Well, this is it guys. It is the last weekend of June. Summer is now unofficially and officially upon us. So what are your summer plans?
I'm guessing for some of you guys this year's gonna look a little bit different. Maybe more staycations than ever. A lot of people aren't flying, so maybe you're thinking about staying local. I'm amazed at how a few beach rentals are available.
Maybe just for that reason. I know for others of you though, I know you cannot wait to get the heck out of here and hit the road and go just about anywhere at this point. Now in our church, like in most churches, summertime, well, it's tough. Things slow down, ministries take a break, and at some level, of course, they have to.
People have summer plans. A few years ago, we actually ran the numbers on this, discovered that about a third of the churches away on any given summer weekend. And so maintaining ministry momentum in the summer, well, it's tough. It's every church's annual challenge.
But this summer, this summer, this summer is gonna be the most challenging ever. Many of you know, this weekend is traditionally baptism weekend here at Menom Hills, where every year, now for as many years as I can remember, everyone that's come to faith in Jesus over the ministry year makes it official, makes a declaration, does it publicly. You know, we closed the church doors, we head to the lake, and we celebrate like crazy. The word of God in the lives of his people through his church.
Unfortunately, like most other large gatherings, we had to postpone our trip to the lake this year. But we hope to be able to do it so maybe even as early as this fall. I have to tell you, usually closing the church down for the Sunday of Baptist isn't well for a church. Just honestly, that's a real leap of faith.
I mean, no gathering, no giving and heck. People might get out of their routine. That's funny, because I used to worry over one Sunday of that. Ah, the innocence of days gone by.
Believe it or not, this is our 16th straight Sunday, not being together in the church building. And guys, I would take the summer two-thirds of the congregation any day over these hundreds of empty chairs I preached to every week. And that's why I'm so pumped up, at least weather permitting, to be out in the parking lot tonight with all of you who've come out to gather and party and most importantly, to worship corporately in unity and unison and publicly. Now, I know we're going to leave here today, and next week's July, and we all have our summer plans, and the summer access is well underway.
And so what's a pastor? One who worries over not meeting for one Sunday? Who worries about the moment of loss from a normal Sunday? What's a pastor to do when you hit summer after you've been closed down for nearly four months?
Well, I decided what I was going to do in order to deal with my anxiety was to use the age-old adage, once suspended in rubber form from every Christian wrist all over America. WWJD? What would Jesus do? Or in this case, what are Jesus' summer plans?
And so I set out to work with some amount of wonder. Does Jesus take off for the summer? Like you know, been working hard all winter, first had to deal with the Australian wildfire deal, you remember that? Then had to manage the whole global pandemic thing, known as when he gets back, he's got the whole murder, hornet thing waiting on his desk.
And so at first I thought, and maybe you've seen those festivals at the Jersey Shore called Jesus at the beach. I thought, heck, maybe Jesus really is at the beach. I mean, he's got a shot, but then it hit me. The Sabbath?
Oh, the Sabbath. See, unlike so many of us, Jesus rests quite regularly. So I'm thinking the summer plans don't have to include a getaway vacation. And so I moved on.
What is Jesus' summer plans? What's he doing this summer? And since I claimed to be a follower of his, maybe I and maybe we should have those same summer plans. And then hit me.
Jesus actually answered the question as to what he's up to in the summer. What he's doing right now and what his summer plans are? Matthew, if you know his story, it's fascinating. Matthew wasn't in Israelite, but he was a tax collector.
He had turned his back on his people and he was working for the Romans who had taken over all of Israel. And Matthew was extracting taxes from his fellow countrymen by threat of force. Tax collectors, they were the most despised people in all of Israel. They were traitors, which makes it super interesting that Jesus one day walks right up to Matthew who was sitting in his tax collector booth and calls him to be one of his disciples.
This same Matthew, he's an eyewitness to Jesus' life and ministry, and he's a guy who writes down Jesus' summer plans. The conversation, it starts with a question. Jesus was never one shy away from just difficult questions. And so he asks his disciples this one.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say the Son of Man is? Pretty amazing question, really. One that you'd have to have some amount of self-confidence to even ask, right? Imagine going into your office or at the next family gathering and calling some folks over the corner and saying, hey, hey, guys, could you tell me what everyone here is saying about me?
Because the truth is, I know at least for me, I probably want to know. Now Matthew continues, they replied, the disciples replied, well, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, were one of the prophets. And so the word on the street was that Jesus, because he spoke with such authority and he's doing all these miracles, and in a culture that believed in reincarnation, the word on the street was that Jesus was a reincarnated prophet of some kind. And then Jesus makes it more personal for his little band of 12.
He looks up and he goes, what about you? He asks, who do you say I am? And this is the first time this question is asked, but it's a question that each and every one of us have to answer. And how we answer that question, well, it really matters.
It matters eternally. How we answer that question determines how we live and exist in the life to come, and it matters temporarily. How we answer that question impacts how we live and exist in this life. And so what if you don't know anything about the disciples?
You know who's going to answer that question first? If Petruus, Peter, jumps right in. You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Remember, in just some short time, Peter's going to deny that that's saving three times in one evening, but this evening, he was really sure.
Jesus replied, blessed are you, Son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. And there it is. That's the plan.
Jesus is some are plan. Jesus, you want to know what he's doing? Well, he's doing what he's been doing day and night for the last 2000 years. Jesus is building his church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it, which is pretty interesting in the summer of 2020, because it seems like at least at first blush what the gates of hell wouldn't do or couldn't do, the coronavirus sure as heck did do.
I mean, the church, check out the sign on the door, it's closed. And for the Messiah, the Son of the living God, this seems like a promise that was made, and a promise that was broken, at least until you know just a bit of the backstory. There is a well-known translation error, believe it or not, in our English Bibles. Remember now, Jesus did not speak English.
He spoke Aramaic, and the gospels were not written in English, they were written in Greek, and they were then translated into languages all over the world. And when Jesus' promise, his summer plans got translated into English, well, church politics got involved, and what Jesus actually promised got changed. It turns out Jesus never promised to build a church in the original Greek, what Jesus promised to build, and some of you know this, Jesus promised to build an echosia. That's what he promised to build, and that's what he's doing this summer.
What happened though is that in the year 1522, William Tyndale began translating the Greek New Testament into English, and Tyndale, he actually translated echosia correctly. And echosia is a gathering, it's an assembly, it's a movement of people, it is as the early Christians called it away. Tyndale translated it as just that, a congregation is what he said. But over time, as the church grew and became a place of power and authority, it got political.
And the church exchanged the word echosia for a German word, I'm not going to try to pronounce it, but it meant house of the Lord. Why? Because think of it, right? A house of the Lord is a place, and a place is much easier to control for religious authority than those pesky movements and ways.
And if that wasn't offensive enough, the Greek text Tyndale tried to be faithful to, let him use elder instead of priest and repent instead of due penance. And you know what he got for all of these efforts? Well, he was branded in outlaw, a tribunal of the church condemned him as a heretic, they turned him over to civil authorities who bound him to a beam, strangled him with a rope, burned his body, scattered his remains, and destroyed every Tyndale Bible in town. Tyndale was gone.
But the German word church, unfortunately, lives on. But that is not what Jesus promised to build. In fact, you know this, right? Jesus taught repeatedly that God has left the building, his presence isn't in here, it's in here.
For where? Two or three of you gather in my name. There am I. I love this.
This is so important now. Hear me. Jesus did not promise to build a place. Jesus promised to build a people.
Men and hills. Jesus did not predict 480 State root 24 at Chester, New Jersey, 07930. Jesus predicted you. What's so amazing about Matthew wrote down is that he got the details exactly right.
You see, we Christians, we have a habit of focusing on what we don't agree on. That's why there's little churches all over this town. Why? Because we can't agree on a lot of things, even church things.
But what Jesus said is, he said I'm going to build a movement on one thing. This one thing Peter declared, that he's the messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of the living God. It's actually the one thing we still all unite around. Jesus predicted it.
Matthew recorded it. And you and I are living it. It turns out promise made, promise kept. If you've ever really doubted Jesus' ability to keep his promises, you don't need to look any further than this one promise.
I mean, if Jesus could keep this promise, you've got to believe that he could keep every promise. Why? Because this one's crazy. It's not, it should have never happened.
It would seem impossible. Jesus says he's going to build his movement. He's going to do it with 12 guys who right now have no power, no authority, no structure, no influence, no money. Heck, once he gets crucified, they don't even have homes or families.
They wind up on the wrong from the greatest and fiercest empire the world has ever known, and they actually have prices on their heads. Many of you know, after Jesus is crucified and resurrected, he appears to these same 12 guys, still in hiding. Matthew records the scene for us. Then he says, the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him, they worshipped him, and I just love the honesty here, but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority, it's quite a claim. In heaven on earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age.
Luke, he was a first century physician. He set out to record an orderly account of Jesus' life. Luke adds a detail to what Jesus said. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.
Yet here's what's really interesting. Up until now in the book of Acts where Luke is writing this, all of the ministry that's happened has taken place in Jerusalem. No one had God. No one moved out to Judea or Samaria, let alone in the end of the earth.
Think about it. It's actually fascinating. It's quite easy to build churches. It's easy to build houses of the Lord.
If everyone just stays put. You know what's really hard to build if everyone stays put? Movements, ways, disciples, which makes perfect sense because the reality is Jesus is not building a place, he's building a people. And so what changed that makes a house of the Lord type church into an assembly on the move?
What changed? Why they leave Luke records it that after a particularly fiery sermon by a follower of Jesus named Stephen on that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all except the apostles were scattered. Now think about this. Listen to the church couldn't meet, at least in Jerusalem anymore.
It wasn't safe for them to meet. The governing authorities mandated they stop meeting. Does this sound familiar to anyone? The church doors would remain closed.
And so everyone due to threat of persecution, scattered. And again, for this little fledgling movement, that should have been the end of it. I mean, gosh, not gathering anymore. What about the momentum?
What about the offering? But guess, just guess where they wind up once the doors in the church in Jerusalem get shut? Luke goes on. All were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
You remember when Jesus told him? He promised them where they'd wind up. You'll be my witnesses where in Judea and Samaria. And that's where they wound up.
That's how Jesus promised was fulfilled. It wasn't fulfilled through the church gathering. It was fulfilled by the church scattering. Jesus builds his church through the scatter and not the gather and this summer, this crazy summer of 2020.
I can't help but wonder if Jesus isn't up to the same thing. Think about it, right? Luke goes on. He writes that those who had been scattered, they preached the word wherever they went.
Why? Because they weren't sitting in a building. Philip, he goes down to a city in Samaria and he proclaims the Messiah there. Well, when the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. And check this out. This is the conclusion to what happens when the church scatters. So there was great joy in that city.
Jesus' summer plans are the same that they've always been. He's building a church and he's doing it this summer while scattered. And his hope is that these doors might be locked for a time. They're closing.
As we scatter through you and I, they're closing will wind up bringing a great joy to this city. That's Jesus' summer plans. And what were you going to do? Go to the beach?
I mean, we're closed this summer but we're keepers of the promise. We're people of the way. And in our scattering, we have the great privilege and the awesome and profound responsibility of bringing great joy to this city. Two thousand years ago, Jesus said, I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell aren't going to prevail over it.
About 17 years ago, I heard a pastor named Bill Hybels make an equally bold claim in a conference I had gone to in Chicago. I remember sitting there and he said, you realize guys, this is the only thing Jesus has been doing since his resurrection and ascension until he comes back and retrieves his church. He's not directing the angelic choir. They're singing fine without him.
He's not fretting about the planets spinning out of their orbit. They're behaving rather nicely. He's not taking long naps or doing crossword puzzles or I might add planning a summer vacation. He's full time focused attention 24, 7, 365 on building his church.
And then I remember he said this, that church, the local church, is the hope of the world. And the greatest privilege in all of human life is when Jesus taps you on the shoulder and says, hey, Phil, or hey, Pam, or hey, Jason, I have a critical role for you to play. Would you come and join me as I build my church? It's the hope of the world, you know.
Now many of you guys over the years have said what made me leave the finance world, the investing deal, and get into church work. I have to tell you that talk, that day, that vision for what the local church could be, that was it. And it had nothing to do with the building. It wasn't even on my radar screen.
The thought of a building didn't get me fired up because he just kept going back and described the early church moment, how there was once, once upon a time, a community of people that were so radically devoted to God that whatever God asked them to do, they would do. When he urged them to go out on a limb of faith, they would go. They had such a great rep in the community that people outside of the church were trying to get into the church. He went on to ask everyone there that day, answer me this one question.
Is God still transcendently powerful? Does the Holy Spirit still have his stuff? Does Jesus still redeem and restore people? And I remember I'm saying, if the answer is yes, why can't there be such a community of faith in your city today?
And guys, that day I got it. I believed it. And as he would put it, I got seized by that vision of what a local church could be. I remember going home, I was fired up about playing my role in this movement of Jesus.
And of course, it meant some tough decisions about work and time and money. In fact, someone close to me actually challenged me not to do it. I remember specifically the question about leaving the investment company you own and working at a church. I remember when I'm seeing it seems kind of small and risky and hardly fulfilling.
Wouldn't it be safer or much more substantial to build a business than at church? Why don't you spend your time doing something that matters? Which makes some worldly sense until you think about Jesus' summer plans and his promise. And what we now know is true.
You know, since the day of his promise, whole empires, the Roman Empire, the British Empire, whole dynasties made up of hundreds of millions of people, dynasties and powers and empires that thought they would last forever. They had power and might, they had economies and armies. You know, they're all gone. Literally just mere chapters in a history book in terms of building businesses.
How many of them who were pictures of success when I made the decision to get into ministry? The picture of stability, Kodak, Lehman Brothers, Enron, Arthur Anderson, billions of dollars in value and assets and they're all gone. We're watching it happen again today. Only one thing remains.
Jesus' church. And why? Because it's the only thing he promised to build and to sustain and to hold and to regenerate. It turns out empires and dynasties, armies and economies, they all eventually fail.
The only thing that doesn't, the only thing that actually matters that's worthy of giving your life and time and money and energy too is the only thing that is eternal and meaningful and it's Jesus' church. It's the one he's building this summer. It's the work he asks us to join him in. It's the hope of the world.
And see what your fearful pastor had to realize this week and I want to proclaim to you today is that the church might not be gathered, but it's scattered. And I think that's his plan for the summer. So that means, man, this summer, the church scattered is our plan for building his church. It's our summer plan.
It's time to scatter. This summer, while the doors are closed, your plans matter more than most. Menom has to be scattered this summer. I believe in order to reach our full potential in order to bring joy to the city.
Each of us, we have the potential to bring that joy, peace, the hope of Christ into our homes and our neighborhoods and our offices. You are the church, the hope of the world, the hope of your home and your block and your street. Paul summed it up this way. He said, therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand for him, let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor and the Lord is not in vain. Of course it isn't. In fact, it's the only thing that I promise you, you will never regret working for this summer. Those of you who can get some folks over your house for a small group, get together and study the word a little bit, maybe pray, do it this summer.
Those of you that can visit someone shut in, do it this summer. Those of you who can give, the God's blessed financially, give more now than ever because it's needed right now more than ever before. This summer, as the publicity for the Chester Amen and Food Bank goes down, you buy more food from them. This summer, as the church is scattered more than ever before, commit, write it down on your calendar, set the alarm on your phone to gather every Sunday morning like no summer ever before.
Forget only two-thirds of us on board. Heck, have a watch party in your house. Post a breakfast or a brunch. In order to be the assembly, Jesus promised we still need to assemble, even when the doors are shut.
And then we gather and we preach the gospel to all times and when necessary we use words. Guys, you got about depending on how you measure it, eight, maybe 10 weeks of summer. Can I give you one thing? One thing to put down in your summer plan.
This summer, at least once a week, for these eight to 10 weeks, look, it would be better once a day, but at least once a week, were you during the time of scattering? Were Jesus's once again in this moment at work building a church? Would you just go somewhere in your house or outside on your deck, maybe go for a walk on the trail, get away for a few minutes of quiet, and then regularly and repeatedly ask Jesus one simple question. Begin by telling them, Jesus, I'm not in Judea and I'm not in Samaria.
But here I am scattered in Men and Manchester. Jesus today, this week, this summer, I recommit myself to the role you want me to play in the building of your church. I know you've equipped me. I know you've resourced me to play the role you want me to play.
Now, Jesus, would you show me today this week how I can partner with you in building your church and bringing joy to the city? And then I challenge you. I want you to wait. I want you to listen and I want you to look.
Keep your eyes and your ears open with expectancy. And when he speaks, when he shows you, and he will, I promise you, we will, when he does, this summer, like no other summer ever before, this summer, while we're scattered and not gathered for this reason, this summer, please, please say yes and step out in faith like never before. Go and have the conversation he tells you to have. Go to whoever it is he sends you.
Give to what he shows you. Go to where he leads you. And proclaim the Messiah there. And bring joy.
Guys, this summer, Jesus has summer plans. They're different than usual. And now I hope you do too. Happy Scattered Summer Men in Hills Community Church.
Let's do this together.