Revision as of 20:57, 28 June 2018

Agents of Christ

Objectives

• Congregants will determine to find the source of their power in Christ.
• Congregants will determine to find their closest network in Christ's church.
• Congregants will see themselves as agents in a hostile land with a focussed mission.

Introduction

I love spy movies and TV shows. Something about clandestine operations always captures and holds my attention. So what are the elements of a good spy movie?

• We need a set of "good guys." In most movies this is some nation of collection of nation who are giving the spy their authority or power.
• We need some network of individuals. In good spy movies the spies almost always work with a larger group of people, their network or rolodex.
• We need a mission. What would a spy movie be without a worthwhile mission? Everybody knows that spies live to save the world from certain disaster.

Main Body

Main Proposition

As agents of Christ we must serve with undying loyalty on our mission to the world.

Setting The Stage

Point 1 (V 1-11)

As agents of Christ, we need to find our strength in Christ.

If you were a secret agent where would you want to get your gadgets? I can tell you one thing, if my life depended on it I would want the best...

If you were an agent in a foreign land where would you want your authority to come from. I would want my authority coming from the strongest, best positioned nation.

The Vine (V. 1-9)

Verse 1

• In this seventh "I am" statement Christ declares Himself to be the true vine, a contrast with Isaiah 5:1-2 and Ezekiel 15:2-6 where Israel was a vine that failed to produce good fruit.
  • Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also [b]made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.
  • 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? 4 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? 5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned? 6 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
• This would have been a big deal to the disciples. The Pharisees, among others, viewed themselves as God's people through their genetic heritage. Christ here declares that true power comes through him, not through national origin.
• As we find our strength, we must ask, "is our strength from the Lord?" or are we trusting in our genetic heritage, national heritage, or any other heritage that is not God.

Verse 2-3

• There is a lot going on in this verse and our tendency is to focus on the word "takes away". However, this is not the point of emphasis, the point of emphasis is the work of the Father. The Father is the one who does the work, he prunes and removes those who are not truly part of the vine. This is further confirmed in verse 3 where Jesus essentially states that they do not need to worry about being taken away, they are part of the vine. Pruning will still be necessary, but they have confidence in their position.

Verses 4-8

• The verb for remain (μεινατε) can be translated as "dwell", or "stay". It is in the aorist imperative and so could be taken as an urgent command.

The Result of Love (V. 9-11)

Verse 10

• Verse 10 answers the question "How do we remain in the love of Jesus?" Remaining in Christ's love is not some theoretical abstract notion but a concrete lived obedience to Christ. However, we must be careful to keep cause and effect in their rightful order. Love is the cause and obedience is an effect. We do not obey in order to receive God's love, we obey because of God's love. Indeed, God's love frees us to be obedient
  • Romans 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Verse 11

• Christ completes this section with a final explanation, joy. Notice the order, God's love, our obedience, and full joy.

Summary

If we are to operate in the foreign land that is this world then we need to find our strength in Christ. Christ is the source of our love, power, and joy.

Point 2 (V 12-17)

As agents of Christ, we need to find our network in Christ's church.

• Every good agent needs a network of people in country to provide assistance, support, and intelligence.

Love Exemplified Verses 12-13

• Christ moves from a discussion of the love of God for his people to the love of his people for each other. Recall Matthew 22:34-40,
  • But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

• Christ also gives the ultimate test of love. It is interesting that Christ will go on to pass His own test.

The Network Verse 14-17

• Don't confuse conditioning with causation. Our obedience is not the reason Christ calls us friends, but rather our obedience stems from Christ's love. Christ is Himself the author of our obedience.
• Obedience is often thought of as a trait of a slave, but through Christ, obedience is a trait of a friend, specifically our knowledge of Christ allows us to obediently follow. If you are struggling to obediently follow Christ, then maybe you need to spend more time getting to know Christ and his plan.
• As agent's of Christ we must realize that some knowledge is above our pay grade, some knowledge is reserved for others. However, we know the facts that we need to know and we can obediently follow in that light.
• Jesus reiterates the fact that He has chosen, it is not anything we have done. Jesus uses an emphatic first-person pronoun to state that "I chose you!".
• Christ wraps up this section by reiterating His commandment, love one another.

Point 3 (V 18-25)

As agents of Christ, we need to find our mission in the World.

We are agents working in a foreign land. We must recognize that this is not our home and instead we are on a mission. It is easy to get distracted and we must remember that the enemy would love to grab our attention and turn us into double agents. We must not lose sight of the mission nor our loyalties.

Foreign Agents V 18-19

• As foreigners we must recognize that we are foreigners, we have been brought into Christ's fold and as such we are foreign agents in hostile land.
• Notice that the hate is directed primarily at Jesus and secondarily at us.
• The root of the worlds hatred is the lack of the disciples willingness to associate with the world.
  • There is a contrast between our historical reality (in the world) and our cosmological reality (no longer from the world).

For King and Country V 20-21

• Ultimately, the world hates us because we bear the name of Christ.
• Christ uses the phrase δια το οναμα μοθ, "because of my name". It is important to remember that names were much more than the title someone held, but referred to the character of the person.
  • TDNT states "There was an is a world-wide belief that the name of an object, man, or higher being is more than a mere label only incidentally associated with the one who bears it. The name is an indispensable part of the personality. One might say that a man is constituted of body, soul, and name." (TDNT, V.243)
• I am not sure Peter fully grasped what Jesus was saying at this time. However, in time Peter would fully understand, 1 Peter 4:12-19
  • Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are [a]reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. [b]On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
  • Indeed Peter seems to have really gotten the point, so much so that tradition has him crucified upside-down counting himself unworthy to die in the way his Lord had died.

Your Mission, Should you Choose to Accept it V 22-27

• Jesus presents himself as both prosecuting attorney and defense attorney for the world.
• It is not that the world would not have sin had Christ not come, but rather the most striking, severe, deadly sin of outright rejection could occur as Christ, God in the flesh, dwelt among us. The gospel of Christ leaves man with no excuse.

We must recognize that rejection of the Gospel is in itself the ultimate sin. We are not of the world and while our mission is to reach the world, we must not over-invest in aspects of the world that do not directly relate to our mission.

• Jesus concludes with a reference to prophecy proving that even this is part of God's ultimate plan.

Conclusion