Sunday Message
Help in Helping the World to Believe
John 17:20-21
Pastor Wes
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There is a heavy focus presented throughout the New Testament on spreading the good news of Jesus’ forgiveness and salvation. Jesus, after His death and resurrection and before returning to God the Father, charged His followers with these words “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) As we read through the New Testament, it is clear that a huge part of the mission of His church is to reach others with the message of how to receive eternal life.
Yet, and I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, but within Transylvania County, statistically speaking, churches within the county, over the past 2 years, have seen some of the lowest amounts of people in a year come to know the Lord. Churches are reporting extremely low numbers of salvations. Why is this? Has this county reached all that are capable of being reached? Probably not. Have we as believers become more fearful and shy about sharing with others? Maybe. Has there been a spiritual hardening of hearts here in this area? From personal experiences, I would say that probably also has something to do with it. Are there not enough churches? Obviously there are- there’s a church on every corner here in our county. Are all the churches pointing to Jesus? Are they all truly following Him? Have we lost sight of our part in Jesus’ mission? Are church people underequipped, have we lost a passion for Jesus, have we lost a passion for people, are we too busy, is there sin in the camp amongst the churches? Why is it that we aren’t being more effective in bringing the lost into a saving relationship with Jesus? There are many questions we can ask, some we know the answers to, and others we don’t.
If we share in Jesus’ heart, it should bother us that more people aren’t placing their trust in Him. Granted, this is His work, and we only play a small role in it, but it is Jesus’ desire that the world may believe that God sent Him. We should thus be living our lives in a way, so that we might help the world to believe that God sent Jesus. This isn’t just a calling for pastors or missionaries, this is a universal calling for all who claim to follow Jesus. I was thinking earlier this week, that in the simplest of terms, the meaning of life is to follow Jesus, and help others follow Him. In everything we do, we are to follow Jesus, and help others follow Him. We follow Jesus as priority 1, whether we are a banker, supervisor, construction worker, pastor, salesman, or retiree. And we are to help others follow Him- by the demonstration of our actions, by the words of our mouth, whether the others are believers or non-believers, or the others are our spouse, friend, neighbor, relative, or random person off the street, and whether it is here in America or overseas in another country- we have been given the mission of following Jesus and helping others follow Him. In biblical terms we could also describe this mission as believing in Jesus, and helping others believe in Him. In the passage we’ll look at now, Jesus describes a specific pathway, by which our belief in Him, results in the world believing. Let’s take a look at John 17:20-21…
Pastor Dave and I have mentioned previously this verse 20 as it takes the whole prayer of chapter 17, and ties it specifically to you and to me- being that we have believed through the written testimony of His disciples who lived and walked with Jesus. But what I want you to notice here in these two verses is a progression that is moved along by the usage of the word “that.” The word “that” is used not in the sense of saying “that car over there,” but it is used in the sense of “so that.” It is used as in saying “1” happens so that “2” happens, so that “3” can take place, so that the end result of “4” will occur. The “4” end result is the end of verse 21 “so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” This passage seems to outline steps in getting to an end result. It’s like, you get out the peanut butter and jelly, so that you can coat 2 pieces of bread with them, so that you can join the 2 pieces of bread together, so that you can satisfy your hunger with a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So, what are the “1,” “2,” and “3” that will help bring into reality step number “4” of the world believing in Jesus?
The number “1” is located at the end of verse 20, it is that there will be those who believe because of the word of Jesus’ disciples- disciples who were present there in that moment. Some of them would later write down the events and teaching of Jesus’ life, others would take roles in shepherding Christ followers, others would write letters of encouragement to church fellowships, others would take His words to other nations and cultures. Because of what they did- because they followed Jesus and helped others follow Jesus- you and I are now here together today. But in our quest of understanding the progression of 1,2,3 that results in 4 (the world believing), the first question we have to ask ourselves is: are we doing number 1 very well? Are we really believing well?
I fear that sometimes we as Christians, say we believe in Jesus- and we really do- but we often don’t really believe what Jesus teaches. We glide over many of His teachings, and pass them off as outdated, irrelevant, or hyper spiritual. Or perhaps we aren’t even very familiar with His teachings, because we haven’t spent much time reading them. Church, if we want to be impactful, seeing lives transformed for good, we have to first be familiar with Christ’s teaching and truly believe it- living it out in daily application. For example, Jesus says “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt. 5:44) When was the last time you prayed for someone who treated you wrongly? Jesus says “do not judge, so that you will not be judged.” (Matt. 7:1) Jesus says “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.” (Matt 6:19) I could keep going, but you get the point. We say we believe, but are we really believing if we’re not doing what He says to do? Francis Chan uses an analogy of he and his daughter. He tells her, “Go clean your room.” And what if his daughter, instead of cleaning her room, just studies his words? “Daddy says ‘Go clean your room.’ There, I memorized it! ‘Go clean your room’ ….I even learned how to recite it Greek…” This is our number 1 priority, to know what Jesus says and to truly believe Him- believing as in agreeing with Him that what He says is right, and then actually making an effort to do that which He says. It’s going to be difficult for the world to believe if we within the church are struggling to believe and live lives that prove we believe. But if we are able to accomplish this number 1 belief task, the immediate result is that number 2 in our progression occurs, verse 21… “that they [we] may all be one.”
The immediate result of believing is a oneness amongst Christ followers. A oneness that can be compared even to the oneness that Jesus and God the Father share, as the verse goes on to state. Jesus desires that there would be oneness shared amongst those who have chosen to believe. That oneness is rooted in belief placed in Jesus, that results from believing the word of His first disciples (the New Testament). This issue of oneness, that occurs through the belief in the testimony of the Bible, is a really serious issue. There are those who have added words, requirements, and teachings to the Bible, which has resulted in a disunity amongst His followers, which if we fast forward a little, results in the world not believing. Then there are those who have taken away words, requirements, teachings from the New Testament which has resulted with the same effect- a disunity amongst His followers, resulting in the world not believing. On any issue of belief, theology, doctrine, life practice, social order, decree of right and wrong, church structure and tradition- God’s word has to be the standard we turn to. God’s word has to be the judge. We are living in a time in which God’s people have to be unified in this. Those who pervert verses, or take them out of their original context, those who add or take away teaching from the bible, have only caused division amongst God’s people, and as a result, have prevented others from believing in Jesus. Just this past week, the Pope officially declared support for same-sex unions. That’s interesting being that the Bible clearly, and in several places, declares homosexuality as being wrong. The Bible calls us to love and respect all peoples, no matter what they have done or are doing, but in showing love may we still hold firm to what God declares right and wrong, not what our culture, society, or even religious leaders declare right and wrong. If the Bible is clear on something- we have to unite on it, and with that being said- if it is truly unclear on something, then we shouldn’t divide on it. The Bible doesn’t tell us what Bible version to use, or whether to sing modern or traditional songs, nor is it very clear on the order and timing of end time events. It is time for God’s church to unite over our belief in His word, and to stop dividing over issues outside of His word.
So number 1- we believe, so that number 2- we may be one unified church, so that number 3- we may also be one with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Verse 21 Jesus says in His prayer “that they may all be one… [so] that they also may be in Us.” Just moments early, in chapter 15, Jesus was talking about the importance of abiding in Him- living, being in, having unity, making our abode- in Himself, His word, and His love, so that we might abide in His joy. Here’s a disqualifier for His joy, here’s something that will prevent us from living in Him, His word, and His love- if we (number 1) don’t truly believe, and/or if we (number 2) are divided. We have to believe and be one in order to also be one with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Verse 22 is going to tell us Jesus wants His followers to share in His glory, but we’ll have a hard time sharing in His glory unless we truly believe, are unified concerning His word, which results in us being unified with Him, and thus able to share in His glory. Maybe we’ve never thought of it in these terms- that our disunity with one another, creates disunity in our personal relationship with God. Perhaps at times we feel our personal relationship with the Lord is ok, and yet at the same time we wonder why we don’t see Him working in more miraculous ways- could it be that corporately as one universal church there is so much disunity that it is preventing God from working?
We believe, so that we may be one church, so that we may be one with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, so that number 4- “the world may believe that [God] sent [Jesus].” (verse 21) We could really use some help in our efforts of seeing that the world may believe, and I think Jesus is giving us some help here. We have to start with examining our own lives, analyzing what we truly believe and looking at what we are personally living out as a result of our belief. Then it’s a matter of doing that corporately- being united with other believers on the solid ground of God’s word. Together we abide in Him, in His word, in His love, in His joy, and the result will be that others from the world will believe in Jesus.
Let me give you an illustration. Think about a camping tent, and all the pieces that make up the tent. And imagine all these pieces as representing different groups within Christianity that emphasize certain aspects of Christianity. Stakes (anchor to the ground), zippers (provide access), screens (fresh air flow to prevent stale air) soft fabric (giving and full of grace), hard aluminum poles (rigid strength), string lines (reaching out), rain fly (for protection during wet weather). United and built it could be representing of God’s desire for the church- a place where God resides, where people can find Him, see Him, and access Him.
But if we un-stake ourselves from God’s word, pulling out the tent stakes, we as the universal church will be blown all over the place. Which will inevitably create division, separating out some pieces, and God’s church becomes compromised and not as effective for the purposes He intends. Church, may God strengthen your belief and application of that belief, may there unity amongst God’s church united on His word, may there be unity for the church with God so we closely experience Him and His works, so that the world may believe.