by our insecurities, seeking affirmation, purpose, well-being, transforming ourselves, restricted by a perspective that is hindered by our own brokenness. We can do that. Protecting ourselves from the very real dangers that surround us, holding fearfully to what is ours at any cost, storing up in an attempt to shelter from harm, it is instinctive. [01:05:05] (39 seconds)  #ChooseCourageOverFear

Being Christian means accepting the terms of creation, accepting God as our maker and redeemer, and growing day by day into an increasingly glorious creature in Christ, developing joy, experiencing love, maturing in peace. By the grace of Christ, we experience the marvel of being made in the image of God. If we reject this way, the only alternative is to attempt the hopelessly forthright, embarrassingly awkward imitation of God made in the image of men and women like us. [01:06:24] (59 seconds)  #MadeInGodsImage

Or we can listen and obey Jesus. In the book, Along Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson says, our lives are lived well only when they are lived on the terms of their creation, with God loving us and us being loved, with God making us and us being made, with God revealing and us understanding, with God commanding and us responding. [01:05:44] (41 seconds)  #ObedienceInOneDirection

And Jesus spoke with precise clarity on how we are to do this. Do to others what you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. Not do to others how they do to you, treat them as they treat you. No. The golden rule is to do to others what you wish they would do to you. Be present for others for their good. [01:07:24] (47 seconds)  #LiveTheGoldenRule

Couldn't the power that propelled Lazarus from the grave remember his feet are bound. He did not walk out. Couldn't that power have unbound him at the same time? Doesn't make sense. And it's not an oversight because that's totally inconsistent with the god that we meet in the bible. This is significant. Jesus is announcing the resurrection life. [01:03:38] (38 seconds)  #ResurrectionAnnounced

We see salvation is instant. We respond. We come out of death. We begin a new life, and we are still bound by our grave clothes. The effects of sin and brokenness still bind us. See a very different scene when Jesus appears from the tomb. Where are his grave clothes? Left behind. There is no sin and brokenness that he is bound by. It's a very different case for us, and here is our mission. [01:04:16] (49 seconds)  #ResurrectionAndRenewal

So door of hope, what is the letter that our that our lives are writing? Is the spirit of the living God writing something in our lives? Are we as a community growing in generosity, in love, in forgiveness. We had a beautiful series in January about what makes us grow. If you're wondering how to go about that and you were away, check it out. [01:09:05] (47 seconds)  #LetterOfHope