Communities, the series (Guest speaker-Ashley Feb 13th).

Hello, hello, hello. How is everyone? Yeah. All right, a few things. I am from the South. I'm Southern, I'm loud, and I'm ready to get rowdy.

So let's get right into it, but before we do anything, I want us to bow our heads. I want to start off with prayer. Thank you, Jesus, for this beautiful Sunday. I am so grateful and honored for every single person in this room. I pray that this word today brings love but also brings conviction. I pray, Jesus, that your spirit is here. I pray that we leave knowing more about who you are and the things that you have for us. We thank you, we worship you, and we adore you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Self-centered culture to missional living

We live in a society and a culture that is very much I, I, I, right. It's very American, where it is literally all about ourselves. You'll hear things like, how can I become a millionaire? How can I go to this church? How can I make this community better? How can I get this job? How can I make it in college, right. I, I, I, I, I. We always see these things in books, Instagram, any social media. It's often about ourselves.

So how do we go from this I, I, I, this individualism where we're self-centered, all about ourselves, to this path of missional living. Well, first things first, you need to know that every single one of you in this room, yes, every single one of you in this room has a mission. We all do. It doesn't mean that you have to have a calling to go into full-time missions like me, but every single one of you has a mission and has a calling. And all of our missions may look completely different, and that's okay.

But what we need to understand is it doesn't matter how different our mission is, the outcome is all the same. That outcome is to grow closer to Jesus and to love and serve his people. When we look throughout the Bible, we see Jesus drawing us near, calling us near, wanting a relationship with us, but we also see him loving and serving his people.

A good model of this is in the New Testament. Jesus and his disciples. You see Jesus go out. He's feeding the hungry. He's opening the eyes of the blind. He's performing miracles. But every single time after he does these miracles and does these wonders, we see him go back to his disciples. He will sit with them. He will answer their questions. And not just any type of questions, but questions that make them grow closer to who he is and understand his character better. We also see him pray with them, worship with them, eat with them, commune with them. Jesus is personal. He wants a relationship with us. That is who he is.

A really good representation of this is in Matthew chapter 22, verse 36. I'm going to be reading from NIV.

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:36-39

When I look at this scripture, I feel like, okay, love God with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul. Got it, right. That seems like a really quick thing. We do things that are drawing us to love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our soul. One of them is what you're doing right now. You've come to church. You're around community. You may do your own personal devotion. You may do your small groups.

But when we look at the scripture, I feel like often people talk about love your neighbor. And the big question that people often answer is, your neighbor is this person, right. Your neighbor is this group. It's always your neighbor, your neighbor, your neighbor. But the real question is, who is our neighbor.

Understanding who our neighbor is

So when I'm looking at this scripture, I want a better understanding of what God means by neighbor. The best way to understand what neighbor is, is to study the word. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and the New Testament is written in Greek. When they're saying neighbor in the Old Testament, it's often referred to as an associate, as a friend, as someone you know, a companion, someone you love.

But then when we go to the New Testament, this word is translated to something else. It begins to mean close and near. So when you see neighbor in the New Testament, it's meaning close and near, but not in a relational way. It's meaning close and near as in proximity. As I'm reading this, I'm thinking, okay, close and near.

So that means that my little Southern self is all the way in New York City. I'm in Times Square. I'm walking, and if I stretch my hands out, whoever I touch is close and near. My neighbor is also my friend, my companion, someone I'm close to, someone I know, someone I love, but it's also the stranger that you see on the side of the street, right. When you're in the grocery store and you're doing your shopping, it's also the rank of people that are passing by you. When you're in the coffee shop and you're getting your coffee, that's also your neighbor.

How to serve and love your neighbor well

Now that we know who our neighbor is, we need to know how do we serve our neighbor. Oftentimes we hear, you should do this or you should do that. But we really need to understand how do we serve and love our neighbor well. Because many of us can serve and we can love our neighbor, but we can do it well, right.

Some of you may know that you can talk to someone, you've been to them, you've told them the problem, and they just give you bad feedback. It's just like, well, I should have never said that in the first place because that was horrible. But then when you talk to someone who knows you and understands you, and they're giving you the best feedback, you're like, oh my gosh, you get it. You feel so seen and so understood. So how do we love and serve our neighbor well.

This brings me to Genesis chapter 1 verse 27.

So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God he created them. Male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:27

As I'm reading this and thinking about loving and serving our neighbor, I realize that every single one of us in this room are made in the image of God. Every single one of us. In my head, I think of this as a mosaic piece. It's kind of like a puzzle. Every single person holds a small piece. And when you put it together, you get a full picture.

When you love and serve your neighbor well, a part of that is knowing who they are and accepting who they are. By doing this, it draws us closer to Jesus. When you meet someone, let's say we meet Mary, and Mary is full of kindness. You ever meet someone and they're so nice that you want to know why. And if Mary is serving Jesus, and if Mary is a Christian, we know that the source of her kindness comes from Jesus. So by knowing Mary's kindness, it begins to give us a deeper understanding of Jesus' kindness.

When we think about the fruit of the Spirit and kindness, we can automatically think, Mary, Jesus is like Mary's kindness. When we begin to look at others, understanding that we all bear this image, each of us, every single one of us, gives us a deeper understanding of who Jesus is.

God's intentional creation

When you look at Jesus' creation, he is very intentional. The ocean is vast, how wide, how deep. It can overtake you, right. But it can also come so close to your feet and rush right away. It's so powerful, yet it will not go past the shore. God is intentional in his creation. The mere fact that when you look at birds and he gave them wings to be exactly where they needed to be, to thrive in the element that he placed them in. That means that every single one of you, the fact that Jesus made you a woman, Jesus made you a man, or Jesus made you African American, or Jesus made you Puerto Rican, it's intentional. He's intentional in his creation. The fact that out of all the languages in the world, there's so many languages, he decided for you to speak English.

Out of all the places in the whole entire world, Jesus said, I want you in Wisconsin. Jesus placed you in this winter, right. Jesus is intentional. He makes no mistake. He placed you where he placed you, that's where he wants you. And exactly where he placed you, he's given you everything that you need. Your culture, your language, all of that, he is intentional. The fact that he gave you curly hair, straight hair, everything that he's given you was so intentional.

It draws you so much closer to Jesus. When you look at culture, there are so many different things that you can take from it. As a missionary, one of the things that fascinates me is when you look at Hispanic culture. You get this sense of community and family that no matter what's going on, come Christmas, we're going to be together. We're going to eat together, we're going to laugh. You literally get this sense of community. But then when you look at Asian culture, you learn that in Asian culture, there is such a deep honor. You learn about honor and what it means to honor and love someone.

Every single person's culture draws us closer to Jesus. When you think about American culture, American culture teaches you about all of the wild possibilities that Jesus has for us, the wild dreams and desires. There's nothing too big that you cannot have, right. That's American culture. It's in our cultures, in our languages that bring us closer to Jesus. So when you speak English, the fact that he gave you that language to express who he is, it's intentional. Jesus is intentional. That is creation.

When you're meeting someone and when you're beginning to go on this path of mission, when you're loving and serving your neighbor, you also need to know that Jesus specifically gave them this. Let me not shrink it. Let me not change it, right. Let me not tell you, well, I don't know. I don't want to hear you say that. Or try to change people's experiences.

Every single one of our experiences, whether it was for good or whether it was awful, Jesus always used it for our good. God is intentional. When we love and serve our neighbor, we also need to be mindful of those things and not try to change it and be intentional. When you begin to go on this journey of learning God's intentions and his original intentions for each and every one of us, we also begin to learn about how good he is, how he just draws us near and draws us close.

Meeting people's needs with dignity

As we begin this journey of how do we love and serve our neighbor, first we need to know who you are. A big red flag in missions is when you go in and you only want to meet people's needs. If you go into a homeless shelter and all you want to do is provide a house, that sounds great, right. And for us American people, oh, that's great, that's great work. But in the kingdom, you are more than your need. Homelessness is not who you are.

So when you go into a shelter and all you want to do is give someone a home and you don't care about who they are, understand that your need does not define you. Every single one of us in this room, we have a need. There's something that we need, but that is not who we are. Illness is not who we are. A victim is not who we are. It may be where we are right there, but we are more than that.

It's important that when you begin to know who someone is, you also learn how to better meet their needs. It's the same way when you go to your mom and you have a conversation with her and you're telling her about something and she knows exactly what to say. Why. Because she knows who you are. When you know someone, you can better meet their needs.

Sometimes you may meet someone on the side of the street. And you may need to tell them to find a house or you need to help them have something to eat. They do have a need. But also know that it goes hand in hand. You don't just meet someone's need, but you also want to live a relationship with them. God is relational. So we also have to model that. We have to make sure that we too are building these relationships with each individual. Because we are not our needs.

You're more than just being homeless. You're more than just being a victim. And so that's also how we go on this path of missional living. It's understanding and getting to know who someone is. Not just how can I pray and let him know Jesus. That's great. But just imagine if our relationship with Jesus, if all he decided was, as soon as you say, yes, I accept Lord Jesus as my Savior, imagine if he said, all right, peace out, toodles, you got it. We would be messed up. I would be messed up.

When we say yes, it's also when we have highs and lows. Life is full of them. And we need Jesus daily. We need him with us. We too have to model that when we go to serve our neighbor. We're not just there for the highs. We're not just there for the lows. We're there for all of it, right. We're not just there when everything's good. You need to be with these people when things are bad. Sometimes when you meet someone and they're low, you don't just leave them there. You don't just walk into the next season, but you continue to be with them. You continue to work with them. That is what discipleship means.

If you don't understand missions, mission is discipleship, right. We define missions as going and giving Jesus. No, it's not just going to give them Jesus. Discipleship means that you walk and you talk with them. You teach them how to read their Bible. You teach them what it means to worship, what it means to pray. You're there with them in highs and lows of their life. You're there with them through grief, through trauma, all of those things. That is what it means to have a missional living. It's not just to be something quick and easy. It's a slow process, but it's a beautiful process.

Every single one of us may be in that process in different months and different places. But Jesus is with us and we too also have to be with these people. That is how you go on this path. From being all about yourself, me, me, me, me, me, and then you transition to how do I serve and how do I love my neighbor well and how do I grow closer to Jesus. That's what our focus is.

It's not that we just go without, that there's no such thing as us. When you begin to grow closer to Jesus, it's more that you figure out about yourself, right. It's not just like, oh, I'm just going to serve Jesus and that's it. Nothing else about me matters. No. He still cares about your personality. He still cares about your struggles. It doesn't mean that you neglect those and that you leave all the things by yourself.

But make sure that you're not just serving and loving someone out of convenience. You're not just there, oh, because I was just on my way to the gas station and I just happened to see them right now. Sometimes you need to go out to this community. Sometimes you need to go out to these people to love and to serve them.

How we're known as disciples

On my last point, I want us to turn to John chapter 13 verse 34. I'm going to be reading from the Amplified Version.

I am giving you a new commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. So you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples. If you have love and unselfish concern for one another.

John 13:34

I just love that. If you have love and unselfish concern for one another. Because it goes back to this, I, I, I, I, I. When Jesus is saying, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another, that's how people know that you belong to me, right. That's how people know that you serve Jesus. It's by the love that you share. It's by how you serve and how you love one another. That's what lets me know that you belong to me.

It's often that that's how Jesus draws us near, right. It wasn't from necessarily rebuke, but it was from a place of love. And first, people need to know that they are loved, no matter what you have going on, no matter what your beliefs are. You are loved. That is literally what he's commanded us to do, is to love one another. And not just love one another, but love one another well. Serve one another well. That is the heart of missions, right.

Representing Jesus well

So whatever your mission is, wherever you're going, always be mindful that you are representing Jesus, right. It doesn't matter if you're going into foreign land, right. Wherever you are, that is your mission field. If you're placed in Wisconsin, that is your mission field. If you're placed in Mexico, that is your mission field. And you are representing Jesus.

What an honor, what a privilege it is to represent Jesus. And you have to do it well. There's a society, there's a world that is looking at us believers, wanting to know, okay, well, you preach about this Jesus. You preach about this love. But isn't it in your actions, right. That's been so much of the rebuke of the church. You preach about this and you say this, but all you show is hatred. Are we going to be the believers. Are we going to be the Christian people that represent and show love to one another. I don't care about what you say. I want to see what you do. How do you serve among your neighbor.

This week, when you're in your personal time, when no one's watching, when you're all alone and no one's there from this church to say, hey, I want to see you acting. When you're alone, are you still loving. Are you still caring. Are you still representing the body of Christ well. We cannot afford to not be loved. There is so much hurt. There is so much brokenness in this world. We cannot afford to not represent Jesus well.

There are people whose souls are dependent on you, not just me, not just us who get up here and preach every Sunday. They're also dependent on you and your show. You may be the only representation of Jesus. You may be the only representation of people who've ever experienced love, right. And you have got to steward it well.

When we love one another well, when we serve one another well, it depicts Jesus so beautifully. Because it's nothing more beautiful than to see Jesus pictured well. When you meet someone and you encounter their love and you just look at them and you can just see the love of Christ in them. It is such a beautiful experience. Some people are so desperate for that. You don't know what people are going through. You don't know their stories. It doesn't cost us anything but to be loving, but to be kind, but to be welcoming.

Whenever you pass by, right. Whenever you think of something nice, say it. Whenever you feel something in your spirit, right. If you want to serve the person behind you in the coffee line and buy their coffee, right. That's serving your neighbor well.

Love as your anthem

On this journey, I want you guys this week to really just think about Jesus and think about how you're growing closer to Jesus. But I really want you to think about how are you going to serve and love your neighbor well. How are you going to represent the kingdom. Because people are watching. When people see you, how are you going to love and serve your neighbor well.

It may even be the person that you can't stand. We all have somebody we can't stand, right. It may even be that person. It may be your friend that you know is having a hard time. How are you going to serve and love them well. How are you going to serve and love strangers well. How are you going to serve and love your companions, your friends. How are you going to love them well.

Whatever God calls us to do, do it with excellence. Love someone. Be a giver. Love and steward these relationships well. That's really something that I want you guys to ponder on this week. Whether you're at the Super Bowl and you may even be arguing with your opposite teammate, love them well. Don't be too mean. Don't be too rowdy. Love and serve them well. When you're with your community, when you're with your friends, let's do love and serve them well.

I want that when you leave, love is going to be your anthem. It's going to be a song that is played. When someone sees you, they're going to say, it's just something about you. You're just love. It's the month of love, right. It's Valentine's Day. Some of you may not have a Valentine. I don't have a Valentine, but be someone's Valentine. Be someone's love and greet them and do this well.

I want you guys to just look over this scripture, John 13, that I just gave you. I want you to look over this week and think about how you can have an unselfish love, an unselfish concern for one another. So if the worship team can go ahead and come on up, that'd be awesome. I'm going to invite you guys to stand up on your feet. We're just going to take the next few moments to sit and reflect through this verse and through the sermon. In a culture of self-centeredness, we choose missional living. We're just going to take a moment to reflect and worship on that.