Reverend Jonathan Waits
Sermon: Toward a Purpose (Matthew 16:13-20)
Date: August 27, 2023
The church gets a lot of things wrong. Have you ever thought that? I have a pretty strong suspicion that even if you haven’t you know at least one person who thinks that. You may know a whole bunch of them. You may live with one—or more. Now, depending on how outspoken you happen to be about your own attachment to the church they may sit on those particular thoughts out of respect for you, but they’re there. Do you know why they think the church gets a whole bunch of things wrong? Because the church gets a whole bunch of things wrong.
I mean just think through a general list. Perhaps the first and best exhibit is the Crusades. Now, I have more than one book in my library making a compelling (and historically sound) argument why from a geopolitical perspective the Crusades were not only not the unmitigated evil they are often portrayed as being, but were even necessary for the various nations of Europe to band together and fight. But for the church to be the one standing out front and calling for the violence? For the church to be the one actively recruiting soldiers by promising them greater rewards in Heaven for going to kill as many infidels as they possibly can? That’s a pretty tough pill to swallow. There are several other examples like this from out of church history.
If you don’t want to dwell on the past, though, we can still find plenty of stories today of individual churches making huge messes because they have committed themselves to following the culture or their own sinful desires rather than pursuing the righteousness and justice of God in their communities. We could point to the abuse scandals of the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention. We could talk about the number of churches who have kicked people out or otherwise driven them off because they crossed a certain member or committee. Pastors have abused their power and position at the expense of the congregation and congregations have treated pastors and their families terribly. The church gets a lot of things wrong.
But if the church is the people of Jesus called out to be His body on earth like we talked about last week, we have to conclude that all of these kinds of things are examples of when the church wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. They have all been occasions when the church forgot what it was for. Thankfully, those times are the decided minority. When the church has gotten that right, however, profound good has been unleashed on the world time and time again. I’ll make that statement even stronger: Any time there has been an institution created or a movement started or an injustice overturned or a culture shift sparked that has made the world a better place, the church has been right at the center of that activity. Schools, hospitals, newspapers, social welfare systems, hospice care, efforts to oppose racism and slavery and human trafficking, and so on and so forth all came out of the church and nowhere else over the course of the last 2,000 years.
That’s all big-picture stuff, though. It’s vitally important to know and understand, but it doesn’t tell us much about what the church is for down on our level. Well, let’s go back again this week to what Jesus said in His response to Peter’s confession in Matthew 16. If you have a copy of the Scriptures, come back with me to Matthew 16 and let’s look at this one more time. Remember, Jesus had taken the disciples on a retreat so that the lack of routine and familiarity could help them focus a bit more on who He was and what they were doing.
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist [who at this point in Jesus’ ministry had been beheaded by Herod]; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets’ ‘But you,’ he asked them, ‘who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus responded, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.’”
So, like we said last week, what this means is that the church is the people of Jesus called out to be His body on earth. We are to be the body of Christ, doing and accomplishing the things Jesus would have been doing if He were still physically present in this world. The reality is that in us, He is still physically present. As for the kinds of things Jesus would have been doing, I just mentioned what some of those things are from a big picture perspective. But I want you to think back with me for a second to our journey through Acts. In Luke’s description of the explosive rise of the early church, he doesn’t actually spend a whole lot of time on the church doing these kinds of big picture things. Instead, he spends much of his time focused on their doing a lot of little things. These were little things that enabled the big things to happen.
You see, while the church exists collectively as the body of Christ, it is individuals who are the ones doing any specific project to advance His kingdom. We don’t have the wherewithal to do that kind of thing on our own, though. We need to be equipped, encouraged, and empowered to do it. Much of what the church does as the body of Christ, then, is to do just that. We help make sure the people of Jesus are equipped and enabled to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And when we do that effectively and well, God’s kingdom is grown. When we get the church right, the work of Jesus is made possible.
And so this morning, as I said last time, I don’t just want to tell you about what this kind of thing looks like. I would much rather show you. And as it just so happens, in God’s providential timing, I have the ability this morning to do just that.
Let’s start this here. In Acts 6, Luke tells us about a time when the church runs into one of its first major internal challenges. There was a racism-rooted ministry issue that was threatening the unity of the church. The church naturally went to the apostles for help. The apostles essentially responded by saying: “We’re not touching that. We are doing things that only we can do. You guys figure out a solution and we’ll give it our blessing.” The story actually unfolds like this: “In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, ‘It would not be right for us to give up preaching the work of God to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’”
This, then, is just what the church did. They found seven such men, the apostles prayed over them and laid hands on them, and the first board of deacons was formed. Let me let you in on a little secret that pastors sometimes don’t like to admit (and congregations don’t love it): I can’t do everything. Not even close. There are some things I am pretty good at. But there are some other things I just make a mess of whenever I touch them. This applies in life generally, but it really applies when it comes to ministry. I need—you need—to have some folks in place to be the ministry leaders, so that I can do the things God has called me to do. These folks are your deacons. The church needs good deacons who are called and equipped to take the lead in making sure the ministries of the church are working as designed and intended.
A static group of deacons, though, isn’t just a good idea, because nobody can serve forever. We need new folks who are mature and gifted for such servant leadership. In order to have this, the church needs to be actively cultivating new leaders. Well, this morning, I have just such a person to bring before. As a church, we voted last week on who to call to serve as deacons for this next term of service. Three of them—Jeff Chance, Danny Poplin, and Doug Burgess—have served before and have all already been ordained to this task. One of them—Steve Obie—has not. This is an entirely fitting morning, then, to take care of that. You have called him as a church to serve as a deacon. Following in the example of the early church, we are going to ordain him to this task right now.
Steve, come on up here. Jenna can come with you too. Steve and Jenna have been a part of this church for a few years now. They actually connected here during Covid. After giving themselves a bit of time to test the waters, they fairly well jumped in with both feet. They have both been serving in a variety of capacities with our kids and youth ministries. They are plugged into Sunday school and are regulars in adult Bible study on the nights they aren’t teaching or otherwise helping with the kids. They both come out of active church backgrounds and are committed to raising their kids to know and love Jesus. Personally, I can attest to Steve’s passion and commitment to follow Jesus faithfully and well and to be an effective servant in the church. Ordaining him to serve as a deacon today is both a privilege and a pleasure.
So then, church, is it your desire that Steve Obie be installed as a deacon for special service to this congregation and by that the kingdom of God? (Church says, “Yes.”)
Will you commit yourselves to upholding and supporting him in this ministry? (Church says, “We will.”)
As a church, then, we recognize the particular ministry to which Steve has been called, remembering that our Lord Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave.” “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” God has called you, Steve, to serve Jesus Christ and this congregation in a special way. As a deacon of First Baptist Oakboro, it will be your task to proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You are to love and serve the people of this community, caring alike for the young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor. You are to strengthen Christ’s people so that they might make Christ known as Savior and Lord, sharing in the renewing of His word, and glorifying God in all things. Do you believe that you are called by God and by the church to this ministry? (Steve says, “I do.”)
Will you be faithful in prayer and in the reading and studying of the Scriptures, and will you endeavor to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called with the Spirit’s help? (Steve says, “I will.”)
Will you proclaim the Gospel in both word and deed, and seek through the ministries of this church to lead others into an acceptance of the cost and joy of discipleship, and will you thus live in the spirit of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit? (Steve says, “I will.”)
Will you undertake to be a faithful leader to all to whom you are called to serve, laboring together with them to build up the body of Christ? (Steve says, “I will.”)
Will you devote time, energy, and skills in efforts to lead this congregation to a higher awareness of and deeper commitment to the worship of Almighty God and to the missionary imperative of the Gospel? (Steve says, “I will.”)
Then may the Lord who has given you the will to do these things give you the grace and power to perform them.
Now, if I can have any who have already been ordained as deacons join me up here, we are going to lay hands on Steve and pray over both him and Jenna. I would also like for us to pray over the three other deacons coming on to serve actively again: Jeff Chance, Doug Burgess, and Danny Poplin. I will open and close us, but I invite a few of you to pray over them as you will.
By our words, actions, and a faithful commitment to the ways of Jesus as demonstrated by the pattern of the church from its earliest days onward, we are seeing God’s kingdom grow stronger right here before us. When we get the church right, the work of Jesus is made possible.
But, our goal isn’t simply to see God’s kingdom grow stronger. It is to see it grow bigger by the making of new disciples. And how are those disciples to be made? By being exposed to the love of God through the works and words of His people. After all, as the apostle Paul wrote, “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.” Well, when we get the church right, the work of Jesus is made possible. And so, today we are not just getting to see the strengthening of the church through the raising up of new leaders, we are getting to play a role in the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth by prayerfully commissioning a group of folks to go and take part in some Gospel-advancing work in Guatemala. In doing this, we are once again right in line with the example of the church in Acts. Remember what was happening when Paul was called away on the first of his major missionary journeys? Listen to this from Acts 13: “Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.”
Healthy churches are sending churches. They are churches who are actively equipping their members for the work to which God the Father has called, God the Son has directed, and God the Spirit has empowered, and then sending those members out to do that work. These sendings may be short—only a few days—or much longer than that. Whatever the scope of the sending happens to be, healthy churches are sending churches. And so, this morning, we are.
Let me get the group heading to Guatemala this coming Saturday to join me here up front. It is our pleasure to take part in your going and serving. We can’t go with you physically, but we are going with you in spirit. And this morning, we are going to cover you in prayer. Just like we did with Steve a minute ago, I am going to invite you to join with me in praying over them. If anyone so desires—and this is not something any needs to feel any pressure to do—you can also join me up here to lay hands on them and pray over them. I’ll open and close us, and you are welcome to pray as you are so led.
What a delight it is to not just hear about, but see what it looks like to be the church; to experience it together. What a joy to serve the Lord and to move firmly in the direction of being who He designed us to be together. When we get the church right, the work of Jesus is made possible. You are doing that today.
Thinking back one more time to the church in Acts. As we journeyed through Luke’s telling of their story, we noticed several times when he gave us a summary statement on how they were doing. Every time something significant happened, Luke paused to make sure everyone was up to speed on their progress. And one of the phrases he used several times in these updates is that the church grew. Believers were added to their numbers. They expanded numerically, enabling them to do more ministry.
Well, this morning, I want for us to experience together what it looks like when we get being the church right. The church grows. The Lord adds to our number those who are being saved. I’m going to make an invitation to you in just a minute, but before we get there, I wanted to give some folks a chance to share their news. First, I want to introduce you to Ed and Kathy Simes. Many of you already know these guys. They have been here for about a year and a half now and though I know it feels like they were already members, today they are coming to make it officially official. They moved to town from New Hampshire, visited a great church with their kids, wanted something a little closer to home, intended to go on a search for a church, decided to start with us since we’re the closest to them, and that was that. God called them here and here they are.
One more introduction. Most of you know this young man already too. I certainly do. His name’s Micah. This summer I got the chance to help chaperone our kids’ trip to CentriKid. On the second night we were there, Micah pulled me aside after our group devotions one night and told me he was ready to ask Jesus into his heart. There are a lot of proud dad moments that you get to experience over the years as a dad. Moments like that one was are hard to beat. Lisa and I are immensely proud that now all three of our boys have decided to follow Jesus. Micah comes today as a candidate for both membership and baptism.
If you are as excited as I am to see and experience God’s growing our community in action, and if you are ready to make these three fully a part of what He’s doing here, indicate that with a big, “Amen.” When we get the church right, the work of Jesus is made possible. This is all what that looks like.
As promised, then, here’s my invitation to you: If you want to be fully a part of what God is clearly doing in this church, if you want to be a part of this church’s being the church in the ways Jesus designed us to pursue it, you are welcome to join with us. If you’ve been hanging around here long with us, take the step to make your connection here formal. Don’t wait on this. We are both missing out on the full scope of what God intends to accomplish through you as you make yourself more and more available to His plans. Let today be your day. Let’s start a conversation today about how we can make your connection here something that can start bearing real fruit. Or maybe you are ready to profess faith in Jesus—perhaps for the very first time. Today is a great day for that as well. Come on and let’s start a conversation about what that means and how we can move you forward in a relationship with Him together. I’m going to pray for us, and then as we sing, you move as the Spirit directs.